FAWM Culture

A Guide to FAWM Culture

Related pages:

• FAWM Etiquette

FAWM Songwriting Games and "Genres"

Over the years, the FAWM community have developed a few songwriting games to encourage collaboration or overcome writer's block, such as:

• FAWM - A challenge to write 14 songs in the 28 days of February - like 50/90 but 1/3rd the length.
• Crucio - A songwriting game similar to "tag". Charlie Cheney explains: The original intention behind Crucio was to give you more reason to listen to other people's songs. The idea was to find a song you liked and "sample" a piece of it in a new song you created. This would cast the "Crucio" spell on the person you sampled, who would then be inspired to sample someone *else's* song, and the social networking web would span out from there. Originally you were *not* to crucio a person who had crucio'd you or who had been crucio'd by someone else.
• Exquisite Corpse - A songwriting equivalent of the classic collaborative drawing game.
• Explore the Core - Recording several highly different versions of the same lyrics and chords. Three versions of 2008's "Auto-Pseudo-Mondo" song appear as bonus tracks on //14 Songs In 28 Days (Vol. 4)//. A full CD of Auto-Pseudo-Mondo recordings can be purchased here.
• Feast - writing and recording a large number of songs (possibly even an entire album) in one sitting. The results are often titled [something]feast, after the Pigfeast album which started the trend in 2008.
• Telephono - A songwriting equivalent of the classic game. TC Elliot explains: You listen to a song three times and then you have to record your version of the said song. Compare the first to the last and you'll be mightily impressed with the difference... much like the school bus game where one person whispers a word once to the next and so on till it gets back to the first person. Usually VERY different from start to finish.
• Strangle Disco - Dance music usually involving classical music samples and wordplay (e.g., anagrams) in the lyrics. A montage of Strangle Disco songs from FAWM 2007 appears as a bonus track on 14 Songs In 28 Days (Vol. 3).
• Song Skirmish - a game where everybody writes and records a song to the same title in an hour.

FAWM Travelers !!!

Helga is a duck who likes to travel, and visit FAWMers around the world. She began her journey with Karan in Germany. She is looking forward to further travels, which can be arranged through donate@fawm.org.

Her travels to date have been:

• Würzburg, Germany, with Karan (photos)
• Binghamton, NY, with Swampjaw McLaughlin (photo)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancaster,_Ontario with http://fawm.org/fawmers/fawmto/

FAWM Glossary !!!

Here's a brief reference of fawmisms for fawmlings (and fawmer veterans with failing memories). This is merely a list of the most common. A more exhaustive list (culled from a FAWM 2007 forum thread) is here.

• afawmmodations (n.) allowances friends and families must make to a participating fawmer so he/she can continue to write and record songs without distraction.
• alan turing (n.) song for which you think your vision might be greater than your songwriting ability [etymology: Burr's failed attempt at a song for the 2004 "tribute challenge" about notable mathematician Alan Turing].
• fawmpulsive (adj.) the state of being consumed by FAWM, e.g., checking the forums or your song comments every five minutes, writing music (or about music) instead of caring for the duties of everyday life.
• FAWK (n. or v.): balls-out rock by a fawmer
• FAWM (n.) February Album Writing Month, e.g., this site / songwriting challenge.
• fawm (v.) 1. to participate in the annual FAWM challenge. 2. to decide a song is "good enough" and move on to writing the next one [ex. "Man, I really just fawmed that one."].
• FAWM D. Rockingfeller Fund (n.) a donation on behalf of another fawmer who is perhaps unable to contribute financially, thus granting them "rock hand" status and an enormous sense of well-being.
• fawm widow / -er (n.) significant other of a fawmer, thoroughly neglected for the month of February save for (possibly) the 14th.
• fawmbassador (n.) fawmer who actively promotes FAWM during the off season.
• fawmbo (n.) gung ho fawmer, determined and/or desparate to post 14 songs by the end of FAWM.
• fawmburger (n.) any meal (or handful of food) hastily prepared and eaten while fawming.
• fawmer (n.) you, me or any FAWM participant.
• fawmidable (adj.) state of the task at hand, daunting. e.g., needing to post 14 songs in 12 hours.
• fawmism (n.) colloquial vernacular used in the FAWM community.
• fawmling (n.) newcomer to the FAWM challenge.
• fawmonos (v.) it's January 31 let's go.
• fawmpilation (n.) annual compilation CD of 14 FAWM songs.
• FOP (n.) FAWM Over Party, e.g., informal regional gatherings of fawmers generally held in March or April.
• founding fawmer (n.) Burr Settles, Eric Distad, Willis Fireball, or Matt Hopper [participants in the original FAWM 2004].
• FUC (n.) FAWM Ukulele Club or FiftyNinety Ukulele Club. Founded by Tim Fatchen. Promotes ukulele compositions.
• infawmnia (n.) inability to sleep due to songwriting anxiety and/or addiction to FAWM.ORG.
• MUFF (n.) Mandolinists Unite For FAWM/5090. Founded by Calum Carlyle. Promotes the use of instruments from the mandolin family.
• Roctober (n.) A month long experiment in recording new versions of songs - either songs by established artists or (much preferably) by other FAWM/5090 Participants. This month is for looking at old songs in new ways, working on new recording techniques, playing with new styles, and generally having a lot of fun.
• songfathering (v.) impregnating another FAWMer on a song you just posted, by adding them unannounced as a collaborator. When they notice, they need to contribute/finish the song.
• strangle disco (n.) music genre "invented" during FAWM 2007, often featuring Beethoven samples, disco or hip-hop beats, and wordplay.
• unzung hero (n.) what a fawmer becomes when fawmer: 1) receives first comment of the FAWM season, 2) has at least one comment on each song e.g., no zongs, 3) causes a fellow fawmer to reach a zong less state.
• zong (n.) zero-comment song. Not to be confused with the term introduced by Dr. Seuss in "Oh The Thinks You Can Think".
• zong-busting, zonging (v.) to comment only on zongs.