# any songwriters here...???...



## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

anyone here write their own originals...???...

i tend to write my own material because i find it hard to learn cover songs/solos

i wouldn't mind hearing some of your creative output...

you can hear some of my tunes here...

http://www.myspace.com/evenstone


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## monty (Feb 9, 2009)

I listened to them all.
I like the vibe, nice and bluesy feel without really being blues.
I'm in the same boat recording with a drum machine, you really have to up the performance of everything else to get it to swing.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

hey there...thanks for the listen/advice...trying to "bring it" hasn't entered my mind yet...ha ha ha...

i've always had song ideas floating around in my head and thought it would be cool to start up a band...every time i tried out a few chord progressions...the the other guitarist would play solos over them...then move on to something else...whereas i was kinda hoping that they'd throw in their two cents to help develop the songs...adding changes/lyrics etc...

then i thought that i'd quickly record a few demo songs to present to other players before setting up a jam...so that they could follow the guide tracks to help visualized how the basic song should go...

i ended up not only writing/performing/recording every part by myself...but also having to learn how to be a recording and mastering engineer as well...that's where the drum machines come in...it's hard enough learning to play the guitar proficiently...without have to take a few years to learn how to play the drums properly...

i usually record a drum track approximately three minutes long...then lay down a rhythm guitar track...then throw in an off-the-cuff one take solo...and leave the rest of the space to come up with lyrics...which happen to be the toughest part...

it seems that most jammers want to play covers...they don't want to come up with new material...whereas...i want to create something new...

where are all the collaborators out there...???...


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## Lester B. Flat (Feb 21, 2006)

I've been writing for 40 years but played mostly covers until about 20 years ago when more of my original material was played. Now, I'm mostly just recording original stuff, playing all the instruments, and I've got quite a backlog of songs to record.

I don't use the recording process to write, though. I might tweak the arrangement a bit if I get a better idea while recording, but I always have a finished song before I start recording. Of course, solos are usually laid down last and improvised so I don't consider a solo a part of songwriting.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

I've written about 100 songs in the past 20 yrs and recorded I'd say about 30 of them.

my system is two fold.
I write lyrics apart from any type of structure or song idea. With these lyrics, I usually end up trying to match one of these lyric sets with the music. I also find that since there are already lyrics (or some type of lyrics to start with), it assists me with developing the melody and phrasing.

the other is to sit down at a piano, or guitar, play a riff or chord progression and work on the melody and lyrics at the same time. 

I rarely work or structure or production while still developing the main melodies.

My main motto is that if you can't whistle it, it's probably not worth too much.

here is an example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKLirfpLaIY
1st song,

lyrics and melody improvised while jamming with the band. structure done on the fly.

2nd song,

Riff was old. Lyrics were written after the fact once the basic structure was set. I was actually making up words with this basic melody. the lyrics were written once the basic structure of verse and chorus was in place.

3rd song,

Verse progression was developed on the fly. I was coping the lyrics from a cover to start. (I do that alot).
the chorus is from another song and I changed the lyrics and vocal melody.

the riff after the chorus is about 4 yrs old!

4th song,
the riff is a copy of another song with the emphasis and progression changed. the lyrics were on the fly and seem to have stuck.

*keep in mind that these are just jam recordings.*

looking forward to reading your comments. 

:rockon2:


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## Justinator (Jan 27, 2008)

I began songwriting this summer to help pass the time. Been playing guitar for 3 years now, tried to start a band many times but nobody was willing to commit. Decided to pick up the drums and a bass in march and do my own thing.

Here is what i've been able to do with a BR600 and a few decent mics:

http://www.myspace.com/bombsinnaeve

Please check out my stuff and give me some feedback, I would very much apreciate it.


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## Stonesy (Oct 7, 2008)




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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...the key to songwriting, for me, is time invested.

predictably, its just something you get better at, the more you do it.

i reserve at least two hours, every day, to devote to writing.

doesn't matter what i do during that time - stare at the wall, daydream - its my time.

-dh


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Good guitar ideas. have you played any of these tunes live?



Justinator said:


> I began songwriting this summer to help pass the time. Been playing guitar for 3 years now, tried to start a band many times but nobody was willing to commit. Decided to pick up the drums and a bass in march and do my own thing.
> 
> Here is what i've been able to do with a BR600 and a few decent mics:
> 
> ...


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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

I tend to take a different approach to my songwriting.First im just sitting around with a guitar,playing some random chords and inspiration strikes.I then "add lib" the lyrics a piece at a time,then move onto the chorus doing the same,maybe shimmy in a bridge or interlude before the final chorus.
Sitting down,working out the guitar part,then adding lyrics afterward never really worked for me.Although sometimes it just happens that way,but to tell the truth my strongest songs are the ones written on the fly in under 10 minutes.One of these songs was written:verse/chorus/bridge/chorus/outro


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

monty...you're very prolific...61 songs...i've got a lot of catching up to do...

Lester B. Flat...very professional sounding...i've got work on my intros...and endings...and choruses...and verses...argh...

sambonee...the vocals remind me of randy bachman...the band sounds like an authentic 60's combo...awesome...

Justinator...holy toledo...you're frickin' amazing...ya bastard...ha ha ha...you should be able to get signed...no problem...

david henman...great advice...i've frittered away time chasing gear...i need to get down to actually hitting that record button...

xuthal...your skull logos seem to belie your atmospheric acoustic musings...great work...


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## Justinator (Jan 27, 2008)

sambonee - haven't ever played a live show, if I could get a band together I'd like to. Glad you like the guitar, its hard to be unique these days with so many players out there.

Jimi - thanks for the support! It's good to hear positive feedback from other musicians. I enjoyed your songs as well, keep it up!

Everybody seems to be sharing songwriting advice so I suppose i'll throw mine out there. If you are ever having a hard time coming up with a melody try and steer away from scales. I've found that writing inside of scales can be very restrictive and you can be much more original playing by ear.


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## Peter (Mar 25, 2008)

My current creative output consists of throwing snippets of ideas around and when one sounds good I throw my iPhone down in front of the amp and record it quick so I don't forget it.

A while back I made a Myspace for some of the better and/or wierder ones. Please bear in mind most of these are simply seeing what sort of sounds I can make. A few are more serious attempts at pieces of music like "LP Died Redux" or "Minus"

http://www.myspace.com/iamtherealjohntitor


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

jimihendrix said:


> david henman...great advice...i've frittered away time chasing gear...i need to get down to actually hitting that record button......



...you're welcome, mate. i tend to beat around the proverbial bush, but the point i was trying to make is that, whether its songwriting, flossing and brushing, or getting that @#%$^&% cd recorded, ultimately you have to make time for it, every day.

-dh


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## monty (Feb 9, 2009)

Great point David.
I've been playing a long time, and while I wrote for the various bands I played with I always had tons of parts of tunes I swore I would get to someday. The biggest thing holding me back was singing- I'm not a singer- but one day I just said enough was enough and just started laying tracks down.
It is very rewarding hearing ideas fleshed out. I've taken about a year off of recording and need to get back to it. Getting behind because I tend to come up with lots of stuff.

Jimi- take a listen to some of my stuff and let me know what you think. If you think our styles could mesh maybe we can try doing something together.


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## sivs (Aug 5, 2009)

I do a fair amount of writing and have taken a songwriting course at school. There are lots of different approaches and it really depends what you're writing for. If you want to write something that's radio friendly, there are some boundries that you can stay in which will help you greatly. If you're writing for your own creative output, do whatever you want.

The one thing that I've found to be true of my writing and any of the other sucessful writers I know is that inspiration is only 20% of the process. Sit down and work at the song after it's been inspired - edit things! Look at every chord and word and see if it's doing what you want it to. Details (colours, places, images) help songs tremendously... they become more memorable. 

Most of the stuff I've got recorded is Christian stuff (I work in a church... some of my older stuff - www.myspace.com/davesiverns) but I enjoy writing in all styles... it's a great way to put some good use to all that gear that we like to collect!


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## Lester B. Flat (Feb 21, 2006)

A few pieces of advice I would give. When you start writing a song, finish it. Even if it's crap, it's part of the process that leads to something better. If you keep stopping because you think you aren't getting there, you won't get there, and those abandoned ideas will clutter your brain for eternity! Years later, some of your "junk tunes" may be good for spare parts. 3dgrw

Also, don't worry about proper procedure because there is no proper procedure. You can write lyrics first, last, or out of order(write the 2nd line of the 3rd verse first). Same goes for the song structure. Remove as many psychological barriers as possible because they are self limiting. There is also no time limit on how long it should take to write a song.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

sivs said:


> The one thing that I've found to be true of my writing and any of the other sucessful writers I know is that inspiration is only 20% of the process. Sit down and work at the song after it's been inspired - edit things! Look at every chord and word and see if it's doing what you want it to. Details (colours, places, images) help songs tremendously... they become more memorable.


...i tend to take inspiration for granted. i just assume that its there. the thing that you cannot take for granted, or undervalue, is the labour involved.

i am very fortunate to work with musicians who understand and appreciate this.

when things get tedious and bogged down, at that point when most would say "please, can't we just move on to something else!", that's when we come alive and dig deep, when things really begin to happen.

one rewarding lesson i've learned recently is to look for and edit out "extraneous" words. i have a tendency, for example, to begin practically every line with "well", "but", "and" etc etc etc. its amazing, to me at least, how a lyric will take on a new and much more direct meaning when you ditch needless articles.

-dh


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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

Lester B. Flat said:


> .... some of your "junk tunes" may be good for spare parts. 3dgrw


Yes,that works out very well,i have around 5 notebooks laying around somewhere,when inspiration is in short supply i can rummage around and take bits and pieces I've written over the years and craft a decent song.It's surprising how much good lines you can find in you're own work,even if the rest of the song is junk.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Starting a song or each like with the same words is hard for me to escape. I ditto that.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

xuthal said:


> Yes,that works out very well,i have around 5 notebooks laying around somewhere,when inspiration is in short supply i can rummage around and take bits and pieces I've written over the years and craft a decent song.It's surprising how much good lines you can find in you're own work,even if the rest of the song is junk.


I have been meaning to get a notebook for ages. I don't know how many good lines I have lost. I also have lost some good "spur of the moment tunes" too.


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## snacker (Jun 26, 2008)

i've been writing my own stuff for about 20 years - there were times when i was very prolific (writing daily and finishing probably 10 "keepers" a month) - the last few years have been much less productive on the writing side of things since i much prefer the instant gratification of free improv (plus i'm too happy now to write the same "angsty" lyrics of my 20s 

here's my approach.....

1. start with a musical goal or problem to solve ie. write a tune with a odd time signature or write a tune that is only one chord and variations of it, write using chords that don't normally work well together - this usually kickstarts the creativity

2. once i get a musical idea i like, i start "mush-mouthing" over the chords improvising melody and words - eventually something always takes form - i do this until i have the melodies sketched out and some rough lyrics

3. from there, i might rework the guitar part, lyrics, substitute some of the chords

4. take it to the fellas so they can work out parts

check out the live stuff on the myspace page - stuff with words is written, everything without words was improvised on the spot - http://www.myspace.com/thebandsnack


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

snacker said:


> 4. take it to the fellas so they can work out parts
> 
> check out the live stuff on the myspace page - stuff with words is written, everything without words was improvised on the spot - http://www.myspace.com/thebandsnack


Nice stuff.. wished I lived closer :smile: .... hard to break out of the country/ led zep box around here.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

Peter...you could do soundtrack work...become an ambiant artist...your "soundscapes" make the listener drift off into the ether...alot like early pink floyd...you could probably teach morello or bellamy (muse) a thing or two about sound design...

monty...your vocals remind me of bob dylan...i'm still working my way through your high output of songs...!!!...

sivs...great vocals/guitar work...this is very radio friendly acoustic rock...

shoretyus...your tunes sound like live recordings in an intimate club...groovey...

snacker ...sounds very professional...everyone's parts "fit"...great dynamics...very cohesive...luv "little ones"...


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

They are Jimi. I have some stuff that I am working out at home but again my drumming sucks as well as the drum's. It's been hard to get a drummer hear. But I have figured out how to get a good sound at the bar where we jam.


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## Guest (Dec 4, 2009)

david henman said:


> ...you're welcome, mate. i tend to beat around the proverbial bush, but the point i was trying to make is that, whether its songwriting, flossing and brushing, or getting that @#%$^&% cd recorded, ultimately you have to make time for it, every day.


The RPM Challenge usually helps light the necessary fire under my ass to complete a few songs every year.

3 attempts in three years, only one completion though. Very hard to let stuff go when you're a bit of a tweak head -- you never think it's done.

My personal web page has disappeared. I really need to get the stuff back up on a site. 

But here's some stuff from past years:

RPM 2009:

Chilled
Dawn Rises at Temple Kiyomizudera while a young monk reflects on life, eternity, past and future loves
Keepers
Machinehead


RPM 2008:

Intro w/Fuzz
Shake Shake
Teh Sad Piano Song
Ride
Blossom
Until Tomorrow
In The Stars

As you can see: I don't write lyrics, but I definitely write songs that want lyrics. Especially in the '08 challenge there are a handful of songs that are V/C/V/B/V, setup for lyrics and ready to go. I just haven't found someone in a long time that I'm compatible with when it comes to write. I tried to put together a band earlier this year to play that stuff up there, co-write maybe and man was it a disaster. I am not a band leader, but I can't stand having my stuff molested by others. :smile:

Last great songwriter I worked well with was in the The Apollo Effect. Wrote some stuff I really like with Brent:

The Days Don't Last
Your Finest Hour

That guy wrote killer lyrics and really opened up my eyes up to great songwriters. I tended to listen to way too much guitar before, not enough _song_.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

holy smokes...

couldn't you think of a LONGER song title for DRATKWAYMROLEPAFL...AKA "DAWN"...???.......great tune by the way...

"ride" reminds me of link wray...

"days don't last" and "your finest hour" are fantastic...


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## Guest (Dec 4, 2009)

jimihendrix said:


> holy smokes...
> 
> couldn't you think of a LONGER song title for DRATKWAYMROLEPAFL...AKA "DAWN"...???.......great tune by the way...


Believe it or not: it started out longer. :smile: It was a bit of a joke really. I seemed to have been naming everything off the '09 challenge album with single words and my wife commented on this so I extended that title.



> "ride" reminds me of link wray...
> 
> "days don't last" and "your finest hour" are fantastic...


Thank you very much.

I seem be having trouble listening to music on people's myspace pages. MySpace tells me the songs have been removed...


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## monty (Feb 9, 2009)

G*^amn Jimi- Dylan?
Yeah, like I said, I'm no singer but I got to a point where I had to do it if I was going to finish anything. I have the order somewhere on that page and if you listen to some of the earlier stuff, it is literally my very first attemps at singing ever.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

the link to your tunes vanished...


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

This is a song my singer, Trina Langthorne and I wrote together last year. The way we do it, I send her a recorded version of the chord progressions of the whole song and she adds the lyrics and melody to it. Sometimes I lead her on with a riff which she uses for creating the melody and lyrics. This has worked for both of us really well over the last year. Probably not the kind of music everyone likes, but here it is. This is also an off the floor live recording.

http://mosayk.ca/podcast/Mo Sayk - A Year From Now.mp3


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

wow...trina has a strong voice...and i love the fretless bass part in "a year from now"...the song's begining reminded me of of "can't you see" from the marshall tucker band...the music is very relaxing...it would go great as a backdrop to any al pacino movie...

this is how songs should be made...as a collaboration...i was asking a friend of mine how his band functions...he told me that he is the only one that writes the songs...the other members offer no input whatsoever...other than playing what he tells them to play...they are too lazy to come up with anything at all by themselves...yet turn around and demand song writing credits...


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## monty (Feb 9, 2009)

jimihendrix said:


> the link to your tunes vanished...


Thats really wierd. Anyways, here it is again:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=575851

Cant remember how to edit my sig though so I can put it back in. Any ideas?


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## monty (Feb 9, 2009)

Weird, this is what I got when I tried to edit----"Sorry, you are not permitted to have a signature."

 I had one, what did I do to lose it?


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## Guest (Dec 5, 2009)

monty said:


> Weird, this is what I got when I tried to edit----"Sorry, you are not permitted to have a signature."
> 
> I had one, what did I do to lose it?


See: http://www.guitarscanada.com/Board/showthread.php?p=250092#post250092 -- that's a feature you get when you're a supporting member.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I'm one of the main song-writers for my band. I don't really write original solo material, although I do have riffs recorded.

I have old stuff on soundclick: www.soundclick.com/thebuddaprojeect

but it's all just wankery really haha. Although some of it is clean, pretty sounding wankery .

I have a rough recording of our band's first song (just me on guitar) on dropbox, not sure how to link it though.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

rats...i get a 404 page...


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## monty (Feb 9, 2009)

Thanks Ian.
Never knew that, had a sig since I joined, I guess this thread caught the mods attention.
Damn you Jimi sdsre


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

ah...here's the link...the word "project" had an extra "e"....

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=412056


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

budda...to borrow from one of your avatars...you play some pretty heavy stuff


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## Guest (Dec 5, 2009)

monty said:


> Thanks Ian.
> Never knew that, had a sig since I joined, I guess this thread caught the mods attention.
> Damn you Jimi sdsre


monty, it wasn't the mod's attention that was caught. Subscription service just came online this week. So features that once were available were removed if you didn't subscribe.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

jimihendrix said:


> wow...trina has a strong voice...and i love the fretless bass part in "a year from now"...the song's begining reminded me of of "can't you see" from the marshall tucker band...the music is very relaxing...it would go great as a backdrop to any al pacino movie...
> 
> this is how songs should be made...as a collaboration...i was asking a friend of mine how his band functions...he told me that he is the only one that writes the songs...the other members offer no input whatsoever...other than playing what he tells them to play...they are too lazy to come up with anything at all by themselves...yet turn around and demand song writing credits...


There's no right way or wrong way to create. Different witers do it different ways. Sometimes it's better for one person to write. There's a much more cohesive and integral feel to the music that way. Sometimes collaboration waters everything down. Comprimise sounds like a good thing unless you're comprimising the music.


Nice smooth track by the way. I agree, the voice is very nice.


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## monty (Feb 9, 2009)

Thanks again Ian, I really do need to pay more attention.


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## Peter (Mar 25, 2008)

Spent the last few hours today getting a feel for recording with something other than my iPhone (although Voice Memo is surprisingly useful).

It's the first track on the link in my signature, "Trapped Inside"

Take a listen let me know what you think - it's not so much a song as it is a couple different guitar tones and some keyboard as I was getting a feel for mic placement / editing etc.

Recorded using an SM57 into an M-audio Black Box, edited using Audacity.


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