Comments on: On Songwriting http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/483-songwriting Everything you ever wanted to know about my band! Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:01:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: David Donovan http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/483-songwriting/comment-page-1#comment-502 David Donovan Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:18:21 +0000 http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/?p=483#comment-502 Awesome, I'm glad that you got back into a good creative rhythm again! Yeah I definitely relate to everything you said there, I also just try to let the songs write themselves naturally without really thinking about conventional song formats or anything like that, although I wouldn't shy away from the idea of one of my songs having a more standard song structure if that's what suited the song best! Good music can sound like so many different things. There's no one method that works better than another, so I think it's important to be open to the possibility of any approach being the option that suits what you're trying to do best! Awesome, I’m glad that you got back into a good creative rhythm again! Yeah I definitely relate to everything you said there, I also just try to let the songs write themselves naturally without really thinking about conventional song formats or anything like that, although I wouldn’t shy away from the idea of one of my songs having a more standard song structure if that’s what suited the song best! Good music can sound like so many different things. There’s no one method that works better than another, so I think it’s important to be open to the possibility of any approach being the option that suits what you’re trying to do best!

]]> By: Thor http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/483-songwriting/comment-page-1#comment-494 Thor Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:25:31 +0000 http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/?p=483#comment-494 Hi David, thanks for the comment! I'm glad my blog was able to respond to your curiosity. As with most inner-crises in life, this one was short-lived, and I've since been able to continue to hammer out song after song in a direction that I'm excited about. I'm not being too hard on myself about my lyrics or my singing abilities, as I'm enjoying what I'm doing and growing from it, and hopefully what I lack in musicianship is made up for in character. As for specifics about my creative process lately, it goes like this. I mess around on my acoustic guitar and some subject will inspire some lyrics which when sung over a chord progression usually end up implying some sort of melody. As I'm generally writing in the vein of psychedelic pop I try to use a lot of borrowed chords or key changes (what David Byrne would call convoluted chord progressions) or mostly try to forget everything I've ever learned or figured out about music theory, especially regarding keys and scales and beats per measure and try to let the melody lead the chord changes in interesting directions and at interesting times. But a <a href="http://antarcticatakesit.bandcamp.com/album/constellations-2" rel="nofollow">good song</a> can also use I IV V if you wouldn't notice it. Anyways, I try to keep it simple too. Like I'll run a verse through a different treatment the second time through. Really try to make the arrangement dynamic by varying things. Hi David, thanks for the comment! I’m glad my blog was able to respond to your curiosity.
As with most inner-crises in life, this one was short-lived, and I’ve since been able to continue to hammer out song after song in a direction that I’m excited about. I’m not being too hard on myself about my lyrics or my singing abilities, as I’m enjoying what I’m doing and growing from it, and hopefully what I lack in musicianship is made up for in character.
As for specifics about my creative process lately, it goes like this.
I mess around on my acoustic guitar and some subject will inspire some lyrics which when sung over a chord progression usually end up implying some sort of melody. As I’m generally writing in the vein of psychedelic pop I try to use a lot of borrowed chords or key changes (what David Byrne would call convoluted chord progressions) or mostly try to forget everything I’ve ever learned or figured out about music theory, especially regarding keys and scales and beats per measure and try to let the melody lead the chord changes in interesting directions and at interesting times. But a good song can also use I IV V if you wouldn’t notice it. Anyways, I try to keep it simple too. Like I’ll run a verse through a different treatment the second time through. Really try to make the arrangement dynamic by varying things.

]]> By: David Donovan http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/483-songwriting/comment-page-1#comment-493 David Donovan Sat, 28 Aug 2010 12:19:26 +0000 http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/?p=483#comment-493 hah, didnt really spell check that post. oh well hah, didnt really spell check that post. oh well

]]> By: David Donovan http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/483-songwriting/comment-page-1#comment-492 David Donovan Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:49:04 +0000 http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/?p=483#comment-492 You're right, no one can really expect themselves to be able to fill in all of the gaps when it comes to what they want to be able to accomplish musically on their own. Bob Dylan could never arrange a song like Brian Wilson could and Brian Wilson couldn't write a lyric as well as Bob Dylan. But at the same time they're no trying to outdo each other at what the other does best because Brian Wilsons' lyrical ability wasn't the most important aspect of his music and neither was Dylan's ability to really embellish in the arrangement of a song. I think in that way it's important for people to realize what they suck at so that they know how to make up for what they can't do if they feel like what they can on their own isn't enough (which is why Bob Dylan hired The Band and Brian Wilson hired Van Dyke Parks to help write lyrics for him.) I guess what this all means is that your lyrics don't necessarily need to be really amazing in order for your songs to be as good as anyone else's, especially if you're good enough in other important areas (which you are!) for that not to be the most important thing about what you're making. As for the whole creative vision thing, you'll get it back! You'll hear the songs you were working on again eventually, and you'll see things clearly in all of its color and texture and feeling the way you did before! sorry if this seems pretty out of nowhere, your myspace directed me to this link and i was curious as to what your creative process was like :-D You’re right, no one can really expect themselves to be able to fill in all of the gaps when it comes to what they want to be able to accomplish musically on their own. Bob Dylan could never arrange a song like Brian Wilson could and Brian Wilson couldn’t write a lyric as well as Bob Dylan. But at the same time they’re no trying to outdo each other at what the other does best because Brian Wilsons’ lyrical ability wasn’t the most important aspect of his music and neither was Dylan’s ability to really embellish in the arrangement of a song. I think in that way it’s important for people to realize what they suck at so that they know how to make up for what they can’t do if they feel like what they can on their own isn’t enough (which is why Bob Dylan hired The Band and Brian Wilson hired Van Dyke Parks to help write lyrics for him.) I guess what this all means is that your lyrics don’t necessarily need to be really amazing in order for your songs to be as good as anyone else’s, especially if you’re good enough in other important areas (which you are!) for that not to be the most important thing about what you’re making. As for the whole creative vision thing, you’ll get it back! You’ll hear the songs you were working on again eventually, and you’ll see things clearly in all of its color and texture and feeling the way you did before!

sorry if this seems pretty out of nowhere, your myspace directed me to this link and i was curious as to what your creative process was like :-D

]]> By: Thor http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/483-songwriting/comment-page-1#comment-419 Thor Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:22:11 +0000 http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/?p=483#comment-419 Good to hear from you guys! SPencer -- regarding the English Beat song, maybe it's precisely the quality of being too up to be a ballad and too down to be a dance song that makes it jarring enough to be hit quality. Most people listen to music sitting down. Marlon -- Blogs are easy. You don't have to match syllables or phrasing or arc with a melody and arrangement. Good to hear from you guys!
SPencer — regarding the English Beat song, maybe it’s precisely the quality of being too up to be a ballad and too down to be a dance song that makes it jarring enough to be hit quality. Most people listen to music sitting down.
Marlon — Blogs are easy. You don’t have to match syllables or phrasing or arc with a melody and arrangement.

]]> By: Marlon http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/483-songwriting/comment-page-1#comment-417 Marlon Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:53:39 +0000 http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/?p=483#comment-417 Wonderful writing Thor. You need to figure out how to write lyrics this smoothly and concisely. Or maybe try writing a novella and take a break from songwriting? haha. Always a pleasure to read/hear your incites buddy. :) Wonderful writing Thor. You need to figure out how to write lyrics this smoothly and concisely. Or maybe try writing a novella and take a break from songwriting? haha. Always a pleasure to read/hear your incites buddy. :)

]]> By: Spencer http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/483-songwriting/comment-page-1#comment-395 Spencer Thu, 10 Jun 2010 06:13:19 +0000 http://snakecult.tiredmachine.com/?p=483#comment-395 This was wonderful to read tonight! I think we were having similar thoughts in the last 24 hours. I read "Music need not be commercial nor alienating," and aside from that being a credo to live by, it echoes the bent of this post I just wrote: http://mog.com/Spencer_Owen/blog/2046925 This was wonderful to read tonight!

I think we were having similar thoughts in the last 24 hours. I read “Music need not be commercial nor alienating,” and aside from that being a credo to live by, it echoes the bent of this post I just wrote: http://mog.com/Spencer_Owen/blog/2046925

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