"From the point of ignition to the final drive, the point of the journey is not to arrive...anything can happen." Neil Peart-Prime Mover-1987
So it is with the writing of a song.
Conception;
When writing a song, or that which is the conception, birth, and maturity of a melodic lyrical thought, I get frustrated sometimes when dealing with my songwriting partner because it just never seems to be complete. It seems that we are in a constant state of flux, locked within the forever process of writing. Through revision after revision, and countless recordings, the lyrically melodic creation seems to continue to take on a life of its own. We see this overt manifestation through the blunt reminders and subtle nuances in our everyday lives, in that we are reminded of that once current situation that first sparked the initial conception of a lyric or melody, and in that reflection we come to realize that what reminded us of it applies at the moment in a way that was unseen when it was originally written. At its conception the lyric or song reflected a completely different set of circumstances and/or situations, and through passing frames of time it has been born into it's fruition, most times, more often than not, this growth is different from the original intent or meaning. Hind sight is always 20/20.
Birth;
The passage of time from conception to birth, plays itself out in many intervals of time, it is formulated in some circumstances over a few years, or maybe it may present itself over days or weeks, and at other intervals, it may be as short as a few hours, or as long as decades, but the truth of its original premise remains only when its essence continues to house the seed of its original creation and when the very element that was there from the conception, is now born, and has begun to mature; we, that is the writer/or/writers, as the case may be, are in the end as parents, educating and critiquing our musical children. So let us presume that on the one hand you have an idea, either a melodic or lyrical thought, on the other, the equipment to bring it to its true potential, if this be the case, now you can take your time, you don't have to rush for the completion of a single album. You are the Director, Producer, and Engineer, as well as the Artist. You can openly nurture the creation and help in its development, but understand, it will show its truest form only through revelation, bringing you into its realm where it will find its avenue and therefore withstand the test of time. You may originate it as a song to fit the Rock music genre and after a time it may find its niche in the Country music genre. We will cover this fact further a little later on in the article.
With today's modern recording equipment it is completely possible to develop a song in this manner. An artist needs nothing more than a computer with at least 1 gig of ram, recording software, a recording soundcard, a preamp, a decent condenser microphone, an auxiliary output device, headphones, and musical instruments to record his or her musical compositions. With an investment of under ,000.00, you can write and record songs at your own pace without the investment hassles of traveling to and from the studio. Let us now, for the sake of hypothetical argument, assume that most of you who are reading this article are, at the very least, somewhat established in the intricate patterns and theories of the muse known as music so most of the a-fore mentioned gear is more than likely at your immediate disposal. My song writing partner and I are using an old LLOYD'S AM/FM-8-Track Receiver as our Auxiliary output device, along with a decent set of quality stereo speakers. That being said, it is also understandable that some, who may be reading this article, are perhaps, searching for a way to tap into the hidden strengths that all humans have, and no accidental overdose of gamma radiation need be applied, Thank You Stan Lee.
Maybe you are one of the lucky few, who through a decision to express yourself in this manner, have written an entire poem with several verses, if so then you can go over your poem and access the point of the entire work in order to formulate a chorus and a bridge, a chorus is the repeated section of a song, from the lyrics and begin to write the music to accompany it. This experience happened to me the first time that I wrote a song at the age of 24 and I realized this was a talent that I could develop. More than likely though, a song begins with a creative spark or conception of an interesting riff or a cool lyric. If you are one to write the music first, then the riff can be built upon by adding to it or subtracting from it, Rush's "Limelight" is an example of how one or two basic riffs centered around an A and B chord can be and are varied throughout the song. Once you define your riffs, you need to define your time signatures. Most rock, blues, pop, and country songs are written in 4/4 time, which means four beats to a measure, and one beat to a quarter note. If you are more experimental or into progressive rock, time signatures can be varied into 3/4 time, or three beats to a measure, and one beat to a quarter note, or 6/4 time; six beats to a measure, one beat to the quarter note, and 12/8 time: 12 beats to a measure and 1 beat to an eighth note, some blues songs that are written in this time signature include Allman Brothers Band's "Stormy Monday" and "Statesboro Blues". You can use any variation of time signatures as long as you stick to your defined set of parameters. However, if you are novice to this process, 4/4 time is the most plausible place to start. If you have a keyboard, with a rhythm section, simply pick a beat that you like and play along, this could be a starting place to develop a time signature and a mood for the potential song.
Your riff is based on a key signature. Key signatures are based on the notes you play. For example, a scale in the key of C major is C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, where C is the root, D the 2nd, E the 3rd, F the 4th, G the 5th, A the 6th, B the 7th, and C the 8th or the octave. If you play a C chord in open position on a guitar, it consists of the notes C, E, G, and C which is the root, the third, the fifth and the octave of the C major scale respectively. The most common progression for chords in C major is C, F, G where F consists of the notes F, A, C, F and G has the notes G, B, D, G. This progression of C, F, G is called a 1, 4, 5. The 1, 4, 5 progression is used in many blues, folk, straight ahead rock and pop songs. If you are strumming on a C chord, your riffs that you play over the chord might consist of the notes, C, E, G, A, and B. The C E and G notes are harmonious with the C chord, while the A note gives the flavor of an A minor 7 chord which consists of the notes A, C, E, G, and the B note gives the riff a jazz connotation of a C major 7 chord with the notes of C, E, G, B or you might use a Bb which gives the riff a blues color. If you were to write riffs around the F chord your notes might be F, A, C, D and E and the G chord would consist G, B, D, E, and F. Of course any notes in the scale would work to connect chords and add color.
Your song is developing, are the riffs and chord progressions that you just wrote part of the verse which is basically the same music with different lyrics or are they more attune to the chorus which is basically the same music and lyrics throughout the song? A natural way to differentiate a chorus from a verse is to write the chorus beginning on the note or chord that is the fourth of the verse riff or the relative minor. The Beatles "We Can Work It Out" is in the key of D, the verses concentrate on the D chord and the chorus starts on G or the fourth. In the "Limelight" example, the verse is in the key of B and the chorus is written in the relative minor key of G# minor. A simple change of chords gives your song variation and makes it far more interesting to the ear. After you develop your verse and chorus music, you may want to add a bridge. A bridge is a new piece of music that is usually only played once in the song. While bridges are not essential, many songs contain them to break up the monotony of hearing the same verse, chorus and music over and over. The same rules apply to writing a bridge, for example, if you write a song in the key of C major, your verse might begin on C, your chorus on F, and your bridge may in an A minor. Vocal melodies are written in the same way, if are strumming on a C chord, your voice might carry the notes C, E, G, A, D, C. You can find these notes on a guitar, piano, or keyboard and you can match your voice to the notes.
Now that you have defined the main musical structure of a song, it is time to write the lyrics. If lyric writing is your forte as it is mine, then this part will be easy. Above in this article, I mentioned writing a song in 4/4 time as being the most common time signature. 4/4 time is natural for speaking patterns and many poems are written in 4 verse stanza structures to accommodate the literary device of rhyme. In order to write great lyrics, I find it helpful to be well read, at the very least, any artist must respect the premise that you can not truly write something great, if you've never read what others have written, so read anything that you can: newspapers, blogs, online articles, novels, magazines, etc. Reading will increase your vocabulary and give you a sense of how accomplished writers get their point across. You may also try studying your favorite artist's lyrics on paper, generally you will see that the lyrics, which not only fit nicely into their respective columns, have at the end of each line, a rhyme, but also you will find that because of the multiple senses now being instilled; auditory and visual, you have a scene or setting, that changes the feel when being read as well as listened to. This brings you the reader into a better understanding of the work. After you are done with your reading, take from what you have read the experience of the narrative and go and live an in the world with this new perspective acquired and write down how this new reflection affects you. Passion for life along with emotions, good or bad, makes for great writing.
Once you have written the basic structure of your song with the verse, chorus, and bridge music along with lyrics, you may want to add an intro and/or an Outro. Intros can be initiated simply by starting the verse before the lyrics or by writing an entirely different riff for the beginning as Randy Rhoades did for Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train". Outros can be done as a simple fading of the song at the end, or they can be as dramatic as the end to Rush's "The Spirit of Radio," in which the band inserts at the end a definitive, and distinct portion of the original riff and abruptly shuts it down.
Maturity;
When the song is fully developed and you can play it from start to finish, it is officially born and ready to be shared with the world. Practice the song and trim away its rough edges and take it out to an open stage or play it at a gig. This will give you a good idea of how an audience responds to the song. If it doesn't go over at first, don't be disheartened, an original song often takes time to grow on an audience. Playing the song in front of people will strengthen the song as an autonomous entity and prepare you to record the song. Chances are that you will still feel the need to tweak the song and each time that you play it, it will become stronger.
After you have practiced the song to the point of "perfection", and trust me, I use that term loosely, in regards to my a-fore mentioned song writing partner, it is now time to make a permanent recording. Make sure that your rig is set up properly. I have a condenser mic plugged into a Tube Mp preamp, which is then in turn plugged into an M-Audio soundcard that I installed into my computer. My songwriting partner and I use a form of Krystal recording software, which is relatively simple to use and we have been very happy with it. My partner rigged up an old LLOYD'S AM/FM-8-Track Receiver with a turntable as I mentioned before to the soundcard, this acts as our output from the computer, we can then either plug the headphones in to the stereo for a quality track with no bleed over, as well as listen to a previously laid track and critique it to perfection.
When recording, first you will need a level check to ensure that you are getting the best sounds from your instruments. Set levels and record a short wave. If you get a good level without going into the red, then record your beat into the recording program, this will ensure that proper time is kept when you are playing your instrument. It is advisable to record a scratch track with the instrument and the vocal, and this can be done simply by placing the mic in front of you and reciting the lyrics and playing the chord progression. After you have recorded a decent scratch track (in time), you are ready to record a permanent instrument track. Place the condenser mic six inches from the instrument and play the progression while listening to your scratch track on the headphones in order to eliminate the bleed over. In regards to recording an electric guitar amp or a bass amp, I advise using a dynamic mic placed in front of the a-fore mentioned amp. The beauty of recording on a computer is that if you have an excellent track, you can copy it into another track to double the main instrument. You will want to copy the track or record a second track. Once you have the basic rhythm track, you can decide if you want to add solos or extra instrumentation. If your main instrument is a guitar, then you may decide to put in some background keyboards, harmonicas, basses or hand drums. If this is the case then simply record these tracks separately, if you have musical knowledge, translating from one instrument to the next should not be difficult. When you are ready to record your vocal, place a pop screen six inches in front of the condenser mic, sing directly into the pop screen and record your main vocal and your backups (on separate tracks).
Now comes the technical part of mixing the song. Generally, I find it best to record the tracks raw and add effects in the mix. Working with a mixing program takes experimentation and learning, but a software program such as Krystal or Acid Pro can make this task relatively simple, with a few hours of practice you can find multiple choices and combinations with which to indulge you influences on to said project. Be aware that you need to look for peaking waves, this is when the levels enter the red and cause a scratchy vinyl like crack in the song. You can use an equalizer to ensure that these sounds do not make it into your final mix. Some popular effects are, a chorus pedal, which evens out the overtones in a vocal; a reverb function that allows vocals to be initiated at a larger volume; and a Flange that will give your guitar a sort of spacey effect, in combination with a little distortion you may opt to give the guitar a slightly dirty sound for that grungy edge.
When the song is ready and the mix down process is complete, you can transform it into a wave file and create the fist edition of the finished product. I emphasize," First Edit" with this caution; When you export the file, it may no longer be accessible to another mix down; so it is advisable to make a copy of the working file with the individual tracks before exporting it to a wave file, this way you can retrieve the song and critique it more for an additional finalized version. A wave file is the type of a file that would be recorded onto a CD. When recording onto a CD, you must use a burning program, I recommend using NERO Start Smart software for this application, simply burn the disc at the slowest speed possible in order to ensure the best quality. If you wish to put the song up on a site as an MP3, you will need to find an MP3 converter. Many MP3 converters are available for free download on the net. Just do a search and they are easy enough to find.
At this point you are ready to load the songs on to your desired site and/or burn an album for distribution at your shows. Nero Smart Start also has a CD design cover maker and many CDs and printers are equipped to print directly on to CDs for a professional look.
Once the song is recorded, and distributed in these manners, it can be listened to as an independent entity, not bound to only its parental ear, and this is when it begins to take on a life of its own. Its listeners can pop it into a home CD player or even listen to it on their home computers or in their cars. A friend of ours sometimes plays renditions of some of our original songs at his gigs, bringing to them a new albeit similar guise to the original intent. This is the maturing process, the song is now reaching an audience and spreading its seed, and in its doing so, you know that you have raised a great tune, in the fact that your song is catchy enough that your listeners want to sing along with it and fellow musicians want to cover it. It is now ready as well as willing to seek out and search for those countless displays of passing frames of time that are part of its being born into fruition.
Feel free to attempt the instruction laid out here-in. May you find success in your creative endeavors and continue in the true tradition of artistry; Life is a SpunJacked...Soak it up...Live it LIVE!!! PEACE
