How do you write songs?

[Firky]

I dont know how it is for other bands but for mine it kinds starts like this.

turn up at band practice. Open a beer, roll a spliff.
I might have a new bass line, the guitarist has a new riff and we;ll jam for a hour or so and let a few musical ideas flow. Have a flick thru the lyric book see if any ideas fit the music. If so make a few adjustments and rattle it out a couple of times. try a few chorus changes, a middle eight, a bridge (if any are needed). Once you have all the ingredients then you work on the stucture and arrangement which is just trial and error.
I dont believe in any of that theory rubbish. get a few good musicians together and leave them to it for a while and you can 9 times out of 10 get a template for a tune.

or a song can arise just from sitting home strumming and acoustic and tryingdifferent chord sequences, tempo, rhythms and then hum a melody. Writing decent lyrics is the difficult bit i guess.

what you describe is the way i thought it generally worked. well in all the band videos and films i've seen. the doors, meeting people is easy, spinal tap etc. one guy will lay down the bones and the rest will add the meat. i've been reading radioheed's blog on their site, quite interesting to see how they knock out a tune... one of them (jonny greenwood) is a classicaly trained musician and he usually does much of the work and how it should sound.

just get someone else to write your lyrics. thats what eric clapton and ginger baker did.

 

[boing!]

I dont know how it is for other bands but for mine it kinds starts like this.

turn up at band practice. Open a beer, roll a spliff.
I might have a new bass line, the guitarist has a new riff and we;ll jam for a hour or so and let a few musical ideas flow. Have a flick thru the lyric book see if any ideas fit the music. If so make a few adjustments and rattle it out a couple of times. try a few chorus changes, a middle eight, a bridge (if any are needed). Once you have all the ingredients then you work on the stucture and arrangement which is just trial and error.
I dont believe in any of that theory rubbish. get a few good musicians together and leave them to it for a while and you can 9 times out of 10 get a template for a tune.

thats pretty much how my band write songs as well. You could sit there working out all the theory and chord sequences and what not, or you could just get on with it and make some fucking music. Always seems like the better option to me.

 

[smokedout]

sorry forgot about the harmonica (blues harp is actually the correct term) and the hat

and the selling your soul to the devil thing

when i used to write songs i found that the handful of good songs i wrote (compared to the many average or poor ones) came in about 5 minutes, lyrics and music together

the ones you spend days on are usually crap, although when you get in a band situation and jam them out a great arrangement can make up for a bit of a crap song

and people often denigrate pop music, but imo its one of the hardest genres to write, that is to come up with a decent 'hook'

thats why them that can do it, like the ol' stock aitkin waterman boys make a fortune and monopolise the market

its much easier to write some worthy minor chord opus then a geuine three chord trick one hit wonder

 

[dirtysanta]

one of them (jonny greenwood) is a classicaly trained musician and he usually does much of the work and how it should sound. .

Its a good grounding. When i was younger i studied classical guitar for 5 yrs and at school before deciding during my teens that i wanted distortion and feedback .
But respect to Greenwood hes a very fucking clever lad. Id love to work with people that deeply into music and sound creation.

Offtopic:
Dont spose you Radiohead at Oxford homecoming gig few years back did you Firks ?

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I do it all in my head, all the parts at once, usualy including some lyrics. When I am sure it's finished I transer that to the instuments. At that point sometimes you might find a few new things you like.

The good thing about doing it in your head time does not become an issue when viewing the song strucure as a whole. It's like looking at a painting.

I hate jamming out ideas.

 

[dirtysanta]

I hate jamming out ideas.

What about the rest of your band ? Its the most enjoyable bit.

 

[El Sueno]

I do it all in my head, all the parts at once, usualy including some lyrics. When I am sure it's finished I transer that to the instuments. At that point sometimes you might find a few new things you like.

The good thing about doing it in your head time does not become an issue when viewing the song strucure as a whole. It's like looking at a painting.

Same here.

What about the rest of your band ? Its the most enjoyable bit.

They should get some fucking ideas of their own shouldn't they.

Actually sometimes the magic happens when you're jamming but it's pretty difficult to come up with stuff on demand like that. Best to wait for inspiration, whenever and wherever that happens, and jot down some notes so you remember where you were coming from. Then you can pad it out without losing sight of the original spark that started it all off.

 

[dirtysanta]

but it's pretty difficult to come up with stuff on demand like that..

talentless fucker

 

[El Sueno]

talentless fucker

Click for confirmation!

 

[dirtysanta]

Click for confirmation!

Class. Its not my cup of tea. But its not shit.

 

[northernhord]

Try not to be too influenced by other people when your'e writing your lyrics, its easy to end up writing a tune that sounds like your favourate band I mean look at Oasis fuckin karaoke Beatles.
Also where structure is concerned if your'e gonna be singing and writing the lyrics you will need to think about both of these things for stuff such as choruses and instrumental breaks and all that sorta shite.
Best way to write lyrics - fuck off away somewhere with a tent some food and a bottle of whiskey.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

What about the rest of your band ? Its the most enjoyable bit.

No it's not, that's the shittest bit.

In my last band I would record the songs and play it to the band members later and show the how to play it. In fact it's always been like that. I realise this can be a bit boring for everyone else. I have only been in bands where either I write the songs or someone has already written the songs I need to practice.

The current band is currently only me playing everthing anyway. Rutabowa (from the boards) is going to play bass for me starting this Sunday.

I am worried that it will be too much of a dictatorship but as me amd Mr Rutaboa have already discussed we are in it for the funs, and that nobody need get precious about any of it. At least I think that's what I said, I got a bit too drunk on our meeting.

 

[El Sueno]

Class. Its not my cup of tea. But its not shit.

Ta very much. It's not exactly Earl Grey with a hint of Vanilla, but that's how we brew up round my way.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Click for confirmation!

Oh so you are a miss nic are you.

Yes you are talentless fuck. heh heh.

 

[El Sueno]

Oh so you are a miss nic are you.

Yes you are talentless fuck. heh heh.

*recalls waking up next to some masked luchador - shudders*

Oh - you.

I was, er - drunk that night.

 

[rutabowa]

No it's not, that's the shittest bit.

In my last band I would record the songs and play it to the band members later and show the how to play it. In fact it's always been like that. I realise this can be a bit boring for everyone else. I have only been in bands where either I write the songs or someone has already written the songs I need to practice.

The current band is currently only me playing everthing anyway. Rutabowa (from the boards) is going to play bass for me starting this Sunday.

I am worried that it will be too much of a dictatorship but as me amd Mr Rutaboa have already discussed we are in it for the funs, and that nobody need get precious about any of it. At least I think that's what I said, I got a bit too drunk on our meeting.

no you said we were going to do a freakout jam for 15 hours and that i was going to get at least 1 bass solo per song

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

*recalls waking up next to some masked luchador - shudders*

Oh - you.

I was, er - drunk that night.

So which one are you? The Dream, the Python, the pony or the wiggle?

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

no you said we were going to do a freakout jam for 15 hours and that i was going to get at least 1 bass solo per song

Oh shit he's here!!

I was drunk but if that's what I said I won't bring a wip and taser.


PS.
Do you sit there typing in a search on your name all day until something comes up and you can leap in?

Da da da!

 

[rutabowa]

it's ok i don't do solos...

 

[El Sueno]

So which one are you? The Dream, the Python, the pony or the wiggle?

The Dream. Used to be 'The American Dream' but I thought that was a bit silly sounding. Now it's not, not at all.

Everyone in a band should have a stage name. Except for Zodiac Mindwarp - with a name as crazy as that, who needs an alias!

 

[rutabowa]

PS.
Do you sit there typing in a search on your name all day until something comes up and you can leap in?

Da da da!

no! i just keep hitting refresh.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

The Dream. Used to be 'The American Dream' but I thought that was a bit silly sounding. Now it's not, not at all.

Everyone in a band should have a stage name. Except for Zodiac Mindwarp - with a name as crazy as that, who needs an alias!

the drummer from the love reaction posts here.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

it's ok i don't do solos...

Do not worry there is room enough for creative freedom in our mighty duo sound clash.

and the drum machine

 

[dirtysanta]

No it's not, that's the shittest bit.

In my last band I would record the songs and play it to the band members later and show the how to play it. In fact it's always been like that. I realise this can be a bit boring for everyone else. I have only been in bands where either I write the songs or someone has already written the songs I need to practice.

The current band is currently only me playing everthing anyway. Rutabowa (from the boards) is going to play bass for me starting this Sunday.

I am worried that it will be too much of a dictatorship but as me amd Mr Rutaboa have already discussed we are in it for the funs, and that nobody need get precious about any of it. At least I think that's what I said, I got a bit too drunk on our meeting.

swings and roundabouts surely. Isee what your saying about the dictatorship. That works for some bands (see oasis). Then bands like the Roses for example would would plug in , jam out grooves and Ian brown would adlib a few ideas. Everyones formula is different. I cant/wont knock any band for their writing process. Whatever works for you. As long as the songs are happening.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

swings and roundabouts surely. Isee what your saying about the dictatorship. That works for some bands (see oasis). Then bands like the Roses for example would would plug in , jam out grooves and Ian brown would adlib a few ideas. Everyones formula is different. I cant/wont knock any band for their writing process. Whatever works for you. As long as the songs are happening.

Oasis are shit as are the roses.

Swings indeed.

 

[dirtysanta]

Oasis are shit as are the roses.

Swings indeed.

The Roses, shit ??? You poor misguided fool.

((AS))

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

The Roses, shit ??? You poor misguided fool.

((AS))

Yes they and you are the fool.

 

[Sweet FA]

First The Clash, then Dylan and now the Roses I fear you don't actually like music at all. It's all a pose for you isn't it?

 

[dirtysanta]

Yes they and you are the fool.

Oddball.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

First The Clash, then Dylan and now the Roses I fear you don't actually like music at all. It's all a pose for you isn't it?

Pose? What do you mean?
I can't help it if everone likes shit music.
To be fair I really really really really really hate Dylan and the clash but The roses are OK.