Ok...so I'm readin' the Fantasy Band Thread today and Andrea's post about hearing us "locals" play in a fantasy band sparked an idea.  How 'bout a DBIS recording?  Here's my proposal:

Using computer based recording technology, record a series of DB songs utilizing all the talent here on the board.

Feh! you might be thinkin.  How could we all get together and record?  We're all from different parts of the globe!  Well...with the multitude of computer based recording platforms, different members of the board could record their own tracks at home and e-mail tracks to a central "producer" who would mix the songs down to a 2 track stereo cut and 'badabing!' you'd have a song.  Here's an outline of how we could procede.

Phase I, Song Choice:  The board would decide on a DB song from the current DB catalog.   Volunteers from the board would express an interest in the project and a "producer" would be chosen.  This individual would have experience with ProTools, SoundForge, Sonic Foundry, etc.  An MP3 of the chosen song would be sent to each volunteer along with some sort of bootleg/shareware copy of a predetermined recording platform. This way...each participant would have the same sonic source as a scratch track and the same way to record their track(s).

Phase II, Recording:  Each participant would record the orginal DB material on their recording platform at home as a scratch track. (something to play along with.)  Then, being the big ol' creative genius's that they are...they would put down their own tracks...guitar..drums...bodheran (or however you spell it) bass, violin, vocals...you get the point. Most recording platforms provide at least 4 tracks.

Phase III, Mixing: as an artist finishes their work, they send their "product" back to the producer who will collect all the seperate tracks, edit and mix the tracks together and thus end up with a final mix that will be a David Baerwald tune...as played by his most loyal fans.

Phase IV, Marketing and Rape of the Artist:  At this point, corporate Giants like Coke and Addidas will get ahold of these songs and put them on commercials to sell stuff and we'll all feel cheap together.

Yeah...it would be a labor of love.  Yep...some feelings would get hurt.  Some tracks wouldn't make the final cut.  And although it works theoretically, it may not work in actual technological application.  But wouldn't it be cool to try?  On my drive home from the office today...I envisioned my favorite "mental" arrangement of boomtown, with hand percussion, cello emulating the original lead guitar part...Irish Harp in place of the keyboard arpeggios...different voices mixed together on the chorus....voices who have never met.

So...anyone wanna give it a shot?  Here's the wishlist:

1. Producer: someone who is comfortable with collecting seperate tracks and synching them together.  Personally, I just got a program called Magix studio 6 which is old and cheap.  But if you use pro-tools or something like it..you could probably synch pre existing tracks into one coherent unit.  Also..you must have a creative mind and a good ear.

2. Musicians:  People who play instruments or can sing.

3. Support:  Folks who are willing to locate resources...software mainly...to help support this project.

Final Product:  a song that can be posted here..by us...for us to enjoy. 

Anyway...it was a thought.  Lemme know if anyone is interested in taking the wheel on this one.

PRH