My "composing" technique...
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Posted on Sep 16, 2003 03:58 pm
MadPuffin
Member Since: Sep 08, 2003
...is pretty much not to compose.
Often, when I press "record," I haven't decided on anything but the chord progression and the tempo (sometimes it's just the key and the tempo). And I see what happens.
Part of the reason for this is that I don't have the musical training or talent to compose properly. Part of it is that I think primarily in terms of rhythm--drums and bass--and I need a collaborator who thinks in terms of melody and leads. Part of it is that I like the live, improvisational feel of just recording a jam session and keeping what worked out.
Anyway, sometimes the result is terrible. Sometimes it's kind of interesting. (For examples, www.soundclick.com/bands/7/patricknolanmusic.htm ).
Does anyone else do things this way? Or do you all start with a melody or lyrics?
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TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
Sep 16, 2003 04:31 pm I think it's kind of a "chicken or the egg" thing. In the limited amount of songwriting that I've done, I find that the melody and the lyrics evolve as each is developed.
Normally I start with lyrics, or at least some free-form prose that outlines what I'm trying to say. If I don't do this, then my lyrics usually turn out void of meaning, direction or purpose. this especially happens if I try to shoehorn lyrics into music that I've already written.
After I get a basic idea of what I want to say, or accomplish, then I go back and refine it and try to add some sort of rhyming scheme, or at least add some rhythm to the words so they're more like verses than sentences.
Usually by this point, I've started hearing the words in my head with some sort of melody to them. then I grab the guitar and try to find some sort of balance between keeping the subject matter intact while fitting the lyrics into the setting of some chords and a song structure.
Now that I've started to record songs, I find that the songs continue to evolve as I'm commiting them to tape, and that they become more exciting as I fool around with the tools available to me.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Sep 16, 2003 10:33 pm I don't hit the record button until I have something I think is worth developing. Rarely do I start recording anything that the rythm guitar part isn't pretty well fleshed out, after that I start adding the other parts and finally when I'm all done with the instruments I write the lyrics, usually based on a theme I used during the development phase.
TheTincanbugsloppy dice, drinks twiceMember
Since: Aug 05, 2003
Sep 17, 2003 09:43 am I will do that on occasion, but in a different way. I compose with a tape recorder. Sometimes I'll just sing any lyrics or melody that pop into my head, and just keep belting it out until I run completely out of ideas. Then, I go back to my computer and dump the recording into a wave or mp3 file. I'll transcribe all lyrical content and when I'm done, I've got a bunch of inter-related ideas that I rearrange into the various parts of a song. Then I chart out the song. My first track is after I've completely developed the song structure. I record voice w/ guitar to a metronome, and just capture the roughest essence of the song, in time. Then I go over and over and over it many times, adding tracks, eventually removing the original "scratch" tracks.
TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
Sep 17, 2003 10:36 am TCbug: I'm starting to work in that same way, with the scratch tracks. As a matter of fact, the songs that I have on NWR are all scratch tracks that I plan to revisit and add 'real' tracks to, eventually omitting the scratch tracks altogether.
Sep 17, 2003 04:08 pm It clearly makes a difference that I don't sing or write words.
Thanks for the interesting posts, y'all.
Sep 18, 2003 02:42 pm i don't write lyrics really anymore.
it really is just a case of what floats your boat. i'm a believer that no-one really writes songs (sorry, gonna get cosmic on ya!!...), you just find bits of em. the work comes when you have that genesis of an idea, you've got a melody caught in your head, or a rhythm (like gershwin and his train ride)and i'll try and get that as close as i can to the first idea, then i build. i like the way it can change and bear no resemblence to the original idea.
Sep 18, 2003 02:46 pm Hey, pixie, good to see ya, haven't been around much lately, or I have just missed ya...
Quote:
If I don't do this, then my lyrics usually turn out void of meaning, direction or purpose. this especially happens if I try to shoehorn lyrics into music that I've already written.
I would much rather hear showhorned lyrics than shoehorned music. Vocals are just another instrument, whether the lyrics make sense or not is a moot point in terms of the song itself. If the dynamics and melody of the instrument work, so does the song.
So people put way to much emphasis on the meaning of the lyrics in my opinion.
TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
Sep 18, 2003 09:58 pm I dunno, I wouldn't read a book that doesn't make any sense. Same when it comes to music. I mean, I absolutely love "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but when Jeff Tweedy sings "Take off your band-aid because I don't believe in touchdowns", it bugs the heck outta me.
Oh well, I guess that's why there is more than one band writing more than one song...to each his own.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Sep 18, 2003 10:23 pm Some songs need to have thoughtful, or meaningful, thought out lyrics, most don't IMO.
Music doesn't have to have any deep meaning or purpose as long as it reaches you in any way through any part of it, it's done it's job.
Dan
Sep 19, 2003 05:00 am Ya, it's not the lyrics meaning that reach me, I never look for the meaning of life in songs, I just look for a catchy hook and cool melody.
Reading a book and listening to music are two totally different things. If you sit down to read a book the whole point is the words to make sense, it's a story, a guide or something similar, a song is music...it has to make musical sense. different purposes to different mediums. But you're right, different strokes for different folks. I know a dude that won't listen to anything unless it's a Christian rock band singing it...so it's not only about meaning, but about Christian meaning. Regardless of style of quality of music. Which I respect. I don't understand, but I respect.
