As I’ve mentioned in some previous posts to the group, I don’t want to be draconian or setup any rigid rules on how or what is done with the seed. Bend it, stretch it, transmogrify it, layer tons of stuff on it, shrink, or expand it, or minimally edit it.Your end result may be 80 minutes long or 8 - you get the idea.

Naturally I’m thinking of ambient in terms of the Eno style rather than the techno sense. Though many have assumed that my email name DJAmbient connotes techno but the DJ stems from my first two initials. However, if an ambient techno or chill out mood strikes you I’m fine in stretching the definition of ambient.

What I would like to see result from the experiment is: what can a group of people do with a common seed file yet working independent of each other? What kinds of “variations on a theme” will result? Frankly my expectations are high, not necessarily due to the resultant music (though I expect I’m personally going to enjoy it!), but really at the result of the process itself, a kind of musical discovery.

There is only one hard and fast rule I’d like people to follow and that is to bring an open mind and enjoy the project. If the seed is not your cup of tea then don’t sweat it. I’d ask you to let me know so I don’t pummel longwinded emails your way but I’d also like you to stay in touch. What I’m hoping is that this can be an ongoing project.

So enough babble, let’s get down to some nuts and bolts (of course nothing is cast in stone until we have a consensus, these are proposals)

RULES:

• The seed will be distributed out to all participants and the coordinator will contact each to verify shipment and arrival. An estimated due date will be proffered but not cast in stone. At some point a cut-off date will be announced for returning the fruits of your labors. The only penalty for not making the cut-off date is that you will not be included in the first distribution set.
• Projects will never end except of their own volition (how Frankensteinian of me!). Each project will have an archive page on the web site for anyone who later discovers the project. They’ll be able to contact me for a seed and they’ll be added to the body of work. I’ll probably have to put stricter controls on this with the new participant having to fund the cost of duplicating the set for them and copies to the original participant.
• The collected works will be compiled, unedited, into a set and each participant will receive a complete set. Since this is all at my instigation I will incur the cost of the redistribution for this go round.
• It will be agreed that each participant owns the rights to their submission and that other participant’s material cannot be duplicated, distributed (electronically or otherwise), or sold without their specific consent. I don’t want this to get overly complicated with legalities and hope we can go on the honor system. Of course we can consider a set for wider distribution if there is interest. I’ll poll the group and we can figure that out in time.

Other ramblings from a group email on 6/5/2002 "Overdue News"

The original concept was to send the seed out, get the results back, and to then distribute the collection to all the participants as a set of works. This is a nice simple concept and is still the working model. I have been thinking (yeah, I know, it's about time) about the next stages and how it will work and I'd like to bounce my current ideas off you all and get some feedback.

I intentionally didn't want to set any rigid rules, including deadlines, since I didn't want any external pressures on what you wanted to do. It's hard enough to deal with your own demons and schedules so who wants rules?

So given that, the problem is how do we get all the submissions in on a realistic timetable. The answer I propose is that I'll offer an incentive (don't envision $ signs!) to motivate people. There is no penalty or exclusion for taking your time though as you'll see.

I sent out the first wave of seeds about 6 weeks ago to about 12 people. Honestly I thought I'd be lucky to get 6 submissions back within 6 months. After 4 months I figured I'd send an email out to the group that I was about to commence production of the set and give a target date for the set production - have your stuff in or miss being in the set.

A couple of things have happened to make me accelerate the timetable. First is I'm expecting 3 or 4 submissions pretty soon now. Secondly about 6 more people have joined since the first mailing and I expect we'll pick up a few more now that there is some increased exposure. I don't want the newcomers to feel penalized and feel pressured that they have to hurry.

So what I'm thinking is that I'll set a soft date for submissions. Anything I get by that date will be included in the first set and that set will be distributed back out to that group. As other submissions come in, they will be added to the set and discs will be distributed to each contributor. The new submitters will get their set at this time as well.

I've already come up with an idea for some cover art for the CDR jewel case spines so that the set can grow in number and still be obviously be part of a uniform set. This has a lot of benefits for me. I won't have to make a large quantity of big sets all at once and it also allows me to keep the RainWave project perpetually open ended. It will hopefully continue to grow and to Issue.

Now, about that incentive, it's not much for starters but I'll come up with some additional things as well. The first group of folks who submit for the first round of distribution will go into a pool where they:

• get to submit a seed candidate for the next project
• get automatic copies of each supplement disc to the set as it grows
• whatever else comes to mind

I think this idea will work well, those of us who work slower or can't afford the time at the moment can stay involved and will not suffer, their work will be added when submitted and will not differ in any real way from the set (unless you count being RW Issue vol 3 vs. RW Issue vol 10 as having some kind of status).

Those of you who send in submissions should also send me a bio of what you would like to have said about you on the CD. I'll also create a page on the Ambient Issue site to profile you so think about anything you might want to include like links to MP3.com etc. If you don't give me anything I'll be forced to do something like: Turn ons - pressure sensitive keyboards, Turn offs: latency - don't make me do this!

I'll also put up a snip of the raw seed on the site and, as submissions come in, a sampling of your piece. I think this will be very cool and attract more participants. I envision a page with a central hub being the seed file and then each of you being spokes off of it with links to your sound sample.

Once that first round is set the planning will go into the next seed and it will be presented to the group. I fully expect some will drop out and new folks will drop in. If I can manage it we should be able to look at a target of 3-4 projects per year, maybe more if I get helpers. The cost in $ is not a big burden at this point, it really is the time it takes to keep track of things.

A number of people have inquired about doing a commercial compilation CD to reflect the project. I think this is fine and another perk of being an early submitter is the chance of getting on a CD with some distribution outside the group. Inclusion in this venture will be voluntary and will require a lot more detailed planning and coordination. If we get to that, which would be nice, I'll probably want to draft a board of consultants from among you to oversee this effort. I freely admit ignorance in this area while there are several of you who know the ropes already. Those of you who can offer advice in this area should email me off-list so we can explore the idea.

Another thing we could look into would be to get a group section of some sort at MP3.com or Ampcast.com etc. Again, new waters for me so I'm open to ideas and suggestions here as well. The Ambient Issue site can also be expanded to be our own major portal. At the moment it's capabilities are limited but I can have them increased considerably at nominal cost.

I encourage your feedback on all this stuff, especially to the group as a whole since it will probably spawn some new ideas as things bounce around. You can always email me directly as well if you want.

Finally if any of you were under whelmed by the seed or are not particularly inspired to do anything with it don't worry. I can fully understand it, I don't think it would have clicked with me if I didn't experience it in the unique context that I did.

If you don't think you are going to make a submission for RainWave let me know, I'm not going to bug you about it. All I can say is that I'd like you to hang on as part of the group since the next seed may be cut from a wholly different cloth. It may be a short melodious piece or a collection of loops to use in an arrangements.

Just like the project itself I don't see the need to apply any rules as to the nature of the seed. Naturally this, by definition, is supposed to be an ambient music thing but it can be pretty elastic. I have my own understanding of what I consider ambient and believe I can work with anything.

Lastly - If anyone wants to contribute to it contact me and we can discuss giving you admin access and you play away. I am not a web guru by any means. I was thinking of putting in a page to solicit and display our own contributing set of Oblique Strategies. There's plenty of real Eno ones on the web but it might be fun to seed our own set as well.

Comments please!