by K2000 » Thu Jan 23, 2020 1:54 am
I started trying to write music kind of late in life, which was dumb. A friend of mine told me that artists don't go into their studio and *practice mixing colors* (etc) and then go home - they're there to make something, not just sharpen pencils (work on scales or whatever). I've spent too much time just trying to get basic skills down. But songwriting is a skill too, and I wasn't practicing that. So that was a mistake. The person who told me not to just practice mixing colors, he will try to write a song at every session. His music is pretty simple twee pop/punk, so that wouldn't work for everybody. But I think the basic concept is good (attempt writing at every session).
I never found a process that I really liked - recording ideas to cassette for example, and developing bigger song ideas from little recorded snippets, that never worked for me. Later, I was trying to play 100% improvised music and hoping that there would be good material in there... sometimes it worked, but I didn't have the patience to wade through hours of recordings, looking for 'good stuff'. It was far from ideal. Then I tried just recording things directly into the computer, and it seemed very sterile. It didn't sound right, and it wasn't fun.
Lately I realized, just combine any approach you feel like. Use all the tools and techniques simultaneously, more or less. Like Bruce Lee and martial arts, blend multiple approaches. So now I might record improvisation in my space, then import that into the computer and find specific parts to extract, and make into a loop. Or record directly into the computer, make an edit of a particular moment, export that onto a Ditto looper, and run that through a bunch of pedals, or take it back to the practice space and 're-amp' it through my amps and pedals there. Or find recordings online (field recordings, sound effects etc) and process those. And combine all these different approaches together as needed. Disclaimer - I don't write tunes with lyrics and verse/chorus (I wish I could!!!) my music is more like 'sound design' now. This approach was more or less something I learned in art school ("generative systems")... You take a photograph, then you manipulate it in the darkroom when printing, then you draw on the print, then you make that into a collage, then you make the collage into an etching (etc). It's very process oriented, and you combine different media and techniques, and the work develops over time, and you end up with something that would have been impossible to make using only one set of techniques or media.
One thing that's helpful for me - a lot of times I need to put the instrument down when brainstorming. If I'm trying to channel creativity only through playing the guitar (I'm terrible) or bass (I'm not bad), it's all going to be filtered through the sieve of "I know how to play the bass in this specific way" whereas if I try to brainstorm ideas without holding an instrument in my hands, I don't feel limited by the parameters of "this is what I already know how to do". It can be a lot more free if I'm doing some of this work purely through imagination, and not limited by my current skills.
I really enjoy learning about other people's processes!
Re: lifting inspiration and ideas from other people - it's totally legitimate. Think of it as a conversation between creative forces. It's common in the art world, where somebody might make a painting and then another artist responds to that with their own work. In music, it's been said that "good pop borrows... great pop steals" (if there's anything pop in your music). We are all building on the music that has already come before us.
One idea I'm intrigued with, but not talented enough to pull it off yet - using great songs as a structural template for my own shiz. Like verse/chorus/bridge etc but then grafting my own sounds onto the template, as a way to make more interesting arrangements. Particular songs are VERY intriguing, for example "Love Child" by the Supremes (if I recall correctly, it starts with the bridge section...!) Lots of Motown hits have amazing arrangements that I wish I could channel, for my own music.
Husker Du wrote over 200 songs! That's so inspiring. I try to remember that writing is a skill and with practice, it will get better. Ideas and creativity are truly unlimited, if you're open to that. It's not like ideas are scarce and "once i record these 5 songs, that's all I'm going to have". I don't believe that, at all. I hope none of you guys believe that either.
Oops, one more idea that I've heard... if you're trying to work out a part (lets say a bass line) try singing along with the parts you already have. Try using your voice to work out parts of an arrangement.
), then i forget about them and find those out weeks later and, if i really like them i start to write something more. If it's a matter of finding a "sound" i usually take a pic of the pedalboard and then write a few notes about settings.
