Eureka!

Ever wanted to impact the world through words, song…?

Well, dear family of writers…we have a grand platform Right Here for bringing those words to life on a worldwide scale…and for ‘fulfilling each other’s needs’.

What do I mean? What I mean is…

Have an original rhythm, beat (music), Desire words? => Post it here.
Have words, Desire rhythms, beats or accompaniment? => Post it here.
Have the ability to sing and just need words to actually sing? => Post it here.

Beyond “posting it here”, we can…
Have eduForums on it,
Talk on skype about it,
Blog, twitter, and create facebook, orukut, and or google groups about it.
Oh, the beauty of technology…

So if you were one of the one’s saying to yourself, “What does she mean? Where is she going with this?”, Do you get the idea now?

Get it???

Got it???

*GOOD! => Post talents & desires here

Translate this post into as many languages as possible!!! Let’s get to it!

I believe that I have a talent. I was in a choir for 12 years as the lead bass, and usually am asked to sing at local events.

“Have the ability to sing and just need words to actually sing? => Post it here”
Well to me it sounds soooooo interesting, I’m a musician I play in a band and we write our own songs but I would love to sing somebody else’s composition, specially lyrics. You know, put different minds (thoughts) together and see what comes out of it. So if anyone would like to give it try, let me know. Many things I’d write about music which is definetly my biggest passion but I thought the post would be too long and it makes it boring, so if you’d like to know something more you can just ask me. =) Peace.

ah and I can’t forget to say I’m all about singing in different languages, it’s a lot of fun!

Is anybody interested in interpreting my attempt at jazz guitar? I’ll take a stock rhythm and interpret/comp over it. You take it and do some free-style or skat singing over top of it. I’ll send you the general phrasing (like “so what” for Miles Davis improv.) which you might use as a chorus line. We might get someone to help us with the verse. Get it back to the group and let others add layers on top of it (sax, trumpets, piano, etc). Pretty soon we should have something that is rather interesting.

This is pretty much what I was thinking about but I wanted to get the quality of my recordings and editing down a little better.

How do we share audio files? I don’t think files can be attached to messages so we’ll have to use another site like Twitter, FB, or YouTube. Later we might work something else out but for now lets use the free resources out there.

@Dave: so now it seems that we’re on similar pages now….and we’re definitely in the same book! and in the illustrious words of David Sedaris in his book Me talk pretty one day about an american struggling to learn speak french from an astoundingly verbally abusive teacher…

…“I know the thing that you speak exact now. Talk me more, you, plus, please, plus.”

on another note…
the idea for this forum thread came to me out of need for a solution to a question that’s addressed right below in the “@Everyone” section ….but as the idea grew & expanded to " + Musicians", i thought of u. so, i’m glad u found it :-}…because i’ve been too rushed to send it to u personally.
_{~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~}~
@Everyone (Aemilia, Austin, Dave, and All future ’Voices’): after hearing that by law, if one were to sing a song for pay, a song that is owned by some record label/co., by law that person would be obliged to forward part of that pay to the song owner….i then thought….i’ll have to start using my own (songs) in the classes i host….

then, the issue was….i’ve yet to write a complete song in japanese, and have just 1 song written totally in spanish which was a collaboration with one of my boricua (puerto rican) sisters. so,…..

then came the idea to solicit poems&songs of people i know or have access to….people who would be more than happy! to have me use their songs in class….“Liiiiiiike….mmm….people on edufire. Eureka!”
(btw, that’s the 1st time in life that the word ‘eureka’ has ever popped into my mind.)

the thought-stream continued….“….it would/could be an opportunity to get songs, positive messages spread….Worldwide….Internationally….”

Can we all just imagine that for a moment….

an everyday undiscovered artist who just happens to be on edufire….who writes a song with a positive world-focused, widely-relatable (yes, i said widely-relatable) message. a tutor start using it in class and the song, naturally, automatically & suddenly, gets international exposure….

Can we say _*"practically free publicity"*? _ any takers?

Now, i’m compelled to say….“Oh, the wonder of technology.”

so that’s how the idea for the post “cropped up”….

But….

as i thought about it, the idea just became bigger & bigger and as i’m one to be all-inclusive by nature (vs. what i’m doing with my classes now i.e. temporarily exclusive when deemed necessary….with the expressed purpose of actually bring everyone closer)….since i naturally desire to bring Everyone & Everything Together as 1….shazam! …out came that post.

since i do still have a very specific desire, i may make a separate post focused on the specific short term goals that i have. but i’m glad i posted this to start the ball rolling.

p.s. my sincere appreciation for/to you, Aemilia, Austin, and Dave…for responding… And to all who respond from this day forward.

So…
keep the posts coming! because *たぶん・tabun…."The world needs us, the artistic ones, more than we all realize.

*For the meaning of たぶん・tabun, check out the link below:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080626094143AAdOhvU
and…
For a comical explanation of the word + other insights into Japanese culture through the eyes of a comedian, check out “Dave Barry Does Japan” by Dave Barry.
http://www.amazon.com/Dave-Barry-Does-Japan/dp/0449908100

On a radio station I’m working on right now, while we are starting we are not going to concern ourselves with IP rights etc until we get a cease-and-desist. I’m not a lawyer but this sounds like a reasonable approach.

If you, like me, are dreaming of one day making money at music then listen to Ludacris’ song “tell it like it is” on “release therapy”. (That is my 2nd fav on that CD, “runaway love” being #1)

On a side note; 10 years ago, music was only way of relaxing. I promised myself I wouldn’t ruin that by trying to make money with it. Well, now I’m better and possibly ready to take it to the next step. So why hold back because something I thought under different circumstances?

If you want a comedy that explores cultural differences try Tim Allen’s “I’m not really here” that seems to focus on Quantum physics, eastern philosophy, and eastern cultures. His other book, “don’t stand too close to a naked man”, is an interesting exploration of gender differences and the battle of the sexes.

Oh, I also answered your post in “the ’n word ….” thread since I thought that is what you referred to in your message. I almost felt like I intruded on yours conversation with Sean. Sorry if that was the case.

@Dave no intrusion felt on “the ‘n’ word….” post :) and big ups for those book & song titles.

re: “I’m not a lawyer but this sounds like a reasonable approach.” was that to what you said, or to something i said?

@Everyone a song we may enjoy by the o’jays. i just randomly heard it while watching mpt (maryland public tv). i’m thinking to have that playin in the background b4 and/or during class.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5vYj-WOen0&feature=PlayList&p=D34151E4295FA6CA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=32

Enjoy!

re: re: “I’m not a lawyer but this sounds like a reasonable approach.” was that to what you said, or to something i said?

I was saying that you may not need to worry about having to pay the label …. just yet.

you:
“after hearing that by law, if one were to sing a song for pay, a song that is owned by some record label/co., by law that person would be obliged to forward part of that pay to the song owner….i then thought….i’ll have to start using my own (songs) in the classes i host….”

me:
On a radio station I’m working on right now, while we are starting we are not going to concern ourselves with IP rights etc until we get a cease-and-desist.

@Dave alrighty….that somewhat eases some apprehension. at the same time, i’ll be saving the ‘covers’ for free classes and doing originals in for pay classes….because part of me, as an artists, believes the original artists actually deserve the….i’ll call it ‘the kickback’.

best case scenario would be to get connected with the artists whose songs i’d like to share with more people! that, i’d LOVE!

<sending a little birdie to whisper into marco c’s ear>

since marco’s may have some connections and is somewhat familiar w/ ‘my’ singing voice….maybe he can assist in the connections <grin>

Yes, they deserve it. I too am an artist, but I can argue that everybody (including the orig artist and the label) is better off if I succeed and can pay.

Maybe I am just justifying my actions to that voice in the background that questions all my motives and supports all my fears. But usually that voice needs to be ignored.

One way to balance this is to only use anothers efforts at the absolute last resort and look for MP3s that the artist is giving away. Maybe they want to promote their latest CD by releasing a single or the whole CD in a lower quality MP3s. Maybe they need to get more name recognition and want people to listen to them or maybe they have philosophical reasons to want to share their work with the world.

it’s all good. what i say about what i think is best for me is just that, for me. in other words, there was no judgment about whether ur plans were right or wrong…. and that’s why i say/said, “it’s all good”.

i do like what was expressed in that last section of ur last post. i appreciate those ideas. offered me a different perspective, got me into a different paradigm. ….good stuff.

I think it’s a great idea. I like how there’s so much going on here. Regarding the copyright issue, folks might want to look up public domain songs if they don’t have enough material of their own. I know more about public domain lit than music, but I know the info is out there.
Regarding sharing of files, try Drop.io. They make it very easy to upload audio files to the internet. It’s not searched — you give out the link to those you want to have it. They’re sort of the ‘Google Docs’ of audio, making it easy to do online collaboration. If you use Audacity to record, and then upload to Drop.io, it becomes an inespensive enterprise.

Good stuff, Karen! all of that is new info to me.

question: have you ever recorded something using audacity? again, it’s all new territory to me so i’d like to be as aware as possible before using it….or anything else like it.

question 2: so what drew u to this thread? are u a poet/songwriter?

This is to everybody — but especially to Jamilla, who had some comments and questions. I’ve recorded a few things on Audacity, an open source audio program. I downloaded it recently after finally getting a computer again that had working audio. (There are instructions on downloading/using Audacity at a site called Librivox.) I’m not an expert at using Audacity, but it’s worked well for basic stuff. After years of sometimes reading at writer’s groups or coffee house, and of course reading to children I teach, I started recording/uploading two things, public domain childrens’ literature and excerpts of my writing. For now, I’m using them on my blogs and lesson plan pages. I wish I had the skill to be a musician, but I don’t. (I do sing a couple lines at the close of one of my prose pieces, but they’re probably off-key.)

Jamila etc., there is a website — http://www.pdfoundation.org — that is devoted to showcasing music and musicians working for social change. They also do sponsor a contest, as well as participate in some good works.

*chuckling at the last line of ur 2nd to last post.

good info again….’ppreciate that, sis.