We all make music. Be it in a club, in the shower or
in a lullaby. Music is instinctive to all of us. Making
good music, however, is mostly an exclusive privilege
to musicians : those who have learned to compose,
play and/or mix their music.
And even though big-brand technology came to help the lot
to express their musical urges, it came tainted with pre-recorded
loops and dictative genres that mold our creativity into recycled
tracks.
/ THE IDEA /
We want authentic music, for once, to transcend from the
street to the stage, without being crippled with cumbersome
know-how, nor with predetermined programmed genres.
The Fuck Buttons, a British music band of two, and
a living proof that experimentation with sound can create
something inspiring, will endorse this idea.
/ HOW IT WORKS /
With their pulsing motto, "The Loud And The Free", the
Fuck Buttons will introduce the concept of Sound Democracy:
Anyone with a voice can make music.
On music-devoted websites, like Pitchfork and Last.fm, banners
will feature The Fuck Buttons demonstrating how, with their
voice alone, they can re-create familiar hits. The banner
directs users to the Fuck Buttons homepage.
The site opens to a video demo, of Andrew Hung and Benjamin
John Power humming abstract noises in their studio.
Hung goes "ba-ba-ba-ba..." into a mic. Suddenly, his repetitive
noise can be heard as a beat. He is now flavoring the beat
with a percussion instrument of his choice.
Power flanges a "wah-wah" into his mic. And before we know it,
his sound can now be heard as an electric guitar. He modifies
the melodic sound, changing the pitch, and adding pedal effects.
Once the video is through, the site introduces the concept of
Sound Democracy through a manifesto, written by the Fuck Buttons.
The manifesto comes with a contest video, powered by YouTube.
/ THE CONTEST /
This is the band's open invite to you, to make your own music.
All you need is a mic, and you're set. Using the platform
on the site, you will be able to create and mix tracks out of
thin air, literally.
The purpose is to get you and me and everybody else to
experiment, and put out our best work for the world to hear
on YouTube.
The interface is designed to bring you to generate all melody,
rhythm and vocals of your piece. It is smart enough to advise you
which take is best fitted, say, for a percussion instrument.
You can edit each take, and mess around with it to your heart's
desire, before stacking it up into your tracks. This library
of tracks constitutes your asset reservoir, out of which you can
place a track (now modeled, for example, as a bass guitar strum)
into your final mix.
When you're done recording, you're given the following options:
* Save music for later editing.
* Send music to your phone.
* Share music with friends using myspace, facebook or email.
* Enter the contest on YouTube.
Participating pieces will be posted on YouTube as response
videos to the contest announcement, initially posted by
the Fuck Buttons. This keeps the participants, and their
network of friends and fans, engaged as the contest evolves
with more pieces uploaded everyday.
One week before the deadline, the campaign is refreshed.
The band is here to review the submission posted on YouTube
so far. As a participant, you will receive an email from the
Fuck Buttons, to remind you of the review time and date,
and inform you whether you've been shortlisted.
If you're among the lucky ones whose pieces have been shortlisted,
you will receive a personal video review on the website, where Hung
and Power critique your piece.
One week is left for any more submissions to be posted.
It's the big day, so who's the winner?
To be the winner of this contest, The Fuck Buttons must see
authentic experimentation, and inspiration, in your piece.
The winner is announced in America's biggest live music event,
South By Southwest (SXSW), at Austin, TX. His piece will
be played by the Fuck Buttons, live on stage. The concert
will be broadcast live on the site.
Sound Democracy has been established, and music is now flowing
from street to stage and back again.
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