Brett Deadwyler (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} bdead) wrote,@ 2006-02-22 18:30:00 |
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Song Writing
So today I was working on some songs I've written. I'm finding writing music to be very interesting. There is a song I wrote a ways back. I thought it was great, original, interesting and all that jazz. Then I got bored with it and had to change it. Thought it improved 100%. Then I got bored with it again and changed it again. This time it was very unique and I thought I had probably found the sound I was looking for. Once again, the song got boring and I was about to scrap it all together. However today I was working on it and once again changed a bunch of it and am really digging it. I find it so strange. Especially since my changes incredably much. During the whole process the chords didn't change much at all. They lyrics had only a few changes. The changes were in the voals and the strumming pattern. It's amazing how much a song can change. So here we are, 9 months after I originally wrote it and I'm finally happy with how it is.
Is that how all my songs are?
It is not always that way. Another song I wrote about the same time as the one I just talked about I wasn't very crazy about. In fact, I thought it was pretty boring. Yet I kept playing it. I play through my songs most of the time I practice and I would always do it and it grew on me little by little. I really didn't make any changes to it. Got smoother at playing it, started singing more passionatly and now I think it's a solid song. I'm not blown away by it by it's just solid. I find this interesting.
How do I go about writing a song?
I don't know if anyone cares to know but I was always curious how different song writers wrote their songs. The biggest question is "What came first, the music or the lyrics?" The answer is, well, neither and both. I've written lyrics and put music to it but this may be my least favorite way. When I do this I have a hard time getting the sound to fit the lyrics. I always have to adjust the lyrics then to fit what can musically sound good. These songs typically take a lot longer for me to finish also. However, sometimes lyrics come to mind separate from a song and this is just the method you have to take. I wouldn't say I've ever written a song and then later written lyrics to it. When I practice I mess around and come up with cool things to do and then eventually they make it into a song I have. My favorite and most typical song writting is to do both at the same time. It is mostly fueled by my emotion. I'll play what I'm emotionally feeling that day and once I've got a general pattern figured out I just start singing. I make up the words as I go. Sometimes I get no where. Often times I start coming up with lyrics. Many times just a chorus or just a verse. Then I start piecing together different things I'm doing. When using this method, the music comes very easily and lyrics fit in well. However I often have to sit down and often times add in an extra verse or change some words in the lyrics because they are so based off my current emotion that they don't really make much sense.
How I wrote Just Breathe
Just Breathe was written in under an hour. Start to finish. I spontaneously wanted to write a song about all that stuff. Sat down and just played it. It's the quickest lyrics had ever come to me. I would sing through a verse and it all just came to me and then I sat down and wrote down what I came up with. I probably had a rough version of the song in 15 minutes. Then another 30 minutes to clean it up and worked mostly on the vocal line. Anyway, thought ya'll might find that interesting.
So today I was working on some songs I've written. I'm finding writing music to be very interesting. There is a song I wrote a ways back. I thought it was great, original, interesting and all that jazz. Then I got bored with it and had to change it. Thought it improved 100%. Then I got bored with it again and changed it again. This time it was very unique and I thought I had probably found the sound I was looking for. Once again, the song got boring and I was about to scrap it all together. However today I was working on it and once again changed a bunch of it and am really digging it. I find it so strange. Especially since my changes incredably much. During the whole process the chords didn't change much at all. They lyrics had only a few changes. The changes were in the voals and the strumming pattern. It's amazing how much a song can change. So here we are, 9 months after I originally wrote it and I'm finally happy with how it is.
Is that how all my songs are?
It is not always that way. Another song I wrote about the same time as the one I just talked about I wasn't very crazy about. In fact, I thought it was pretty boring. Yet I kept playing it. I play through my songs most of the time I practice and I would always do it and it grew on me little by little. I really didn't make any changes to it. Got smoother at playing it, started singing more passionatly and now I think it's a solid song. I'm not blown away by it by it's just solid. I find this interesting.
How do I go about writing a song?
I don't know if anyone cares to know but I was always curious how different song writers wrote their songs. The biggest question is "What came first, the music or the lyrics?" The answer is, well, neither and both. I've written lyrics and put music to it but this may be my least favorite way. When I do this I have a hard time getting the sound to fit the lyrics. I always have to adjust the lyrics then to fit what can musically sound good. These songs typically take a lot longer for me to finish also. However, sometimes lyrics come to mind separate from a song and this is just the method you have to take. I wouldn't say I've ever written a song and then later written lyrics to it. When I practice I mess around and come up with cool things to do and then eventually they make it into a song I have. My favorite and most typical song writting is to do both at the same time. It is mostly fueled by my emotion. I'll play what I'm emotionally feeling that day and once I've got a general pattern figured out I just start singing. I make up the words as I go. Sometimes I get no where. Often times I start coming up with lyrics. Many times just a chorus or just a verse. Then I start piecing together different things I'm doing. When using this method, the music comes very easily and lyrics fit in well. However I often have to sit down and often times add in an extra verse or change some words in the lyrics because they are so based off my current emotion that they don't really make much sense.
How I wrote Just Breathe
Just Breathe was written in under an hour. Start to finish. I spontaneously wanted to write a song about all that stuff. Sat down and just played it. It's the quickest lyrics had ever come to me. I would sing through a verse and it all just came to me and then I sat down and wrote down what I came up with. I probably had a rough version of the song in 15 minutes. Then another 30 minutes to clean it up and worked mostly on the vocal line. Anyway, thought ya'll might find that interesting.
