Nur Ein V Round One "Stranded"

[Caravan Ray]

If I was in the competition, which I have been in the past, I would WANT the judges to be telling me how they are seeing it. Easier for me to pander.

Sid Denison has far too much artistic integrity to pander to the petty whims of these so-called "judges". He suffers for his art and fully expects the judges to do likewise.

[BenKrieger]

Hooks are overrated. Long live power electronics.

[JonPorobil]

Very few of the entries this week had what I would consider catchy hooks, both musically and especially lyrically. It was pretty disappointing-- a lot of samey-samey sounding songs (uniform texture and style the whole way through, lack of variation between sections), a lot of lyrically rambly songs. It's like many of you have very detailed ideas you're trying to execute (lyrically), but when it comes to crafting a catchy interesting phrase you run out of time or aren't inspired, or something else.

At the risk of sounding arrogant...

This is also a major consideration for me when I write (and review). When I'm listening, I frequently wonder whether I'll remember the song after it ends. All too often, the answer turns out to be No. When I'm writing, I ask myself the same thing, as much as I can: will someone remember this song after they've finished listening to the 20-30 other songs with this same title? If I'm really really lucky, sometimes the answer is Yes. More often, it's a No.

I put together a list of songs a while back that have this quality. I periodically think of something I've been meaning to add to it, but rarely do I reach the computer with it still on my mind. I keep telling myself that, out of the literally thousands of songs on Songfight, I want mine to stand out - the same way those earworms stand out from the BILLIONS of songs that have been played for the BILLIONS of people in the world - and the way to do that is to bottle the lightning that went into some of these. Make it feel like those words and that melody were just lying there, ready-made for someone to stumble upon them. That stuff is hard, and accordingly, very few people manage it, either on Songfight, or in the world at large.

That said, four people came in ahead of me this round, so either I'm not doing it right (yet), or my priorities don't line up with those of (at least four of) the judges.

So if there's anything I would like to hear in the next round, it's some lines that I want to quote. Gimme some kinda cowabunga or eat my shorts moment.

So... a semi-non-optional second challenge: catchy hook! Man, though, is that easier said than done. *gets to work*

And way too many of you have good instrumentation but TERRIBLE TERRIBLE SINGING. Or even decent singing but TERRIBLE TERRIBLE VOCAL RECORDING TECHNIQUE. It's frustrating to hear a nice piano sound coupled to somebody singing into the left earpiece of Walkman headphones from 1983. Not that you're required to have fantastic equipment, but if you can't execute a slick vocal sound then you should consider "roughing up" your instrumental sound. Work with your equipment to achieve a cohesive production, whatever the fidelity.

JB

This is another thing that's easier said than done. When I first started recording, I was completely mystified about how to get my recordings to NOT sound like I just sang over a karaoke track. The problem has gotten less bad over the years, but it's still there, I think. That last advice might work wonders for some of the survivors. If you're recording on crappy equipment, it might be better for the song overall to "nerf" the rest of your sound in favor of tonal consistency. I wish someone had told me that YEARS ago.