Hey.

[tallcotton]

I'm new to songstuff. I'm hoping to find at least one person to work with me. I have maybe a few dozen songs--lyrics with melodies, mostly in the bluegrass/county-ish vein. My goal is to find someone with whom to produce demos good enough to peddle, especially bluegrass songs. 

 

Making money isn't my purpose. I would just like for other people to enjoy these songs. All of them are good to very good. One or two of them might be great, with the right production. 

 

Most were written quite a few years ago. I'm at least semi-retired now and finally have time to devote to this. The only reason I have these songs is that they just popped into my head from time to time. I have always had a strong creative streak, and I like (some of the) music in all genres, but it has never been a big part of my life.  

 

I have a couple of songs that are from the female perspective and a couple more that could be performed by female a (without any gender-bending). To be clear, this isn't about hoping for romance. I'm past all that.  

 

I don't play an instrument, though I can use a guitar to work out a basic chord progression for a melody. I don't really have  a voice good enough for even a 'finished demo. One thing I have learned is that a demo can be simple, but it has to be 'professional grade' in every respect. The days of scratchy demos on a basic recorder are past. I think in part the publishers and all want to see how much their supplicants are willing to put into it, even if being a performer isn't the goal. 

 

I also have a Christmas song that is neither bluegrass nor country--or pop. Actually, it would be a great song for a chorus to perform. In my head, it has lots of cascading tubular bells. 

 

So. Anyone here interested in giving it a shot? 

[John W Selleck]

Hi,

Welcome, and nice intro. You will do best here if you help us by filling in a bit more of your profile, what you do, lyricist/singer songwriter/musician/composer/etc., your musical influences, etc. Then comment on other's works, and then post some of your own. Share. That  way all of us get to know each other better.

With that said, if you are willing to spend a little money, and keep all the song rights yourself, I have a guy that can help you out, if you don't find someone here. Just PM me. He works cheap because he loves music. He knows male and female singers. Here are a couple he did for me. https://www.soundclick.com/music/songInfo.cfm?songID=5699941

https://www.soundclick.com/music/songInfo.cfm?songID=7074025

 

 

[AnikaShea]

Hi.  I would say give it a week or two at least. So many people join and then bail after like a day, but you can find opportunities here if you keep looking. Within like a week after I joined, I had projects up the ying yang (Which is very uncomfortable. I wouldn't recommend putting them in your ying yang). And I think finished songs need to be really well-produced these days. If you want them to go anywhere. But don't take demos too seriously. I think as long as they get your idea across, they're fine. All my demos sound like garbage, haha.

[john]

Hi and welcome to the Songstuff family!
 

Any community will take a little investment of time, to get to meet people, for them to become aware of you. My comments here apply to Songstuff and pretty well anywhere else. Like @John Selleck suggests, improve your chances by interacting, by filling in your profile, by taking an interest in other members. It goes a long way to people taking time out of busy schedules to check out your stuff and gauge if you are someone they want to work with, it is that last one that people often don’t consider. The less serious or experienced the potential collaborators, the more likely they are to skim over that question. They just don’t know yet how important a question it is.

 

In other words, inexperience tends to lead to lots of initial bites and unrealistic enthusiasm. Impatience can also fuel it. However, from experience, that often sets up failed working relationships, arguments and a whole load of negative stuff you can do without.

 

Better for you and for our other members that people at least attempt to get to know each other while they familiarise themselves with each other’s previous work, skills and experience.

 

As @AnikaShea says, give it time... but I would also say, some effort. True some join, make a single post then bail. Some of those do return. But we have a load of people with thousands of posts under their belt. A load of very experienced music creators among our members who often go through periods of activity and inactivity depending on their own projects.

 

Experienced  writers, arrangers, producers, musicians, might be interested but busy. Before many dive in, they want to know who you are, what you are like. Are you easy to talk to or argumentative? Do you have a lot of creative ideas? Can you work with others? How do you respond to criticism. Of course they don’t need all the answers... but they do try to gauge what they can before they dive in.

 

That you speak passionately and reasonably is a good thing. Perhaps take an interest in the work of others, post some critique, ask some questions. It goes a long way.

 

People everywhere weigh people up.  Don’t be disheartened. Also don’t be so keen to jump into working with someone that you only go where you get a lot of response. The qualities of the collaborators is much more important than the number.

 

I love collaborating, I just get very little time.