In this module I have decided I would like to gain more experience in composing and producing my own music. I will be collaborating with my friend Ciarán who is a freelance music composer and sound designer, primarily for video games. Despite being friends for a number of years we have never collaborated before, but we believe our musical backgrounds and styles will be complementary to each other. Our overall goal is to produce two tracks and release them onto streaming sites such as Spotify, Apple Music, etc. Everything in this post below is what we discussed during our first in-person preparatory meeting on 28th February. We will both have creative input for this project, but I will be taking the role of producer while he will be doing any recording of live instruments.
When thinking about collaboration, one thing which came to mind is the recent debut collaboration between artists George Clanton and his ‘hero’ Nick Hexum of 311 with their two tracks ‘Crash Pad’ and ‘King for a Day’, released in September 2019 (bandcamp, 2019). These tracks include the nostalgic 90s sound which both Clanton and Hexum explore in their own separate projects, though in different ways. Hexum’s signature guitar style and nostalgic vocals in combination with Clanton’s ‘ethereal electronic backdrop’ mesh naturally to create the ‘ultimate musical getaway’ (Shafer, 2019). With the success of Clanton and Hexum’s explorations of their own 90s nostalgia in mind, I am hoping that our project will bring similar success for our different musical backgrounds being united.
My general musical background is in electronic music such as chillwave and vaporwave. I will typically use a combination of virtual synthesizers and samples to create music. I am also a classical pianist with specific interests in late Romantic and early 20th century composers such as Debussy, and will occasionally include piano in my work or use my skills and knowledge from this to inform my compositional choices. Ciarán’s work is very much centred around video games and so will vary wildly in genre and style. After meeting with him yesterday, he has suggested that he could bring his knowledge in styles such as chiptune to add a retro aspect to the project. He also has instrumental expertise in guitar and singing, as well as the Japanese shakuhachi flute, all of which I would very much like to include.
Hansen (2009) describes collaboration as when people work together ‘on a common task or provide significant help to each other’ (p. 14-15) and that the goal of collaboration is not collaboration but ‘better results’ (p. 15). I believe that we will provide significant help to each other as we are both keen to combine our compositional skills to make ‘better’ music. Ciarán has also mentioned that he would very much like to be able to post some original music on streaming sites, which he now has the opportunity to achieve with this project. Hansen states that some important steps in collaboration are to spot potential barriers and tailor solutions to them (p. 16-17). I would imagine the biggest barrier for us would be failing to complete the work in sufficient time. This will be avoided by allowing enough time to complete each task and keeping a consistent workflow in order to avoid what Huxham and Vangen (2005, p. 3) describe as ‘collaborative inertia’. There may also be artistic differences, though I believe we have enough trust between us to resolve these kinds of issues.
My next blog post will include discussion of musical ideas as well as a proposed timeline and set of deadlines for completing the work.
References:
Bandcamp, (2019). Crash Pad/King for a Day. [online] Available at: https://georgeclanton.bandcamp.com/album/crash-pad-king-for-a-day [Accessed 29th February 2020).
Hansen, M. (2009). Collaboration: How Leaders Avoid the Traps, Build Common Ground, and Reap Big Results. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Press.
Huxham, C. and Vangen, G. (2005). Managing to Collaborate : The Theory and Practice of Collaborative Advantage. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Shafer, E. (2019). 311’s Nick Hexum & George Clanton Evoke ‘The Ultimate Nostalgic Experience’ on ‘Crash Pad’: Exclusive. [online] Billboard.com. Available at: https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8531401/311-nick-hexum-george-clanton-collab-two-singles [Accessed 29th February 2020].
Damon Siseman MUS634 