Thursday 12 February 2015

How Amazing! I am so excited to take the 6 week SAC song challenge 2015!

The 2015 challenge is to collaborate with others to pitch a song to Matt Dusk! I love him & his music! I met him when he played in Montreal, and Theresa Sokyrka opened for him. His voice is a low bass, and he reminds me of Michael Bublé (also a crooner).

The challenge is to write a song for him where he can change his style of crooner into something more contemporary.

My opening thoughts are to give myself some homework:

1. Familiarize myself with the songs he likes (my favourites are “All of Me” and “Get Lucky”) but I need to get to know the other artists.

The Big Bang by Rock Mafia
Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People
Get Lucky by Daft Punk (“that cool groove really works for me”)
He says we can take it down tempo to:
All of Me by John Legend
Lana Del Rey’s music

2. Get to know the online songwriting community, everyone’s strengths.

3. Familiarize myself with Matt’s music, biography, and interests.

4. Introduce myself to the community, and propose collaborations. Be accepting of anyone who proposes to work with me, and realistic about the time commitment. Be open and helpful, don’t take rejections personally, and be prepared to say “no” if there are any issues regarding compatibility (e.g. when our skills are too similar), or time issues.

4. Come up with an idea: a subject/motif/chorus/melody/theme/title, brainstorm, make suggestions, listen to ideas and suggestions from others.

5. Note that I can do any of the above steps in any order, or concurrently.

To start here is how I am visualizing my initial song construction ideas:

I am thinking about violins and harps and an orchestra, having the high-pitched strings and woodwinds to accompany the low bass voice of Matt Dusk. I am thinking about an easy listening style (cool groove), and I am also thinking of a happy/sexy atmosphere (e.g,. “Get Lucky”). For song construction, I am visualizing four voices, (soprano, alto, tenor) quietly playing in the background with strong emphasis on the bass vocals. I would love to throw a mix of languages into the song (e.g. English, French, and Spanish).

We’ll see what kind of ideas come about and how my initial thoughts may be transformed after doing my homework, as listed above!

Happy Songwriting and Best wishes to everyone!