Musicians collaborate/form a band online, possible or not?

Asked by niki (714

) March 21st, 2010

do you guys think it’s possible now to do this, in our 21st century internet ‘global’ era?
a little bit info: I am an indie musician/songwriter, in Indonesia.
and I have this new, creative idea in forming a “super-group/band” with a genre in sweet-dreamy pop/jazz electrochestra.
I won’t dive further into the details, but I figure that this “supergroup” would have like the BEST people & musicians in it!

now the thing is: since after this past year, I’ve catched & fixated my eyes on 2 artists: one is a a very sweet, creative, & talented female vocalist from China, and the other one is a very talented, amazing video-artwork/animation guy, also from here, Indonesia.
these 2 people, honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever found people like them in my local area, or country!
and I’ve actually asked them about the prospect of trying to work together, and form this “online collaboration (group)” thing, and they’re both actually excited about this too! (ie: they’ve also watched my Youtube channels, and they said they always like my playing/music too :) )!
These are still two people, and I’m planning to actually recruit more musicians/artists to form the supergroup.

my only pressing question is this: do you guys think it’s actually quite (or even, very) possible nowadays to “just do it” and start doing it? ie: make the song, collaborate online, and start posting ‘em online, and see what happens!
or,..do you think it’s very, very hard to do (ie: doing online collaboration, especially start forming an “international” group via online) even in our time?

the thing I have in mind is: at least I just want us to have fun 1st & expressing & combining our passion & talents at the very BEST, share ‘em online, and then we’ll see what’s going to happen…
My long-term goal (or “dreams”) is to have this group launched internationally (as my lyrics & compositions would also all be in English :) ), and totally make fresh, interesting brand new & inspiring music to share to the world!

now is this possible?
or it’s actually almost..impossible?
please give as much details in your answers/opinions, thank you!

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7 Answers

Well, nothing’s impossible, right?

I know there used to be a site called MyEBand that allowed people to collaborate online. The site isn’t coming up for me, but I’m wondering if that might not be something my husband did… I think he was involved with that for a while.

Anyway…

It would be hard as hell, I think, to actually form a productive band over the internet. You miss out on the hours of sitting around in a practice pad going “What do you think of this?” and writing stuff on the spot. Going online, you’d have to write your piece, record it, format it, send it over, and wait for a reply. You lose the “meh, that sucks, but if you change the time signature and bring the second riff back around…”

Seek (34805

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Not only is this possible.. it’s currently being done on forums my husband is involved in.

Use Skype to jam, then record, mix and share files and have one of you do the ‘final cut’..

You can make music together, but being successful money earning band is a whole different story.

cazzie (24516

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It’s very possible and you should do it. “If you want to build a house, build a house, don’t ask someone, just build a house” – Christopher Walken. I say just do it, because it might be worth putting more effort into, or it might be a complete waste of time. So the opportunity is there for you to find out one way or the other.

I could be wrong, but I also think that you will only begin to make money when you perform together live. As far as I know, that is how it has always been done. And it will make you a better band. Music is at its best when people are directly, instantaneously, feeding off of each other, in a relevant, living, breathing way. If you decide you like jamming online, and you all feel excited about the project, then you will get to your greatest heights when you actually get together as a coherent band and jam in person.

chamelopotamus (1379

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