Composition theory

[Rumble]

Ok, this might belong in OT, but I couldn't decide so fuck it.

The thing is, I have chronic writers block. When I'm writing songs I'm constantly wondering where should the song go from here, or what should happen now. It usually takes me over a thousand different ideas before one sticks. There's got to be an easier way. I read bands blogs/ studio diaries and they are taking under 30 days to write and record whole albums. It takes me over 30 days to write a song! WTF guys I have to be missing something here, how do you guys approach song writing? And don't worry about going into too much detail, I have an album 4 years in the making to finish.


Thanks

 

[Dom Ostarig]

Before the people answer that is a matter of music theory, i want to say that:

1° problem - Call your songs by the name!!!! if you call them "n° 1" or "n° 65654" your songs will be nothing but numbers, and them will sound like numbers.

2° problem - Once upon you're calling them by the name, you will need to find a source to get ideas..... try everything but music: theater plays, movies (not the shity action or american top), books. And note every word that give you some ideas.

I'm pretty sure that things will run smoothly for you.

 

[punkinnit]

Most of the time its more to do with talent than theory.
The Ramones only had the theory of the 3 chord trick but managed to write a lot of songs based on that.
Also the arrangement goes a long way in making a song sound good.

 

[AStacy2]

I think arrangement is the key here really. I know this is a metal forum but maybe try listening to some artists outside of the genre who are successful songwriters and see how they go about writing songs. One thing that really helped me write songs a lot better and a lot quicker was learning to play every insturment well enough to make my vision happen.

 

[RemoWilliams]

Well, I think the biggest difference your experiencing is that you stating that when bands go into the studio and pop out an album in a month or so, its because its a whole band inputting ideas. Since your probably the only source of input into your projects, you can't bounce ideas off another person, or have them bring something in and springboard off of it. I think for a lot of people doing one man projects, they feel the elation of having total freedom from answering to three or so other bands members, YET, they have to do everything themselves, so yeah, it takes a hell of a lot of time to rumage through ideas.

But also as stated before, have a decent vision for what you want to do, because if you don't, you'll get distracted, and have an idea of how other instruments play. As for the theory/composition side, that can help when ever you know what direction you want to go in. Or, pick a band that you like and try to model an idea after one of their songs. It's always a good way to get a start, and after you get through that, you'll have an idea of how to execute ideas maybe a bit easier.

 

[jacare]

You NEED to be a judge of what sounds good and what does not. I mean... I sometimes pass weeks without nothing and then... BAM... a song totally ready to go falls on my lap - arragements included. So I got to judge if that song it's right... if it feels right, complete. Sure guys are writing/ recording albums in 30 days... that why we have SO MANY probably classic albums being released :Smug:.
A song is a history... with a start, middle and an end. Even when composing with a band a song needs time to grow... become mature.

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

Dude - walking away from it for a while is the best thing you can do in that case. Otherwise, you're trying to hard and it won't be as real, and you'll always be second guessing, and you'll always be tweaking, etc, etc, etc. If you have a block, walk away dude - seriously.

Edit - I will add one more comment. If you're struggling, then odds are you don't haven't thought about the song as a whole. So many people try to jam riffs together that don't flow - think about the song as a whole, what do you want to say, where do you want it to go, how complicated do you really want things to be. Best advice (besides walking away ) I could give you is - Think about what you want to do, before you do it.

 

[jacare]

So many people try to jam riffs together that don't flow

Say Death Magnetic & the latest Dream Theater releases...

 

[smy1]

Get Jason Blume's book on writing chart hits. Get it on Amazon. Read it. Study it. Understand it.

Then apply it to all other styles of music and you won't have any problems. Songwriting is songwriting. You can't force inspiration, but you can work within a framework once you have inspiration. And this framework applies to all styles of contemporary western music.

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

Say Death Magnetic & the latest Dream Theater releases...

Word!

 

[DanLights]

What I do sometimes is first of all think song title, not even care about lyrics or even a lyrical theme at all, to me it's more important that the song title describes the music instead of the lyrics. Then lyrics could be made from the title, but to me it's mainly title first, it helps me in writing the music cause I make my riffs/meldodies/arrangements with a thought in my head, a color, a feeling, however you want to call it, but I have a mood and a basis when I have a title. Probably could change it later to fit lyrics or something, but it helped anyway.

I guess that's pretty much the same thing Dom Ostarig said, it's my way of doing it anyway

 

[Uladyne]

Whenever I sit down and TRY to write something it usually ends up crappy. Forcing things has always been a recipe for shit riffs in my experience.

I usually come up with my most decent stuff almost accidentally when away from my studio. Like while mowing the lawn or taking a shower. I've found it helps to have some loud constant noise going on that mutes out distractions, as my brain will just sort of start riffing around automatically. Every once in a while I'll "hear" something that sounds good in my head and I'll try to write down a short hand sort of drum tab thing on scratch paper if I can't get to my studio for a while, because I know I'll forget it within about 20 seconds if I stop "looping" it in my head. When I get to my studio I program the drum pattern to remind myself what was going on in my head, then try the best I can to figure out the guitar riff that went with it.

Edit: I have found that my creativity has recently slowed down quite a bit, and I think it has much to do with going from a factory job with constant noise to zone out on, to a job at a brewery where theres always someone blasting music on a stereo.

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

...and shrooms

 

[Jevil]

I read bands blogs/ studio diaries and they are taking under 30 days to write and record whole albums. It takes me over 30 days to write a song!

There are people who runs 100 metres in less than 10 sg. Others need 15 sg... it's not a mettter of time, but quality and inspiration.

In the past Iron Maiden released great albums every year, now they release 'not so good' albums every 4 years.

 

[Charlie E.]

Whenever I sit down and TRY to write something it usually ends up crappy. Forcing things has always been a recipe for shit riffs in my experience.

I usually come up with my most decent stuff almost accidentally when away from my studio. Like while mowing the lawn or taking a shower. I've found it helps to have some loud constant noise going on that mutes out distractions, as my brain will just sort of start riffing around automatically. Every once in a while I'll "hear" something that sounds good in my head and I'll try to write down a short hand sort of drum tab thing on scratch paper if I can't get to my studio for a while, because I know I'll forget it within about 20 seconds if I stop "looping" it in my head. When I get to my studio I program the drum pattern to remind myself what was going on in my head, then try the best I can to figure out the guitar riff that went with it.

Edit: I have found that my creativity has recently slowed down quite a bit, and I think it has much to do with going from a factory job with constant noise to zone out on, to a job at a brewery where theres always someone blasting music on a stereo.

haha yea I always have to rush to my nearest guitar and play the riff that randomly pops into my head so I won't forget it. What amazes me is how idiomatic they always are. I don't have perfect pitch so I don't realize how convenient the riffs actually are until I transcribe them. I guess my brain knows what works and doesn't.
Amazing things, our brains are

 

[dan weapon]

Listen to Michael Jackon and Meshuggah records alternatively for a whole day.

That worked for me once.

And I take about 4 months to write one song! Very slow, but I like to think of it as quality control...

 

[Keregioz]

Try working on any ideas you have even if you think they're not good. Sometimes what seems like crap played on the guitar by itself sounds pretty good in a full mix/arrangement. Try adding layers with additional guitars clean or distorted or even try adding synths. Even if they don't end up good usually new ideas will come during this process.

 

[OctoberRust]

My .02€: If you're stuck at a certain point and don't know how to go try to image the song as a whole, in the sense of "where am I now?" Are you just in the beginning, or at the center, was there already a climax, should there be one, are you nearly done, etc. Maybe it helps not concentrating on the riffs/melody so much but tempi/drums. There has to be a certain "plot" for the whole song. I think the changing of dynamics/beats is most important to it. It takes a lof of time to develop your own style (so don't bury your head in the sand now) and then you have some basic formulas to rely on.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Guitar pro and Weed ^_^

 

[DanLights]

haha yea I always have to rush to my nearest guitar and play the riff that randomly pops into my head so I won't forget it. What amazes me is how idiomatic they always are. I don't have perfect pitch so I don't realize how convenient the riffs actually are until I transcribe them. I guess my brain knows what works and doesn't.
Amazing things, our brains are

happens to me too, what I do normally is grab my phone and record a voice with me singing the melody/riff I have in mind. It makes me not forget it until I can get to a guitar or guitar pro (I write everything into GP, I can make basslines, drums, keys, vocal melodies, whatever)