And Now For Something Completely Thematic

June 21, 2007 12:19 PM

Announcing the Metafilter Music Challenge! After a discussion here last month, we're starting up an opt-in theme-based challenge over at Music. A bit more inside!
posted by cortex (staff) to MetaFilter Music at 12:19 PM (41 comments total)

We've put together some basic guidelines, in that main link, and there's a box at the top of Music to keep the challenge nice and visible to visitors. Thanks to all the folks who discussed it last month, and particularly to chuckdarwin for broaching the subject and being tenacious about it.

Any specific suggestions/concerns/corrections relating to the summary or anything else? Bring it on.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:22 PM on June 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

I love how many times you point out that it's optional. How, exactly, would you go about making it mandatory?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:23 PM on June 21, 2007

"Ve haf veys uv makink yu singgggg!"
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:24 PM on June 21, 2007

Heh. The text could use some tightening up, probably—that's pretty much the first draft.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:25 PM on June 21, 2007

Flo writes:"I love how many times you point out that it's optional. How, exactly, would you go about making it mandatory?"
The answer is: "By offering an iPhone as first prize."
posted by Cranberry at 12:44 PM on June 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

So this contest, it's optional?
posted by grouse at 1:01 PM on June 21, 2007

Do I have to?
posted by Pollomacho at 1:09 PM on June 21, 2007

It's been an hour, where are the damn songs? Create people, create!
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:20 PM on June 21, 2007

Sooo what is the theme, anyhow?
posted by miss lynnster at 1:26 PM on June 21, 2007

No pressure, Chief, or I'll get my mate cortex to ban you.

I'm thrilled it got started, but next time I'll have to bribe jessamyn to get her to suggest an easier theme.
posted by micayetoca at 1:27 PM on June 21, 2007

The theme is water, miss lynnster you can see it here.
posted by micayetoca at 1:28 PM on June 21, 2007

Perhaps there should be a single tag that is unique to the contest, like mefimusicchallenge_water (or MMC_water)?
posted by eddydamascene at 1:29 PM on June 21, 2007

I was hoping the theme would be "country sky razorblades" - I already have two verses and a bridge.

hmmmm....bridge....water.....nah, too obvious.
posted by malocchio at 1:36 PM on June 21, 2007

There's no need, since you can search on two tags simultaneously.
posted by Rhomboid at 1:37 PM on June 21, 2007

I thought about that a bit, eddydamascene. I prefer the two tags for a couple specific reasons:

1. having the theme tag be a plain descriptor makes it a lot more searchable for random tag-diving—checking out the "water" tag lets you stumble across both challenge and non-challenge posts that happen to be water-related
2. using a single, challenge-wide tag for theme posts makes it easy to search for theme posts as a group with one tag.

If instead of "mefimusicchallenge" and "water" we instead used only "MMC_water", we'd end up losing both of those capabilities.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:37 PM on June 21, 2007

Would it be a good idea to say who makes up the themes? Or would that just make people moan to that person that the theme is lame this biweek?

I'm in favor of just being moaned at, if it comes to that. It'll probably be a few iterations—and hence a couple months—before we really know what's working and what needs changing, including theme selection. If we find ourselves using a theme suggested by this or that person, we might say as much as a credit-due sort of thing, but I really don't know if it matters enough to make a disclaimer.

Right now, the summary page just mentions that admins make the final choice of theme, which is probably sufficient.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:40 PM on June 21, 2007

Since this is the first time it's being done, maybe you could splash it across the top (or somewhere) of all MeFi subsites? People noted in the last discussion that there might be people who would do Music stuff but might not know about it, so a general universal message about the first challenge might draw in some new blood, especially from the massive casual AskMe base. Just the first one, though, to get the word out.
posted by Sangermaine at 2:04 PM on June 21, 2007

There's no need, since you can search on two tags simultaneously.

I FAIL AT INTERNETS

but I shall win your little contest.
posted by eddydamascene at 2:13 PM on June 21, 2007

I added it to the sideblog for now.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:25 PM on June 21, 2007

Metafilter: We've got OPTIONS!
posted by blue_beetle at 2:28 PM on June 21, 2007

This first challenge will force me to finish the 14 minute collage of different people urinating in different bathrooms with different tape recorders. It's gonna be a relief to finally finish it.
posted by sleepy pete at 2:56 PM on June 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

Just don't cut my solo, man. I worked hard on that.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:58 PM on June 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

. . . a relief . . . heh. sleepy pete said "a relief" about peeing.

I can't do songs or music. Only words, and not even those, a lot of the time. Dammit, creative people! You mock me again!
posted by cgc373 at 3:01 PM on June 21, 2007

urine luck, cortex - you made the cut
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:02 PM on June 21, 2007

Not to jack this discussion, but is there a way to play random music from mefimusic? Sort of like a mefimusic jukebox with an endless amount of quarters?
posted by Big_B at 3:16 PM on June 21, 2007

Anyone else find it a bit odd that cortex's Metatalk post is the only Metatalk post from today that has not been closed? Interesting.....
posted by dios at 3:24 PM on June 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

I was just going to post a MetaTalk thread about that...
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:27 PM on June 21, 2007

If you did, what do you think would have happened to it? :)
posted by danb at 4:01 PM on June 21, 2007

I'm just...

*wipes away tear*

I'M JUST SO HAPPY!
posted by buriednexttoyou at 4:37 PM on June 21, 2007

I'm really sick of the indifferent piss contest that is Songfight, so this is tremendous news.
posted by potch at 4:43 PM on June 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

*wonders how best to keep splashing bathwater off 700 dollar microphone*
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:51 PM on June 21, 2007

flapjax, do what I do... use five dollar microphones.
posted by lekvar at 6:34 PM on June 21, 2007

talking about closing, oh you better believe that's a closin'
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:08 PM on June 21, 2007

Anyone else find it a bit odd that cortex's Metatalk post is the only Metatalk post from today that has not been closed?

In fairness, all of today's other posts are stupid.
posted by nanojath at 8:14 PM on June 21, 2007

Hooray! You guys rule. I'm dead chuffed, me.
posted by chuckdarwin at 1:56 AM on June 22, 2007

God, I'm such a dork. I just posted a YT COMMERCIAL for this. I have officially become lonleyboy38.
posted by chuckdarwin at 2:40 AM on June 22, 2007

*wonders how best to keep splashing bathwater off 700 dollar microphone*

Um, pantyhose?
posted by chuckdarwin at 2:43 AM on June 22, 2007

*wonders how best to keep splashing bathwater off 700 dollar microphone*

The secret, in my experience, is to take aggressive anti-cramping measures on your dominant splashing arm. You start to feel any more than a twinge, you switch to the nondominant side and get your assistant to rub it down with witch hazel and peppermint schnapps. (In that order and no other!) As long as the assistant's hands remain strictly above the rim of the tub, this is perfectly legal under current IUWPA* regulations. With a really talented massagist, I've been able to splash bathwater off of a Neumann U47 for up to four hours at a pop (personal best: 4:45:37).

*International Union of Wacky Performance Artists

On preview, yeah, good support hose can really make a difference. Keep you on your feet, keep that bloodflow in the splashing arm where it belongs. But I'll have you know I set that personal best wearing nothing but disco pants.
posted by eritain at 4:04 AM on June 22, 2007

I wanna participate but all I can do is sing. And not very well. I can do the karaoke thing but compared to what I've seen, that's painfully inadequate. I have in the past tried to use Acid Pro to make synthesized music and then write to that. Of the failures I recorded during my time doing that, the least embarrassing failure was called "Vicarious" but that isn't very watery.

I saw something called "Clip Bandits" the other day in YouTube. Different artists each contributed their own talents separately in video form, from different parts of the world, and all the vids get played at the same time, making a song. That'd be a fun kinda thing to try to make work, but something tells me there's others whose singing would be an improvement on my own.

I guess some are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them, and the rest of us just get to listen to greatness.

Looking forward to your river.
posted by ZachsMind at 11:47 AM on June 22, 2007

Hey, ZachsMind, if all you can do is sing, all you have to do is sing, then. Don't worry about it. I sing horrendously and people have been rather nice about it.

Post something, you'll get better with time and have fun meanwhile. That Great Big Mulp song is a great example that very cool things can come up.
posted by micayetoca at 1:02 PM on June 22, 2007

Could we put a link to the dual-tag page in the Music Challenge box on the Music homepage? Would make it easier for people to 'follow along'.
posted by chrismear at 2:30 PM on June 23, 2007