This is a story about what I learned from my 60 year old aunt, who has been an unsuccessful song writer for 40 years. The point of this article is not to put her down(I love her), but to bring the light some of the pitfalls to avoid as a beginning song writer.
Shortly after I opened my studio doors, my relative began to indoctrinate me with lyrics and request for me to record them. The problem was that the lyrics were not formatted like songs, they were formatted like poems.
At that time I really only was producing hip hop and trying to learn how to do R&B. I was actually willing to make her songs, so I would ask her, "ok, how does it go?" Initially, she would say "I don't know...I didn't have a melody in mind yet" since I didn't know how to sing and she couldn't sing, those songs had to basically sit, until me or her found a singer to come up with some good melodies.
Tip: Most parties who are interested in buying songs, are interested in just that, buying songs, not just lyrics.
Eventually, my aunt realized that when she came to me her songs needed to be formatted a little better, and that she at least needed to have some sort of melody to give me with her lyrics.
Speaking of formats, there are many to choose from (google "song formats"), or you could not abide by any format...as long as it sounds good to you.
Lyrics......check! Format....check!.......Melodies.....check!...wait a minute..uncheck! My relative pretty much had the same melody for every song, and it was a country western melody....Problem, because I definitely didn't know how to make country western music.
What happened from there is that we could not make a song that sounded like she envisioned. So, she began to recruit people who said they could sing, but most of them had never even recorded before, and even if they could sing, just because a person can sing does not mean that they can write melodies. These experiences made my aunt irritated at me and they made her have a bad taste in her mouth regarding music as a whole....so what can you do to avoid this feeling?
Note: You do not have to be able to sing to be a successful writer, but you do need to have some idea regarding the sound you are attempting to achieve, or find someone who can help you realize your sound.
When it comes to writing styles, writers are different. There are some that don't write with music at all. Those writers can just peruse instrumentals until they find one that fits their lyrics. Then there are some that have an idea about what they want their music to sound like. In that case, those writers can find a producer who can create exactly what the writer is hearing.
Other writers find an instrumental before they start to write. There are many places to find instrumentals (www.freshoffabreakup.com). Once these type of writers have their music, then they need to write. I, personally don't write lyrics down. I record them onto a personal recorder to make sure that I remember the timing of my words.
Now it is time to interview demo singers. You should be looking for a good demo singer that can sing the type of music that you are attempting to record. A good idea in your initial meeting with a demo singer is to have them sing your lyrics over the music you have chosen. That will allow you to really hear whether or not you want to use them, before you have rented studio time. This is important because you are the one who is going to have to pay for extended studio time for a bad or slow demo singer.
What do you do after the recording session is done and you actually like your song? Mixing time..thats what. Most likely, whoever engineered the original session will also be able to mix your record...it will just take a little more time and a little more money. You also need to be able to express to the mixing engineer what you want the end result to sound like. If not, you are taking the risk that the sound engineer may not do what you want him to do, the way you want him to do it.
The last step is mastering. There are mastering houses that you can go to, but they may be expensive. At the beginning of your career, a less expensive route should suffice. That route would be asking the mixing engineer to master the song.
Once that is done then your song is ready to be presented to anyone or any song contest or any opportunity. Keep in mind that often, people want the lyric sheet, the full song, and the instrumental when you submit, so keep those in handy. But before you submit, you're going to want to copyright it, and register it with you writing society (ascap, bmi, sesac, etc...)
If you follow the simple steps above, you'll be ahead of the game!
Shortly after I opened my studio doors, my relative began to indoctrinate me with lyrics and request for me to record them. The problem was that the lyrics were not formatted like songs, they were formatted like poems.
At that time I really only was producing hip hop and trying to learn how to do R&B. I was actually willing to make her songs, so I would ask her, "ok, how does it go?" Initially, she would say "I don't know...I didn't have a melody in mind yet" since I didn't know how to sing and she couldn't sing, those songs had to basically sit, until me or her found a singer to come up with some good melodies.
Tip: Most parties who are interested in buying songs, are interested in just that, buying songs, not just lyrics.
Eventually, my aunt realized that when she came to me her songs needed to be formatted a little better, and that she at least needed to have some sort of melody to give me with her lyrics.
Speaking of formats, there are many to choose from (google "song formats"), or you could not abide by any format...as long as it sounds good to you.
Lyrics......check! Format....check!.......Melodies.....check!...wait a minute..uncheck! My relative pretty much had the same melody for every song, and it was a country western melody....Problem, because I definitely didn't know how to make country western music.
What happened from there is that we could not make a song that sounded like she envisioned. So, she began to recruit people who said they could sing, but most of them had never even recorded before, and even if they could sing, just because a person can sing does not mean that they can write melodies. These experiences made my aunt irritated at me and they made her have a bad taste in her mouth regarding music as a whole....so what can you do to avoid this feeling?
Note: You do not have to be able to sing to be a successful writer, but you do need to have some idea regarding the sound you are attempting to achieve, or find someone who can help you realize your sound.
When it comes to writing styles, writers are different. There are some that don't write with music at all. Those writers can just peruse instrumentals until they find one that fits their lyrics. Then there are some that have an idea about what they want their music to sound like. In that case, those writers can find a producer who can create exactly what the writer is hearing.
Other writers find an instrumental before they start to write. There are many places to find instrumentals (www.freshoffabreakup.com). Once these type of writers have their music, then they need to write. I, personally don't write lyrics down. I record them onto a personal recorder to make sure that I remember the timing of my words.
Now it is time to interview demo singers. You should be looking for a good demo singer that can sing the type of music that you are attempting to record. A good idea in your initial meeting with a demo singer is to have them sing your lyrics over the music you have chosen. That will allow you to really hear whether or not you want to use them, before you have rented studio time. This is important because you are the one who is going to have to pay for extended studio time for a bad or slow demo singer.
What do you do after the recording session is done and you actually like your song? Mixing time..thats what. Most likely, whoever engineered the original session will also be able to mix your record...it will just take a little more time and a little more money. You also need to be able to express to the mixing engineer what you want the end result to sound like. If not, you are taking the risk that the sound engineer may not do what you want him to do, the way you want him to do it.
The last step is mastering. There are mastering houses that you can go to, but they may be expensive. At the beginning of your career, a less expensive route should suffice. That route would be asking the mixing engineer to master the song.
Once that is done then your song is ready to be presented to anyone or any song contest or any opportunity. Keep in mind that often, people want the lyric sheet, the full song, and the instrumental when you submit, so keep those in handy. But before you submit, you're going to want to copyright it, and register it with you writing society (ascap, bmi, sesac, etc...)
If you follow the simple steps above, you'll be ahead of the game!
About the Author:
Learn more about keyword #1. Stop by Eric L. Mims J.d.'s site where you can find out all about keyword #2 and what it can do for you.
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