exquisite corpse
one of the things i'd like to do with the studio when it gets a little closer to completion is to use it not just as a place to record projects, but also as a place to do other music-related things. here's an idea i emailed to a bunch of folks. if this is something you'd be interested in, shoot me an email.
in all the music-related projects i've been involved with the past few years, i've noticed a recurring set of complaints across a bunch of musicians who write/want to write music (myself included):
-"i should write more music, but {i just can't seem to get motivated,i don't think i'm good enough, i never finish what i start, ....}"
-"i'm stuck in a rut. all my music sounds the same."
-"i think i've hit some sort of plateau. i feel like i should be getting better but i'm not."
-"i wish i could bounce my ideas of off people and get help with ideas and suggestions"
this has been on my mind a lot lately and i've been reading a lot of books on this topic. one thing i'm seeing mentioned again and again is this idea of music lodges, which appear to be pretty popular out on the west coast. they're basically just a regular gathering of musicians who are looking to find ways to think outside the box and expand their songwriting chops. it's also a good way for the group to give itself projects to work on as homework and the regular meeting structure provides deadlines to motivate those of us who can never quite seem to start/finish writing a song.
i'm pondering doing a monthly (for starters) music lodge project and helping facilitate whatever might need to be facilitated logistics-wise. this email is a feeler to gauge the level of interest in this sort of thing. here are some ideas for music-immersion projects (i can't take credit for any of these):
-the hat. everyone puts an idea for a song on a piece of paper and sticks it in a hat. we pass the hat around and everyone picks an idea out of the hat. write this song and present it at the next get-together.
-20 songs. this is a weekend-long competition which begins on saturday morning. the purpose of the competition is to see who can write the most songs in 24 hours. finish up sunday morning, catch up on sleep sunday afternoon, and we get together sunday evening and play what everyone came up with and find out who the winner is.
-worst song contest. write the worst song you possibly can. we'll take a vote to see who wins the coveted "worst song" award.
-jam sessions with ideas borrowed from improv comedy. for instance, 2 or 3 members jam for the rest of the group. the non-playing folks will periodically shout out instructions which the improvers must follow. or an adaptation of the standard setting/relationship/task improv games for songwriting (e.g. subject/instrument(s)/genre).
-lyric-writing exercises. automatic writing, freewriting, etc. maybe a series of timed exercises followed by going around the room and sharing our results with the group.
those are just some possible ideas--there are tons of others out there. the main goal is to come up with fun and challenging exercises that would be beneficial to all musicians, regardless of their music style(s) or level of talent. it's also a great opportunity for folks to interact with other musicians and exchange ideas.
let me know if you're interested. if you know of anyone else who might be interested, feel free to pass this along to them. if i hear back from enough peeps, i'll see about getting something started in a month or so.