What makes a collaborative VocaUTAU/etc effort work?

WendytheCreeper

(>☉ ͡ヮ☉<)
Defender of Defoko
I've noticed lately that various members of the vocalsynth(Vocaloid, UTAU, etc) community have been doing more collaborative efforts and projects, such as compilation albums, charity albums, and mass collabs. Heck I've been in a few of them myself, so I want to discuss what makes these projects work...and what makes them fail, as well.

My thoughts:
  • Quantity over Quality: I know this sounds weird, but it seems like getting more people on board is better than having a select exact amount of participants with specific abilities. This is because usually I see people having to drop out of a project because life got in the way or something (I've had to drop out of Project Sonata, for example)
  • Scheduling and Schedule Flexibility: As one could imagine, a schedule is important to making sure that whatever effort is being done, that it is released in a timely, though not rushed manner. Flexibility in the overall schedule is important as well, because things happen, and sometimes large numbers of participants can fall behind for whatever reason.
  • Communication: I think no matter what you are doing, communication is key when working with other people. This can range from getting feedback on your work, to letting people know that your work will be delayed a bit, or that you'll even be absent for a bit of time.
  • A Clear Goal: I've often heard of situations where people will want to collab, but not have any specific goal, thus leaving them with nowhere to go. Some clear goals would be "create a collaboration album with at least seven songs" or "write a love song, with x doing vocals, y doing instrumentals, etc."
So what are your thoughts on these collaborative projects and efforts? What do you think makes them work, and what makes them fail? What do you think UTAU users will try in the future for collabs and stuff like that?
 

Kiyoteru

UtaForum power user
Supporter
Defender of Defoko
I agree with you pretty much all the way.

I think another factor in the success of collaborative projects is that each member volunteering joining is willing to put their work into it, rather than a group of friends coming up with an idea and never really following through. Especially with compilation albums, each member is working pretty much independently and knows exactly what they're responsible for, so instead of being confused and waiting for others in a big mess of tasks to get done, people ARE able to safely drop out and the project can still continue.
It seems counter-intuitive, but a good collab is one where people can leave. In the context of the vocalsynth world, the final, published product is more important than the process behind it.
 

WendytheCreeper

(>☉ ͡ヮ☉<)
Defender of Defoko
Thread starter
It seems counter-intuitive, but a good collab is one where people can leave. In the context of the vocalsynth world, the final, published product is more important than the process behind it.
YES. You put it in words much better than I was able to.

It's really comforting as someone working on a project that if things get too stressful or if things go so wrong that I can't recover, that I can drop out and not negatively affect the project aside from one less song. That's why gathering so many people is so great: You get a larger pool of talent to draw from, and there's less pressure on the individual during times of struggle.
 
  • Like
Reactions: keopi and Kiyoteru

Similar threads