Composing music

[B D]

Here's what we were talking about back in post number 49. It's an example of a tune where the melody made me adjust the length of the measures (or are they bars? I still don't know the difference!) to close up what were to me useless gaps in the flow. Both are from my 2011 album "Bob's Drive-In".

My solo version, me playing everything: http://snd.sc/UVB6SS

And the live version with me on guitar (left), Mr Fictionmusic D Campbell on bass, the fab Kavus Torabi on guitar (right channel, he's playing the melody), and D Kerman drumming.
http://snd.sc/WJWapf

[Jefferson James]

My solo version, me playing everything: http://snd.sc/UVB6SS And the live version with me on guitar (left), Mr Fictionmusic D Campbell on bass, the fab Kavus Torabi on guitar (right channel, he's playing the melody), and D Kerman drumming.http://snd.sc/WJWapf

That was fucking cool! Both versions! It's groovy and foot-tapping and yet where the hell is the "one"?!?!?!?! Too cool!

And to David -- dude. Thank you so much for listening, I am so happy you liked that stuff. One day I'm doing a solo pop album!

[markowitz]

Great thread. Using different methods and exploring is part of what is enjoyable about creation. That being said, right now I am using a current "method" that seems to work well for now. I may have a musical idea on guitar or piano usually that I feel needs a certain beat (hard rocker, ballad, funk or whatever) and since I don't play drums but am servicable on guitar, piano, and bass, I use drum patches from my Korg M3 that I customize. I may use different rhythm patches imagining a intro/verse/chorus/verse/bridge or whatever combo and record just the drums into a Roland BR 1600. Having a device to record your ideas to easily is a must as others have stated. I start to jam with the drums on piano, bass or guitar until I come up with something that fits the rhythm. I believe Peter Gabriel starts with rhythm tracks as well (but probably not from a Korg M3 would love to live next to Manu Katche). I then add instruments, and usually do vocals last, sometimes finding vocal melodies by playing guitar lead over the songs foundation. I told myself I would write 20 songs and then reevaluate instead of trying to perfect a few songs so as to get experience in writing and composition, figuring that it would force me to continue to progress and not stagnate on minor issues. The sampling function on the Korg M3 is a cool creative tool, being able to slice and dice. Nothing replaces good playing, unfortunately. Seeing each song to its end if possible is something I try and do, but sometimes the song isn't going anywhere and I start on a new one. Playing to the Korg drums is somewhat limiting despite the karma function and quality samples, but it allows for a great time piece to play into. Staying open and respecting the muse when it appears and is strong is a must to "find" what the song will be. I'm sure we are all pulling from our memories the libraries of previous tunes we have listened to, jammed on and dreamed about. For lyrics to be really good, honesty and real life experiences seem to work best, but singing and lyrics are personal and to each his or her own.

I initially thought I would collaborate with the guys I jam with, but making creative decisions is easier in a dictatorship and then if I need help in certain parts or feedback, I'll ask the guys in the band to help out. Most of the stuff I end up doing all by myself and then get my drummer friends to add live drums to replace or go on top of the Korg drums. Recording drums is an art and getting good recording of acoustic drums takes time, knowledge and patience. Here one of my early pieces written about 5 years ago and a recent one with good female singers that I have on soundcloud. I never sang much so initially did talk overs and tried the Robbie Robertson style vocal approach, but have since started singing some of them myself. Getting better vocalists and or musicians to improve on parts that are decent can really improve some songs, but facing the fact that singing your own songs is possible, I'm slowly improving. One thing I've found is it will be hard to find anyone as interested as your originals as yourself. That group in Oakland sounds interesting since getting someone to sit down and evaluate and comment is difficult. My kids are probably tired of checking out my "new song"
http://soundcloud.com/william-p-insa...itive-live-mix
http://soundcloud.com/william-p-insa...ersection-1513

[eporter66]

I love writing music, it is a great outlet. I dont have much to say in the way of composing other than I usually get something in my head, and start humming. Hopefully I make it home with the idea still intact, fire up the computer and plug in the guitar just to get the idea down. I love how things build, I have a lot of ideas that are not fully developed. I just leave those and go back to them every so often to see if I hear where I can take them.

The interesting thing is that sometimes I sit down with a chord progression, and a whole song comes out at once. Other times, it is just an idea that slowly evolves as I add different parts as they come to me.

This Saturday, my wife and daughter are going out of town for the day, and I plan to sit and record a few ideas and see what happens. A whole day of just playing and recording, it should be a blast.

If you have any interest - here is a website where I have a few things posted. Would love to hear your thoughts. They are rough recordings, they certainly need work, but I really enjoy hearing the ideas blossom.

http://www.reverbnation.com/ericporter

Thanks,
Eric

[Yodelgoat]

http://www.reverbnation.com/ericporter

Sounds nice, lots of layered guitars. I hear the Floyd influence. Thanks for sharing. Once you get the hang of the drum machine programming, it will add a lot to your songs. Like you, I look forward to days when I can spend long periods of time just composing music. It doesnt happen very often.

BD - THat "intro" was just Kickin' ! Great guitar sounds as well, I loved every second. Despite having the time signatures all over the place, its still stuck in my head. That sounded as organic as anything I've ever heard.

After a few years if recording on my own, I got tired of drum machines and samples and loops and I've gone all the way back to using real instruments in my new recordings. There is no drum machine int he world that plays like a real drummer- at least not one like me - I'm still a bit sucky at it. Its wierd, some drummers are so good they sound like a drum machine, wich for some reason, I can really appreciate, but not really the other way around. Well programmed drums are still just programmed. I'm not sure why that bugs me, but it does. At least for my own music. As time is going on, I'm getting more satisfied with my drum sounds. I enjoy the fact that I never really play any verse or chorus, or jam quite the same way. Each cymbal hit is unique and each drum hit is slightly different from the previous one. I find it funny how in the studio, most producers try to take the human out of the drums. It makes it harder to listen to the music multiple times. I always enjoyed how you could hear John Bonham playing the drums. and how human he made it sound, just like Jimmy Page or JPJ - you could listen specifically to one instrument, and it was never boring. Listening to drums that have been programmed just isnt as interesting for me. Its like its a second class instrument. I'm sure that people felt the same way when synth strings replaced live orchestras. If you really enjoy the sound of real strings, as a classical music enthusiast would, it would be hard to listen to MIDI and digitally based instruments too much. You never hear different parts being played slightly differently. It is played exactly how it was programmed. I love that the technology is there, but I prefer old school for my own music.

I just picked up the new Joe Walsh album Analog man, where he was the only musician playing on it. C'mon! Joe Frackin Walsh uses programmed drums? He even comments on it in the liner notes and even in some of his songs. He's not entirely comfortable with it. There are times on the album where its kind of steril sounding, like everyone but him is asleep. Its almost like you hear the components chugging along, mistake free and flawless. There are even places where it sounds like Jeff Lynn deliberately tries to add a little humanity to the drums. Funny, we love to hear flawless drumming, but we somehow resent it when its a machine being flawless. (speaking for myself)

[Mikhael]

http://www.reverbnation.com/ericporter
After a few years if recording on my own, I got tired of drum machines and samples and loops and I've gone all the way back to using real instruments in my new recordings.

I do miss the quoting function of the old PE. Anyway, yes, I totally agree. I use MIDI sequencing to flesh out a song, and get the arrangement to where I like it, but after that? Get some humans to record it. Even if you do it all yourself, it's still not quite like a *group* of humans interacting real-time while performing a piece. There's nothing quite like a band that's zoned-in with each other and firing on all cylinders.

[Jefferson James]

For "drums" on my home recordings, I've always "played" whatever synth drum patch I dial up via the keyboard, in real time. I've had people say, "Wow, how did you program that rhythm track, it feels almost human" LOL. That's 'cause it IS human. I will sometimes use a click track but most of the time I just play along free style on my synth's keyboard. It's pretty fun!

[eporter66]

http://www.reverbnation.com/ericporter

Sounds nice, lots of layered guitars. I hear the Floyd influence. Thanks for sharing. Once you get the hang of the drum machine programming, it will add a lot to your songs. Like you, I look forward to days when I can spend long periods of time just composing music. It doesnt happen very often.

Thank you very much for taking a few minutes to listen to my music, I appreciate that and the comments. I know - most of it is sloppily done, I just get an idea and go with it, and should really go back and take the time to get things right. I am still in touch with my old bandmates, but it is rare that we get the chance to play. We send each other the music we record, and always talk about getting together to finish our songs, and though we do get together from time to time, we never spend any time recording, just jamming usually. I agree that there is nothing like the energy of getting together to play as a group - I really miss it.

[markowitz]

eproter66 really nice sounding recorded guitars and playing. Vocal melodies should fit nicely over lots of that. Enjoyed listening. Doesn't sound sloppy, just needing a melody in some areas.

[everythingtoexcess]

Lyrics take me forever, but once I have them the music seems to write itself. Matt, the singer/keyboard player in Pinnacle, has the rare ability to spit out decent lyrics fairly quickly. Sometimes he writes music at the same time, other times he sends the lyrics to me. The song Too Far Gone on Blueprint is Matt's lyrics that I wrote all of the music to in about three hours.
When I'm writing music and I get stuck, a trick I've learned is to just put SOMETHING down...usually a drum loop...attached to the end of what ever I'm working on. That will send me in some direction, then in the process of writing the other parts, the part I started with ends up changing.
Or, I switch instruments. I play guitar, so I write on guitar. If I'm stuck I'll sometimes fire up a keyboard or my bass and just noodle a bit. Usually I don't get much real quality that way, but it does generate ideas I wouldn't normally come up with.

[eporter66]

eproter66 really nice sounding recorded guitars and playing. Vocal melodies should fit nicely over lots of that. Enjoyed listening. Doesn't sound sloppy, just needing a melody in some areas.

Thank you very much for taking a few minutes to listen, and I appreciate the compliment.

[Enid]

I am currently composing a chamber rock style piece which a year ago...it clocked in at about 8 minutes and after recording it in the studio, I was happy with only half of the piece, became disgusted and wrote other pieces instead. After listening back to the other pieces...I realized that they needed to be connected with the 8 minute chamber rock piece. The piece may now extend to 18 or 20 minutes. It may take me years to finish it. I am inspired by nature to write music ..like many other musicians and also lay down tracks in the middle of the night after being awoken from a nightmare. Whatever energy crap that channels it's way through me has nothing directly to do with me. I just go with it and ask no questions. There is some sort of spiritual energy garbage which travels through musicians and it seems delusional ..but it's probably like Gnosis where upon you feel something in your mind and heart and have no explanation for it.

[mburgh]

You all might want to check a book called Composing Music by William Russo. It helped me get more work down. Now I can compose any piece to any length.