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Joined: Apr 2001
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"Papa Hawg," my fingerpick guitar instrumental, has been sitting at #2 in the instrumental section for most of the day. Based on this, I'm going to work on some more fingerpick instrumentals, but more importantly, it's served to show how important the first few seconds of the song is.

Many of my songs start with a slow groove. "Papa Hawg" cooks from the top. It's long been one of my most popular songs, but on OurStage, it's done better, by far, than of my others.

OurStage gives you a chance to compare your songs. To see what's doing better than others. It does for many what a critique could never do. It shows what people like. There may be "strategic" voting at the higher levels, but I've never sent out a message on OurSpace, and have never aksed folks from MySpace or any other sites to vote. So there must be a certain amount of validity to a song that does well. I can't think of any other resource that gives you such feedback. Peer reviews? The peer crits here at JPF are valuable, but they're not anonymous, and folks don't just vote yes or no, so they may be a bit skewed. Pro critiques also give valuable information, but not as to whether a song will be a hit, just as to whether a song, in the eyes of the critic, has good craft. The contests here at JPF have Brian's simple but genius idea to make the only instruction to judges be that they vote songs that "move" them (which has already been "ripped off" by other contests.) However, they have a huge number of entrants with a few judges. OurStage provides anonymous peer judging, combined with continuous monitoring of position.

Again, I recommend OurStage to any artist looking for feedback on their material.


You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

Mike Dunbar Music

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Mine was jumping back and forth mid twenties to mid thirties, nosed dived to fifty (in country) and has been stuck there (50 on the button) for...I reckon, about 4 whole days now.

When is that shindig Mike?(Piney)

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This year it's the Hog Roast (Bobbie's changed jobs so is putting the official Pineyfest on hold for a year, but she'll be at the roast for sure). It's going on August 8-10 with a big party and a few informal get togethers at Bill Robinson's house, as well as some visits to some writers' nights and clubs. The Demo Derby will be August 7, and if there are several scheduled, we'll add August 6. Hope to see you up here!

Just checked, "Papa Hawg" is still at 2 in instrumental.


You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

Mike Dunbar Music

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So who else is in the running? I browsed a couple categories and saw several JPF members there who haven't posted here to let folks know!

Brian


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Ooh... I'm sitting at #2 in Newport Folk now. Frustrating part is, I'm going away tomorrow and won't be home until Monday to see how I did! frown


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Are you allowed to enter more than one song in the same category? I had two songs I wanted to enter in pop, but thought I read I could only enter one, so the second was entered in a similiar category such as soft rock, since it could be considered that style as well. Also, I entered last week. Will my songs not start competing until the beginning of July? I don't know where to go to see if they are competing and what they're rankings are, so assume they are waiting until the first of the new month? Did I get this right or am I off on this?
New to Ourstage, so confused.

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Michelle

That's right--you can only enter one song per channel (genre). June's competition is still going (currently in quarter-finals), so your songs won't start competing until July. I'm pretty sure it starts at midnight of July 1.

Don't worry--you'll get the hang of Ourstage.

Eric

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Eric,
Thanks!
Michelle

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Go back to the contest page that you entered on and make sure that you have July checked on the drop down menu. Ben

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Wow!!!! I'm in the top 1000 for ALL the songs!!!!

LOL


Actually a Member Since 1996 or 97 (Number One Hundred Something).
https://www.soundclick.com/bands3/default.cfm?bandID=1409522





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My song Peace On Earth in Instrumental missed it by only 2 ranks ending in 22nd place out 543 entries. The day before the quarters it was fluctuating (up & down) in the top 10 - 20, then it dipped down to 21 on the last day. It could have gone up one notch to make it into the quarters, but it went down one notch, so I got knocked out.

I'm thinking of placing this song into the New Age / World channel in the next few months as I believe it would be more appreciated there anyway, though for certain kinds of instrumentals tracks there's plenty of cross-over between Instrumental and New Age chennels.

Meanwhile I'm be deciding which new song to upload to OurStage that I've never posted there before. That's normally the case anyway unless I can improve the mix (master) and/or test a more appropriate channel to place a song into.

If I can get into the top with another song during the Semi-finals, I'll have won 3 acheivement awards, but I've already got 2, so 2 out of 3 ain't too bad. wink

So June is "over" for me now, but we'll see what happens in July! smile

Michael


There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself. -- Johann Sebastian Bach

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Well my song "Funky Music" in cover bands has been as high as #3 yesterday but now on the last day has dropped and is now at #11. That is frustrating.

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"Papa Hawg" is #1 in instrumentals right now, with 12 hours left to go. This is the first time it's reached the first spot. I can't hold my breath for 12 hours, so I guess I'll just go back to drinking. I'm off to the store to buy a liter of Jack Daniels.

All the Best,
Mike


You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

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We just missed out on the quarters in two channels--"Good Times" finished #22 in Tropical and "Thanks Again" finished #23 in Southern Rock (which I think is funny because I didn't enter that song in that channel--Ourstage moved it there. I don't think it sounds like Southern Rock at all--more like early '70's southern California country-rock to me.

Anyway, June was the first month that my band enter any songs, so I'm pretty happy with where we finished.

Eric

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All right, Dunbar! Thread Drifters Rule.

This is awesome on several levels...I especially like the simplicity of this recording and it's good to know you don't need to over-produce to get the right attention.

Win it, Mike! smile

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Thanks Mark,

"Papa Hawg" has been at 1 in instrumental for hours, but just now it's at 9. It seems like there's a "reshuffle" that takes place when results start getting logged. If the pattern continues, it should move up again in a bit. Hopefully back to 1, but at least I'm grateful that at some point it was the fave.

Thanks again, yeah it's simple. Remember what niteshift says.

Thread Drifters Rule

Mike


You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

Mike Dunbar Music

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I hope you make it Mike. We have several JPF members in the top 10 in your category at the moment, so it would be nice if you all made it to the semi finals.

I see that Big Jim is also back into the top 10 at number 10. But the voting gets frantic in the last hour so anything can happen. In my opinion, the safest spot to be in right now is 5th or 6th. If anyone is trying to vote down the competition, it's less likely those two slots would be attacked. Some would go after the ones barely hanging on, others after the ones at the top leaving those in the middle where they are. I know that the Ourstage people are hard core tracking cheaters though, so I hope that the best songs do in fact make the finals.

Brian


Brian Austin Whitney
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"Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney

"It's easier to be the bigger man when you actually are..." -Brian Austin Whitney

"Sometimes all you have to do to inspire humans to greatness is to give them a reason and opportunity to do something great." -Brian Austin Whitney
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Awesome picking I love the harmonics. I listened to a few of the competition's stuff and although they are pretty good your tune deserves #1.

Meanwhile back at the ranch my song has snuck into top ten. It is fluctuating between low teens and top ten. We will just have to wait and see.

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Bottom line is that we encourage everyone adhere to our Community Values. We do encourage folks to let us know if there is any behavior you're aware of that is not in the spirit of our community values, let us know at Community@ourstage.com so we can contact address it on a case-by-case basis.

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"Papa Hawg" made it into the semi-finals in instrumentals. Getting this far sure increases the friend and fan requests. You start to get more listens, even on songs that aren't in a current contest.

Again, I think one of the keys is having a song that catches attention in the first few seconds. And again, this is fun stuff.

I recommend OurStage to everyone.


You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

Mike Dunbar Music

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Hi Brian,

"Yielded Vessel" is now at #23 in Christian/Spiritual......man, I'm honored to be in the company of so many talented artists.
Thanks again for the shot on Our Stage my friend.

Barry

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sgx and myself both made it into the semifinals with four songs between us, in the categories Experimental, Instrumental, Techno, and New Age/World. Anyone else?


http://www.zirconmusic.com/ - Award-winning music/albums for video games, film and TV!

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Who do we have in the finals this month? With just a little over 11 hours left, this is always the most intense time. "Drum and Bossa" made it from Instrumental, which I was a bit surprised about, since I thought "Rainforest Majesty" was the stronger of my two tracks. Got my fingers crossed. Any support would be very much appreciated.


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Yeah, anybody else here to look for in the finals? I'm curious! smile

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It looks like a JUNKY song won the Grand Prize. LOL I did a lot of judging this time and I had it on the upper side of the middle. Congratulations to Squid.
I noticed a category in which I can actually compete for July - comedy - had been added. Good call OurStage.

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I had a lot of fun judging the past few days. I decided to try this out...the two I entered for this month are sitting at #8 (Solo Instrumental) and #9 (New Age World). It's early however...I just put another in Instrumental, so we'll see how it does...really, in that category, the couple I listened to fall more into techno, but there is 500+ in that catagory so I got my work cut out for me.

Squid is a good band, Junky is a good winner.

Jillian and zircon - good job with Hajime! I heard that someplace on the site and really loved it, and then later on I found out it had won overall for a month. Cool.

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I wanted say thanks to Danny. He promised a bluegrass channel and he delivered. Way to go, Ourstage.

Eric
Originally Posted by dannyjames
FYI...Bluegrass IS the next channel to launch. Stay tuned.
Originally Posted by ebaker68


Regarding the limited genres on Ourstage, I emailed them the other day and asked them to put in a bluegrass genre--listening to both the acoustic and folk channels, I've heard a lot of what sounds more like bluegrass. Plus, most of my band's songs sound bluegrassy, so I had a difficult time finding channels in which to enter them. They did get back to me and say that they'd look into it.

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AWESOME!! I'M NUMBER 11 in COMEDY!!

Wait...there are only 11 entries...

...nevermind.

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LOL, good one Mark.

Since joining Ourstage last week or so, the highest I have charted so far is #80 in Jazz (with no prodding).

I have also just entered another song in the instrumental competition (stiff competition there).

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Mark. You should rise now. I voted your song over all the others.
IMO your writing is head and shoulders about the ones that went head to head with you.

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We ended up with half the top 10 last month but broke our string of winners. Hopefully we'll get back on track this month.

Brian


Brian Austin Whitney
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"Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney

"It's easier to be the bigger man when you actually are..." -Brian Austin Whitney

"Sometimes all you have to do to inspire humans to greatness is to give them a reason and opportunity to do something great." -Brian Austin Whitney
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The winner this month is from Israel, I thought the main prize was not available to foreigners. Have I missed something?

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I too would like clarification on this. I checked the rules and could not find anything relating to prizes not being available to people outside USA. The only restrictions seem to be on age and content (it must be predominantly in the English language)The map showing friends etc is worldwide so I would reckon that there are no limits on nationality.

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Quote
I thought the main prize was not available to foreigners...


Too funny Everett. I suppose it all depends on which side of the fence or ocean you sit, and where your viewpoint is.......

So, as a Canadian, how exactly foreign are you ?

cheers, niteshift

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Well, "Papa Hawg" ended up number 6 in instrumental after a crazy last day semi-final bounce from 1 to 8 and back several times. Right now "Graduation" is number 1 in New Age/World, but I expect it will be gone from that spot before long. Again, it's a piece that begins with a melodic hook. Another piece which I think is musically better, "Through the Gates," is way back in instrumental. "Through the Gates" starts with a laid-back groove and doesn't get into the melodic hook until 14 seconds into the song. Andrew Aversa's brilliant tune, "Drum Bossa," which took first in instrumental in June, also takes time to get to the melody, but the cooking drum and piano rhythm track is a real grabber and gets attention from the first measure.

The OurStage judges have a minimum of 15 seconds that they can listen per song. I'm sure the judges who listen to the most songs will listen to less than 20 seconds, and if the song doesn't catch them by then, they'll move on to the next piece.

Make them cook from the start.

All the Best,
Mike


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Quote
I'm sure the judges who listen to the most songs will listen to less than 20 seconds, and if the song doesn't catch them by then, they'll move on to the next piece.

Make them cook from the start.


I can't decide if this is a major "downside" to the whole OurStage thing -- or just an acceptable condition to be in the "commercial" world. It seems like there are a lot of great songs that will fall by the wayside because of this. On the other hand, we all know of great songs that we can tell what it is by the very first note!

Kevin


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Kevin,

I think that especially for the aspiring songwriter, the OurStage 15 second minimum listening time for judges is an upside. I guarantee you that, at least here in Nashville, most professional listers and gatekeepers will give maybe 20 seconds before they hit the off button. If you can get your songs the thumbs up from the OurStage judges, you have a good chance of getting them a better listen from the pro listeners.


You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

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Mike is right about that.. you need to make them care in the first 15-20 seconds or the game is over. Sure, there are exceptions.. but the vast majority of folks screening for all sorts of things lose interest very quickly if you don't do something quickly. We're finding a lot of albums where every single song has a boring 30 second intro... by the end of the screening process on artists like those I have no interest in ever listening to them again..

If you're just getting started, as Mike said, that 15 second curve is a great trial by fire learning tool... (And by the way, when we have fans vote in the awards, they also lose interest quickly, so it's not just industry folks who do that.. everyone does...artists, writers, fans and professionals... don't bore us.. get to the chorus...)

Brian


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I can't figure out that site. One minute your #365 and then your #70, then #7 ??!?!?! Highest I got was #7 for country with the Love you Anyway song. On the last day it dropped to 15th. Fun to watch though!

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Early on, stuff fluctuates more because not that many people have voted. As the month continues and more votes are counted, I think things normalize a bit. By mid-month, you should have a good idea of approximately what range you're going to be in.


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I had three in the top 10 this morning...but we know all about that "saving time in a bottle" thang.

Yes, the intro is important, period. OurStage really makes that clear, but it should always be remembered. Most songwriting conversations talk about choruses and verses and bridges...but the intro is every bit as important. Too many writers just strum, as if to say, "Excuse me, while I warm up for a bit...okay...I'm almost ready...aaaand: here we go."

And then you listen to "Revolution".

Or "Hey Jude".

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Hi everyone!
This month I'm entering only one song in the contest. This is a new song I never posted before on OurStage, so here's the details:
Song Title: Shir Hashirim
Link: http://www.ourstage.com/entry/DBJCNIHHGDTH-shir-hashirim
Description: Title translated "Song Of Songs" (from Hebrew) portrays the passion of a longing for a pure love. An original composition by Michael Borges includes flute (Latetta) harp, drums (Mike "Sub" Caro) and strings.

I just uploaded it late last night, so no special (or meaningful) ranking yet, but I hope it will move up over the next two weeks.

Gotta say Tee Latteta did a great job with her flute playing on this song, and SubStudio really "rocks" with his percussion performance, especially starting at the 2:20 mark. Thanks Tee & Sub for your talented contributions on this project! smile

Michael


There's nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself. -- Johann Sebastian Bach

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OK I moved my song from the genre where it was stuck at the bottom and put it in country It is slowly working its way up. it's broke the top 50% mark, LOL. hey at least it isn't last. Ha!

On a different note.
I tried judging in the Country channel today.
I made it through 5 battles before I gave up.
I had to flag 4 of them for copyright violations or Being Cover songs in the Country genre.
One of the battles BOTH songs were Copyright violations. One used the music and melody from a past Number one hit and added their lyrics, the other was a straight up karaoke cover.

Of course I don't know how we can claim copyright violation unless we have proof they don't have the right to cover the song.

Not much point judging under these circumstances. wink

seems the interest has dropped off here. I had to go looking for the post.

Last edited by Bill Robinson; 07/06/08 05:19 PM.

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Bill

Yeah I flagged the KARAOKE version of GENTLE ON MY MIND (with changed words)....That one got me really mad.....

I have flagged the KENNY CHESNEY song 5 times but it is still there...........I'm kinda thinking ole KENNY doesn't really need the exposure of our beloved OURSTAGE...........



Steve Altonian---"I'll just do my best & let God do the rest"

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HA!
I just logged off Ourstage. the last song I judged was

STEVE ALTONIAN

Must be Karma. I moved you up a notch Steve. Good song was why.

I guess it takes a few days for the Ourstage folks to get caught up with the flags. I am surprised there are so many


Bill
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I just entered one in singer/songwriter, It's sitting at #666 Doesn't look good, lol.


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Anyone notice the cool new change? If you play a song, you can see how many times it has been judged.

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Here's what I have going on this month:

Twenty Chickens for a Saddle

5th in Comedy
Eldorado
39th in Rock
Indigo Eyes
98th in Americana / Alt Country
Johnny Put Your Gun Down
119th in Hard Rock
I Wrote This Song for Cash
304th in Country
All I See Is You
422nd in Folk
Lemonade
594th in Indie Pop

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This is kind of exciting:). I entered 5 songs at the beginning of the month. One thing I noticed is that is makes a huge difference what genre you choose! I made a couple of switches on the 2nd day of the month to try to better match the few genres my music could conceivably belong to. I actually entered one of my songs into Indie Pop because I already had songs in Acoustic, Folk, and Singer-Songwriter (Male), and I was shocked at how well it is doing so far, even though it is most definitely NOT the kind of thing you'd hear on the radio (it does have a chorus/hook, but it's 8 minutes long and tells the tale of Agincourt;)). I also put a song in New Age/World for lack of any other viable genre. At least I tried to evoke an early Native American vibe with a flute/whistle in the arrangement (that one is about the Lost Colony of Roanoke...called "50 Miles into the Main."

Anyway, here are today's results:

-"Son of the Sea"
143rd in Singer/songwriter (Male)
-"Agincourt"
150th in Indie Pop
-"Band of Brothers"
107th in Folk
-"50 Miles Into the Main"
99th in New Age/World
-"Everything that Matters"
173rd in Acoustic

Based on the number of entries in these genres, all of my positions are in the 70th percentile or better:). That makes me feel better about having only one song in the double-digits;).

Ken


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Originally Posted by Mark Kaufman
Anyone notice the cool new change? If you play a song, you can see how many times it has been judged.


Mark,

Thanks for posting this! I just checked to see how many times my entry "Everything That Matters" has been played, since it had the best percentile ranking this morning ("best" being relative...it was 173 out of 914:)). It had only been played 5 times! Does this mean that it was "judged" 5 times? Does it not count the times someone goes directly to it to play it?

Ken


Ken's new album - Outlaws and Bystanders


Ken's Music Raven Boy Music

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