Your Song Writing Process

[submersed]

Generally speaking, what do you find to be the most effective way to write a song? For example, do you come up with a crazy guitar riff at first and base a song off of that? Or, do you open your DAW and start programming drums and work on the rest of the song later? Or, maybe you start with a song name and lyrics, and write music to fit the lyrics.

I understand that a lot of bands don't have the capabilities that producers do, so they have to actually play their songs with other people while 'writing' them, and they can't just go straight into recording. But, for people like myself who are interested in doing everything, all by myself, what is the best way to go about writing a song if I don't have a band to write / play with?

 

[ahjteam]

idea for chorus -> riff -> rhythm -> melody -> structure -> rec

 

[Jevil]

Always music and then lyrics.

One riff or a good melody is how my songs start.

 

[Skinny Viking]

Always music and then lyrics.

One riff or a good melody is how my songs start.

+1

90% of what I write starts from one good melody idea. Chord progressions then follow and develop which leads to additional riff ideas. To me it makes everything sound like it was written for that particular song as opposed to just random riff ideas jammed together. Once I have a couple ideas that flow together I'll try several completely different drum ideas and tempos... slow, mid, fast, 3/4 instead of 4/4 just to see if the ideas I have are more inclined to be played a certain way. I have a couple of fast songs that started out slow and vice versa and they are better for having tried them a couple different ways before commiting. I'll track it all and then leave it as it is for several weeks, just going back to jam along with it here and there to see if anything fresh pops into my head. If it doesn't then usually the song will stay in that incarnation until melodies and lyrics are added, at which point some additional changes may happen, or not. Point is, nothing is EVER forced. I'm also not one of those writers who feel that if you have a good riff and can't write a song around it in a day then its not a good idea to begin with. Its always worth taking the time to sculpt and craft your music until its the ideal version of itself

 

[plague_rider]

my song writing skillz suck worse than my spelling of the work "skills"

i have a few ideas, the most developed i've managed to come up with an entire intro and a possible main riff for the song, kinda inflames style… but then i'm lost, i think of where to go and my mind just farts...

 

[Black neon bob]

I start out with a beat.. then a good decent intro to get the mood going and work from there.
Most of the time it's chorus -> couplet and some bridges and a outro for my stuff.

 

[muckypup1]

I always start off by making a drum track, or at least a rough idea of the drum track, then I will record some rhythm guitars, usually rough ones. Then once I get a good idea of what i'm doing, I redo everything.

 

[Jind]

Most of my song writing occurs in my head while driving.. I hum, I whistle, I sing a melody, I tap out a rhythm on the steering wheel, and start developing it. I keep my phone with me all the time and just use it's digital recorder to quickly capture the idea. Then depending upon what type of music it is - I may use either my guitar or my MIDI controller to start developing the idea further. I tend to do a lot on a basic piano setting to develop the melody - then pick up the guitar and start playing over that.

As for intro, verse, chorus, ... structure - it gets created as I go along from the basic idea.

 

[GarethSE]

muckypup i love you

 

[Metaltastic]

+1

90% of what I write starts from one good melody idea. Chord progressions then follow and develop which leads to additional riff ideas. To me it makes everything sound like it was written for that particular song as opposed to just random riff ideas jammed together. Once I have a couple ideas that flow together I'll try several completely different drum ideas and tempos... slow, mid, fast, 3/4 instead of 4/4 just to see if the ideas I have are more inclined to be played a certain way. I have a couple of fast songs that started out slow and vice versa and they are better for having tried them a couple different ways before commiting.

<PARAGRAPH >

I'll track it all and then leave it as it is for several weeks, just going back to jam along with it here and there to see if anything fresh pops into my head. If it doesn't then usually the song will stay in that incarnation until melodies and lyrics are added, at which point some additional changes may happen, or not. Point is, nothing is EVER forced. I'm also not one of those writers who feel that if you have a good riff and can't write a song around it in a day then its not a good idea to begin with. Its always worth taking the time to sculpt and craft your music until its the ideal version of itself

+1, and to extend that sentiment, I fucking DESPISE writing by jamming, ugghh - gotta be in front of a computer with a DAW or tablature program open! (though maybe recording jamming and transcribing some of the better ideas would be a good compromise)

 

[digitalmikey]

my song writing skillz suck worse than my spelling of the work "skills"

i have a few ideas, the most developed i've managed to come up with an entire intro and a possible main riff for the song, kinda inflames style… but then i'm lost, i think of where to go and my mind just farts...

That makes two of us man.

 

[Line666]

+1, and to extend that sentiment, I fucking DESPISE writing by jamming, ugghh - gotta be in front of a computer with a DAW or tablature program open! (though maybe recording jamming and transcribing some of the better ideas would be a good compromise)

Me too man, I usually find its so brutally hard to get people to concentrate on what other people in the band are doing, everyone just goes off into their own little world of deedly deedly.

 

[Charlie E.]

A melody or riff randomly pops into my head most of the time. I record it on my phone as a voice note.
Usually they turn out to work great as a chorus or verse. Then I structure the song and add a bridge.
Then record

 

[Torniojaws]

1) I record about 10 - 15 riffs
2) Then I add some rough drums to them
3) Finally some initial synths and bass
4) I then put a song together, picking each part by what I like (usually one or two parts stand out, and become a chorus)
5) Once the song is together, I listen through it and think of any ideas or changes (usually 2 - 5 riffs have been discarded)
6) When I'm happy with the song, I finish up all the synths for each riff
7) Then I do the final drum programming
8) And then I export the finished demo for listening

 

[digitaldeath]

I often find an acoustic guitar great for writing melodies.

 

[Notuern]

I usually get a very rhythmic melody line in my head, that i somehow transcribe over to a rhythm guitar part.. kind of like Reb Beach - Cutting It Loose. its like a mix between a solo and a riff
Then i lay down a "backing track" to that one: Bassline, simpler rythm part, from there i start to mess around with it until i think its perfect.. and when im done with that part i have a chorus, and then i just whip together a few verses and bridges, often some key changes.. and i have a song!
Then the singer can listen to it and try to get a feel for the song and writing their own lyrics.. or in rare cases i actually have an idea of my own!

When i really sit down to write a song i find my self creating like 5 layers of guitars playing different chords/melody lines on top of each other, trying to make it sound like 1 guitar.
Then i pick up the guitar and try to simplify it so that its possible to play something very similar with just 1 guitar track and build on the same way from there.

 

[Jind]

Just as a side note - I've found Sonoma Wire Works - Riffworks to be a great creation tool. It's so easy to lay down riffs to a drum beat and then construct the song from there. I liked the free version so much that I bought the full version especially for traveling with my laptop when away from my DAW. My guitar, my StealthPlug, and my laptop - the creative process flows easily and I get to recording my ideas easily.

 

[Erkan]

Sometimes it all starts from a simple rhythm, sometimes from a melody. It's very different for me. But one thing is for sure and that is I always get musical ideas on the weirdest f*cking occasions. This one time, I was at CyberTown in Stockholm where you run around in a dark place shooting lazer at other people and scoring a highscore and shit, so right in there... I get this damn melody that became a whole song which I'm working on now haha =) Finished the synths and stuff for that track recently, still in the scratch track status though.

Lyrics are interesting... but I can't ever write good lyrics so it's always the music first in any case.

 

[dontletmedrown]

Sometimes it all starts from a simple rhythm, sometimes from a melody. It's very different for me. But one thing is for sure and that is I always get musical ideas on the weirdest f*cking occasions.

Yep. I'm the same way. Sometimes I think of a drum beat and the song kinda revolves around that. Other times it can start with a lyric or a catch phase. Sometimes a riff idea comes to mind and everything works around that. For me, there is not just one formula.

Ever write a killer riff, but every drum beat you pair with it just sounds gay? Cuz the guitar riff is gay, it just wasn't evident until you shift focus onto the big picture. :zombie:

 

[Mutant]

1. Recording the melody by humming, whistling to the microphone.
2. Playing it on a guitar (recording ofc).
3. Cutting out bad parts and general editing.
4. Adding drums, bass, synths etc.

No vocals.