Whilst maybe not exactly the right place for this…
Was hoping to hear a few war stories of those who’ve made the leap from music making/producing/composing by themselves - maybe for a very long time - into reaching their mature years, or some sort of reckoning point, popping out of their routine comfort zone, and either deliberately searching for or accidentally stumbling upon likeminded partner(s) in crime and making music together with either personal or commercial success. What came of it?
Far away hills are green or best thing ever happened?
I went the other way.
Started in bands. Did that for a couple of decades. Had some mild successes in the form of records and gigs. The last serious band I played in, was amazing. Musical connection with both the guitarist and bassist. We fucking ruled. Fond memories. I was gutted when the guitarist just jacked it in one day out of no where.
Then made music on my own for the last ten years or so, again, mild successes. A bit of occasionally jamming with others.
Ive got a mate I jam with now, once a week or if we feel like it.
I enjoy both.
Though I slightly enjoy writing music more on my own to be honest. Plus I can do it when i want, I dont have to synchronise time and space with another person.
Finding like minded people is the hardest bit. I jam with Bill cos he’s a mate. And we both have the same approach to music.
Id like to play drums in a band again. Being the introverted jaded old git that I am though, I’m not exactly posting flyers at the local guitar shop…
I get overwhelmed doing too many things at once and I’ve often thought that playing a drum machine and a simple mono synth while one or two other people handle keys/vocals/guitar could be really fun. Or maybe I just need to pair down to a more simplified setup?
Edit - I should add that I had a couple of jams with a friend that were pretty disappointing. Sometimes people who might otherwise get along well won’t necessarily be on the same page musically.
I make different types of music under various names, so I have started to collaborate with myself.
I figured it was about time some of the personalities finally met each other.
I’ve learned that both in-person and over the internet I just suck at collaborating. Maybe if I worked with someone on a regular basis and got a workflow going with them it would be better.
Its often been a matter of different DAWs/plug-ins, not using a studio that is already setup and running but trying to bring a bunch of pieces of gear together and getting exhausted trying to make it all work before we even get the first note put down.
I’m usually ready for a cocktail before we even have a chance to think about what kinda tune we want to make.
I had never collaborated with anyone some years ago and I had been making electronic music on my own for a few years at least.
There was a message box on this forum I used to frequent and someone was asking if anybody was interested in a collaboration. It was a scrolling message box so the message would have disappeared in a few minutes. For some reason I was like… “Why not?”.
He lived in Ohio and I lived in Iowa.
We made music by sending files back and forth adding stuff, changing things, taking turns and it just kind of worked. We’d chat about what we did and talk about what we might do next.
We ended up doing this over about 1 1/2 years and made a couple hours worth of music.
After that we got ourselves booked to do a live performance at a festival and he flew out with some gear. The first time we met in person was a couple of days before the performance. We worked out the set, went and performed and it was awesome.
We ended up doing 3 other shows like that. After a while he got a real job and started a family and so we stopped making music and now I just do it on my own again.
I had a great time over 10 years ago doing, at first, unsolicited remixes of friend’s music. Which then became a bit closer to collaboration in that we then jammed a bit together or shared stems… Nothing further came of it due to changing continents, not that that is an excuse in this digital age. But it worked more naturally in person.
I expect it is really down to personal preference. Starting a piece afresh yourself I don’t find quite as enjoyable as taking apart someone else’s initial work and making it into something I think it ‘should’ or ‘could’ be.
One thing I’ve never tried is electronic sequenced machines jamming with others to a clock sync. Looks interesting though. Seems just easier to play traditional instruments for that to avoid getting too much in each others way!
Anyone aware of any good resources for games, arbitrary “rules” and good practices for collaboration? Tools (perhaps like Oblique Strategies) to facilitate decision-making, etc.
I’m just starting to read this … pretty much for the purpose you suggest.
How could what appeared to be a tumultuous musical partnership result in creation of a recognised classic album… There are probably as many examples of musical partners who got along well as there are those who didn’t but yet made classic music for all time: Waters/Gilmore, Lennon/McCartney, John/Taupin, Walsh/Keating etc
Thanks, sounds like some fun considering the outcome!
I dont know, perhaps i’m more looking for abstract “tricks” to keep people engaged in a project, improve communication, reduce self consciousness and flow with intuition.
Wonder if i should look into Improv (theater not jazz!) books for inspiration?