Collaborn Visions

Umm. Thanks. I'm not going to pretend I grasped all of that, but I can truthfully say I hope to work with aspiring and able musicians/composers who are a lot like yourself. Music should mean passion and passion means a relationship will have to be built, shared and maintained for success. I think I can hold things up on my end...I have to make myself refrain from caring too much as it is and just keep my mouth shut. I really can't help with the personal problems of those I "work" with. Shamefully, I have a lot to do and to get it all done I can't afford to care in such a way as to invest much time in each business relationship I will have to forge. Pretty sad what business ambitions do to you if you bite off more that you realistically reckon you can chew ably... I wish all success to you! I have got to listen to a few of your pieces...

Furtive, uncertain, timid, meek, stealthy. And if there turns out to be no official term that suits your needs, then invent it.

I like it, but I am not very picky. I will say it is a little "busy", even for my tastes, but I suppose that is part of the folksie quality. It made me think of young warriors dueling. It would make a very good background. You want to take a stab at composing for lyrics? I have about 10 minutes worth of an original, fanciful Civil War period "ballard" I wrote a few years ago. It has 16 stanzas and no chorus. I also have a decent voice, so I can send you vocal files to work from if you like. Keep at it!

To my mind, the music is a 30% determination of how good a movie is. I think that should apply at least as equally to C-Vs webcomics. I might stoop to using a music library, but it would be a waste of money in the end, and considering how much editing and cutting would need to be done for most such tracks and allowing the time factor of wading through such libraries to find well suited pieces, I doubt it could begin to be worth it even in the short term. No, I would rather pre-release a C-V webcomic without themes and scoring, rather than with ill-fitting music which will just be replaced anyway. I'm not even going to Google "music libraries"... On a $20,000 budget, that spells about $4,000 for circa 20 minutes of scoring material in the actual presentation of the webcomic episodes, mostly original and custom tailored pieces, many of them very short - 8-20 seconds - and featuring only 2-3 instruments at a time. And possibly 1-3 bonus tracts for theme and inspired songs. Successful CD releases obviously depend on original and fairly unique Intrumentals in the scoring - possibly made up of the shorter clips - and theme and inspired Songs from each episode. I expect a CD can be released every 6-8 episodes/issues. It is true that a visual medium like webcomics might not be nearly as "music driven" as film, but if the music is not alloted a role of importance, it seems to me I can hardly expect to attract a good composer for only $4,000 per production if he is aware that his music is not considered vital to the presentation. The visual material and audio dialogues should be good enough to stand alone, but I want music put to these productions that viewers would miss, if it was taken away. And you mentioned the musician being "the last wheel"? Not in many of C-Vs domestic productions. The score composer will have preliminary work almost from the start of a production. Between character and locale themes, an episode themesong and one for each of various series and whatever short "inspired" materials he want sto try out, not to mention the possibility of test pieces to experiment with different sounds to find something that fits an episode/series well. In the case of the 1.5 million dollar "ghost" budget, that would hopefully be 100+ productions on an average of at least 20 minutes of material each; which is no less than 20 hours of material... If $30,000 won't compensate most musicians for 5 hours of material, I assume it will take at least $160,000 to do so for circa 20 hours of material...which approaches 12% percent of the overall budget. And on top of that, I plan to be as generous as practically possible concerning royalties, assuming the publishing agreements are in the favor of C-V. Have I mentioned I'm not in this for the money? As long as C-Vs productions are perpetuated by its portion of sales and subscription fees, I don't intend to care who is making more of a profit that C-V. Collaborn Visions is nothing without its freelance production "staffers" and I'll never hesitate to admit it! I personally used to by - almost exclusively - soundtracks from movies. The CDs released in connection with C-V will be comprised of the better Songs written for the various productions and only the best Instrumentals. They will be self-published through a service a musician/singer friend of my recommends and available to order only through C-V, the site which might possibly be constructed to host various of the C-V produced series, and the publishing service itself if possible. Profit margins on these sales will be reasonable and might be cut as tight as practical to begin with. And you mentioned the composer being 90% responsable for a CDs content. That is cut when vocal artists are brought into the picture. And I intend to cut in on that percentage myself, by doing a good bit of melody-setting for the scores of certain productions. Which means the composer will be working to a certain extent from leading materials I provide, while retaining much freedom as to the exact nature and sound of the compositions.

Hmm. In the little picture, a single, smaller production for a larger project would run in the $10,000-20,000 range and might have a crew of up to 12 persons involved in said production to a considerable degree. No specific opportunities for royalties could be on such a small scale. In the bigger picture, that same project has an estimated ghost budget of 1.5+ million and will probably involve over 1,000 persons altogether, roughly 50-60% of them in the minimal development phases, which means that only about 40-50% of those involved would really be getting any significant sum outright. Royalties obviously come in on this scope, and the scores for a project so large can be expected to yield at least 10 commercially released CDs with their royalties to the musicians, singers and composers. How about a little feedback on the budget allotment percentage for the two above scenarios?

Just getting a feel for the traditional budget ratios...

Dear Young Prodigy; Don't count on someone finding you and recruiting you from here. Perhaps you are not... Decide exactly what media you want to compose for and go looking; music for books on tape, themes/jingles, scoring for websites, video games, flash presentations, home videos and/or CGI movies, webcomics, ect. That probably does not begin to scratch the surface of the possibilites, but you may well know that already. You don't want/expect money, so someone will snap you up in a hurry. What things depend on are your personal tastes and your evaluation of your abilities. Obviously, select a project(s) you can be inspired by, enjoy and feel good about being a part of. Music has great power. I hope you can make people very happy with it. Good hunting, ~ Mathew

A Collaborn Visions services and productions Resource :~: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For those interested in experimenting with composing either under inspiration or directly for written and visual materials - specifically in general regards to or in direct connection with Collaborn Visions(its various fan fiction interests, original materials and favored "out-righted" sample test materials) - such materials will be posted, linked to or otherwise offered for private "shipment" via PMs or E-mail, right here in this post, by means of future edits/updates. The view is held by myself that the preferences of each composer should be considered and honored if possible. Test materials should differ in their nature and obviously invite varied styles more than others, but it is thought that while certain materials will be better suited to certain composers, the potential and adaptiveness of each should be given equal opportunity to express themselves by the allowance of all materials to all persons. Special test excerpts will almost certainly be crafted as needs be, but no materials offered or given to one composer will be held back from any others. The nature of these test materials is as follows: Original love duet "Lilidalius Pool" ~ Centriiost Project, compose to voicings or working from voicings. Original themesongs for 3 stories & 1 RP ~ Poke`mon: "Ifaenn Theme", "With Everything You've Got", "Faithfully Follow"; SonictH: "Gotta Get Away". One rehashed and heavily remade themesong ~ "Holding Out For A Hero"(Shrek 2), rewritten end title/love theme for "Minao Strikes". One original ballad-style song ~ a fanciful piece inspired by an American Civil War painting by Gilbert Gaul titled "Faithful Unto Death". A few other complete and incomplete lyric pieces ~ for "Centriiost", "Mino Strikes" backstory, "New Worlds FF" and "Poke'mon Dozens" projects. Scene settings/scenario concepts for all content ~ Nancy Drew, Dinotopia, Centriiost, New Worlds, Original Thriller/Adventure Materials. Various rough story snippets, some published ~ New Worlds FF, Star Fox FF, SpyrotD FF. Generally polished written materials, some published ~ Poke`mon FF, Star Fox FF. A few general script snippets ~ For "New Worlds FF". A favored webcomic suitable for overall test pieces ~ New Worlds - Navigation Index {BREAKDOWN: 75% of a fan fiction nature; gaming fan fiction, web/comic fan fiction, book series fan fiction: Star Fox(major), Poke`mon(major), Sonic The Hedgehog(minor), Spyro The Dragon(minor), Nancy Drew(minor), Dinotopia(minor).} The suitability of the above materials for composing is admittedly doubtful in some cases, but that is up to each composer to decide and the needs of some are expected to be less that those of others. Some will allow for more freedom than other by the vary nature of their development status. The skill to work with exacting and specifically natured materials is assumed just as important as the ability to make inspired use of the freedoms allowed by a single scene/mood/theme which is specified. All materials privately provided or publically linked to, remain copyright solely to their respective creators/owners; all audio materials produced based thereon are copyright to their creators unless otherwise specified by the creator.

The "Definitely"s are already there, the "Definitely not!"s are arguably not worth the effort to convince. Which leaves the "Perhaps. Depends..."... "Depends" on what, exactly? I can rattle off a list of possibilities, but no need to wrack my brains and make off-the-cuff guesses what it is so much easier to be told. I assume those who voted neutrally have an idea what the "depends" means to/for them.

Even before Collaborn Visions was conceived, a need was perceived; about three weeks ago a multi-aspect listings project was launched. A week of refinements in submission requirements and things are pretty much as far as they can go without experimenting with actual applications and use. One of these aspects is "Audio On Demand". A lot about the On Demand concept and how these listings work is outlined already in the origin post for the thread. The hosting community is an open one concerning webcomics. Considering that the two major aspects of comics of all sorts are writing and art, that community is ideal for "Artists On Demand" and "Writers On Demand". "Audio On Demand" may or may not be out of place there, perhaps terribly so. I would like to keep the On Demand listing threads together in one place, but hosting here on YC.com will be very seriously considered if it is generally agreed by interested musicians and composers that this is the more practical place overall. It is obviously more appropriate... The nature and format of the Registery Entry and Profile Entry are wide open to refining for their "Audio On Demand" usage and application. I realize many things differ between visual art and music and the concerns of potential commissioners as well as the areas of interest and preferences for musicians/composers can be expected to vary. Please feel free to customize. Not with any intention to sway you one way or the other... It is much desired that Collaborn Visions can build its Audio Services and Production Division from the "Audio On Demand" listings when the time comes. Without further ado, the link: DrunkDuck: The Webcomics Community - Viewing Topic

I thank you for extending to me your seriousness. I dare not try to explain what a webcomic is, but I can provide you with a link - if you desire - to a webcomics community I am a member of and you can decide yourself. As to music, I am equally a traditionalist and a New Ager. So, to be frank, your strengths and weaknesses do not overly interest me. Your interests and preferences and your own judgements as to your strengths and where best your skills and style(s) are fitted into various of Collaborn Visions' future productions IS my concern. The sort of scoring I have in mind has nothing to do with setting a mood for a story that is not visually developed yet. As in film, where the score is just about the last phase addressed and completed, a good portion of the scoring for SSPFF processed webcomics will be done in the conclusion of a production. Testing your scoring abilities is of interest to me, but there might be better and/or more practical ways to do so. I reserve a final decision on the matter until I consider other possibilities, but I do not rule out your suggestion, as it obviously makes sense to you and even I can see the possible merits. I actually have plenty of written material to choose many test portions from, but I hesitate to throw them about casually and I am not in the habit of sending unfinished materials by private e-mail. I have published various snippet and unfinished works in many communities and I may choose instead to provide links to them. I hesitate to work privately with anyone here at this time, preferring instead to keep things public, so the options are not limited and all interested persons may be aware of developments concerning the Audio Division of Collaborn Visions and participate in discussions and freely offer their feedback about whatever they are inclined. I will be launching more Polls and threads to address my various concerns and express my interests openly. You should be able to glean much of what you are wanting to know from them, and where your questions and concerns are not addressed to your satisfaction, I welcome your saying so.

I am not looking for loops at all, but the need for them IS a possibility. I have fairly well in mind what I want, but this is not the place. Details will be presented in my Profile here and in various threads I am planning to launch on this site in the near future. No problem about private fees discussions. I have not crafted a Form for general or specific audio aspects yet. I could whip one up quick, but I would like to take time to consider. Perhaps you could offer feedback on it once you get it, because I have a tendancy to worry about unimportant details and leave important things out. And I certainly have a lot to learn about audio productions! I am trying for published and commercial productions, but private "indie" commissions are a definite possability. And, not to scare you - I trust you do not scare easily? - but the shorter Collaborn Visions productions will require up to 45 min. of score. I dare not guess how much scoring the longer productions will require... Budgets will generally be on the tight side, but I hope Collaborn Visions will catch a few breaks and I will be able to be generous, or at least accord all participants in various productions more of their rightful due. The same old story..."if"...

Dear Nikolas; Nice to know something like I have in mind is already well on its way. Webcomics are less about interactivity and "gaming" than the Screwy Lightbulb project, though. So the interactive gaming aspects are not an interest for my own conceived sort of webcomics presentation process. The primary webcomics project/production I have in mind to launch is an 5-8 year deal, so I am not looking for long term freelancers in the audio department. Collaborn Visions' Audio Division will be comprised exclusively of voluntary and freelance musicians and composers, so beyond temporary obligations to finish single and series pieces and partial or short scores, audio freelancers will come and go. Whether you want to get paid or not is your affair and your definite preference you have made clear. If you are very interested, you will simply be listed on the freelance "staff" for Collaborn Visions' Audio Division and you will be contected whenever there may be work for you. To know your general fees and rates will be a great help, but a sort of Profile form will be sent to you for you to fill out as you desire and which you can submit, should you continue to express interest.

Commissioning for scores. I cannot write music, compose, play and I do not understand much about music theory.

I want to know. I really want to know. So let me know...