Outside of my own project and inviting others to collaborate on said project, I have also found myself giving time to a few others in their projects. Collaborating in this way is vital for many reasons. In my opinion, the main thing is that helping others is just something you should do as long as it isn’t at significant cost to yourself, so if somebody needs you to come across and check over what lyrics they’ve written or listen to a section of their song, you shouldn’t hesitate to do so. Removing yourself from the stress of your own work and assisting in someone else’s also offers a welcome break with much less pressure. Lastly, the more you help other people, the more chance you have of them lending you a hand when called upon – the importance of collaboration can’t be understated.
Unfortunately I don’t have any evidence for this as it is tough to reasonably acquire but, like in an example previously stated, I listened to the songs of my peers and gave my thoughts. With Blake, I mentioned that I really enjoyed where he was at in the earlier stages and his bassline was of particular interest; I also gave some ideas as to what structure he could head down with the parts he already had in front of him but, unfortunately, I haven’t followed up so I am of sure how that progressed and if my words altered his direction in any way. In future, I should take the time to follow up and see how things have got on, it’s helpful to catch up and it would’ve then offered Blake the chance to have my perspective once again, should he have chosen to ask for it.
Later on, I also listened to Harry’s track “Zombie Attack” after he asked me to give him some feedback. Whilst Scremo – a combination of the Screamo and Emo genres – isn’t my cup of tea, I still managed to point out positives and negatives. I told him that it isn’t something I’d seek out, but I did enjoy it enough for it to be a fun listen, which is a good thing when it comes from someone who isn’t interested in the genre at all. What I told him to reconsider was the harmonies during the chorus. He had no automation in the mix at this point so when both vocals were singing at the same time (as opposed to singing in canon) it became unreasonably loud as both parts combined. My suggestion to solve this was to automate the levels so both vocals were a bit quieter on their own, but together they would still play at around the same level as a solo vocal track elsewhere. Harry’s suggestion was to pan the vocals, one to the left and one to the right, this spreads the sound out so it isn’t overbearing and offers a much more interesting solution that benefits the song. I am happy that he asked me to come to listen as that shows trust, and not only that but to take my advice on board and come up with his own solution.
I wouldn’t call myself a songwriter necessarily but when I saw Leoni was struggling with her lyrics I offered my assistance. We had the central piece of inspiration with cherry blossom trees, so I had u figure out what a basic plot, idea, or progression could be for us to branch out from. Leoni told me about a Japanese tradition of first dates taking place nearby cherry blossoms so I had us stay with that as the main plot point, I figured we could set the scene in the first verse, letting us expand on the story in the second verse and the bridge. My first contribution turned out to be the chorus and then I offered some visual ideas with very poetic language that could be a bit over the top, looking back on it, but it gave us a foundation to build upon. We had a few sessions where we brainstormed and we came up with some good ideas but Leoni turned to our tutors for more experienced thoughts, and that’s where this collaboration was finalised. I did follow up with her this time and I must say it is a strange feeling having lyrics that u helped write become part of a song which has been fully recorded, produced, and mixed, but it was very satisfying to have played a role and be entrusted with such a key component of her project.