Anyone who wants to be part of the Pangaea's People world record setting mass collaboration get in touch, sign up (open to arts across spectrum): http://www.reverbnation.com/label/emeraldislandarts
Before you dismiss the idea, consider the possibilities if it's successful: publicity is inevitable, and that means radio plays on numerous radio stations, especially if the finished product is impressive, and that might kick start individual careers; something that is highly unlikely to happen for most of us otherwise, regardless of how talented we might be.
This is what I've been sending out to artists, but I have a lot more to add as the ideas are continually evolving. Ideas on animation, scriptwriting, etc., as well as ideas on the various ways the music can be mapped out, the multiple routes it takes from one artist to the next, genres, transitions, etc. Anyway, if you read the basics below, you will see the possible potential for what starts out as a basic concept, but can evolve and expand in unlimited ways.
There are additional ideas I have been formulating for a while, but haven't mentioned yet, and ideas that grew out of those earlier ones continue to develop. I haven't touched on any of that yet. Below is just a simplistic outline of what is actually only the starting point of something much bigger, and something revolutionary, I think! No idea is ever truly unique in this world, but ideas can be re-invented, or an idea familiar to one sphere can be applied to another; like someone discovering a certain product intended for one use can be put to a completely different use with startling, unimagined, results.
The idea behind integrating the arts in one massive project is so the finished project can be entered in film festivals, and targeted toward other media outlets too, even the business sector. It could open up a huge list of possibilities, so it makes more sense to participate, even in a small way, than dismiss the idea outright.
It will take a few months to get a line-up together before the project starts. If the response is poor, the project will obviously be dropped.
The collaboration won't just revolve around one piece of music. Depending on the number of artists who finally come on board, we could be talking up to a dozen different arrangements, each with a different theme, and there will be no set length on these arrangements.
Particular themes may appeal to particular musicians, so they may have a more prominent role in that particular arrangement, but all musicians will still appear on all arrangements. This also ensures that there isn't a single long queue of artists waiting for the work to be passed on. Circulation will be continuous, with each arrangement having artists listed in a different order.
I will need detailed information about each artist involved so the whole project can be coordinated in a way that makes it easy for everyone involved to follow guidelines, so each artist has a overall idea of how, where, and what to contribute, to complete each passage, and forward files on. If you first contact me at Reverbnation (just an initial place of contact--this is an independent project), I can give you my email address.
Here are a few possible themed examples:
1. Aliens, one billion years in the future,responding to the time capsules sent from Earth, arrive only to find a long dead planet.
Just as we, today, seek to discover why dinosaurs became extinct, the aliens set about trying to discover what brought about the extinction of all life on Earth, so they set about sequentially recreating every life form that ever existed on this planet, and every environment they existed in.
The story is littered with twists and red herrings, and the theme can be expanded in many ways, but, giving a clue to where this idea is going, it is based on the theory that time is looped.
2. The Serial Killer Killer is a computer game based on the some of the ideas found in Deathrace 2000 and HIghlander (neither of which movies appeal to me, but I couldn't help noticing some of the concepts I came up with for Serial Killer Killer can be found in these and other similar movies).
The game is all about serial killers killing each other to amass points. The amount of points you gain from a kill is dependent on how many kills your victim has been credited with. The theory is, that eventually there will only be one serial killer left (hence, The Highlander connection).The game is subsequently taken from the virtual world to the literal world, with real life serial killers bumping each other off. I haven't decided whether this should simply be for the thrill of it, or whether it's something a New World Order sponsors as a way of eliminating crime. What do you think? This is an idea that would work as a movie, a book, a computer game, a tv series, comic book, even a musical lol. Hence, the need for artists of every kind, and for bodies to co-ordinate the whole thing.
The rest of these ideas are obviously satirical, so don't necessarily make much sense.
3. The Marmite Wars: The Third World War, much to everyone's surprise, breaks out between lovers of Marmite and its arch enemies; those who loathe the stuff! The war that inspired the blockbuster movie: All Quiet on the Marmite Sandwich. And who could forget the harrowing tale of The Crucible based on the Marmite Sand Witch Trials! It may all, in hindsight, seem like a bit of joke to us in this technologically advanced age but in those days superstition reigned supreme, and Marmite spread all over the land!4a. The Alternative Fugitive: Richard Kimble's desperate search for the two-armed man responsible for killing his wife; shouldn't be too difficult in a one-armed world
4b. The Alternative Alternative Fugitive: Richard Kimble's desperate search for the two-armed man responsible for killing his wife: damn, if only this were a one-armed world, he thinks to himself!
5. Fascistnation.com: Set in the near future, Reverbnation.com successfully completes its takeover bid of Facebook, who already own half of the planet, with Google owning the other half!
OR
6. Writing an alternative score for next year's Disney release of Carson of Venus, if, that is, it actually still goes ahead.
These are just a few suggestions. I have numerous ideas in the form of partly written lyrics, but the whole thing is open to suggestions, with the most workable and promising ideas being adopted. I couldn't write a book to save my life, so just take the above as outlines. My concerns cover social, environmental, political, religious, economic, moral, ethnic, legal human and animal rights; basically, anything and everything to with the condition of mankind, and the survival of this planet. And these issues will be weaved into possible projects, even those that sound glib, and. too, the alien story is, in fact, about man (the factors that will bring about his own, and the planet's, destruction), with the alien race chronicling man's history, piecing events together (a warning in hindsight), and the idea that history repeats itself (hence the time loop, and the statement that man can't change his spots). The role of the aliens, and the time loop element, also providing an explanation of how all life began; how it got here in the first place.
The serial killer story, too, has more to it than meets the eye, and is fueled, to some extent, by the idea that karma will avenge itself in behalf of all victims; so it's about the failings of the law system, among other things, to truly redress the balance. In fact, nothing can redress the balance; revenge will only do so briefly, with the blood of the victims crying out eternally. So, although, it may, on the surface, seem like exploitation of a violent act for profit, it is littered with statements about the human condition and the failings of mankind to self-govern and evolve socially.
Perhaps it might, now, make a bit more sense why I've been trying to get people to join the Pangaea's People roster, and pushing so hard, unsuccessfully most of the time, to get artists on Blip.fm, support each other on there. and on the other key musician sites like Twitter, Reverbnation, Facebook, Youtube, and, to a lesser extent, Myspace.
All of these sites can network with Blip.fm, acting as receivers, with Blip.fm acting as the transmitter. the networking sites, themselves, then act as transmitters broadcasting every post across hundreds of artist pages, which, in turn, broadcast to thousands upon thousands of pages. this is the idea of everyone being connected across all the networks, and everyone cross-promoting by re-posting every post they receive. If only a handful follow up, it doesn't work, but if everyone follows up, and sustains that activity over a long period, it will work, no question!
So, it is we, the artists, who kick start all the publicity for the mass collaboration; the media will pick up on it, and the radio plays will follow. And what is the long term intention of all this? The possibility of creating our own company (as well as kick starting individual careers), that can provide complete projects for every, and any kind, of business venture.
The idea of setting a world record is a very simple one, but its actual intent is to give birth to something much bigger!
By the way, it is not possible to copyright an idea, but publishing a rough draft of the execution of that idea is protected by law, and the details given here qualify on those grounds.
Remember, the use of all these sites is simply a means to an end. On their own, they will achieve very little for any of us. Music sites are seriously overcrowded, and what they offer is an illusion, but we can, collectively, use these tools to publicize what I believe is an innovative project that actually has major goals, which, if successful, will bring attention to individual artists in a way that will never happen through these music sites alone.
Anyone who seriously, and I mean seriously, wants to be part of all this, needs to confirm, first, that they definitely want to be part of it, and they need to read any Pangaea newsletters or emails they receive and respond so I know you've received and read the information, otherwise you will lose touch with the project, and that would be ruling yourself out, as you would have no idea what you are supposed to be doing, and I wouldn't know what you were aware of. The project needs artists who have vision, drive and ambition. The project is too big and too time-consuming to be able to spoon feed artists, so self-motivation and discipline are needed.
I will also need information about instruments you play, what models, the hardware or software you use, what genres you are comfortable with, in which aspects of a songs structure you particularly excel, whether you have mixing/producing skills, and when you might have a window in your schedule.
I need information to plot the course of the composition, the order in which instrumentation is laid down, to which there are many permutations, and ensuring that the whole composition is seamless from beginning to end. It cannot sound like it's been patched together; like some random mashup! There's plenty of that about.
And I really need the links to the different artist sites!
http://www.facebook.com/pangaeaspeople
Click on the like button.
Leave a comment, listing some basic details about yourself, the instruments you play, the make, recording hardware and/or software you use, the genres you feel comfortable with, in what way you feel you can contribute best, etc.
Regards,
Ste Van Horne
