Iron Bard, anyone?

[kniteracy]

Edit: this round is now CLOSED.

Well, OK. It may be jumping on a bandwagon, since cadhla started this and vixyish (and I'm really sorry I got this name wrong originally) has done it with her special talent as well, and just recently peteralway did it too-- but you know what? I haven't written a song in over a year now, and I'm starting to feel a little bit uncreative.

So, in the spirit of those three luminaries named above, and with help from khaosworks who helped me choose a name for this silliness-with-a-purpose, and folkmew who vetted the rules and gave me moral support-- I invite you to challenge me to...

Iron Bard

What's the Objective?

For each person who comments before the round is closed, I will write a complete song, which may or may not be award- or record- worthy, but which will be a song with a melody and words and which I will have the ability to sing at least once. I reserve the right to choose which songs I sing more than once. ;)

Rules:

1. You must leave a comment to participate.
   
2. In your comment, you may give me any or all of the following things:
   
   1. Subject matter, as little as an idea and as much as a complete story-- the single word 'love' probably won't give me much to go on;
      
   2. Should it be a story song (like Song of Fey Cross or Barbara Allen) or a more abstract song (like Love Song For a Friend or Imagine)?
      
   3. Metre-- 2/4, 4/4, 3/4, 6/8 (only these regular metres, please; I think songs work best in simple metres, and you aren't going to change my mind by submitting a more complex one);
      
   4. A format to follow, like verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, verse-- if you're interested in that sort of thing. You can also tell me if it's important to you that the song have a singable refrain or chorus here. Note that I really think songs end up as long as they need to be, but if you have a strong opinion about length, you can note it here. I'm not planning on writing any 26-verse ballads here, but you never know....
      
   5. Would you like the song to have a major feel, a minor feel, or a modal feel, and if modal, which one? (dorian and mixolydian are the two modes most frequently employed in folk music, although you'll see others-- I'm discounting ionian and aeolian modes here because most people think of those as 'major' and 'minor'. lydian and phyrigian are quite rare, and I'd rather not work in lochrian, because it's difficult to handle melodies that don't resolve the way my ears want to resolve them.)
      
   6. Specific words, settings, names, places, or other things that you would like me to include in 'your' song.
      
   7. When and if this song is completed to performance standard, would you like it to be performed: a) a capella; b) with the harp; or c) with the lap dulcimer?
   
   
3. I appreciate the process of collaboration, but this experiment is intended to force me to write songs and d individual songwriting work. While some of the entries may inspire you, please don't helpfully answer challenges. I get to be the bard in my journal.
   
4. No anonymous (unsigned) submissions will be taken, although people not on my friends list (whose replies will at first be screened) will be considered. If you do not have a LJ account, it is fine for you to post an anonymous reply (which will be screened) with your request, but you must sign your submission with a name that can be verified and tell me where you heard about Iron Bard from. An email address (so I can get your song back to you) would also be helpful. :)
   
5. I will decide when the round closes, or if indeed there will be another round.
   
6. And a late amendment, which will be added in to the rules more gracefully at a later time: despite being part of the filk community, I almost never write about books, tv shows, or films, although I do write about myths, fairytales, and ballads. I'm not sure why that is, but remember that I'm not much for TV and unless the characters are real live archetypes, I tend to make them up as I go along. ;)
   
7. Late amendment the second-- for those of you who don't know, I tend not to set other people's words to music (though the one poem that's been suggested already is one I really like, so I'm considering it anyway).

I do not promise results, but I sure hope I get some. I'll do my best, and that is a promise. I'll tear another leaf from cadhla's book and post responses as comments here, then post reminders to people on the journal as to where completed songs can be found. I do not promise that mp3s will be posted, but I will do my best to get that capability eventually, and if I see you in person, I'll do my best to play 'your' song for you. I do not promise that 'your' song will be about you, but it will of course be inspired by the suggestions you gave me in this happy game of Iron Bard. Obviously, in the end this'll be my work and my song and blah-ti-blah author blah-ti-blah copyright, blah-ti-blah carniverous millipedes, etc.

Let the games begin.

Comments

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Reserving a spot -- I am about to leave work and don't want to find 120 comments before I get a chance to think and speak from home. Okay?

[telynor.livejournal.com]

*laugh*
You're optimistic, but sure.

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

1. Subject matter, as little as an idea and as much as a complete story-- the single word 'love' probably won't give me much to go on;

See 6 for more on this but I'm thinking something about someone on a journey/quest seeking... and metaphors for the struggles they (we all) go through to find our place in the world, that conveys the hidden strengths we can call upon but have to find within ourselves, hope in these troubled difficult times when so many of us are barely getting through financially but many of us feel so rich in other parts of our lives, globally and politically things can feel so bleak at times... you know? But feel free to couch all that in a story! For sure! :-)


2. Should it be a story song (like Song of Fey Cross or Barbara Allen) or a more abstract song (like Love Song For a Friend or Imagine)?

Either is fine. I sort of think a story song works better for what I've sketched though.


3. Metre-- 2/4, 4/4, 3/4, 6/8 (only these regular metres, please; I think songs work best in simple metres, and you aren't going to change my mind by submitting a more complex one);

Don't care. Whatever works for the song!


4. A format to follow, like verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, verse-- if you're interested in that sort of thing. You can also tell me if it's important to you that the song have a singable refrain or chorus here. Note that I really think songs end up as long as they need to be, but if you have a strong opinion about length, you can note it here. I'm not planning on writing any 26-verse ballads here, but you never know....

Hmmm... no, it doesn't have to have a singable refrain. My instinct is to always get people to sing along but this could work well as a ballad so I leave it up to your judgement.



5. Would you like the song to have a major feel, a minor feel, or a modal feel, and if modal, which one? (dorian and mixolydian are the two modes most frequently employed in folk music, although you'll see others-- I'm discounting ionian and aeolian modes here because most people think of those as 'major' and 'minor'. lydian and phyrigian are quite rare, and I'd rather not work in lochrian, because it's difficult to handle melodies that don't resolve the way my ears want to resolve them.)


Hmm... minor. Or mixolydian maybe. I trust your ear.

6. Specific words, settings, names, places, or other things that you would like me to include in 'your' song.

(I don't feel strongly that it need include all of these):
A hawk, a wind swept hill with a long pine,
rocks, loneliness and redemption, hidden reserves of strength, blue, cold (cavern?) /warmth (sunny meadow?),
a journey/quest/seeking, water

7. When and if this song is completed to performance standard, would you like it to be performed: a) a capella; b) with the harp; or c) with the lap dulcimer?

Hmmm... well piano obviously since Ed will be accompanying me. (grin) go for dulcimer maybe it will inspire both of us to work on dulcimer (cause god knows I could use a butt-kick there)

ooh!

[gingicat]

1) I'd love to hear you write a Firefly song, but that's because I've recently fallen in love with the show and the fandom. :) If you don't love Firefly, let me know and I'll give you a different subject.
2) A story ballad.
3) I'm fond of 6/8.
4) Whatever works, but I suspect it'll need a bridge.
5) Whatever is commonly used in Appalachian music.
6) I think I'd like it to be about Mal and his confusion, as he explains it to Inara when she asks "which Mal am I speaking to?" and as expressed by the look on his face whem Book tells him he has to believe in something and how he tells River that the first law of flying is love. (Yeah, spoileriffic, I know.)
7) Dulcimer, definitely.

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like this idea!

Story song in simple 4/4 time, major key, which can be sing either a capella or with instrumental accompaniment (obviously, I'd be much more interested in something that can be accompanied on any insturment people happen to have like, say, a guitar). Format of each verse should be:

Line 1
Repeated tagline a
Line 2
Repeated tagline b

So that people can join in on taglines a and b

Setting is your choice, but I'd like the song to be about a quest of some sort (it need not be a completed one or even a happy one, but a quest of some sort).

Re: ooh!

[gingicat]

On reflection, I realize that the sort of story song I'm thinking of is along the lines of your song "Last Run"; as much feelings as story.

[telynor.livejournal.com]

So-- because this response looks long and I would like to make sure people know they don't have to work *too* hard to enter, you are challenge me to write a song:

1. about someone on a journey/quest seeking... and metaphors for the struggles they (we all) go through to find our place in the world, that conveys the hidden strengths we can call upon but have to find within ourselves, hope in these troubled difficult times when so many of us are barely getting through financially but many of us feel so rich in other parts of our lives, globally and politically things can feel so bleak at times... you know? But feel free to couch all that in a story! For sure! :-)
2. written either abstractly or as a story song, though story might work best here;
3. in whatever meter works for the song;
4. with or without a singable refrain (and some ballads do have them, you know);
5. in a minor feel or the mixolydian mode;
6. with the following imagery, though not necessarly all of it: A hawk, a wind swept hill with a long pine,
rocks, loneliness and redemption, hidden reserves of strength, blue, cold (cavern?) /warmth (sunny meadow?),
a journey/quest/seeking, water
7. to be thought of for accompaniment on lap dulcimer.

Clearer than mud? :)

oh oh ohh! How cool!

[sibylle]

Wow, this is one cool challenge. i hope it works for you the way you want it to and everything *hugs*.

1. I'd like a song about Laocoon.
2. whichever works best - or a mix?
3. Metre - any
4. doesn't need to be a singalong.
5. minor
6. I like the version of the story where Apollo sent the serpents because he'd made out with his wife in the temple, rather than for warning about the horse, and people just misinterpreting it. Gives the story a sadder twist, somehow. But other than that, nothing.
7. since I loooove it when you play the harp & sing (that spot from the FilkCon still gives me shivers when remembering): the harp?

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

Eyup. That pretty much sums it up. Wasn't I helpfully clear? ahem. Sorry but you know i just HAD to be first so I whipped it off without much thought. Will you still respect me? ;-)

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

1. Checkity.
2. This poem has always seemed to be begging for a tune:

The Song of the Wandering Angus
by William Butler Yeats

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I turned to blow the fire aflame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

3. It's iambic tetrameter throughout, so 4/4.
4. It comes pre-formatted, but if a refrain or just a repeat for each stanza leaps out at you musically, so be it. Yeats isn't up for much complaining these days, the old fart.
5. Minor.
6. Checkity.
7. I'm thinking a capella. Seems more Angus-y to me, but the harp gets plucked, so that'd be nice and ironic. You'll figure this one out as you go, I imagine.

Re: ooh!

[telynor.livejournal.com]

I don't ordinarily write about books, tv shows or movies (I know, bad filker!) --and I'm amending the rules to reflect that-- but that line about flying intrigues me. We're seeing the film on Monday, and I'll see what I can do. Yes, I love Firefly. It already has a great theme song and its own ballad, though-- who could argue with "Jayne"? ;)

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

How about a short bouncy silly song in guitar-friendly key about snakes, knitting and music, with a couple of verses and chorus, bridge optional. Fluffy and fun with a hook or clever couplet to raise a smile (and yes I would plan to want to play it myself but only in private :) ). The other suggestions sound like they're going to be stuff to get your teeth into, so consider this one musical mind candy instead :)

[telynor.livejournal.com]

Yes. Even if you let me have my way with you. 8)

[telynor.livejournal.com]

Several people have already set this poem to music, and I like one of the settings very much, so it might be difficult for me to do this one. Let's see what I can come up with-- or maybe I can just sing you one of the versions I already know? :)

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

Just wanted to say that it already has a tune, I found one googling the other day. Music & midi here (http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiWANDANG;ttWANDANG.html). I don't like the tune though, so a replacement would be groovy, I agree :)

[telynor.livejournal.com]

My goodness, you people do dance with your fingers, don't you? Here I was wondering if I'd get any responses at all.... eek! But yes, thanks for the inclusion of some mind candy, too. :)

[bardling.livejournal.com]

1) protagonist/subject/object: someone who's nothing special, just lends a helping hand where (s)he can, ordinary, has many skills to reasonable/ordinary level, but nothing exceptional/standing-out
2) Not sure - whichever works better with whatever you make of this.
3) 6/8, unless something else really fits better.
4) I'd like an unexpected change in the format somewhere, in some form, so it's not just the very predictable verse-chorus repetition or verses with repeating lines. Possibly with a different metre for the contrasting bit? But again, if something suggests itself to you, it'll probably work for me. :)
5) I don't know about modes - I'd like something that's not all happy-clappy-silly-fun, but not all-dire-tears-and-doom either. Something slightly unusual... to contrast the "ordinary" subject a little.
6) some metaphor from nature like a tree, sea/water, wind... whatever you find fits.
7) Since you've just started to play with it and enjoy it, go for the dulcimer - although if I can convert it to guitar, that'd be nice too... (which doesn't mean I'd object to a capella, either)

[mdlbear]

I have a tune for this, too, though I haven't put a sound file on the web yet. One of these days...

[sdorn.livejournal.com]

A tragic love-and-ghost ballad, rhythm unimportant, folk modal (don't care which type), in which harp would definitely be appropriate. Optional elements: bullets, hard drives, or gazpacho.

Have fun!

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

I've heard a couple myself, just local folks places I've lived. I think it's still waiting for the right tune. No pressure.

[smoooom.livejournal.com]

Wolves, loons and the Northern Lights. The stark beauty of really far north in Canada. (I realise that could be tricky so I'll try and describe what I mean) Far north is rocks, trees and lakes. At night the sky is SO clear the stars are as cler as any one could wish. The silence is so comlete you can hear the flaping of a birds wings, at night the northern lights can be way cool, I've never heard it but my Dad says one night they could hear them. Add a Wolf howl and a loons call and the north is awesome.

Meter and all that - up to you. Acapella please, I play the guitar and have no idea how well dulcimer or harp would trnslate. Acapella I can do

[nirol.livejournal.com]

How about a love song about two people in a long-term relationship who love to cook together? (no, it's not about me and muppet, lol) I'd like it to be a happy song, verse-verse-chorus-verse-chorus, and I'd like you to use the words "chicken vindaloo" at least once.

*hugs*

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

I want a song about love and loss and stupidity and fixing terrible mistakes of the past. with a happy ending.

All the actual details, I leave up to you.

[mdlbear]

A modal dulcimer song (almost goes without saying) involving wolves (for my wolfling daughter chaoswolf). A singable refrain or repeating lines in the verses. The rest I leave up to you.

[cadhla.livejournal.com]

According to very, very old Greek myth, Hades and Persephone had a daughter, named Allomai (which means 'Spring'), who was the goddess of sailors and death by water. Her symbols were the silver birch, the moon-faced owl, and a ferryman's staff, sometimes made of pomegranate wood. Her followers vanished pretty much overnight, and she's been excised from almost all Greek myth.

According to what little survives, she was a dutiful daughter, if very sad, and loved her parents and the people she brought to the Underworld. (There are some indicators that she was the source myth for the world's supply of phantom hitchhikers.)

I'd like a song that in some way touches on the Allomai myth, if you could do, as I think it would suit you.

And also, it's brilliant that you're doing this.