Comments on: Monthly MeFiMu Challenge thread - May edition

Monthly MeFiMu Challenge thread - May edition

flapjax at midnite — Fri, 01 May 2009 06:15:37 -0800

Thanks to everyone who submitted a tune for the April Challenge! If you have any thoughts on it, points you'd like to make, whatever, feel free. Also welcome here: ideas for future Challenges. Also, I'll go ahead and post the May Challenges (two this month) here, and they'll also be in the usual spot very soon. Looking forward to hearing what everyone comes up with for this next round. Fire up the recorders!

May 2009 Challenges: Challenge #1: 'cover,' so to speak, the very first song you ever wrote, or if you can't remember which one that was, one of your earliest songs. Take the song and update it with your current skills, sensibilities, instruments and recording capabilities. And if you just happen to have an older recording of it, post that in the same file, or on a nearby or consecutive day, so we can compare! Please tag your submission: "remake", as well as the usual "mefimusicchallenge". --- suggested by ORthey (with some slight additions from flapjax) *************************************** Challenge #2: make... chase scene music! Please tag your submission: "chasescene" and/or "chase", as well as the usual "mefimusicchallenge". --- suggested by Hoopo

By: Karlos the Jackal

Karlos the Jackal — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:39:46 -0800

I think we should all cover Seven Nation Army.

By: snsranch

snsranch — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:40:13 -0800

These aren't exactly easy peasie fosheezy japoneezy, but hell, it's Friday night and I have a 12pack of PBR! Woo Hoo! Ya never know what might happen!

Karlos, thanks for reminding me of that. I couldn't check it out at work today.

By: Corduroy

Corduroy — Mon, 04 May 2009 04:41:04 -0800

I like these ones. I'm guessing this will be another good month.

Dagosto recommended this idea, and I thought I would pass it on. Recording outside (or maybe just in an unconventional location?) would bring out some really neat stuff, I think. Plus, it'll be Summer next month.

By: orville sash

orville sash — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:46:44 -0800

Oh man...it might be too embarrassing to cover the first song I ever wrote, which was a crude, sing-songy takedown of all of my jr. high school teachers. The couple of lyrics I recall are pretty painful.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:11:36 -0800

The couple of lyrics I recall are pretty painful.

Gotta suffer for your art, man.

But then, should we have to suffer for your art as well? Hmmm...as Johnny Caspar said, "an innerestin' ethical question."

By: dobie

dobie — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:24:22 -0800

The couple of lyrics I recall are pretty painful.

It's all in the delivery. Make it work!

By: ORthey

ORthey — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:46:30 -0800

which was a crude, sing-songy takedown of all of my jr. high school teachers

Um.... I really, really want to hear this.

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Tue, 05 May 2009 11:06:31 -0800

I hooked up a tape player to my line-in and digitized my high school band's album last night. It's both better and worse than I remember. I might make entries to both challenges this month.

By: NemesisVex

NemesisVex — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:12:43 -0800

Oh, OK, in that case, I'm done.

By: cortex

cortex — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:47:53 -0800

Oh, man. I posted my first song before (and jesus, that was almost three years ago?), but never sat down to re-record any time after what was like 1998. I should maybe sit down and give it an honest go at a rework.

It's hard singing old, wow-yikes lyrics.

By: Corduroy

Corduroy — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:19:03 -0800

Hahah, everyone needs to listen to the original recording of cortex's first song! Oh my goodness. I feel like you shouldn't ditch the noises!

By: orville sash

orville sash — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:46:16 -0800

I am kind of tempted to re-record it. But how the hell do I explain the lyrics to my girlfriend or anyone else that might hear them? And how could Metafilter ever look at me the same again?

By: orville sash

orville sash — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:46:50 -0800

Ah, fuck it. I'll do it. Gimme a week or two.

By: cortex

cortex — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:46:43 -0800

Yay!

By: davejay

davejay — Sun, 10 May 2009 02:11:43 -0800

Okay, so, in my garage right now, somewhere, is an old cassette of a song I did at 3am on the floor of my Chicago apartment, trying not to wake my roommates up, using all of their equipment (because I had none of my own), and singing lyrics I made up line-by-line (pausing the tape in between) in an intentionally bad voice. But it was compelling, because it was so in the moment. I think maybe, with all my experience and practice and whatnot, all I'd end up doing is creating something far, far worse, for being overthought.

And so maybe I'll do it. Maybe.

By: davejay

davejay — Sun, 10 May 2009 02:16:01 -0800

Did I mention it was the first song I can remember writing, if you'd call it that, and that I still remember a few of the lyrics, sixteen-odd years later, at least? The first verse, just to give you a glimpse into the awful:

The candles left a waxy stain
I followed you out in the rain
You said that this was not the time
I sung you songs by Patsy Cline

Oh, and I was dating goths at the time. I may have been influenced.

hangs his head in shame

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sun, 10 May 2009 03:20:00 -0800

davejay, you dropped Patsy Cline's name in your first song. Take that head hanging in shame and HOLD IT HIGH!

By: chococat

chococat — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:33:28 -0800

Okay, just posted one. Man. It's amazing how differently you remember stuff after several years.
I mentioned that my remake came out sounding a bit Gordon Lightfoot-y to me, which just occurred to me as appropriate because this whole challenge is sort of what Lightfoot did with his 1975 greatest hits album Gord's Gold, for which he re-recorded all his old 60's hits because he didn't like them anymore. He was the proto-Lucas/Speilberg, turning guns into walkie-talkies.

By: fuq

fuq — Sat, 16 May 2009 23:41:33 -0800

I just finished one, and I'm quite pleased. It was weird because I have alway made looping sample music so I remixed one of the only old songs I could find. I wonder if any of the music I uploaded in the days of mp3.com still survives anywhere...

I hope not.