The 24 hour song project!

Anybody who wants to can be a part of the (as yet unnamed) Bruce Hornsby cover project. On Sunday May 1, Daily Dose Day, we’re going to put together and contribute a track!

Exciting news: we’ve had a couple of people come forward who feel able to transcribe Bruce’s music and should be available on May 1. And thanks to Mark B. for finding us a vocalist who is excited to join in too! If you’ve been sent to this page by one of our community, we’d still love to have you on board. Contact details are at the bottom of this article.

The “24 hour song” is one of the  projects that we’ll be running on Daily Dose Day on May 1, in aid of the ALS Association. We’re going to create a song inside 24 hours, compile it on the live  video feed on the day, and add it to our cover project for release, also that say!

Don’t have a musical bone in your body? Me neither! It doesn’t matter! You don’t need to sing, don’t need to play (although you’re welcome to do both). But we can all offer input or play a part in creating the track.

We’re going to rework one of Bruce’s songs on that day, in real time, on the live video feed.

How will it work?

All recording will be on the day, but we can prepare now – starting with picking the song.

I’ll then go to our musician(s) on April 30 (24 hours before release)  with your pick. When they’re done recording, we’ll bring in our vocalist, who will have the remainder of the 24 hours to do their bit.

So, which song?

We”ve had some discussion on Facebook and the podcast about this already, so here are the main picks based on the chatter and e-mails received. Over to you to make a decision for us!


Which song do we cover?


  • Cruise Control (16%, 20 Votes)
  • Echolocation (35%, 43 Votes)
  • Sidelines (27%, 33 Votes)
  • Swing Street (22%, 27 Votes)

Total Voters: 123

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Other things to think about…
  • do we rework the style of the song?
  • who can record the music for us? (We’re probably covered here but more always welcome in case of emergency!)
  • who do we get to sing it? (We’re likely covered here also but always happy to hear from more)
  • should the singer(s) be male or female? One or some of each (they should ideally be in the same place to record)?
  • from what genre of music? Jazz? Soul? Musial theatre? Should they rework the song in that style?

Anyone we call upon needs to be available on Saturday April 30 and Sunday May 1. The music doesn’t need to be elaborate, because we’d be working on it ourselves on the day. And it doesn’t need to perfectly resemble the record (you know how it goes!).

The video below from March 13’s podcast (about 30 minutes in) deals with the specifics and shows you how we can all contribute and collaborate on the day, even through a Facebook discussion.

Does the music need to be recorded in a particular format?

Specifically, we’d need the music in MIDI format so that we could load it into GarageBand. In common with other MIDI files, each instrument should be recorded as a separate track. On the day, I’ll be playing with those  and changing them around with your help. You can listen, and tell me what you like, what you’re not so keen on, what we can add or take out. We’ll all be talking through it live on Facebook and YouTube on the big day.

We’ll still take help!

As noted, we think we’ve found people who are willing and able to record on the day. However: if you see someone you like the sound of, please either point them to this page, or drop them a note and see if they’re interested. 

We’re not looking for anything that’s perfect – just something that we can say we put together in 24 hours and that we’ve all been a part of!

I’ll update this page with decisions as they’re made, and details as we get them.

If you’re able to help, please contact Si and you’ll hear straight back!

 

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