The upcoming Balloon Party sequel

[Guthey]

Will there be an update for when it is officially going on?

[Injustrial]

Will there be an update for when it is officially going on?

Trust me, you'll get to know ;)

[AyaneFukumi]

Is it only going to be a dubstep album?

[ExoBassTix]

I guess they only stand with their decision because there are three important people in the organization (Freewave, Circuitfry and Kyoga, afaik), and it's 2 against 1.
Stubborn + stubborn > stubborn.

However sad I am with what this album will become, I'm gonna put it aside and see what's to happen.

@Ayane, no.

[AyaneFukumi]

I guess they only stand with their decision because there are three important people in the organization (Freewave, Circuitfry and Kyoga, afaik), and it's 2 against 1.
Stubborn + stubborn > stubborn.

However sad I am with what this album will become, I'm gonna put it aside and see what's to happen.

@Ayane, no.

To me balloon party was like the popular music album and Pinkamena party was the underground core album. But that's just me.

[ChocolateChicken]

Brad Bird - The Incredibles, Ratatouille, The Iron Giant, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - has something to say that is very relevant to you guys.

Spoiler Professional artist experience:

[ExoBassTix]

@Ayane, popular music =/= Dubstep. Dubstep might be popular, but not all popular music is Dubstep :P

@ChocolateChicken, Michael Giacchino did The Incredibles and Ratatouille though. Thanks a lot for the nice text though.

[AyaneFukumi]

@Ayane, popular music =/= Dubstep. Dubstep might be popular, but not all popular music is Dubstep :P

Regardless, breakcore isn't there x3

[Freewave]

They'll let you know what the theme and direction of the album is when its ready guys. Some of us mods and admins had a VERY long drawn out discussion and its interesting to see that even with this initially agreed to be a Twilight themed album last year that that might not even be something they want (let along focus "needing" to be pony at all). It's interesting to see just how much my own views of this fandom and the music differ from those who have been here longer but don't make mlp music anymore. Hopefully those differences aren't wedges. Suffice to say i think we'd like to see people make the best music they know how to make and not limit them creatively but still challenge them. Either way, stay tuned...

[ExoBassTix]

Not necessarily pony, did I read that right?
So, instead of pony remakes of known albums, it'll be normal remakes of known albums with a Mane-6 mascotte?
If that happens, will FiMMusic still be rooting for it?

Will everybody just go "pony in name only?"

[Callenby]

They'll let you know what the theme and direction of the album is when its ready guys. Some of us mods and admins had a VERY long drawn out discussion and its interesting to see that even with this initially agreed to be a Twilight themed album last year that that might not even be something they want (let along focus "needing" to be pony at all).

This worries me just a bit. I was quite interested in the original concept for the album. Well, hopefully still be just as uniting and inspiring for the community (and not just the musicians, mind), since I think that's one of the most important parts of this whole thing.

[ChocolateChicken]

Ponies and great music with ponies in it are what brought us together in the first place and we are all pony fans here. Making this music album a pony music album is what makes it special and unique. No song or album ever NEEDS to be pony, but it's a cute and fun thing to do and definitely inspires us all and reminds us of the show that we've all come to know and love.

Plus this album is being generated by the pony community, so there's that detail to keep in mind.

[Callenby]

Ponies and great music with ponies in it are what brought us together in the first place and we are all pony fans here. Making this music album a pony music album is what makes it special and unique. No song or album ever NEEDS to be pony, but it's a cute and fun thing to do and definitely inspires us all and reminds us of the show that we've all come to know and love.

Plus this album is being generated by the pony community, so there's that detail to keep in mind.

Seconded.

[AutomaticJack]

And next to that, why the frick not. This forum is about friendship, and how better to improve friendly bonds than by meeting up?

Maybe back in 2012, when all the musicians actually stuck together. Nowadays we've got out own music cliques and a whole bunch of e-famous musicians that won't bother to hang out with us, "lesser subscribed simpletons."

I don't really vote for either. I feel these albums have done nothing but create a further divide amonst the music community. Plus, the sad truth is that the money has to have some sort of priority funding, and I can't see the funding covering a relatively unknown artist as long as there's bigger names on the waiting list.

I don't think it should be for a general charity either. I don't want the great community efforts like Smile! or Seeds of Kindness being lumped in with the generally one-sided popularity contests that have been the past albums.

Perhaps if we had a more fair judging system that's less vague on their quality standards AND only allowed people who are actually active in the music community to participate? I'm personally sick of seeing big names breaking off from their stretch of doing non-pony music and ZERO participation in the brony community to suddenly rise from the grave and write their one pony song for this annual album, then request funds to go to a convention so they can bask in their own glory and ignore all the other musicians.

First off, lemme say that you are my new hero. A bold-ass statement like this is my kind of AWESOME =3

Second, lemme say that the thing I think is most responsible for driving groups of Brony musicians to form cliques and sub groups is the sheer number of us, plus the fact that we are generally ALL distantly connected... by SKYPE. Back in the day, before Skype, I was in the IRC ALL THE FUCKING TIME. It was great, a little clunky compared to modern IM and shit, but so what? You could leave mail if it was REALLY important, and you could even PM if you needed to. I never been a big fan of communicating via forum, so the IRC was PERFECT.

Then along came Skype, that gigantic chatroom in the sky, and a MILLION groups of which I constantly find myself knowing less and less people in. I'm still there, because I don't WANT to be divided from my fellow Brony musicians, but in reality it's much more enjoyable to be in a smaller group with people you DO.

I would love to be able to know and talk to EVERY SINGLE BRONY MUSICIAN, but the reality is that this is not possible. When I joined these forums there were around 300+ members registered here. Have a look and see how many there are now 0.o

I agree with the idea of not letting those who aren't active in the community collect on the fund, but if they're well known, their name will help draw attention to it, and the album needs that. The difficulty would be in deciding who qualifies and who doesn't.

Lastly, I agree that the aim of the album as well as the quality standards are not as clear as they should be. I like the idea of theme-ing the albums around the Mane 6 (and hopefully beyond), but I think the idea of "The music should be like this because [INSERT PONY NAME HERE] is like this" is very limiting, and often not strictly observed. There were tracks on RnR that weren't all that fast. There were tracks on Balloon party that weren't all that hard. And that's prolly a good thing, because a hard album alienates the community members who don't like it hard, both listeners AND producers.

My ideal layout for the album would be simply to have songs written ABOUT, or with samples taken from (cause I FUCKING LOOOOVE my samplework >=3) said Pony. This is a Twilight Album? The aim better not be on technical/complex/long entries, because what!? Hard to fulfill, unless you already write long and technical tracks.

I could go on and on, but fuck that, I'm tired. Stoked for this album no matter what, but limitations WILL be broken. They always have =P

[ExoBassTix]

Lastly, I agree that the aim of the album as well as the quality standards are not as clear as they should be. I like the idea of theme-ing the albums around the Mane 6 (and hopefully beyond), but I think the idea of "The music should be like this because [INSERT PONY NAME HERE] is like this" is very limiting, and often not strictly observed. There were tracks on RnR that weren't all that fast. There were tracks on Balloon party that weren't all that hard. And that's prolly a good thing, because a hard album alienates the community members who don't like it hard, both listeners AND producers.

My ideal layout for the album would be simply to have songs written ABOUT, or with samples taken from said Pony. This is a Twilight Album? The aim better not be on technical/complex/long entries, because what!? Hard to fulfill, unless you already write long and technical tracks.

This I so totally agree to though. If this'd be a technical/complex/long album, people could only join if they make that certain type of music, or they'd be changing themselves just because an album sprung up. Sure, I've heard it before, and there was the counter-argument of "getting to learn how to make that certain type of music, or at least attempt it to get out of your comfort zone," you decide whether you agree or not. And yes, I believe it to be a rightful argument for albums of a lesser size than Balloon Party, but for something as monumental as Balloon Party itself, wouldn't you want the best quality we can collect? At least this is my opinion.

I think that if an album like this should have a requirement so it fits, it shouldn't be a technical one. Rather make it a requirement of the track telling a story that contains a certain element (further asking for quality without limiting what you can create, and also offering the possibility for the album to be very diverse which radiates an all-over support of all gentes without excluding anything with creative potential and "awesomeness" in its own way).

[ChocolateChicken]

To anybody who thinks the album should not be for conventions, or have little to nothing to do with ponies or the community:

I think if the album isn't going to have anything to do with ponies or getting fans and friends to conventions then there is no real point to having it being affiliated with the community, MLR, or calling it a Balloon Party sequel in the first place. If the album directors don't care about their album's relation to the community then why should the community care about it?

[ChocolateChicken]

Honestly, there's something very dishonest about making a supposed pony album by the pony community and then trying to distance it as far away from ponies and the community as possible.

[VaporBlaze]

it's not a matter of distancing from pony, it's a matter broadening to a larger scope.

i think this album should be about evolution, growth, and ascendance. a chance for people to show how far they've come through this community. not through pony, mind you, but through the community of musicians that have been gathered together because of pony.

trying to enforce a "pony only" theme will lead to far more dishonesty than allowing people to choose whether their music is pony themed or not. it will flood the submissions with songs that just have samples slapped on them, instrumentals that have some odd justification, etc. just so they get considered for acceptance.

neither of the previous BP albums enforced a "pony theme" and they were both fantastic in my opinion, true testaments to the strength, creativity, and resourcefulness of this music community.

worse still will be the number of rejections because some arbitrary judgement call needed to be made about how "pony" it is. take a look at the story in this song's description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_4SupANM-Y

this album should be a platform for people to show off their wings, and not be confined by some hard-to-enforce thematic limitation that will turn a lot of people off from the album.

removing the possibility of acquiring funds from this album is a good call; it will remove a lot of the toxicity surrounding the entries and who gets picked and who gets funded.

note: "making music that is pony themed does not inhibit creative expression. >making< people make pony themed music does."

if twilight represents anything, it would be friendship. and that transcends "pony". the fact that we all like ponies doesn't make us special any more. it hasn't for two years. what >does< make us special is that we all came together, from across the world, here to make music. some of us professional, some of us complete novices. we all grew together and learned together and became friends. we formed a community. the reason many people left is because they felt that their music and their worth as a person were being downplayed, under the shadow of "pony".

since when did "pony" become more important than friendship?

[Injustrial]

since when did "pony" become more important than friendship?

This. Just, this!

[ChocolateChicken]

Lots of straw man fallicies

You pretty much used Straw Man and False Dilemma fallacies in reply to my statement.

Your point about aiming to reach a larger audience can also be called "selling out."

Nobody said anything about "pony only." Nobody said that at all and nobody wants that. You are black and white thinking.

[VaporBlaze]

i'd prefer not to make this personal, CC, most of what i said is just my thoughts on the whole issue, not direct at any one person or opinion. it was not meant to be purely a rebuttal to your statement.

however, i will say that i think this should be more of a community album than a pony album. makkon has always said this forum is a music forum first, and a pony forum second.

[ChocolateChicken]

however, i will say that i think this should be more of a community album than a pony album. makkon has always said this forum is a music forum first, and a pony forum second.

I agree. But you missed my point entirely about how this album would be distancing itself away from the community as much as possible, which defeats the purpose of a so-called "community album."

[VaporBlaze]

im really lost i guess, why do you say the album is distancing itself from the community? why would you say "as much as possible". maybe i missed something but i don't know what you are seeing to make you think that a pointed effort to distance the album from the community is being made.

[ChocolateChicken]

Yeah you seem to have understood my points perfectly, Jokeblue. It doesn't - nor should it - have to be 100% pony or "pony only." I just think it's unfair to deliberately distance the album away from the ponies/pony fandom than it really is or has been since the first Balloon Party, especially considering that the album is being made by the pony fandom.

[Guthey]

We really need to settle this.