Composing

Geezerjohn

Fractal Fanatic
My experience has been that I go through surges where I write and then have a dry spell, and then another surge. Lately, I have been surging. For those of you who are multi-instrumentalists, do you prefer to write with your guitar or some other instrument?

Currently, I prefer writing my melodies and chord structure on keyboards. I feel, rightly or wrongly, that when writing on guitar, I fall into playing familiar riffs that tend to influence the melody I am chasing. I am no wiz kid on keys (can't solo very well) but I like the melodies I compose using keys.

When I was formally studying guitar, my teacher gave me an exercise that I hated at the time, but now greatly appreciate. He had me play the tune "Happy Birthday" playing every note on the 2nd string (B-string). Then had me build chords which included the melody note. In other words, creating a chord arrangement to support the melody on the B string. The following week, I played my "arrangement" for him. He then instructed me to repeat the process, but not use any of the chords I had already used. Humph. I created a new arrangement. The follow week, I played my new arrangement for him. He instructed me to repeat the process but not use any of the chords I had already used. Yikes! Happy Birthday in a minor key anyone? He repeated the exercise until I thought my brain would explode. The end result? I can create very unusual chord arrangements to support a melody. That ability to hear unusual chords to support a melody is especially useful when composing on a keyboard (or guitar). That ability came in very handy during my years with Supernal Endgame.

So how about you? Any preference when you are writing original music?
 
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I definitely feel the same way about having sudden surges of music coming out of my A**. It usually happens when I'm extremely busy at work and have zero time to take advantage of it. In fact it's happening right now. Some of the vintage fx patches from Austinbuddys free presets have set of an Fstorm of imagination, at the same time I'm booked solid at work for at least three months which has never happened before. Good times.

I usually try to write in my head, then translate the sound to guitar. It doesn't always work how intended though
 
I compose on the guitar.
But I like yer birthday story, it is a good way to start discussing harmony.
I am a big fan of Jazzology, I think it is the BEST book ever written.... uh oh here goes my opinion again. :)
Pages 100-101 talk about re-harmonization and it's critical to build up your theory to really take in what they are writing about because it is so essential. Anywho, glad to see a kindred musical soul doing something creative. ;)
 
+1 on 'wet spells' and 'dry spells' with music. I'll go through months and not have any real connection to it, then one day sit down and all this stuff pours out. When I hit those spots, I can write riffs for days on a keyboard (piano primarily.) I know it's starting when I start to hear music (original) while sleeping....something needs to get out of me. I think I'd have 20 albums if I could remember 1/4 of those songs (yes, I've tried keeping the small recorder next to the bed, but for some reason I never wake to record a few bars.)

I am also notoriously lazy in fleshing out my ideas. It's like I get them recorded, then don't go through any rigor in actually making them songs someone might like to listen to. My hard drive is full of a few minutes of this, a few of that, and the odd 'I actually finished it' songs.

Same with my writing (journals, short stories, etc.) I can go through long times where I don't write, then times where I have an internal narrative in which I need to put stuff on the page.

For the most part, I'm accepting of all this. I do have dreams that I will someday do something with it, but I've never been about placing my music in the path of others. Same with writing...I write everything in the concept that no other person will ever hear or read what I've put down; for some reason music or words do NOT fly if I'm writing to an audience (i.e. someone will read or listen to it.)

Although I do think my girls might like to listen to it some day in the future when I've moved on...so we'll see.

R
 
It varies for me... a lot of times I'll get a guitar inspiration so I'll go with it. But other times I'll intentionally start with another instrument - keys (although I'm not very good), or drum & bass loops to get a totally different groove first. It's not only melodies or chord progressions that I'll fall into familiar patterns, it's also the rhythms. So if I start w/ a different groove, then when I get to the guitar I'll have a totally different feel to my playing.
 
Keyboard for composing VSTi and guitar stuff. It doesn't always translate well to guitar though. I can generally compose the bass to play nice with everything else. I have a hard time composing on the guitar because everything ends up sounding the same.
 
I have a hard time composing on the guitar because everything ends up sounding the same.
Man, I hear ya. I always say, "Composing is easy. I've written a thousand songs. Every one of them is the same".

I don't know about you friend, but I usually hear music in my head, and then stitch the melody together on keys. Sometimes I hear snippets of words or vowel sounds that just gotta be in the song. Once the idea starts to come together, then I teach it to myself, and then work on the arrangement and lyrics. I have not stopped to count, but I guess I have well over 50 copyrights to my compositions.
 
I play guitar, bass and a tiny bit of keys. More so noodle on keyboard chords. I grew up around 2 fantastic drummers. Oddly many of my songs start in my head as drums and melody line. My weakness is my follow thru ability to 'finish' the song. I have hundreds of beginnings, or 'ideas' but it's like I have ADD or something. I found working with the other guitarist, who is in the same boat as me, works pretty well. We bounce these half or quarter ideas around until we complete something. I love it when it doesn't come out as you first expected. It makes it more interesting and enjoyable to listen to. Go back a year or two later and think 'wow that was us'.... 'I couldn't play that again if my life depended on it'....lol.
 
I definitely have surges and dry spells. But I have several different methods for composing. Usually what happens is I'll sit by myself with the guitar just goofing around and find a riff that sounds interesting. If I'm really lucky I'll have two riffs that sound good going into each other but that's rare. Usually it's just one riff. Then I record it in my DAW to some midi drums I put together quickly. Then I start coming up with other riffs in the same key. I'll then I just put them next to each other and see what flows well from one into the other. I'll also experiment putting one riff or melody on top of other riffs in case I find something interesting there. By that time I usually have a few sections of the song and can get a feel for where the song is going and I finish recording the rest of it as a demo. Basically all of the writing happens inside the DAW.

Sometimes I'll come up with a melody in my head and can instantly translate it to guitar. For some reason I always have trouble turning these into full songs. I have some melodies floating around my head that I came up with 5+ years ago but never put it into a song. But I know they're good melodies because they stick in my head for years!

Lastly, sometimes me and my band will come up with songs together in a room the old fashioned way. It's harder for me to come up with new ideas on the spot in a band setting. I used to have bad anxiety just playing with or in front of other people. It's getting much better these days but I still feel more pressure than playing by myself where I can just let the creativity flow.
 
I don't know about you friend, but I usually hear music in my head, and then stitch the melody together on keys. Sometimes I hear snippets of words or vowel sounds that just gotta be in the song. Once the idea starts to come together, then I teach it to myself, and then work on the arrangement and lyrics. I have not stopped to count, but I guess I have well over 50 copyrights to my compositions.
I always hear the music in my head, too (I also hear voices in my head, but that's another story). I suck at keyboard, but as a composing tool, it's easier for massaging the music in my head into actual audible sound.

BTW, what is the process to go about copyrighting a song? I have a few songs that I figured would never see the light of day because I'm afraid my bandmate might "borrow" some of it in his own personal project (long story).
 
I always hear the music in my head, too (I also hear voices in my head, but that's another story). I suck at keyboard, but as a composing tool, it's easier for massaging the music in my head into actual audible sound.

BTW, what is the process to go about copyrighting a song? I have a few songs that I figured would never see the light of day because I'm afraid my bandmate might "borrow" some of it in his own personal project (long story).
in the OLD days, if you mail your creative product to yourself, the post office’s delivery gives what I believe was referred to as a “poor man’s copyright”
 
I always hear the music in my head, too (I also hear voices in my head, but that's another story). I suck at keyboard, but as a composing tool, it's easier for massaging the music in my head into actual audible sound.

BTW, what is the process to go about copyrighting a song? I have a few songs that I figured would never see the light of day because I'm afraid my bandmate might "borrow" some of it in his own personal project (long story).
The proper way is to file the proper forms with the Library of Congress and pay the fees, then waaaaaaiiiiitttt...

Last time I did this (for an album, too much work for a single song!) it took more than a year before I got the completed documentation returned. I've heard it's getting worse.
 
I also go through dry/creative spells, the longest of which lasted years. I have no training in musical theory so all that stuff about harmonies and chords supporting each other basically is Chinese to me. But I'm sure its useful. I primarily compose on the guitar, as I tend to write hardrock songs, so using a keyboard seems counter intuitive to that, although I have translated guitar songs to the keyboard as a fun exercise.

Actual composing is almost never done by sitting down and trying to come up with stuff, almost always by sitting down with the guitar and just absentmindedly noodling away, often while I watch something on TV. The news in particular, especially the pretty ladies presenting it seem to inspire me. Whenever I come up with a cool riff I immediately pull out my cellphone to record, as my memory is terrible. I may remember the actual chords and progressions, but the actual rhythm just goes poof very easily.
 
BTW, what is the process to go about copyrighting a song? I have a few songs that I figured would never see the light of day because I'm afraid my bandmate might "borrow" some of it in his own personal project (long story).
As mentioned, you can get the forms online. There are several ways to copyright your "work". You can copyright a single song (my chosen method) or a body of songs, such as an album. The positive for copyrighting an album is that it's less expensive. The down side is that if someone wants to use your work (a given song) and you give permission, then you are giving permission for the entire album, not just one song.

Mailing an example of your work to yourself DOES NOT constitute a copyright. Technically, your work is copyrighted as soon as you create it and put it in the marketplace. However, if someone borrows your work, you cannot challenge that because you have no standing in court. A copyright in the Library of Congress gives you standing. Mailing an unopened copy to yourself gives you a leg to stand on, but no standing in court. The process is really pretty simple. If you are really concerned that someone will borrow your work, then I suggest you copyright it. Fill out the form, pay the fee, and then as @unix-guy mentioned, wait. Even though the gubmint is really slow, litigation is even slower.
 
As mentioned, you can get the forms online. There are several ways to copyright your "work". You can copyright a single song (my chosen method) or a body of songs, such as an album. The positive for copyrighting an album is that it's less expensive. The down side is that if someone wants to use your work (a given song) and you give permission, then you are giving permission for the entire album, not just one song.

Mailing an example of your work to yourself DOES NOT constitute a copyright. Technically, your work is copyrighted as soon as you create it and put it in the marketplace. However, if someone borrows your work, you cannot challenge that because you have no standing in court. A copyright in the Library of Congress gives you standing. Mailing an unopened copy to yourself gives you a leg to stand on, but no standing in court. The process is really pretty simple. If you are really concerned that someone will borrow your work, then I suggest you copyright it. Fill out the form, pay the fee, and then as @unix-guy mentioned, wait. Even though the gubmint is really slow, litigation is even slower.
interesting...thanks for the correction...i researched this online and saw it was a worthless notion. I’m mad at myself for remembering what older fellow musicians told me when i was younger was the truth. The internet is helpful, I shoulda duck duck go’d it first.
 
interesting...thanks for the correction...i researched this online and saw it was a worthless notion. I’m mad at myself for remembering what older fellow musicians told me when i was younger was the truth. The internet is helpful, I shoulda duck duck go’d it first.
No mea culpa needed friend. The "poor man's copyright" is a very common belief among many musicians I have met. I used to believe that myself. I only learned about copyrights (and trademarks) when (years ago) one of my bands was first signed to a label. I had enough sense to retain a lawyer whose practice was copyrights, patents, and trademarks. He schooled me, for a fee of course. I think every musician that gets involved in public performing should learn the basics of publishing rights, mechanical royalties, trademarks, service marks, copyrights, etc. Lack of knowledge in those areas has cost many musicians dearly.
 
yep! Same here. Go through active and passive songwriting phases. In the active im writing and recording and in the passive im just working on chops: backing tracks, scale exercises, rudiments, etc. My loop pedal has been a great tool for both phases.

I write a majority of my tunes on guitar and flesh out melodies via keys. Get a riff going. Record to a click, then write drum parts.
 
Super cool thread @Geezerjohn - really interesting to read what happens to other people isn't so dissimilar from my experience.

I've collaborated on a bunch of stuff for bands I was in - basically, I'll get the song structure with a rhythm and then just get asked to do whatever I want - which is awesome, but as far as writing my own stuff - whole different story. I've probably only written like 5 songs ever that are actual songs and that I listen to and think "eh, that's not bad" or "while that may not be commercial or interesting to anyone, it's exactly what I wanted to do".

I came home one day and picked up my guitar and wrote this song in it's entirety, in about 5 minutes. I'm no lyricist or singer but for whatever reason, everything was there so I just went with it. It's sad and probably came from a need to just get some loss out of my system at the time, but, whatever, I'll take it when it comes which would fall under the "once in a blue moon" category. I've also had a few people tell me it impacted them which was kind of cool. I'll be that guy that shares an original tune when not asked to. lol.

 
Super cool thread @Geezerjohn - really interesting to read what happens to other people isn't so dissimilar from my experience.

I've collaborated on a bunch of stuff for bands I was in - basically, I'll get the song structure with a rhythm and then just get asked to do whatever I want - which is awesome, but as far as writing my own stuff - whole different story. I've probably only written like 5 songs ever that are actual songs and that I listen to and think "eh, that's not bad" or "while that may not be commercial or interesting to anyone, it's exactly what I wanted to do".

I came home one day and picked up my guitar and wrote this song in it's entirety, in about 5 minutes. I'm no lyricist or singer but for whatever reason, everything was there so I just went with it. It's sad and probably came from a need to just get some loss out of my system at the time, but, whatever, I'll take it when it comes which would fall under the "once in a blue moon" category. I've also had a few people tell me it impacted them which was kind of cool. I'll be that guy that shares an original tune when not asked to. lol.


Great post Brian. Thanks for sharing this.
 
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