Cash In Your Ears

I thought this was such a clever title.
Read this article by Roseanne Cash. It's good.

The Article

Which Cliches Do YOU Use The Most?

According to Music Thing, these are the top 100 Most Cliched Cliches In Pop Song Titles.

Hmmm...how about a song composed ONLY of the 100 most cliched cliches?

CD Baby Mastermind Tells You How To Be More Successful

I think he's got some good ideas in this article.
Check it out.

I like the idea of "recklessly excluding". Just read it.

I'd say that most people that love Slayer will totally HATE my music.

Or, "I sound sort of like Metallica if all the guys in the band weren't so angry looking, only played acoustic guitars, and wrote songs of hope and peace. Oh yeah, and if they all had a really good sense of humor. That too. That's exactly what I sound like."

Power Out Light Bulb Idea

So, I decided to head out to the studio to work on song I've already demoed (sp?) but needed to refine. As I was sitting there I started fiddling around with my guitar with the capo in a position I don't always use. I started strumming some open notes and soon a little melody flew out.

I decided to open up ProTools and get this idea onto "tape". Just as I got ready to push record the lights went out and everything shut off. A second or two later the power returned. I left the room to check on the family and talk to the neighbors to make sure everything was ok. It was.

Whew. Idea not gone. I proceeded to hop on the family computer using a cheesy lapel mic thing. It works. Here it is. Raw tuna. Nothing yet...but you heard it hear first if it becomes something later. Don't go stealing it now.

;)


light bulb image by misserion

A germ of a seed of an idea.

T-Bone Burnett Plays DJ

What does the man who made O, Brother Where Art Thou do with his time? What does he listen to? Here's T-Bone in an interview.

If You Could Record In Wilco's Loft...

...what would it sound like? How would YOU go about recording your songs?
Do you see computers as an evil in the process of making your songs real?
Or do they need to be reel (tape)?

Read Andrew Bird's thoughts on this matter as he explores Wilco's studio, filled with every gadget and guitar his heart could desire.

Radiohead Hurts Me

...with this song and this video.

There are just some songs and videos that fit so well together and say so much in under 4 minutes that it's amazing to me.

Even if you don't like radiohead you will be able to appreciate this.

This video made me feel pretty crappy, but also made me more aware. I already knew there was a problem, but this gave me more food for thought.

The Videotape

Watch. Don't look away. Let it hurt a little.

The Beauty of Co-Writing

photo credits



Here's a great article in Measure by Measure about co-writing.

I've done a few in my day and am becoming more and more open to the idea the more I write. I've been very happy with my past collaborations.

How many of you have done co-writes/collaborations before? How did they turn out? Easy or hard? How was the "letting go process"?

Read the article and then let's talk.

Neverending Armpits!

Bono has been quoted as having said "Imitation is the highest form of flattery." And if you check out these lines from his song "The Fly" from U2's Acthung Baby!, you'll see this theme continued:

"Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief
All kill their inspiration and sing about their grief"

Continuing in that tradition is my five year old son.

Picture, if you will, a 5 year old singing in the shower.
Then, imagine, if you might, the melody for the song Neverending Story.

Here's the original song on youtube. It's pretty cheesy. Get that melody locked in your brain.

Then, add these words: "Neverending armpits...ah ah ah ah ah ahrmpits". Repeat about 50x.
Rinse. Repeat.

Sister says, "STOP SINGING!"
Brother replies, "I have to sing. Let me sing."
Sister says, "Ok."
Brother continues for at least two more minutes.

I'm SO proud right now I could just burst.
Moments later, sister joins in full voice.

Beautiful.
My son, the melody thief.
I'm sure he'll be a songwriting genius someday.

Recapturing The Magic Of That First Demo

How many times have you recorded a demo of a song that was great (with obvious flaws and recording issues), but when you went to rerecord it you couldn't capture "the magic" again?

I can't even begin to tell you how many frustrating times this has happened to me. This year, during the February Album Writing Month (FAWM.org) I tried my best to set up a decent recording no matter what I did, but sometimes inspiration was flowing and I just had to commit the idea to hard disk or risk losing it entirely.

So, I wrote a song in one take called "As They Please". I had just learned a new tuning and this was the song that came out of that. I recorded in one take and got most of the lyrics and most of the melody that I would want to use.

There were definitely things that weren't good, but there was a lot I really liked. So for the last week or so I've been relearning this song (because I hadn't tried playing it since). It wasn't too bad and I made a video of myself playing the fingerings (so that I could review it in the future if need be and so I could teach others the song). I can now play the song pretty easily and I've added a short instrumental segment to break up the mostly verse-y-ness of the song.

I just don't think my newest takes quite have that "magic touch" that the original had.

I'm going to keep trying to get a good recording, but I think I'll limit myself to to or three takes max per evening, that way it's still fresh and not to over thought. This is hard to do, but I'm going to try my best to make it happen.

Anyone else out there relate to this? What are YOUR experiences?

The Birth and Rebirth of Steampunk!

Until fellow songwriter Dan mentioned, I had never even heard the word "steampunk". Wikipedia tells us a bit about the origins of steampunk, but more important than the origins to us here at the SA, is that Dan will attempt to do something not done before. Here's Dan in his own words:

Okay, better late than never, right? Hello, Songwriting Apples!

My name is Dan, and this month I will be attempting to create three or more songs in a new genre, if such a thing exists any more.

I am writing a gothic horror storylined song cycle involving mad scientists and brains, and the genre I am hoping to be able to apply to them is "steampunk". Now, if you don't know what steampunk is, I suppose the simplest explanation would be to think of the modern world if we were still in Victorian times. If we had the technology we have, but it had merely evolved from steam-powered technologies of the day. William Gibson was involved in a book entitled The Difference Engine which is seen as something of the birth of steampunk.

There are bands out there who use steampunk as a genre, notably Abney Park, however (and not to trash-talk) I feel that their steampunk influence is purely visual. I do not deny that they provide a wonderfully begoggled and top-hatted, brass-sheen spectacle, however the music is fairly well within the industrial genre - which is, I feel, the right place to start. After all, steam punk is all about industrial - just not modern industrial. Imagine a guitar amplifier as a huge brass contraption with brightly lit valves atop it, glowing like mechanised firelies in an attempt to create a distortion from steam. Think of a drum machine as a giant contraption of cogs and gears which literally plays the drums.

This is the genre in which I hope to create three songs by June.

-Dan

Learning Your Own Songs So That You Can Play Them Again

Sounds like one of those "chicken and egg" scenarios doesn't it?

I wrote a song in the month of February that I called "As They Please". It was one of those "gift" songs that comes all at once with not much conscious effort on my part. I learned a new tuning and BAM! Out comes a new song.

That said, in February I was writing about .75 songs a day, so I didn't revisit this song until last night. I'm glad that I recorded a little instruction of the chord shapes and tuning on the origninal demo of this song.

I decided to make myself a video diary of HOW to play this song, first for myself, but also for anyone wanting to learn a few new chords in a new tuning. DADGAD. Gotta love that tuning.