Hello Heroes is a guest blog series by the SoundCloud Heroes. Today, Syracuse SoundCloud Hero Jared of One Hello World shares his tips and experience on collaborating with folks across the pond. Heroes Ben Z. and Monica shared their tips last week. Get involved in the September collaborations going on this month!
Nothing extends the sonic and stylistic breadth of your music like a production approach unique to your own. By reaching across genre and geographical borders, I’ve met interesting creators who have graciously agreed to lend their time and touch to One Hello World’s material.
Introductions through friends and interacting with the scene on SoundCloud have all helped me to foster connections that resulted in rich collaborations. I visit the profiles of artists that I enjoy to see who they’re following. The “SoundClouder of the Day” series is a great way to audition potential collaborators.
Synthesizing my sound with that of different artists has been about emphasizing our strengths and finding creative ways to fit them together. For instance, I don’t consider myself particularly proficient in programming drums, but a lot of the British artists I’ve collaborated of late with have added some awesome beats to my tracks. I know my orchestrations pique the sonic palate of some of my new friends. The process of bringing the distinctive characteristics of two musical styles together is intriguing in itself (like a sonic puzzle to solve) and it results in some very original sounds.
From a technical perspective, I’ve found it’s helpful to share basic technical specs up-front, such as BPM (beats per minute or tempo), key signature and preferred file formats. And SoundCloud has been a great conduit to share works in progress, allowing editorial comments to be made within the track’s timeline.
U.K. Electronic Musician Collaborations
My most recent collaborations have been with artists from the U.K. electronic/ambient music scene. With broad reverb and complicated distortion effects, some tracks transport you to big, beautiful environments where others employ a mix of retro synths and aggressive LFOs. It’s a tone distinctive to what’s produced here in the US, and given the international themes of my project, one that was a real trip to work with. Give them a listen:
SoundCloud Community Collaborations – August 2012
Continuing SoundCloud Heroes-led collaborations, August’s theme was “road trip of sounds.” We pooled together stems that reminded us of long drives, cheap thrills and good friends:
September’s SoundCloud Community Collaboration Theme: Autumn
The feeling of a crisp, cool wind blowing through your favorite sweater. The smell of freshly fallen leaves, crushed beneath your boots. The taste of cinnamon in a steaming mug of apple cider. What does autumn sound like to you? What are some of your favorite autumn sounds?
Anybody can be a part of the SoundCloud Community Collaborations. Here’s how:
1. By September 16th, upload your stems to SoundCloud with the tag “SCC0912”.
2. Take a listen to the stems submitted by other users. Download your favorites.
3. Compile your stems into your autumn remix/mixtape/podcast/whatever.
4. Share your track here by September 30th. Don’t forget to credit stem creators: http://soundcloud.com/groups/soundcloud-heroes-collaborations
We’ll post a follow up blog highlighting submissions in early October. Happy autumnal sound making!
