03-29-2021, 10:29 PM
A few people here seem to have trouble writing full songs, even having trouble wtiting more than just intros a few measures long. I used to have this problem too, but I figured out how to fix it and most of the time write awesome songs too. In fact, this is how I can write such long songs that don't get too boring. I hope this advice can be of use to you guys for I see far too many people here who dont know how to write songs, but their loops and intros are pretty good
The big trick I use is I write my songs as fast as possible. Let me explain.
When you write a song slowly and try to get it perfect on every part, you end up with a fantastic sounding 4 bars. This may sound like the best thing in the world but it is equal to just looking at a picture from a movie you never seen. It can be a good photo but you can't tell anything about what the movie is about, what the characters are like, etc. Not generally desireable.
Also when you write like that, your brain keeps hearing the same part over and over, so it tricks it into thinking that what comes next is just a repeat instead of a new section. This makes it extremely hard to add new parts to your song.
When you work fast on a song your train of thought is uninterrupted and you can write the whole song fairly quickly and subconsciously. This avoids the issue of having a picture of a movie type of thing happen.
So what is working as fast as possible? When I say this I mean use the absolute minimal amount of instruments for your song. Usually just your main song instrument, your bass or melody instrument, and drums is enough. Then when you are adding to the song just add what is necessary and copy and paste as much as possible. You DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO YOUR SONG much, for that interrupts the train of thought,so just put it down, then copy paste if you need to and move on. AVOID EDITING SECTIONS that dont sound quite right for now. TRY NOT TO PLAY THE SONG BACK often, maybe do it once or twice just to check the structure but thats it.
When you finish the simple basic song structure, leave it for a while, then go back and fix any bad sections and boring melodies and stuff. Also add all the rest of the instrument parts that you may want, like pads or background melodies and harmonies. AVOID LAYERING FOR NOW, this is NOT THE STAGE TO DO EVERYTHING PERFECT, it is just the stage to add any instruments and fix any mistakes. Its still important to avoid listening to your song much in this stage too.
The last stage you can go deep with your sonicality. Layer instruments and experiment with sound effects and cool background stuff that just makes the song all that much better. THIS is the stage to make your song as best as it can be. This is the stage most people try to skip to because it has the most pleasing effect, which they shouldn't do, for skipping to this stage is equal to plating a turd in gold. Yes, 4 bar loops are turds, there is no nutrients in them, nothing to wow the listener. If you want to argue with me, I'll compare how many popular songs are 4 bar loops and how many are full songs. Yes thats right, its n to 0. All the songs you hear on the radio, on CDs, live, they all are full songs. If just loops were enough then dont you think we'd se a lot more 12 second songs?
In brief:
1. Be lazy and just get it over with
Take a break
2. Fix all the crap you lazily left in there
Take a break
3. Make it sound good
This is just my personal approach to songwriting. It seems to work for me well, so I figured I'd share it. I cannot guarantee your success using these methods.
I have more tips about writing about how to balance raphsody with verse+chorus to make really incredible songs but I think I will leave that for a different forum
The big trick I use is I write my songs as fast as possible. Let me explain.
When you write a song slowly and try to get it perfect on every part, you end up with a fantastic sounding 4 bars. This may sound like the best thing in the world but it is equal to just looking at a picture from a movie you never seen. It can be a good photo but you can't tell anything about what the movie is about, what the characters are like, etc. Not generally desireable.
Also when you write like that, your brain keeps hearing the same part over and over, so it tricks it into thinking that what comes next is just a repeat instead of a new section. This makes it extremely hard to add new parts to your song.
When you work fast on a song your train of thought is uninterrupted and you can write the whole song fairly quickly and subconsciously. This avoids the issue of having a picture of a movie type of thing happen.
So what is working as fast as possible? When I say this I mean use the absolute minimal amount of instruments for your song. Usually just your main song instrument, your bass or melody instrument, and drums is enough. Then when you are adding to the song just add what is necessary and copy and paste as much as possible. You DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO YOUR SONG much, for that interrupts the train of thought,so just put it down, then copy paste if you need to and move on. AVOID EDITING SECTIONS that dont sound quite right for now. TRY NOT TO PLAY THE SONG BACK often, maybe do it once or twice just to check the structure but thats it.
When you finish the simple basic song structure, leave it for a while, then go back and fix any bad sections and boring melodies and stuff. Also add all the rest of the instrument parts that you may want, like pads or background melodies and harmonies. AVOID LAYERING FOR NOW, this is NOT THE STAGE TO DO EVERYTHING PERFECT, it is just the stage to add any instruments and fix any mistakes. Its still important to avoid listening to your song much in this stage too.
The last stage you can go deep with your sonicality. Layer instruments and experiment with sound effects and cool background stuff that just makes the song all that much better. THIS is the stage to make your song as best as it can be. This is the stage most people try to skip to because it has the most pleasing effect, which they shouldn't do, for skipping to this stage is equal to plating a turd in gold. Yes, 4 bar loops are turds, there is no nutrients in them, nothing to wow the listener. If you want to argue with me, I'll compare how many popular songs are 4 bar loops and how many are full songs. Yes thats right, its n to 0. All the songs you hear on the radio, on CDs, live, they all are full songs. If just loops were enough then dont you think we'd se a lot more 12 second songs?
In brief:
1. Be lazy and just get it over with
Take a break
2. Fix all the crap you lazily left in there
Take a break
3. Make it sound good
This is just my personal approach to songwriting. It seems to work for me well, so I figured I'd share it. I cannot guarantee your success using these methods.
I have more tips about writing about how to balance raphsody with verse+chorus to make really incredible songs but I think I will leave that for a different forum
