SEEKING
Bagpipes, Vocalist - Alto, Dobro, Mandolin, Other, Flute, Harmonica, Background Singer, Piano, Keyboard, Saxophone, Trumpet, Violin, Other Percussion, Drums, Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Vocalist - Soprano, Vocalist - Tenor, Vocalist - Baritone, Vocalist - Bass, Vocalist, Steel guitar, Upright bass, Cello.ABOUT
The Altitude is an experimental pop rock band based in the San Francisco Bay area looking for musicians and artists (singers, lyricists, lead guitarists, DJs, rappers, producers, etc.) to collaborate on the Altitude’s “Gravity Hero” album. We like doing the guitars, bass, drums, etc., and we like working with other people to do the other stuff (vocals, lyrics, remixes, sampling, etc.).
As of January 2011, we are finishing up tracks for our “Gravity Hero” album. At this time, none of the songs have vocals. This means if you are a singer or lyricist, go nuts! Think of it as karaoke with no set words. These songs are blank canvases for you to do your thing!
But the Altitude isn’t just looking for singers - we are looking for all types of collaborators!
If you are DJ, sample our tracks in your stuff. Or remix our songs into new songs.
If you are producer, connect our songs with your recording artists.
If you are a lead guitarist, throw down your righteous leads on our tracks.
The Altitude thinks the old way of auditioning musicians sucks! It’s time consuming, exhausting and, well, a pain in the ass. So instead, we are using a web-based talent search to find collaborators. The upside is you do not need to be in the San Francisco Bay area to work with us and you can work at your own pace. This is remote collaboration - we work here, you work there and we connect using the internet. The downside is we can’t offer you assistance in recording or mixing or doing what it is you do best - you have to have all of your own gear, a computer with internet access, etc.
So how does this work? It’s pretty simple, actually.
1. Go to this website to listen to the Altitude’s album “Gravity Hero”: ://thealtitude./album/gravity-hero. You can download the album (in MP3) for free! The only catch is we do want your email address (there’s a reason for this).
2. Listen to the tracks and pick a song you like and want to work on.
3. Import the MP3 of that song into your multitrack home recording software (GarageBand, Live, Pro Tools, etc.).
4. Have fun recording! Create separate tracks (for your vocals, guitar solos, beat box break down, spoken word poetry, whatever), play with the arrangement, grab a sample and put it into your own music, experiment with effects, etc. In short - go nuts!
5. When you are all done, email the mixed down MP3 of your work as an attachment to the Altitude at allegedbonapartist.
6. Repeat for each song you like and want to work on!
If we like your stuff, we will contact you through your email (see, there was a reason we wanted your email). This is the point where we need to work out a legal agreement over ownership of the collaboration song, royalties, etc. before anything gets posted publicly. Typically, this is a 50/50 agreement between the Altitude and the collaborator(s): we own half the rights and proceeds (if there are any), you own half the rights and proceeds (again, if there are any). The Altitude will not post or try to make money on collaborative efforts until both the Altitude and the collaborator(s) have agreed on all copyright and ownership items. Don’t freak - these are pretty simple, straightforward agreements. The Altitude is more interested in your rocking collaboration than arguing over royalties. Fair is fair, share and share alike.
There you have it. Simple enough, right? If you have ever wanted an opportunity to be in a rock band and break into the music business, here you go. Now let’s make music!
Since this is not the first time the Altitude has done this type of collaboration and we usually get the same questions again and again, there is additional information in our FAQs at the end of this message.
If you have read the FAQs and still have questions or just want to know more, email the band members of the Altitude at allegedbonapartist.
Thanks for playing! Thanks for listening! Thanks for collaborating! See you in the funny papers!
Edmond Dantes (nom de plume)
Frequently Asked Questions:
Question: Why is the Altitude doing this?
Answer: The answer is this talent search is a bit of a social experiment being conducted in the spirit of random fun, musical camaraderie and melodic exploration. The Altitude believes there are talented artists out there looking for a chance to let their creativity run amok. What better place for these talented people do “thair thang” than on our songs!
Question: What type of music does the Altitude make? Like, who are your influences?
Answer: Our music is influenced by artists like Tom Petty, the Cars, Gorillaz, Phoenix, Ash Reiter, Pomplamoose, Elliott Smith, INXS, Boston, Eminem, Pink Floyd, Jed and Lucia, G.F. Handel, J.S. Bach, e.e. cummings, and a host of others too numerous to mention.
Question: What if I am a singer and I want to put my lyrics and vocals on the Altitude’s songs - is there any particular style you want? What kind of direction are you going with the Gravity Hero album?
Answer: First off, we love singers! Our songs need vocals and we love when singers go nuts singing on them! As far as a style we are going after, we had these singers in mind when we recorded the Gravity Hero album: Chris Robinson (of the Black Crowes), Chrissie Hynde (the Pretenders), Rick Ocasek (of the Cars), Sting (of Sting) and Michael Hutchence (of INXS). (As a side note, we tried getting these artists to record with us but they either won’t return our calls or they’re dead.) Don’t worry if you don’t sound like any of these artists. We want you to bring your own flair and style. Play to your strengths and do what you do best!
Question: How do you make money on this? More importantly, if I collaborate with the Altitude, how do I make money on this?
Answer: Seems like everything always comes back to money, doesn’t it? That’s cool - we live in the real world. We got bills to pay, too. Here’s how it breaks down:
1. Once the Altitude has something from you we think is good enough to post for sale, we will email you our contact info. Usually, we send our phone number so we can talk and discuss ownership of the work. All of the Altitude’s original songs belong to the Altitude. (In legal speak, the Altitude has all copyrights and rights reserved.) But if you use the Altitude’s songs to create something new by adding your vocals or whatever, you have assisted in the creation of a new collaborative work. Part of this new song is the Altitude’s, part is yours. We like to start off thinking that the Altitude owns 50% of the song and the collaborator(s) owns 50% of the song. If you added a lot to the song and it is now more your song than our song - great! We are happy to work out a deal where you own a higher percentage of the song. If you only added a very little but it’s still cool and we want to put it out there for sale, it might be more fair to agree to you owning a smaller percentage. Whatever the percentages are, we want to reach a fair agreement because we can’t share our collaborations with the world until we work out an agreement. Ok, so let’s say we reach an agreement, then what?
2. Next, we send you a contract. Don’t freak. People hear the word contract and freak. Chill. This is very basic stuff. In legal circles, they call these “boilerplate” agreements because they are simple and strong. Here are the main points of the contract:
-Both parties agree on the percentage of the collaboration song owned by the Altitude and the percentage owned by the collaborator(s).
-We agree how to split any money made off of the collaboration. This could be revenue generated from on-line sales, licensing, etc. This goes both ways: if the Altitude makes money, we will give you your share per the agreement. If you go off and use the song to make money, the Altitude expects you to honor your agreement and give us our share. Share and share alike! Once we have a signed agreement, the Altitude posts the song for sale, starts working on licensing it, etc.
If the song makes money, we split the revenue per the contract. Just to keep everything fair and “above board”, we will even share the raw data from all of the downloads (if you want). This way, you know how much the song grossed, what our cut was, etc.
Question: Let’s say some evil musician out there downloads the Altitude’s album and then totally pirates it, calls it their own, start selling it and licensing it all on their own and doesn’t tell the Altitude about any of their nefarious shenanigans. Then what?
Answer: First off, don’t. Totally not cool. Secondly, there’s nothing to stop you from doing this already. We are counting on your decency as a human and the fact that the Altitude is coming into this with arms wide-open, full of trust and optimism and hoping you will do the same. Suffice it to say: be gone shameless evil musicians!
More questions? My aren’t you curious and inquisitive! Email us at allegedbonapartist. Thanks!
- Screen name:
- thealtitude
- Member since:
- Jan 09 2011
- Active over 1 month ago
- Level of commitment:
- Very Committed
- Years together:
- 3
- Tend to practice:
- 1 time per week
- Age:
- 41 years
Influences
Tom Petty, the Cars, Gorillaz, Phoenix, Ash Reiter, Pomplamoose, Elliott Smith, INXS, Boston, Eminem, Pink Floyd, Jed and Lucia, G.F. Handel, J.S. Bach
Members Of Band
Edmond Dantes, guitar.
M. Villefort, bass.
Vc. Morcef, keys.
M. Morrel, holding down them funky, funky beats.
EQUIPMENT
Electric guitar: lefty, dual humbuckers, mostly played through '67 Vox AC30 knock off. Lots of fx.
Keys: electric piano, old new wave, keeping it real.
Loops: love them Motown beats.
Bass: nothing special.
MUSIC
-
joy ride
joy ride Track number: 2 Year: 2010 Album: gravity hero Genre: Alternative
The Altitude is an experimental pop rock band based in the San Francisco Bay area looking for musicians and artists (singers, lyricists, lead guitarists, DJs, rappers, producers, etc.) to collaborate on the Altitude’s “Gravity Hero” album. We like doing the guitars, bass, drums, etc., and we like working with other people to do the other stuff (vocals, lyrics, remixes, sampling, etc.). As of January 2011, we are finishing up tracks for our “Gravity Hero” album. At this time, none of the songs have vocals. This means if you are a singer or lyricist, go nuts! Think of it as karaoke with no set words. These songs are blank canvases for you to do your thing! But the Altitude isn’t just looking for singers - we are looking for all types of collaborators! If you are DJ, sample our tracks in your stuff. Or remix our songs into new songs. If you are producer, connect our songs with your recording artists. If you are a lead guitarist, throw down your righteous leads on our tracks. The Altitude thinks the old way of auditioning musicians sucks! It’s time consuming, exhausting and, well, a pain in the ass. So instead, we are using a web-based talent search to find collaborators. The upside is you do not need to be in the San Francisco Bay area to work with us and you can work at your own pace. This is remote collaboration - we work here, you work there and we connect using the internet. The downside is we can’t offer you assistance in recording or mixing or doing what it is you do best - you have to have all of your own gear, a computer with internet access, etc. So how does this work? It’s pretty simple, actually. 1. Go to this website to listen to the Altitude’s album “Gravity Hero”: http://thealtitude.bandcamp.com/album/gravity-hero. You can download the album (in MP3) for free! The only catch is we do want your email address (there’s a reason for this). 2. Listen to the tracks and pick a song you like and want to work on. 3. Import the MP3 of that song into your multitrack home recording software (GarageBand, Live, Pro Tools, etc.). 4. Have fun recording! Create separate tracks (for your vocals, guitar solos, beat box break down, spoken word poetry, whatever), play with the arrangement, grab a sample and put it into your own music, experiment with effects, etc. In short - go nuts! 5. When you are all done, email the mixed down MP3 of your work as an attachment to the Altitude at [email protected]. 6. Repeat for each song you like and want to work on! If we like your stuff, we will contact you through your email (see, there was a reason we wanted your email). This is the point where we need to work out a legal agreement over ownership of the collaboration song, royalties, etc. before anything gets posted publicly. Typically, this is a 50/50 agreement between the Altitude and the collaborator(s): we own half the rights and proceeds (if there are any), you own half the rights and proceeds (again, if there are any). The Altitude will not post or try to make money on collaborative efforts until both the Altitude and the collaborator(s) have agreed on all copyright and ownership items. Don’t freak - these are pretty simple, straightforward agreements. The Altitude is more interested in your rocking collaboration than arguing over royalties. Fair is fair, share and share alike. There you have it. Simple enough, right? If you have ever wanted an opportunity to be in a rock band and break into the music business, here you go. Now let’s make music! Since this is not the first time the Altitude has done this type of collaboration and we usually get the same questions again and again, there is additional information in our FAQs at the end of this message. If you have read the FAQs and still have questions or just want to know more, email the band members of the Altitude at [email protected]. Thanks for playing! Thanks for listening! Thanks for collaborating! See you in the funny papers! Edmond Dantes (nom de plume) Frequently Asked Questions: Question: Why is the Altitude doing this? Answer: The answer is this talent search is a bit of a social experiment being conducted in the spirit of random fun, musical camaraderie and melodic exploration. The Altitude believes there are talented artists out there looking for a chance to let their creativity run amok. What better place for these talented people do “thair thang” than on our songs! Question: What type of music does the Altitude make? Like, who are your influences? Answer: Our music is influenced by artists like Tom Petty, the Cars, Gorillaz, Phoenix, Ash Reiter, Pomplamoose, Elliott Smith, INXS, Boston, Eminem, Pink Floyd, Jed and Lucia, G.F. Handel, J.S. Bach, e.e. cummings, and a host of others too numerous to mention. Question: What if I am a singer and I want to put my lyrics and vocals on the Altitude’s songs - is there any particular style you want? What kind of direction are you going with the Gravity Hero album? Answer: First off, we love singers! Our songs need vocals and we love when singers go nuts singing on them! As far as a style we are going after, we had these singers in mind when we recorded the Gravity Hero album: Chris Robinson (of the Black Crowes), Chrissie Hynde (the Pretenders), Rick Ocasek (of the Cars), Sting (of Sting) and Michael Hutchence (of INXS). (As a side note, we tried getting these artists to record with us but they either won’t return our calls or they’re dead.) Don’t worry if you don’t sound like any of these artists. We want you to bring your own flair and style. Play to your strengths and do what you do best! Question: How do you make money on this? More importantly, if I collaborate with the Altitude, how do I make money on this? Answer: Seems like everything always comes back to money, doesn’t it? That’s cool - we live in the real world. We got bills to pay, too. Here’s how it breaks down: 1. Once the Altitude has something from you we think is good enough to post for sale, we will email you our contact info. Usually, we send our phone number so we can talk and discuss ownership of the work. All of the Altitude’s original songs belong to the Altitude. (In legal speak, the Altitude has all copyrights and rights reserved.) But if you use the Altitude’s songs to create something new by adding your vocals or whatever, you have assisted in the creation of a new collaborative work. Part of this new song is the Altitude’s, part is yours. We like to start off thinking that the Altitude owns 50% of the song and the collaborator(s) owns 50% of the song. If you added a lot to the song and it is now more your song than our song - great! We are happy to work out a deal where you own a higher percentage of the song. If you only added a very little but it’s still cool and we want to put it out there for sale, it might be more fair to agree to you owning a smaller percentage. Whatever the percentages are, we want to reach a fair agreement because we can’t share our collaborations with the world until we work out an agreement. Ok, so let’s say we reach an agreement, then what? 2. Next, we send you a contract. Don’t freak. People hear the word contract and freak. Chill. This is very basic stuff. In legal circles, they call these “boilerplate” agreements because they are simple and strong. Here are the main points of the contract: -Both parties agree on the percentage of the collaboration song owned by the Altitude and the percentage owned by the collaborator(s). -We agree how to split any money made off of the collaboration. This could be revenue generated from on-line sales, licensing, etc. This goes both ways: if the Altitude makes money, we will give you your share per the agreement. If you go off and use the song to make money, the Altitude expects you to honor your agreement and give us our share. Share and share alike! Once we have a signed agreement, the Altitude posts the song for sale, starts working on licensing it, etc. If the song makes money, we split the revenue per the contract. Just to keep everything fair and “above board”, we will even share the raw data from all of the downloads (if you want). This way, you know how much the song grossed, what our cut was, etc. Question: Let’s say some evil musician out there downloads the Altitude’s album and then totally pirates it, calls it their own, start selling it and licensing it all on their own and doesn’t tell the Altitude about any of their nefarious shenanigans. Then what? Answer: First off, don’t. Totally not cool. Secondly, there’s nothing to stop you from doing this already. We are counting on your decency as a human and the fact that the Altitude is coming into this with arms wide-open, full of trust and optimism and hoping you will do the same. Suffice it to say: be gone shameless evil musicians! More questions? My aren’t you curious and inquisitive! Email us at [email protected]. Thanks!
