Collaborations - the bad!

Have you had bad experiences with collaborations?

I am too shallow for depression or long lasting foul moods.
So I have no horror stories to offer here @Bill from November Sound

But my search continues untill I find a rotten collaboration.
I promise.

But have you had any bad collabs?
Kind regards, Gus

Wait @LePlongeur am I to understand you are trying to get involved in a lousy collaboration? 

For purposes of conversation I'm also including studio work (paid or unpaid) as "collaboration" .
     

Hi,  this quote I cut off from my statement in "Collaborations - the good!"
and put it here into the right thread.

...

But i have to state that often the personal attitudes are what a collab to me does maybe difficult..  Often there are misunderstandings and a lack of communication to synchronize with another. What i really don't like if a collab goes silent and got never finished or minimum bring it to an end, don't need to end in a 'hit' The way is the aim but bring to end was once was started and don't leave the other behind by cover it with silent......maybe a personal thing by my own to like to have this as kind of minimum  work wise standart though.

...

I've that happen @Mo  you do all this work and then ..... nothing. 

Bad experiences with collaborations - not really. Some 8 years ago i was in an online group of collaborators. we managed to finish 10 songs in a year, around the theme of the sea. After that it became a bit predictable, so we put what we had in 1 album and went our online separate ways. Still good friends online though. I guess if we would have lived nearby, it would have led to live perfomances one way or the other.

I did some studio work for someone.
I got him not one but two professional saxophonists to record a horn section for him. No sheet music mind you, I created the parts and harmonies for him.
Special microphones, all kinds of sound checks for mic placement so he could hear the "clicks of the keys" and the "sound of the air" in the recording.  ....
And yet .... when it was all done ...... hours of work......  the horns were so far back in the mix, so quiet ....  you wouldn't even know they were there.   
So much for a "pro" studio.   

What I learned from this is to always be respectful of people who I ask to record parts for me.

Always give them a featured part or solo of some sort.

Always put them forward in the mix!
If you can't turn them up then use subtractive EQ on the other tracks so they get their own space in the mix.


Some people may disagree with this. This is just what I do because I know how I feel when people don't.

Wait @LePlongeur am I to understand you are trying to get involved in a lousy collaboration? 

Yes, well to be honest @Bill from November Sound of course I’ve had some less fortunate things along the way.

I recorded a song. The person insisted he needed the individual tracks of all the parts.
I have spend three evenings to take a song apart, master the ten parts, make 5 cd’s of the parts, send them by WeTransfer. And a forth evening to put the song back together again. Only to meet with a total silence, a total absence of reaction.

If it was a rotten song or totally not to the taste of the other person? Soit! I can live with that. But no reaction to all this work? I could have written 5 songs in that space of time.

But I prefer not to think about the collabs that went sour. I will no longer take my equipment beyond the possibilities of its design and guard my frontiers better.
Better for my health and for my fun as well.
And keep good collars in mind. Yours with @Mylene, @Zedd with what’s his name and my own with Chris. To name a few.
Kind regards, Gus

Ha! I got a bit of a fright when I got a notification that I was named in this thread!!!!! Relieved to hear it’s a positive mention. I’ll pass your mention on to JB..... We’re still collaborating a lot - I don’t post them in the Kitchen (or my solo stuff) as I don’t have the time to engage here as much as I’d need to be to feel I can post. I’ve always been a firm believer in give and take when it comes to posting and reviewing.


@LePlongeur  Thanks for the mention - and lovely to ‘see’ you, Gus!!!  I’ll take this opportunity to check out your recent material... take care!!


For my part, I’ve only collaborated with a few people and they’ve all been positive experiences...


K
 

Yes, JB now I remember Jambrains. I couldn’t @Jambrains him because I couldn’t get past whathisname.
You know how much I love your music so don’t be scared again if I mention you.
@Zedd
Kind regards, Gus

Yes, JB now I remember Jambrains. I couldn’t @Jambrains him because I couldn’t get past whathisname.
You know how much I love your music so don’t be scared again if I mention you.
@Zedd
Kind regards, Gus

Hey @LePlongeur always happy to get a mention from you Gus - it was just the thread title worried me 😁😁😁!

I was worried that that would happen @Zedd   

I did some studio work for someone.
I got him not one but two professional saxophonists to record a horn section for him. No sheet music mind you, I created the parts and harmonies for him.
Special microphones, all kinds of sound checks for mic placement so he could hear the "clicks of the keys" and the "sound of the air" in the recording.  ....
And yet .... when it was all done ...... hours of work......  the horns were so far back in the mix, so quiet ....  you wouldn't even know they were there.   
So much for a "pro" studio.   

Imo THIS (from the 'collaboration' perspective) is what giving/taking is all about @Bill from November Sound .. agree!
That needs to not to be confused with giving and taking from a community angle.. So @Zedd and @Jambrains plz share your work in the kitchen!
You both are authentic and are not here to 'learn' to improve musically nor production-wise. But we ARE a listening community.. Plz share!