#the actual setting somehow. Since in a 3D game you can walk around and explore the world and stuff. And of course there

[icewindandboringhorror]

Recent ones of these even though they all look the same lol.. forcing myself to document progress..

[edomtheproject-blog]

Devlog #2 - 22/10/2018: What about an isometric perspective?

Hey, what’s up?

Today we’re gonna talk about the first steps of our game. As you’ve already seen in our first Devlog, we intend to share an alpha-demo with you guys until mid-November and that’s around one month from now. But this idea was born somewhere between July-August and we’ve been talking a lot about Edom since then.

THE FIRST IDEAS

We gave birth to Edom way before we would stop to think about names. Back in the day, it was only four of us: Jão, Carol, Paulo and me (again, I talked about the team in the last Devlog). Actually, everything started with a wish Carol had. She didn’t exactly think of whole a game, but a specific character: Ariel (if you’ve been following us on Twitter and Facebook, you probably have already seen something about her). She not only imagined the character physically but also had some ideas concerning Ariel’s personality and background. It was only a matter of time before me, Dave, becoming the guy who would create a more sophisticated lore concerning the character.

In our first meetings, we talked a lot about what we had imagined for the game, if Ariel would be the only char available and what really was our purpose with Edom. After a few minutes exploring the initial ideas, we got to a common-sense: it should be a horror game. But we still wanted to create something different from what we’ve been seeing out there.

Srsly, listen to this awesomeness

Firstly because we still have some limitations (and this is our first serious project, therefore we have no experience with this whole thing). We wouldn’t be able to create a 3D Game in this very moment since none of us is exactly a master at 3D-modelling and stuff like that. Secondly, we really wanted to challenge ourselves with a project that could explore our abilities. More than that, we wanted to create a thrilling atmosphere in a pixel-art style, what we initially imagined it wouldn’t be possible (however, we are very optimistic about it right now).

We also wanted to make things different. We have lots of AAA on the market who are filled with jump scares and all these clichés (not saying these are bad games, pls). As a writer, I’m really fond of trying to create an ambiance through a good narrative and other artistical elements. We wish to see players creating bonds with the characters and, once this link has been established, we want (well, I do want) to crush your sanity and your feelings through an immersive plot and environment (seriously, our artists - me included -  are working hard to make you cry and ask for your mama or your psychiatrist). And I’m really confident that it’s gonna work.

Thanks a lot @the_games_guild

WHY ISOMETRIC? WHY?

We’ll get there soon, I promise.

So, we also had to make sure which elements should be applied to the game. I personally wanted something filled with puzzles and enigmas that would sometimes rely on lots of exploration, just like some Survival Horror’s out there. Besides that, one of the feelings that we think it would be nice to explore it is the idea of loneliness and helplessness. To accomplish that, we imagined a huge mansion as the setting, implying that you’re confined, but at the same time, you can get easily lost if you’re not paying attention enough. We also wanted to make this game to be one of those where the players aren’t supported by any kind of power, so… Yah, no guns or baseball bats for you to kill your enemies. You can only run to the hills.

Somehow, at some point of our meetings, we considered that this game could be a weird Metroidvania-like, but we eventually noticed that this wouldn’t be suitable at all. However, the perspective of creating a 2D game, similar to some old point-and-clicks (which I really loved, I’m totally into adventure games) wouldn’t fit as well. And then, someone (I don’t remember who, but I’m sure it wasn’t me) suggested: what about an isometric perspective?

And we were like “woooooooooow”! And one second alter we were like: “but how the duck are we gonna do it? We know nothing about it and we already have this huge idea that probably won’t be finished and…”

And then someone (probably me) was like “IH, RESPEITA O JOGO, RESPEITA O TIME” (that is something like “c’mon, you should respect our game and our idea, and also trust our own abilities, we can do it” but it sounds WAAAY better in Portuguese).

Anyway, isometric just seemed the right thing to do. Then we had our first animations and scenarios created by Carol in a beautiful pixel-art piece of art. Jão was also doubting his skills, but he is the type of person who can do anything (seriously, we call him “the yes-boy”, cause he always says “yes, I will [manage] to do it” to everything). And, well, I’m glad to say it’s working.

This is only a test.

We had a few problems during the first weeks. Since none of us had any experience working with isometric perspective, we had to ask for help from other people from GDP (if you don’t know about it, you should read the first Devlog). It was at this moment that our team got our first new members. Nayara and Tomás were fundamental to help Carol with this new perspective, giving her some tips and making a better job of it. Nayara, currently one of our artists, has also been doing some great job. Tomás would be our Game Designer (yeah, we didn’t exactly have one before everything started), but he decided to focus on other projects - that’s when Victor shows up and saves the day.

Despite the decision, we still thought of the game following up with the previous idea of a Metroidvania, not as a whole but at least some elements and the level design. Part of it would be useful to increase the idea of loneliness mentioned above. We got ourselves guided by Mark Brown Boss Keys’ video talking about The World Design of Super Metroid and we agreed that we wanted to apply the same concept in our game, so the player would feel motivated to explore each corner in each room. And this obviously took us to talk about Level Design.

We also don’t have any experience with LD and puzzles or things like that. Since the beginning, we’ve been studying and researching about it in order to provide good riddles to the players, in a way they may feel rewarded when solving it. If you already played Super Metroid or watched Brown’s video, you certainly noticed this genre presents you with a huge map, but some parts of it can only be accessed once you got a special ability (for example, you can only access a certain passage if you acquire a double/longer jump ability in another point of the game). We really wanted to include this idea of progression in Edom, but how would we do it if our main character is a simple girl?

STOP WITH THIS “CLIFFHANGER” BULLSHIT BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS AND ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION. HOW’D YOU DO IT?

We would create a few more characters. Initially, we imagined only three, but our musician, Paulo, thought of a very specific character and we decided to include his idea. Each character has a “special ability” (nothing really special, but they are good with certain things that the others aren’t, simple as that) and you can only access certain areas if you discover these other “guests” around the house.

That was a good choice since it would help us in three important aspects: a) the Metroidvania progression X reward system, which is awesome and contributes to exploring; b) would make possible for us to think of many creative puzzles, since you can explore the mansion with different characters; c) instead of one character for you to love with all your heart, you have four of them (and consequently your suffering will be four times bigger). We are also testing the portrait system, in which the player may access a portrait of another character and change it whenever he is in an appropriate place to do it (for example, you’re controlling Ariel and you find a portrait of Clarice, then you interact with it and change characters). This system will be implemented, but there’s still a lot to discuss.

You can’t see the changing system, but notice the portrait on the wall.

Things seem to be okay for now. We haven’t faced many problems after that and the pixel-art is flowing. Jão, the programmer, has found some problems with layers in Unity, but after three weeks of intense research (and a lot of coding), he managed to solve it. In the meantime, we worked to add every command that would be important to the game: walk (in 8 directions), run, pull/push, interaction and using special abilities.

I guess this is it for now. We hope to publish here once more this week, focusing a little bit more on the music and writing. Stay tuned. And follow us on our social media (FB and Twitter), since we’re updating them regularly.

XOXO

[team-skull-admin]

My favorite 40 games of all-time

Made an arbitrary list of my favorite games of all-time cause I wanted to figure out where Breath of the Wild is on it. It’s, uh, pretty high. Assload of text below the break.

40: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow I'm not the world's biggest Symphony of the Night fan (outside of the incredible soundtrack) and I think this is where Iga's seamless platformers found their footing.

39: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger I love goofy, experimental games like this and Far Cry: Blood Dragon, but I think the schtick in this (an unreliable narrator bragging about their heroic exploits) works better than Blood Dragon's dorky 80s nostalgia.

38: Rayman Origins A beautiful platformer with incredible level design. The music for the diabolical secret level is seared into my memory.

37: Cibele A short, story-centric indie game that captures the essence of playing MMOs in the mid-2000s and long-distance relationships. The awkward conversations in this game made me think about my WoW years for an entire weekend.

36: Mario Kart Wii It's not technically the "best" Mario Kart, but I actually enjoyed the motorcycles and I have fond memories of crushing my brother while we downed beers and talked shit.

35: Guild of Dungeoneering I'm usually not super into "We made X game, but added CARDS!" even though I love card games, but they nailed the loop here. I vaguely remember one of the decks being super busted, though.

34: Tropico 4 Adding a political slant to Sim City by making you the leader of a banana republic was just the slant to that formula I was looking for, and I lost a weekend circa New Year's '13 just delving into this hard.

33: Gran Turismo 2 My brother bought a PS1 off a friend when they upgraded to a PS2, and I grabbed a copy of this cheaply at the local EB Games. Once I wrapped my mind around the simulation, upgrading cars and havin fun with them here might have more to do with me being somewhat of a car person than anything else.

32: Metal Gear Solid 4 I should really put the whole series on here, but MGS4 deserves special note for making the core stealth actually fun and somehow tying all the loose ends of the insane plot together while dialing up the insanity even further.

31: Sim City 2000 I figured out how to make a 50,000 person city when I was like, 8. I still have no fucking idea how I did this. It took me till my 20s to crack 100k.

30: Pokemon Black/White People are torn on this game, but the contentious design decision to hide the old Pokemon in the postgame made every new encounter incredibly exciting in a way the series hadn't been since the orignals. The writing also shows signs of the maturity that Sun/Moon would follow through with.

29: Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 I think most would deride this series as a soulless Pokemon cash-grab on the surface, but they're actually roguelikes with a crazy monster breeding system and the most rote of stories to get you into the core loop of exploring new keys to breed ever crazier monsters.

28: Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls Diablo 3 vanilla's reliance on the auction house created design issues that were hard to look past, but Blizzard abandoning it for the expansion made the game into an incredible dungeon crawler. I never laddered, but had fun for hundreds of hours chasing loot with friends.

27: Fallout 3 I'll never forget the feeling of walking out of the vault for the first time, and feeling like I could go anywhere. I also think this is the only Bethesda game that regularly pays off when exploring - weird shit like the Republic of Dave or the man stuck in the tree are fantastic rewards for poking at the less inhabited edges of the map.

26: Bassin's Black Bass featuring Hank Parker I'm honestly wondering if the rest of the world has picked up on this game's low-key genius since I saw it for 15 bucks at a retro game store recently, but this game's arcadey fishing is incredibly satisfying and snappy. It has some major, obvious, irritating mechanical issues, but the core gameplay loop is so good I don't care.

25: Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor I still remember my nemesis. This motherfucker was right at the beginning of the game, inside the first quest area, and was like level 5 or 6, but had a defensive ability that made it harder for me to gank him easily. So he killed me. Twice. And leveled up each time, becoming a level 12 badass who could literally sniff me out when I hid. But he was weak to fire, and I lured him to a campfire and set him ablaze, getting my revenge.

24: Super Metroid I feel like most people would have this game higher on the list, but I think the controls are floaty and Meridia is overly confusing. The rest of the game is incredible and I can't believe they pulled it off on a Super Nintendo.

23: Pokemon Sun/Moon After XY and ORAS were disapointments I was cool on Pokemon, but Sun/Moon challenged a ton of series conventions and got a lot right in the process. I can't believe how deftly this game handles dysfunctional families.

22: A Link Between Worlds This was Nintendo's hit at what was to come with Zelda - a smart, experimental take on the franchise that's easily its best 2d outing.

21: Muramasa: The Demon Blade Vanillaware's magnum opus, a gorgeous Metroidvania where everything is hand-painted. The combat's loop of mixing launchers with sword management is also incredibly fun, if not particularly deep. But fuck I loved looking at it so much and it felt good.

20: The Walking Dead Only time a video game made me cry.

19: Banjo-Kazooie The only 3d collect-a-thon platformer from that era that still holds up, it combines cheeky humor and an incredible soundtrack to craft a world that's always surprising.

18: Borderlands 2 is better crafted, but I enjoyed the dry wit and more grounded guns of the first. I've replayed this like 4 times and I'm not entirely sure why, but I have a blast each time.

17: Doom (2016) Apparently the secret to making this license work in a modern context is to give Halo combat arenas a healthy dose of cocaine and play Meshuggah riffs over it. It so fucking works.

16: Saints Row: The Third I think the writing in GTA is usually sophomoric at best and its attempts at commentary are eye-roll worthy, but having a game say "FUCK IT" and just Mel Brooks that experience is such a wonderful idea. It's also hard to pull off, and SR3 totally sticks the landing (unlike the sequel).

15: Super Mario World The best traditional Mario game. I replayed it recently, and it struck me how much secret exits add to the level design versus 3, and how freed Koji Kondo is by the new hardware. The castle music's classical overture sticks out.

14: Monster Hunter 4 I liked Monster Hunter 3's various iterations but I hated swimming. Taking out swimming and replacing it  with mounting was enough for me to sink hundreds of hours. I actively avoided getting Generations because I knew it would interfere with school.

13: Mario Golf (GBC) The perfect portable game. Golf works well on the platform, and adding basic RPG hooks was enough to make a rote story totally engaging.

12: Super Mario Maker I think the real triumph of Mario Maker isn't the levels (which are usually terrible), it's how Nintendo imparted the feeling of being creative in such an easily digestible and satisfying way. It's an achievement that ascends past Mario design (which still works here) into something greater and more profound.

11: Hearthstone I fucking hate this game and I keep playing it because the Arena is like literal fucking crack and every time I have an opponent at 1 life and they beat me they can eat fucking dicks.

10: Super Mario RPG Clever writing and a strange world grabbed me way harder than Intelligent System's later Paper Mario games. It's too easy and doesn't look as slick now, but the writing still holds up.

09: Mass Effect Trilogy You can't really separate these, as the experience that makes Mass Effect great was carrying your Shepard and their decisions from one game to the next. Everyone will remember Garrus, Wrex, and co. Shame about the ending.

08: Tetris I am weirdly good at Tetris. I know what a T-Spin is. I sank hundreds of hours into it on Facebook. I don't regret it.

07: Persona 4 Describe a game to me as a mix of a J-RPG and a slice-of-life anime and I'll run to the hills, so the fact this game's sharp, mature writing and "just one more day" calendar mechanic combined into one of my favorite games of all-time is a shock. They also put in Pokemon with fucking demons, how cool is that shit?

06: Ocarina of Time I can't believe this game came out in 1998. The world is still fun to traverse, and the dungeon design (especially as an adult) still holds up at the top of action-adventure puzzle design.

05: Magic: the Gathering I wish it was less expensive otherwise it'd be higher.

04: Breath of the Wild I can't believe Nintendo reinvented the wheel so well that I'm putting the game so high on the list. Every design decision in this game is carefully considered to make exploring this iteration of Hyrule that much more satisfying. And its incredibly clever chemistry engine, where every object in the game has chemical properties that can be manipulated as well as physics, creates a ton of emergent gameplay scenarios where you're constantly asking "Can I do that?" and the game almost never lets you down.

03: World of Warcraft Sometimes I regret the 4000 hours I spent in Azeroth, but I'd have a hard time giving up the friends I made there. I could probably shred and like, speak another language though.

02: Pokemon Red I was the perfect age for Pokemon mania, and the fact that the core game was literally designed to appeal to me didn't help. I still love collecting the things and min/maxing ways to beat the Elite 4 with minimal grinding.

01: Mega Man X I think this is literally the perfect platformer. Moving X feels incredible. There's nothing in any of the levels I think is out of place. The soundtrack is a masterpiece. And the game's hidden secret is so insane you'd probably call bullshit on any kid who told it to you at recess. I'm really glad the rest of the world picked up on it after Arin Hanson did a Sequelitis about it, because I've been beating this drum for decades.

[poshtvblog]

The Hunger For Unconventional Costumes Through The Eyes Of Elena Slyvniak

Image source: Elena Slivnyak Instagram 

The secret formula involves mixing sophistication with unusualness and a pinch of mystery. Each ingredient represents a key element in trying to achieve a non-traditional look or what is best known as the Avant-Garde style. This type of style pushes the boundaries of fashion by integrating elements or one element that transforms an ensemble into a jaw-dropping outfit that’s innovative and striking. Apparently, it’s not so secret anymore since a lot of films throughout the years, especially futuristic ones, have upgraded the definition of fashion. It’s not just about making the most astonishing scenes, but looking for balance between those scenes and the character’s costumes. However, this style is acknowledged more for costumes than for Ready To Wear type of clothing and it leans more towards the idea of the future instead of embracing the present as well. So what’s really the story behind this aesthetic in films and what limitations does it face?

The Hunger Games films portray a futuristic ideal of communities tyrannized by a high-tech upper class elite. That side of the spectrum constitutes the ‘Capitol Couture’ and the four films feature ensembles such as butterfly-bedecked dresses, satin contoured black sportswear pieces in high-tech fabrics, a wedding dress with a metal bodice and metal pieces rising up that signify power, a hot pink suit with a high collar oversized silhouette and architecturally structured dresses. This perspective of fashion showcases the power the capitol holds, by comparing their over the top looks to the simple and minimal garments of the districts, which possessed limited color palettes of gray and blue gray. How is it possible to keep up with the standards of creating crazy shapes and silhouettes garments that resemble so many different themes at the same time? Wearing tight jeans with a long oversized open-knit black sweater dress and an stylized bun, Elena Slivnyak, Ukranian founder of the couture fashion brand IIMUAHII, took me deeper into her world and her genius aesthetic by discussing the challenge of designing one of the costumes for the Mockingjay film and the influence of Avant-Garde fashion and technology in films.

Image source: iimuahii.com

Your brand IIMUAHII has a futuristic Avant-Garde aesthetic. What made you interested in creating this type of clothing? Elena Slivnyak: When I was in school, I was still exploring who I was as a designer and there was actually a teacher here at the Academy that really pointed me towards that direction. As I started exploring that kind of style, my ideas started blooming and so that’s when it all began.

You designed an amazing costume for the Hunger Games Mockingjay film, how did you get this opportunity? And can you tell us a little bit about the costume.

ES: Sure. I was actually approached by the costume designers Kurt and Bart. I don’t know exactly how they found about my brand; they probably found it online somehow. I had a lot of published editorials and things that were disseminated throughout the industry. They approached me and they were interested in purchasing a few costumes for supporting actors. The costumes themselves were a rendition of my previous work from my previous collection that they really liked, so I had to take that and then develop it into something else, a girl and a boy costume. They were the barbers that were shaving President Snow. So that is how that became a costume. [Laughs]

How do you think your aesthetic relates to the futuristic theme of the movie?

ES: What they ended up doing for the movie is they pulled a lot of different designers work from around the world and I wouldn’t particularly say that every costume in the movie was very futuristic. A lot of them were post-apocalyptic and had a lot of different aesthetics. My aesthetic is a different kind of take on the future and everyone else has their own take on future. So to answer your question, that’s a tough one [Laughs]. I honestly think that futuristic elements in clothes such as the silhouettes and fabrications you use are mostly what relates to the futuristic concept of the movie.  

And it depends a lot on the character as well.

ES: Yes, it depends a lot on the character. There were strict guidelines for the costume. For instance, I had to make it stretchy so that it would be able to fit on multiple different bodies because they didn’t have a set cast for them yet. They were like “Ok make something and then we would make someone else fit into it.” It had to be a girl and a boy. I didn’t really have to work hard because it was based on a design I already did in my previous collection. My take on futurism is a bit different than everyone else’s I feel mine is happier. It’s not post-apocalyptic; it’s like shape shifting and my take on the future is that it’s going to get better, not worse. Maybe it will get worst first, but I believe it’s going to get better after. I’m not saying that this is the way people are going to wear clothes later, is just my opinion on how an ideal futurism would look like. [Laughs].

Did you use any type of technology when creating this costume?

ES: No, just techniques I developed on my own. My thing is working with neoprene. For me, it is a very futuristic fabric because it’s so versatile. You can wash it in the washer, you don’t have to dry clean, it’s stretchy, it conforms to any human body and it does well in cool and hot weather.

I’ve mostly seen Avant-Garde fashion in films that portray a vision to the future. Do you think Avant-Garde can only be successfully used in futuristic themed movies or not necessarily?

ES: Not necessarily. I think the definition of Avant-Garde is new, unusual and experimental fashion, so I feel that can be applied to Ready To Wear as a scale down element. It doesn’t have to be super oversized for a person to be impossible to walk in it. You can take specific details and interpreted into a RTW collection and just transform the whole collection into something unique by doing that.

That actually relates to my next question. Why do you think the fusion between fashion and technology is seen more in films and TV rather than in Ready To Wear?

ES: I think it’s because technology is not there yet when it comes to fashion. There’s still developing and experimenting elements, how it can be integrated into the cloth for example as opposed to a wire in a jacket. Give it 5 to 10 more years and I believe that technology would be there, right now it’s kind of hard to integrate them together because just fundamentally is not there yet.

Do you think it is important for entertainment companies to incorporate technology not just as part of scenes but also as part of the characters costumes?

ES: Yes. Definitely. I believe technology when done right, mixed with fashion can be extraordinary. Just look at the X Machina exhibit from the Met museum last year. There are endless possibilities of how that can be incorporated. Now how do you wear something so innovative and structured, it’s a different story. For example, Iris Van Herpen ideas and techniques are extremely amazing but can you wear them every day? No you can’t because of elements like rubber and plastic. So how do you integrate that into cloth? When that’s figured out we can get somewhere.

What do you think are the key elements to develop an Avant-Garde ensemble?

ES: One of the main key elements that I always start with is texture. Developing and experimenting with unique fabrications and applying them in a new, fresh and 3D way is the beginning of any amazing Avant-Garde collection or any other collection. But that’s what I just do. Obviously silhouettes and shapes have a lot do with being extremely Avant-Garde. You don’t want to just choose a plain tailored jacket and put texture on it. That’s not really Avant-Garde, it’s not new or experimental. Now if you take that jacket and cut it up into pieces and deconstructed it and reconstructed it again in a visually intriguing way that’s avant-garde and if you add texture to that it completely changes the whole piece, it makes it go up in so many different levels. On the other hand, Avant-Garde can be simple; it doesn’t have to be this huge crazy shape with spikes coming out of it.  The piece can include a simple detail that has never been seen before so as long as it’s experimental that’s what I consider Avant-Garde.

The Avant-Garde aesthetic pushes boundaries; however, its meaning varies in every person. From a small detail to a whole structured and complex design, many entertainment industries at present tend to associate futurism and Avant-Garde. However; its association with haute couture or futuristic concepts might develop a different meaning when technology, over the years, become a key asset in giving this type of aesthetic a more easy approach. Can you come up with any other films that combine a futuristic theme with the avant-garde aesthetic in characters costumes?

[ulyssessklein]

Musical teamwork: the pillars of effective collaboration

10 things to remember when you’re working with other musicians.

I just got back from Oregon where I played the part of Peter Gabriel in a re-creation of his Secret World Live concert experience. A nine-person band, two hours of songs, custom-built set pieces and stage extensions, 3D image-mapping and projection, choreography, the list goes on.

It was one of the most involved shows I’ve ever participated in from a planning perspective. In the execution, it went even better than I’d imagined — and we had the audience dancing in the aisles from the start of the concert.

Afterwards, I wondered “How the hell did we just pull that off so well?”

Simple answer: teamwork.

As musicians, we can forget when we’re stressed or (worse) desperate, but effective musical teamwork is built on a few basic concepts:

1. Time is your greatest resource.

Athletes don’t just show up for the first game of the season. There’s months of practice (and sometimes pre-season games) beforehand. The same should go for any musical project or production.

I was asked almost a year in advance if I wanted to participate in this Peter Gabriel tribute. The personnel (music, lighting, design, production, PR, etc) had mostly all been determined nine months ahead of the target date for the show. And the show itself had been dreamed up and storyboarded even further back than that.

I watched the original Secret World Live film and listened to the album nonstop for months and months. So much that I still hear my daughter singing Peter Gabriel songs to herself while playing with her toys.

The date and venue — a beautiful concert hall in Portland called Revolution Hall — were locked in well in advance, and the team did several technical walk-throughs to measure stage dimensions, explore lighting options, etc.

We had two full weeks of rehearsal scheduled leading up to the show, in a practice space that had been taped-off to the exact dimensions of the stage.

We had two days with a choreographer.

We had three days with our sound engineer at the rehearsal space, dialing in individual mixes and effects.

There are a hundred other details that needed to be ironed out as well, and the only reason the ironing got done is because time was on our side.

Plan well in advance. Budget your time accordingly.

2. Work with reliable people.

My friend Anders, a fantastic drummer and one of the producers of the show, was the person that asked me to be the singer. I immediately told him the idea made me nervous because my voice sounds nothing like Peter Gabriel. Gabriel’s voice is somehow both raspy and full, even when singing higher tenor and falsetto lines. Mine is much… clearer. (Less of that cool, rock rasp).

Anders assured me that no one expected me to sing LIKE Peter Gabriel, but that I was being asked because I had the vocal range to cover both baritone and tenor vocal lines, and more importantly, he knew I’d do my homework and step into the role with conviction and my own sense of emotional delivery. I would show up prepared.

All that to say, Anders was counting on me to do SOMETHING good, even if it didn’t exactly mirror Peter Gabriel in delivery, and to not slow down the momentum in rehearsal, because I’d be ready to get to work. He could rely on me.

Same goes for everyone on the team, all fantastic musicians, technicians, builders, etc. But more important than talent was preparedness.

Be ready.

3. You’ve got to be MORE than talented and reliable.

So yeah, talent and reliability are crucial. But there’s something else that is just as important to your musical team’s ultimate success.

It’s tough to define because it’s different for each team member, but I’ll explain it this way: One of the guitarists also served as the musical director, one of our backup vocalists was an important part of getting people out to the show thanks to her network of friends and followers, the bassist knew about set design and fabrication, the drummer was in charge of van and gear rentals, and so forth.

You’ve gotta bring something to the table besides your immediate musical contribution. Web design? Writing skills for your press release? Photography? Deep pockets? Whatever it is, contribute something beyond your talent and dependability.

4. Get over yourself and take chances.

This probably sounds like a self-help cliché, but if you don’t put yourself into situations that challenge you, you aren’t going to grow.

For me (and for most of the band) there was an initial discomfort with replicating the theatricality of the show, which is all about bridging distances. There are awkward, suggestive, and joyous dance moves, dramatic duets, and plenty of moments when I’m singing on my knees at the front of the stage while staring into the eyes of individual audience members. I’ve never considered myself a naturally charismatic performer, I’m more of a workman-like singer-songwriter, but this role required that I push through my inhibitions in a way that was frightening (at first) and ultimately… freeing, engaging, successful.

The risk I took was showing up to practice ready to make a fool of myself, and to never nix ideas until we’d actually tried them. I think this helped everyone in the band get over themselves and just… dance.

I’m sure there’s a similar way in which you need to overcome something on your next big project, whether it’s writing a more vulnerable song, stepping out to the front of the stage for your solo, or risking rejection when you reach out to bloggers.

Risk it.

5. Delegate.

Once you’ve assembled a reliable team where each member has a particular skill set, it’s time to let go of the reins (a bit). There’s no way the three producers of the show could do everything themselves. So they had to trust that the set pieces would be built on time, that the band would be rehearsed, the PR campaign was underway, etc.

Of course they kept folks accountable with frequent check-ins, but they weren’t micro-managing.

That being said…

7. Every team needs leader(s).

We had three producers ultimately steering the ship. There’s a delicate but powerful balance that can happen when everyone takes ownership of their own area of expertise, while also feeling free to weigh in elsewhere.

With the “command structure” of this production, I deferred to the producers for the ultimate say, but one of our guitar players was tasked with musical direction, so it was his job to solidify the arrangements, make suggestions on everyone’s playing and singing, and so forth; I kinda took it upon myself to assist him with giving queues on stage (where solos end, when we exit a vamp, etc.) since I’m the guy wearing the bright outfit out front and all the players could see me. Our choreographer was in charge of movement, but everyone had input to shape the final show.

Anway, all this to say, it’s easier to make suggestions and collaborate when it’s clear who’s in charge of what, and who gets the final word.

7. Be clear about the rewards and penalties.

What does each person gain from contributing? Upfront money? A share of ongoing royalties? Fun? “Exposure?” What are you expecting? What should they expect of you? And just as important, what are you NOT responsible for?

What happens if you flake out, fail, or otherwise don’t deliver? Are there contingencies?

All of this should be communicated upfront. Terms, splits, payments, etc.

Contracts? Read ’em. If fair, sign ’em.

8. Use the tools.

You wouldn’t set out to create the next great EDM album with a 4-track cassette recorder and an acoustic guitar. (Well, maybe that WOULD be cool, but…)

You need the right tools to get the job done. For this production, with so much dancing, we needed the entire stage clear of monitors and cables, so everyone went with wireless in-ear monitors and wireless packs for their instruments. That required… a LOT of wireless packs, in-ears, plus those fancy antennas to broadcast all those signals. It also meant nine separate in-ear monitor mixes.

So we rented a bunch of gear, along with the same digital board that the venue has in-house. We brought it to our practice space along with all that other stuff to work out the tech and mixing details ahead of time, and saved the custom mix settings to load into the venue’s board on the day of show.

That’s just one of many examples of how we relied on a wide spectrum of tech (image mapping and projection, digital mixing, loops and samples, etc.) to make this show as good as it could be.

I don’t want this to sound like you need a billion dollars worth of the latest gear in order to be successful — in fact, Steve Lacy would tell you the opposite: start NOW with whatever you already have on-hand — but whatever tools you’re using, be sure they’re up for the task. This leads back to point #1: have adequate time to test and adjust.

If you don’t own what you need, call in favors, borrow, rent, or do that thing where you buy from Guitar Center and then return it after the gig (JUST KIDDING!)

9. Throw the Hail Mary.

Despite all the preparation, things will go wrong and you’ll have to scramble and improvise to navigate around the setback.

The only window of time our 3D-mapping expert could get into the venue to dial in his settings was the exact same time as soundcheck, so both processes were competing with one another, and both were delayed. This pushed right up to the time the doors were about to open.

It also meant we didn’t have time to do a cue-to-cue for every single song, which we’d planned to do with our sound, lighting, and projection teams. During the show, a few “important” lighting and projection sequences didn’t happen as planned.

I put “important” in quotes because you know what? No one in the audience knew any different. The music and performance had to carry the moment, and it did.

Things will go wrong. So be it. Roll with it. You might throw a desperate pass and win the game.

10. Celebrate, or at least post-game.

This Peter Gabriel tribute show I played was a success (bragging!) and we knew the moment we stepped off-stage that we’d done a good job. It was all love and congrats and celebration. That’s important. Striving to make a connection with music is a difficult path in life, and sometimes we’re too cool for our own good. It’s important, vital even, to sit on these little victories for a second and soak up the good feeling. (Those feelings might have to power you through some rough patches).

But even if your collaboration isn’t a smashing success, you should still rally the team afterwards, give thanks where thanks are due, figure out what could’ve been better, and assess how you’ll improve the next time around. Don’t just disperse into the night.

Win or lose, every team looks back on the game for lessons and a sense of camaraderie.

Have you had any successful collaborations lately? How about bad ones? Got any tips to share about musical teamwork? Let me know in the comments below.

[Picture of Real World Collective taken by Debra Penk.]

Here’s a video of one of our mellower tunes with stellar vocals from Margaret Wehr and some lovely audience participation at the end. Also, you can see some of our more animated songs HERE.

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