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Collaboration conflicts


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Hey guys! 

 

I used to be known as gnrfreek at the CD forum, haven't been online for a few years and now I see it seems like it disappeared and merged with mygnr. Anyways, some of you might remember me from my iconic avatar ;) 

I've come a long way from being a frustrated teenager with long hair to a bald UX Design Master's student :D 

I am conducting a research, with the ultimate goal of helping musicians collaborate. To achieve this, I first need to understand where issues and conflicts arise. So I thought I could come back to my roots and involve you guys :)

 

This is a completely open conversation. I am interested in any experience you might have had as collaborating musicians. There are only two things in addition I would be greateful if you could specify:

1. Are you a hobbyist or professional musician? Professional would be defined as someone who makes a living through music in this case. 

2. What were the circumstance, ie.: a band rehearsing, online collaboration, jamming, etc.. 

3. What conflicts did you encounter when collaborating with other musicians?

4. What do you think caused the problem and how did you resolve it?

 

Cheers :headbang:

Edited by monkeyboy
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Hey man, good to see an old member even though I was not on here back in the day.

 

1. Hobbyist

2. Played the guitar in my school Orchestra, always wanted to have a band of my own, but well that din't work out. 

Edited by Słash
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this is neat.  please send your final report to GNR?

I am a hobbyist, but when I was younger I was semi pro - still hobbyist for your uses here, but noteworthy i think.  

These are examples that have really stuck with me, as they were big events in my life.  They are about rehearsals and management collaboration.

1) Mental Health Struggles:  I was in a band that was gaining some local traction despite lacking a consistent rhythm section.  The players we wanted would only record and do 'larger' gigs - they were more established and had to follow the money.  So we had a rotating cast of less qualified players come and go.  Finally connected with an amazing drummer.  He even had some pedigree. Best drummer Ive ever had the pleasure of playing with.  I was songwriter and guitarist - a pete townsend type role in band.  Me and him became a nucleus, arranging a lot on our own.  I was no longer concerned about a bass player - this guy would attract a good one.  Plus:  he really liked my writing and it was a huge boost for me.  I was in some wedding bands and this and that.  I introduced him around and instantly he started getting session work.  Then late one night I got a call.  A friend called to inform me that they'd been locked out of the studio and only the drummer remained inside, barricaded.  Next time I saw drummer a few days later it was clear he was still in a state.  After this episode he informed me he suffers paranoid schizophrenia.  But during this conversation he had a notebook and had been following me and wanted to question me about why was I at library, way was I at grocery store?  His paranoia fixated squarely on me.  Now, Im not one who's fussed by mental health issues and am not quick to have any fear of it.  But after a few weeks of some the greatest moments of musicality and friendship interrupted randomly by crisis i felt unable to continue.  We didn't have a strong enough foundation in our relationship to endure the hardships. Our band had just been awarded a grant.  Album remains unfinished.  It took the wind out of my sails.  Reputation took a bit of a blow.  Couldn't go back to crapy drummers ever again.  Ive never tried to make a go of it for that level with a band ever again.  And I miss the guy a lot.  Since then he's settled into cover band work.  Collaboration is just not a good fit for him.  I 'd like to think that as I write, he's rocking Summer of 69 for some tipsy boomers who just enjoyed brunch.

2) Practice Bands:  They believe they want to make a go of it, but don't seem to know how to get out the door.  If they do get a gig they don't advertise it.  They don't even form a mailing list.  Even if say you'd worked in recording studios and as a booking agent your input would not necessarily be valued or acted on. This band spent oodles of their own money recording in a basement studio for years, recording 5 albums worth of material, got offered a residency at the main local music hall, invited no one to attend any of the shows and wasn't phased at the empty room.  I spent a few years during the tail end of recording sessions and what would be were the band focused on building a profile.  I guess I was kind of  Brain type figure - i had a larger perspective on the industry, put in a great effort and went along with the program and then eventually just couldn't take it anymore.  It might be a fear of success on their part?  But if so it was well concealed.  The other members were long time friends.  I think they just loved hanging out and the youthful dreams of making it were allowed to safely live on in that practice room but they all "knew" nothing would come of it and they didn't actually want it too.  If they didn't wanna practice 4 nights a week, Id still be there.  But when the band is presented as an opportunity for collaboration, this is all very frustrating.  i guess here I don't mean musical collaboration, but more so the collaboration of launching a band and creating a shared vision.  There was no collaboration on management type issues.  The group logic didn't even include space for the existence of those issues and concepts.  And yet the stated goals clearly required that.  We did play the drummers wedding once though:)

sheesh, thanks of this therapy session!

 

Edited by soon
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 05/03/2017 at 0:11 PM, monkeyboy said:

1. Are you a hobbyist or professional musician? 

Hobbyist now, semi-professional when I was in a band (we got paid, but had other jobs).

2. What were the circumstance, ie.: a band rehearsing, online collaboration, jamming, etc.

Band rehearsals at least once a week, writing sessions in addition to that and gigs up to 4 times a week at their most frequent. 

3. What conflicts did you encounter when collaborating with other musicians

Laziness due to drug use, the bass player's insistence on singing songs that he had written, despite not being a good singer. The drug use led to me disbanding the group because the bass player was actually becoming worse as time went by due to his brain being Swiss cheese from always being high!

 

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On 3/16/2017 at 10:38 PM, soon said:

Hey everyone, sorry if i sucked the air out of my room with my long winded response!  But please don't let me ruin this threads potential, nor @monkeyboy research!

Ignore my post and share your collaboration conflicts :smiley-confused2:        

 

Haha, don't worry about it man, your answer was actually very helpful so thanks for that! :) 

 

Please keep them coming guys, this stuff is exactly what I was looking for! :headbang:

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