Hi there

This is the Musicians Corner so I guess this is the right place to post this.
I'd like to launch a conversation on composing, recording and getting things done basically.
More the approach to writing, mix and matching ideas, structuring songs, defining your style etc...
Less the technical side of things.

I guess it's quite a subjective topic. Each one has his own way of doing things. But there must something worthwhile sharing from everyone.

I'm posting this because I've been composing and recording ideas for a few years now, accumulating a fairly large amount of material (dozens upon dozens upon dozens of hours of stuff, sitting on my harddrive, waiting for something to happen). So much so that the task of finding on what track that cool idea was has become daunting.
I record potentials, but don't finish anything. It's getting extremely frustrating as I feel I'm ready to get started. I want to see it happen, but don't know where to start.
I'm rather a one man band when it comes to composing (as would be Mister Townsend if I'm not mistaken). I'm free to do whatever I want, I don't have to deal with egos within a band, and no one else has to deal with mine. I can take my time to explore ideas and don't have the pressure of the rehearsal. BUT, I have no one to bounce ideas onto. I carry the entire creative load, and I'm not sure at all of what I'm doing (that and being perfectionist to a fault).

There you have it.

So, those of you who get things done, how do you do it? How do you manage?

i usually start by finishing a demo of material that is close to finished (in my head). recording it can open up all sorts of ideas and avenues that i haven't previously considered. once the demo is done, i leave it for a few weeks and then have another listen. if it needs re-doing, then i do it! if i am still happy with the arrangement/ideas then i re-record most/all of it properly. If something in the demo works, i keep it. Theres no point re-recording just for the sake of it.

it helps if you have muso friends that like the same type of music, that way you can get an outsiders opinion.

Well, there are certainly a lot of factors that go into writing a piece. I've been a composer for my fair share now, and like you (and Dev), I'm sort of a one-man band. But I've written in quite a few different styles and for quite a few different arrangements, from orchestral to the good old heavy metal foursome.

I find that the most important things in actually getting a piece finished (not polished or "perfected," mind you) are direction, form, and a deadline. There have been pieces that have taken me months and months to write, but I knew they'd take me a long time. If I give myself some deadline, though, I feel pressured to have the piece at a working "completeness" by that date. But then form comes into play. I don't like to plan out my music from the start, most of the time, but I do think that form is an important part of the whole game. So, once I have a whole bunch of related ideas bouncing around (either in my head or on paper), I tend to think of what makes the most sense formally, and how that will work with the direction I want for the piece. But each piece is really a unique experience--I can't say I've ever tried to write something the same way twice.

So, really, it all comes down to what you want to express with the piece and how you want to go about making that a reality.

Hopefully this was some help.

By the way, I'd be really interested to see what Dev has to say about his writing techniques.

just write the thing dude. youll know when youve done an awesome job coz youll enjoy your own music. dont worry about taking any measures or anything. start off just writing a whole song on guitar, then progress by putting in other instruments would be the easiest way. give yourself time to write too though and dont go rushing into the first riffs that come to mind.

Kinda like my thread. I guess having someone to jam with is good idea, it's really hard to maintain any kind of objectivity when hearing your stuff mixed, rehashed and mangled hundreds of times when working on it.

Thanks for the tips guys.

I just need a big kick in the butt.

I find it really hard composing with people. Even more so when jamming. I guess I've never met or played with anyone who was on the same telepathic wavelength.
Alone is my preferred way. I can relax and "meditate"!

When I'm not at work, rushing my office's toilets to hum an idea in my cellphone, I generally just plug my guitar, hit REC and start improvising, exploring ideas.
Days with, days without. I generally stop after 5 minutes if I feel nothing's coming.
It doesn't always turn out good, but I've been rather lucky lately.
And I really enjoy listening to the stuff I do. So much so I've pretty much stopped listening to other people's music. Sounds pretty narcissistic.
Please tell me I'm not the only one doing that!

The stuff I'm the most happy with I composed totally out of the blue, improvising for 20 30 minutes, everything flowing so naturally. And it kills me because it's so hard capturing that spontaneity when you try re-recording those ideas properly. It's just never as good as the first time.


Do you guys ever take in account eventual lyrics when writing music?

So much so I've pretty much stopped listening to other people's music. Sounds pretty narcissistic.
Please tell me I'm not the only one doing that!

Do you guys ever take in account eventual lyrics when writing music?

Well, I'd say that listening to others' music is a very big part of your own writing. There are certainly composers that will tell you otherwise, but I think that it's good to get a wide range of influences. The more varied, the better. It just gives you a lot more to work with, in my experience. And there have been times when I've gotten just the hint I needed from some far-out-there piece that helped me in developing the stuff I was working on.

And lyrics can be the tough bit. It all depends on the style, but I usually have some melody going already (sometimes I don't, though) that I can fit the lyrics to. I've also done the lyric writing and molded a song around it. I tend to like the ones in which I got the music down before the lyrics a little better.

It sounds like with some patience, you could have an album done in no time (what with all the ideas you've got)!

I almost never write music with lyrics/vocals in mind. Can be good, cause the music then surely stands on it's own...but it's a real ball buster when the singer goes "hey, what did you have in mind here?"

"Ehhm, I don't know...Scream a little?"

As for composing, I record riff after riff and bounce them individually. Then I put the ones with similar bpm in Winamp and shuffle them around until I find two that fits and go from there.
I find the hardest part of composing to be cutting out pieces that don't benefit the song. I usually tend to cram as much possible into a song which can make it very long, epic.....and boring to others.

I find the hardest part of composing to be cutting out pieces that don't benefit the song. I usually tend to cram as much possible into a song which can make it very long, epic.....and boring to others.

You're not the only one. Anyone heard the latest Metallica album? That.

Truth.

I'm a drummer, therefore, i suffer.
I can't really play shit on any kind of melodic instrument (well, maybe on keyboards to find notes around, and playing riffs on the guitar that takes no more than 2 fingers), so i rely on midi to put stuff out. Problem is, i don't think really melodically, so it's hard for me to put melodies out. What i can do pretty easily is arrange, doing tons of layers and shit like that. Therefore my songs are usually melodically challenged with over the top instrumentation, and pretty much suck

But what i'd recommend, at least from what i know how to do (which is trying to figure out note sequences on midi or a keyboard or whatever that can actually be turned into something) is this: let stuff flow. The music will tell you where it wants to go, and it's up to you to sculpt/mold it and make it as good as you can get it.

Get as much musical information as you can all around, and let that rest on your subconscious for a couple of weeks, months, hell even years. Assimilate all that, keep it in the back of your head, and then apply your style to it, which is the important part: YOUR STYLE. Even if you don't have it now, you'll develop it


and i just wrote that quickly so it might be unintelligible in some parts, but anyway, carry on

Not at all Yanko, good post.