After getting so many responses along the lines of "I can't write originals so I'll pass" in my competition thread, I began pondering about ways to give everyone in the community a chance to be involved in large-scale projects, not just those who are seasoned composers.
So the thought of starting a mass videogame OST cover project crossed my mind. I probably wouldn't have time to coordinate the whole thing myself, given that I have other engagements right now (plus personal life and all that), but I certainly would like to know if there is enough interest within the community to kickstart something like this.
My idea is basically this:
- Brainstorm: Everyone gets to submit one soundtrack they'd like the community to cover. Briefly explain your choice and why other people whould be interested in covering your soundtrack too!
- Vote: After a set period of time, the brainstorming period ends, and a poll is created to select one of the soundtracks submitted by the community. Some time later, whichever soundtrack gets the most votes is selected.
- Instrument pack: (Optional) This would be useful as far as making the assembly of the final project easier, but might not be completely necessary. To avoid going over the instrument limit in Famitracker, perhaps it might be a good idea to share instruments and DPCM samples with the rest of the community. This doesn't have to be a step per se, and could be done throughout the entire length of the project. Another way to alleviate the instrument limit problem might be to put a restriction to the amount of instruments used in each track, but that might be too much of a restrain on creativity.
- Dividing the task: Once the soundtrack is selected, each track from the OST is listed, and each member picks one (and only one) track they'd like to cover. First come, first serve. Once a member is finished covering their track, they attach it to the thread. Once a track is reserved, its name in the OP should reflect that. Perhaps a time limit to submit your cover would be appropriate, to avoid the possibility of someone calling dibs on a track and then turning into a sausage or something you never know it could happen...
- Quality control: Whoever is in charge of the project should be well-versed enough both musically and in terms of Famitracker fluency to judge whether the quality of a submission is acceptable, or whether it should be worked on further before being accepted. Once a track is cleared to be added to the soundtrack, the member who submitted it gets to pick another track and cover that one (see step 3.). I guess the rest of the people involved in the project should have a say in this too. Again, completed tracks should have their name in the OP reflect that status.
- Putting everything together: The person in charge of the project will be responsible for assembling all the tracks into one FTM. If that is impossible, then the project should be released as an archive of FTM files.
- Most importantly: Have fun the whole time!
EDIT: Apparently this is my 100th post. I like that my first major milestone is an insightful post and not some inane response to a silly comment someone made~
