Hey there, music lovers! Today is a special day because we’re going to introduce to you two amazing people, whose passion for music and collaborative spirit help Drooble become the place it’s meant to be. Jason Flinter and Gail Ford won the Drooble Tune competition with a magnificent piece of music which celebrates togetherness, spontaneity and bravery. Their song came out reeeeally good and you can definitely see how much fun they were having, check it out:

We though it would be interesting and inspiring for you to read how the whole thing came together, but it’s probably best if we let them tell you about the whole experience.

Jason:

I was invited to join the platform by a drummer I had worked with a guy called Steve Laffy as I had co-written some tracks and produced a video for him called ‘Love Nature’which had been a featured ‘video of the day’, which intrigued me. I promptly joined up as I’m always very keen to collaborate and share ideas but my heart sank slightly as I quickly saw the usual habits of musicians across so many platforms; the need to constantly promote themselves, desperate for attention and really not actually interacting with anyone. The problem with this slightly narcissistic model of musical creation is that no one really gets to notice anyone and nothing new or unexpected happens with their own music as there’s no external influence ready to ‘shake things up’.

For the first 2 to 3 weeks I uploaded basic musical ideas and just kept asking if anyone wants to collaborate, write toplines or lyrics to the ideas. Got a few replies suggesting I should move the hi-hat to the off-beat or make the guitar more distorted? Then I received an email from the Drooble Team announcing a competition specifically focused on collaboration. As soon as I then suggested “who wants to collaborate for a competition”. I posted up an idea for a music track and was keen for any feedback. A guy called Max and now, ‘famously’ Gail, were up for the task! Gail just ‘Jazzed’ allover the track with her oboe, which was great as I’ve never collaborated with a Jazz oboe player – what a privilege. We lost Max along the way so it was up to Gail and myself to come up with some lyrics and I suggested a few phrases that rhymed with ‘Drooble Tune’ and sing them to the beat of the track and suggested to Gail that if we both sing them we can then somehow film ourselves and cut ourselves together.

This is where collaboration with a complete stranger really pays dividends as Gail luckily misinterpreted what I said and filmed herself saying all kind of words not at all to any beat in the track. So we had to really think how to place Gail’s words within the track compared to the words I had put in. We had to make them fit within the beat which suggested that we had to take each phrase and either speed it up or slow it down and then move around to hit beats. We ended up with a section of 4 bars of 5/4 music with Gail’s words going over it in a 2/4 rhythm as she was saying 10 x 3 syllable words – mad!

You don’t plan for that by yourself, you tend to rely on things you already now and have already done. If you’re open to new opportunities then collaboration forces you to do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do and you discover new ideas, new points of view and they can only enrich you and your musical experiences.

Thanks to Gail and this first collaboration, I am now a true ‘Droobler’ and hope for many more collaborations in the future.

Gratefully yours

Jason Flinter

~

Gail:

Can’t recall how I got into Droobling – think an ad just popped up on Facebook, and wow, I’m so glad it did. Drooble is unique – unlike other online communities, people are active, supportive, and innovative – a rare combination. They’re also open minded to new ideas & approaches, and Jason’s track is a great example of that. Technically, we haven’t met yet – which goes to show how good the Drooble idea is (I AM NOT BEING PAID TO SAY THIS!!) – you can collaborate on a new idea with someone you don’t know, but like minds can bond & produce music. I’m fairly new to on-line collaboration, and this stretched my working & preparation approach, but, apart from completely misunderstanding Jason’s text requirements (Sorry Sir, it’s my age you know) I really enjoyed the experience.

Not many places will accept that oboe and jazz DO go together, and offer you a platform to prove it. And this, mark you, from a classically trained musician who spent many years wittering “I can’t improvise”. Have a go, people – trying new stuff, new styles, new partnerships is nowhere as intimidating as you might think, and the sense of achievement is awesome. Like Jason, I’m now a dedicated Droobler, looking forward to more collaborations, with him and anybody who’s wise enough to think “Hey, jazz oboe. I’ll give it a whirl”. And, just to say, Jason’s proved a great & helpful partner – awesome video production too.

Gail (aka Dead Chuffed Droobler)

~

You can find Jason and Gail on Drooble, along with thousands of music-crazy people from all over the world. We hope this was as inspiring and as exciting for you as it was for us. See you soon!