I challenge you to a duel… well… sort of.
It started out as a joke. It became a challenge.
While chatting with a family member about the dissemination of music through sub-genres we ended up joking about genres that could disappear without anybody caring. I joked that we should get rid of gabber-music “Because only people on drugs listen to gabber” also proclaiming “I could write a gabber hit in 30 minutes”.
Just for the record, I have nothing against gabber music and everything I said was in jest – however, I decided to test myself. Could I really write a song in 30 minutes that encapsulated everything that I believed this genre of music to be?
That was when the 30 minute song challenge was born.
The aim of the challenge is not to create a polished, professional grade chart-topper – it is about freeing your mind from the technical aspects of music production and focusing on writing.
During the challenge I found that I operated in a different way to my usual composition mind-set. I was far more focused on creating a tangible before my time was up. This meant less time tweaking and fiddling with synths or samples and more effort on creating a piece that I felt contained the spirit of gabber music.
The end result is ultimately irrelevant, it is more about pushing yourself to work harder and faster – finding ways to achieve your end results more efficiently. In just one attempt I have already found an area of my work that could be made far more efficient.
I would now like to challenge others to join me; Musicians, Artists, Writers, Coders and anybody else who works in a creative medium. What can you do in 30 minutes? You might be surprised at how far you can push yourself just like I was.
Post your results here or share them with me on Twitter (use the hashtag #30msc) or Facebook.
For the lulz here is my “Gabber Hit”.
30 minute Song Challenge – Gabber by ryandavies827
Update: Some of my friends have taken the challenge – check it out:
Ryan Ike – Composer for Media
http://www.ryanike.com/microjams/mj16-time-trial/
Alex Allen – Fella with a guitar
http://soundcloud.com/grigori120/30-minute-song-challenge