(Balloon Party 5) Everfree Park Rangers - Woodland Guide

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(Balloon Party 5) Everfree Park Rangers - Woodland Guide

Postby Circuitfry » 16 Jan 2022 00:11

Yes, it's Balloon Party 5. For real.

Everfree Park Rangers - Woodland Guide

You are reading this right, it is the tenth anniversary of the first BP album, and now we're doing a new one.

( Read the thread and then enter here: https://forms.gle/sjT8eZKQs9XHQNEu7 )

Note: This post is likely to be updated, now and then, so check back, sometimes.

Update: We have a discord, now. https://discord.gg/HV9cqKw9m5

Context:
Spoiler circuitfry:
For those who don't know, Balloon Party was started as a massive collaboration album where Aussie and I went around inviting musician friends to make the sickest hardest party music album ever, inspired by Knife Party's music and dedicated to Pinkie Pie. What started as a tongue-in-cheek parody became a wildfire open invitation that spanned almost the entire music community, followed by a surprisingly effective guerilla marketing strategy leading to convention meetups and a serious inflation of the concert areas of said conventions. BP was so hype, its popularity ambushed and surpassed releases from serious industry labels. It was an actual foothold for career development for some members.

I am the founder and was a co-organizer for both Balloon Party and Rainbow & Rooted before I passed the torch to other community members, before going quiet for years. I knew that the 10th anniversary was going to come up, and I knew in my heart, for years, that I wanted to do something for it. For a while, I thought I'd do something by myself, like remix the songs of the albums, because I felt like maybe nobody else was gonna be interested. But after talking with friends, recently, I learned that people would actually really like to do another one, especially for the anniversary.


Between remixing BP or going through with a new one, you can see what I'm going with. It's more fun to do something new! So this post is going to detail what we're going to do (and what we're not going to do) for the Fluttershy album in the Balloon Party series. BP 5 is the Fluttershy album, and it's going to go like this:

How BP 5 Will Work:

I discussed this album's soul and concept with a number of members who were interested in the project and had ideas, and I personally wanted Fluttershy to be a unique album. I feel like people really hoped that the BP albums would each feel unique and not a series of EDM tracks, and I really agreed with this sentiment. Woodland Guide is not going to be another 100% No Feeble Cheering. We're going to lay out the concept and what kind of music the album will have:

Name of the Artist/Album: Everfree Park Rangers/Woodland Guide (these names were voted on in advance)

Concept: Yes, this time, this album is not merely a parody of an EDM artist. We're breaking tradition a bit by going with a concept album. Fluttershy's core is kindness and a connection with nature, and we wanted to do a really creative theme for it.

The album is going to be a tour of the secrets of the forest. We are encouraging members who wish to participate to create a brand new idea for the forest, a phenomenon or secret that Fluttershy would encounter or share with someone. Your song title, your instrumentation, it should revolve around a place or thing in the Everfree forest that is interesting. What I'm crossing my fingers for is a bunch of songs about safe or euclid SCP entries, basically. As in, "unexplainable" phenomenon, CRAZY stuff, that's not necessarily dark or threatening. We're trying to go for an awe factor, which leads to this section about the songwriting:

Songwriting

The big thing here is that we're not doing banger party dance tracks, this time. Going back to the roots of BP's concept and hitting the soul of each character means doing different music. You absolutely should use any sound design techniques you learned as an EDM producer to contribute to your song, but I don't want the dubstep drops or lasers or punk rock songs we saw in previous albums. That was Pinkie and Rainbow. This is Fluttershy (not that Fluttershy as a character wouldn't like dubstep or punk or grindcore, I'm just trying to get us to do something different).

What we're shooting for is much more atmospheric and fantastical. We're in a fantasy forest with the unexplainable. It'll be like composing for the soul and identity, almost like a movie soundtrack, for the magical jungle-forest. I want to hear the ethereal, the northern lights, the kaleidoscopes, the folk and the frolic. You can achieve fusions, twist your synths into plucky sparkles, create the voices that ring through the trees. You get what I'm putting down? It doesn't have to match this entire description, of course, I'm just hoping that you

1. Come up with an original idea for a thing or phenomenon in the Everfree forest. Something that's not a lazy grimdark story (friendlier is BETTER) and something that's really interesting. What's ALIVE? What does it want? What can it do for you (... or TO you?) Get a really crazy idea. Whip our brains.

2. Put together a track for it that is not electronic dance music. It should center around your idea and feel like it belongs on a Fluttershy album.

For example, I am
Spoiler circuitfry:
Making a song about a portal from the real world to the Everfree forest. This portal is watched over by an ethereal ghost that sings about escaping the harsh realities of this world and inviting you somewhere safer, cozier, sweeter. It's a misguided soul that wants to take you somewhere they wish they could go, themselves. There's going to be synths that sparkle up the atmosphere and hymnal-like singing and thundery drums and bells and all sorts of stuff.


Releasing

BP and R&R were coupled with a really fun idea for teasing itself in advance. We would keep our songs a COMPLETE SECRET and then upload as a group on roughly the same day, leading to fans clicking and searching around looking for all of the teaser videos for this strange and exciting album. We're going to do this teaser video thing on April 6th, before releasing the album on June 4th, the 10th anniversary of BP.

Okay, Let's Answer Questions

Q: Why should I participate?
A: There's tons of good reasons. If you like making new music, this might push you out of your comfort zone. If you feel like this album would put you in your element, then this will be a good chance to shine. If you like springing surprises on your fans (and finding new fans), this is a great way to do it.

Q: When is the deadline?
A: There are TWO planned deadlines. The first is for your Teaser Video. For fun's sake, we're going to make teaser videos and simultaneously upload them all on April 6th. I'll make an update to this post with links to content you can use in said video. We're not looking for your finished product, we're looking for your work-in-progress that is designed to impress. "Look what I'm cookin' up, right now!" is the idea.

The second "deadline" is actually May June 28th. We want to get submissions in good and early, because 1) it will give our anonymous judges time to go through the songs and vote which ones go through, and 2) because there's literally always someone who is trying to make their song Just Perfect at the last moment and if everyone else is out of the way then it's easier for us, lol. It always goes this way, I'd rather be upfront and honest, so let me say: being that really prompt and early person means and helps a lot, thank you.

Q: What if 2+ people have the same idea for a song?
A: This is possible, and we want to avoid that. If it happens, we will accept all entries if they are all good. But we will have a form, with open results, for your entry.

Q: Do I lose the rights to my song?
A: No! While your song will be free on the album (the album will be offered for free download and torrented and also likely archived somewhere), and I consider the album a gift to the fandom, you can put your BP5 track on your own albums (and charge for the song), you can do basically whatever you want, it's literally your song. I always ran the albums this way and I'm doing it that way, again.

Q: Where do I submit the songs?
A: You'll likely be uploading your song to Dropbox or Soundcloud (I highly recommend a place that's more permanent), and link that in a submission form.

Q: Is it just you who's running the album, Circuitfry? Who's the crew?
A: Currently, it is me + 2 others. Selected judges will be anonymous (because we don't want them swarmed with messages about how to pass judging, they're just here to review entries).

Q: What tips can you offer to get into the album?
A: Rely on your (constructive) friends and fellow musicians. You want a song that evolves and tells a story, which takes a lot of work, and should involve plenty of feedback from people who can give you good advice. This will inevitably teach you new things and lead you to growing as a musician. Fuse inspirations, explore new genres and pick something cool from them, take lots of breaks. You have *months* to create this song. Learn how to use faders and EQ plugins to fix flaws in your mixing, look up some composition techniques and pick one to employ. We're not looking for Industry Professional work, this is a fan album. We're looking for a fan work that someone put love and care into, so just do your best and get feedback often!

Q: Can I talk to you about my idea or have some feedback?
A: Sure. I recommend you keep getting feedback from people you trust, but you can also reach out to me on my twitter account, found here: https://twitter.com/nitro_nova. Send me a DM and a soundcloud link and I'll try to do what I can. :)

Q: Do I have to make a teaser video?
A: No. For us, it's fun to, but you don't have to.

Q: So, like, no dancey music whatsoever?
A: It's fine to make something that's dancey, as long as you're doing it in a way that's distinguishable from the stuff you'd hear on BP and R&R. Scroll a bit above, read some things we're looking for, and keep in mind that everything has a little leeway and avoid overthinking it.
Last edited by Circuitfry on 25 May 2022 03:34, edited 11 times in total.
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Re: (Balloon Party 5) Everfree Park Rangers - Woodland Guide

Postby Supersaw Hoover » 16 Jan 2022 02:43

This will be fluttertastic.
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Re: (Balloon Party 5) Everfree Park Rangers - Woodland Guide

Postby AdamTh3Walker » 22 Jan 2022 20:44

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Re: (Balloon Party 5) Everfree Park Rangers - Woodland Guide

Postby jokull » 09 Feb 2022 22:04

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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first joined 17 mar 2012. almost a decade now. wow.
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Re: (Balloon Party 5) Everfree Park Rangers - Woodland Guide

Postby AnimatronicPony » 20 Apr 2022 13:05

Wow I never thought it'll come back O_O
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Re: (Balloon Party 5) Everfree Park Rangers - Woodland Guide

Postby Circuitfry » 25 May 2022 03:39

Quick update: We are extending the deadline to June 28th. It does mean we'll miss the actual anniversary, but we've all voiced that we're okay with that as long as we have a better chance of people completing submissions. One more month is what we've got.

Additionally, there is going to be an After Party for this BP, as well. the details are still forthcoming but the general idea is that it'll be less concept-oriented than Woodland Guide. So! If you wanna make it in to the Woodland Guide album, read the guides in the original post and start composing. If you wanna hit the After Party, join our discord for details on what kind of music it's open to.
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Re: (Balloon Party 5) Everfree Park Rangers - Woodland Guide

Postby Circuitfry » 10 Jul 2022 02:09

Alright, I feel like it's pertinent to conclude on the forum thread, as well. Thank you everyone for participating on the album! It's finally out.

You can find the album on bandcamp and an alternative streaming link on pony.fm.

Aaaand that concludes it! Except we're gonna do the 6th album, too. I'll of course post the announcement for that here, in the future, too.

Oh, also, see here for the afterparty!
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