Multilingual, Multinational Collaboration Project! (17 languages so far!)

Hellooo!  This is a quick post.  I just wanted to briefly share about a project that I’m so happy and proud to be a part of.  A friend and fellow singer/songwriter named Ian Melvin wrote this beautiful song a while back called “If I know You”.  His original version was acoustic guitar.  Another singer did a cover with the piano and in Russian.  That sparked a worldwide collaboration!  Others were invited to cover the song in their own languages and post them on Soundcloud.  Now, there are 17 different versions from 17 different singers in 17 different parts of the world (and more translations are on their way!).  Here is a link where you can hear all of the ones posted so far:

 

Today, I added my version to the mix and that is in Spanish.  You can hear that version here:

 

I’m not an expert at translating, but I did try to keep to the original wording as much as possible.  Hope you take the time to listen to ALL the versions!  It is so beautiful to hear everyone singing the same song but in their own unique way:)

Have a wonderful Sunday all!

 

Poetic Remixes….. How Collaborating Makes You Dig Deeper

Hellooooo! Been M.I.A. for a bit.  I have been a little busy with family things, so I have not had the opportunity to sit down and share what has been going on.  At the beginning of the month, the Soundcloud Heroes group that I am a part of launched a new community collaboration project called the National Poetry Collaborations on Soundcloud this month.  We asked people to contribute one single line of their favorite poetry and offer it up to the rest of the SC community to be used to create a completely new remixed poem using various lines from different users.  In addition, musicians and producers could take those and add their own original compositions to the mix.  So far, we have had quite a few pieces contributed and they are waaay beyond what I had anticipated.

What I loooove so much about community collaborations is that it forces everyone involved to push past their own boundaries, try something new, and dig deeper.  Awesome!  Now, here are a few select poetry remixes (including my own) for you to check out.  It is not too late to join the project and submit some sounds of your own or to give your hand a try at a remix.  Here is the link with more details about how to join:  http://soundcloud.tumblr.com/post/46955630575/this-is-a-guest-post-by-soundcloud-hero-monica

Enjoy, share, and join!  (p/s – still putting my album together, trying to figure out how to add some new techniques and organic sounds into the mix at the moment)

Popicho’s remix:

Zefora’s remix:

My remix:

In the Mood….for Love (video)

Helloooo!  Well, I have some good news.  I think that I have finished the writing portion of the album I’m putting together:).  Of course, that may change.  But, for now, I think I’ve said what I wanted to say.  Now, the hard part of tracking/recording, adding backup vocals, adding other instruments, missing, mastering, etc, etc, etc.  Ay ya!  Lots to do.  But, I promise you this, I am enjoying myself.  So, I thought I’d share one of the songs that may (or may not) make the cut for the album.  It is actually one that I wrote to accompany a track that a fellow SC Hero/Producer, Jaze Baqti made.  I love that version, it has a different tone than this acoustic version though.   I included both my video/acoustic version and the produced/audio version so that you can compare.  Here you go, may you feel the love: and pass it on!

 

 

Btw, don’t forget! This is the last week to join the “Audiobiography ” project put out by the Soundcloud Heroes!

Audiobiography Re-Cap! Help us reach 5,000 by March 31st!

Helloooo! Time for an update! In case you missed when I first announced the launching of the Soundcloud Heroes community collaboration project called Audiobiography a while back, let me refresh your memory.  We, the Soundcloud Heroes, put out collaborative projects for people in the SC community to get involved in.  All of them are centered around the sharing of sounds. Audiobiography is the latest project and is still underway.

We asked people to share a sound, any sound, that expressed who they were and what was important to them.  People have chosen to do spoken word, an interview-type format, a musical composition, or all three of those combined! Our goal is to reach 5, 000 contributors by March 31st.  We haven’t met our goal yet, but we’ve had some wonderful, creative submissions so far! Every week one of the Heroes members has been curating everyone’s submissions and doing a re-cap on the Hello Heroes feature on the Soundcloud blog.  Here is last week’s re-cap.

And…here is a re-posting of the piece I submitted:

As we are reaching the half-way point for the month and nearing the end of the project, I encourage you to visit the blog and check out the submissions that have been turned in.  Hopefully they will move you, make you laugh, and INSPIRE you to do an Audiobiography of your own.  We tried to make it as easy as possible to participate.  Here are the basic steps from Soundcloud’s Hello Heroes blog:

• Record or creatively share a sound that describes and answers the question: who are you and what’s important to you? Perhaps it’s a freestyle rap, or a recording that features your latest piano composition as background music. Keep the track to ~90 seconds.
• Name the track Audiobiography with your name, as such “Audiobiography: Ben Z.” Add a description.
• Tag the track “audiobio” and upload.
• If you have the Spotlight feature, pin the sound to the top of your profile. You can also add the sound to your profile’s description under your

For more on the steps and to get the translations of the details of the project in another language, please see this post.  Tell your story through sound and help us reach our goal of 5, 000 by March 31st!

Audiobiography: Share Your Life Through Sound

The Soundcloud Heroes, the group of creatives of which I have the honor to be a part of, have just launched a massive collaborative project called Audiobiography! Get to know the people behind the sounds, and share some of your own sounds.   The goal is to get as many people we possibly can to create and share their own, unique AUDIO-biography by March 31st!  We are going to be listening to/curating them all and will be featuring some on Soundcloud’s official blog.  It is a great way to “e-meet” people from all over the world and to let people in on who you are and what matters most to you.  There have been some thoughtful and incredibly inventive pieces submitted so far.  Here are a few that I really liked that are good examples:

https://soundcloud.com/kellyanne-1/audiobiography-kellyanne

https://soundcloud.com/jackson-cafazzo/my-audiobiography-at-cyan-pdx

I invite you to join in the project!  Make your own audiobiography and invite your friends to do the same.  Here’s how: http://blog.soundcloud.com/2013/02/06/audiobiography/

I have done my own audiobiography as well.  If you care to know who I am, I think this gets to the core:

Hope to hear your audiobiography and get to know more about you!