First things first, bookmark this page. Updates will pop up here, as well as lessons for those of you who need some tips on writing songs etc etc.
Non-music related stuff out of the way first.
Aliza: Our treasurer. She will be handling my, er,
our money. I recommend getting her address so we know which house to burn down if our money disappears.
Zaleha: Our Marketing Manager. I, uh, don't have anything else to say. Strange.
Yes, I am still at college. At 8pm. I have no life.
Moving on,
Money matters now.
Aliza, please draft up a couple of sheets containing money paid into the funds (including who paid how much) and that type of stuff so we can track our expenditure. Please also find a way to transfer it into a Word/Excel document, save it and send me a copy every month. If possible, I'll post it up for all you people who think I'm trying to steal your money.
Also, we need to start
spending. First off, we need AT LEAST ONE microphone. For now, I'm thinking of getting the
Shure PG48 microphone. It's a relatively inexpensive dynamic microphone. Split evenly among all the members, it'll probably only cost each of us RM10. We need to check how much we can get the microphone for, then we'll start collecting money. :)
Also, we want a
Toneport GX USB Audio Interface. Roughly RM200-RM300 this. I'll see if I can get it for a birthday present, but I highly doubt it. Anyway, my birthday's the end of next month. Way too long to wait.
Then we need a
laptop. Preferably more than one. This is for recording. Please contact me ASAP if we can make use of your laptop. I promise to be gentle with it. I'll brief you on what software to download afterwards.
We're working on getting a
place to record. It's looking very promising. We're looking into a recording studio (so to speak) and Andrew, Jeremy and I can record our parts separately too. Especially Jeremy. He has a freaking pedalboard that's too stuffed to slot in another pedal. :)
Also, we probably can ask for permission to use the Physics lab. Will have to ask Mr Tan, Mr Row and Mr Anderson about this. Large place, might be good for doing excessive ambient stuff. Or if we want to add more reverb to the vocals/instruments. In all honesty, it isn't really necessary; we can layer on reverb using software.
Ultimately, we want to get all this money we're spending back... as well as earn enough proceeds to donate to charity (voted for by the members, whee!). Couple of suggestions are:
- Selling a 'Stereostatics' T-shirt.
- Selling 'EP' albums.
- Car wash.
- Selling 2nd hand stuff (clothes, books, guitar, amp, etc)
- Doing live shows.
Any others?
Also. We need a
concept for our first EP cover. Ideally, we'll want to get this EP out at about the end of September/beginning of October, so please come up with ideas for the concept and tell me or leave it here as a comment. If we can get a nice concept by this week, we can get our graphics experts to start work on the EP cover. =)
Songs for the EP? Andrew and I have worked on one. I have 3 or 4 songs that I recorded recently. And hopefully we do enough songs by that time to have 1 or 2 that don't match up to the others- therefore going into the EP. Cut down all of that to 3 or 4 songs, and we have a fundraiser right there.
Rough briefing on the stuff that came out in today's 'meeting':
- Genres: We'll use dark indie rock as a base, and branch out into everything from jazz to blues to rap to funk to fusion to reggae to progressive to classical to indie pop to metal to polyrhythmic trash.
- How are we recording? Externally and with a DAW. Don't get what this is? Ask me personally. Leave a comment at the end of this post. I'll clarify stuff.
- We are NOT part of the music club. We're cooler than that shit.
- Cool artistes you really SHOULD check out, to expose yourself to good songwriting: Radiohead, Counting Crows, Dream Theatre, Guns N Roses, Incubus, Jamiroquai, Metallica, Josh Woodward (www.joshwoodward.com), Led Zeppelin, Opeth, Nirvana, Radiohead, Silverchair, Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, White Stripes, System of a Down.
That's about it for this briefing. Below is a sample of my OTS (on the spot) lyrics. Further below is a guide to writing songs. Highly recommended.
I See You. Lyrics. waltzing
inching across the rain-soaked roads
palming the ground
in beat with the lazy snaps and thuds
side stick - one - two - dum
eyes drawn close and unstaring.
i have a fever
that taps politely every so often
against my optical nerves.
i see you now.
like i didn't before.
fracturing like a precious china doll.
please gather the shards.
Screaming in a futile attempt to slow down time
Wasp-in-a-jar.
Ha ha ha. Laugh at me. Open your mouth wide
bare your teeth
Squiggling, disgusting, bobbing tonsil
I will cut it off.
i see you now.
like i didn't before.
fracturing like a precious china doll.
please tape the pieces together.
Oh baby, you're such a drag.
Drum roll, please
In swelling volume
To echo our footsteps
As they drag across the marble floor
Polished hastily.
there are things that drift away
quietly, without notice
whether you want them to or not
where do you find the energy
for these empty afternoons?
for warm-less nights and tussled blankets?
somewhere across the horizon
i see you.
-Wayne 2008.From my 2007 article, Song Structure: Plotting a MasterpieceYou’ve got a great concept. You have a truckload of inspiration. The melody is impeccable. You’re all geared up to write the mother of all songs.
What next?
At the base of every great song is an amazingly solid structure. Everything else is a sidenote. The one thing that must be crafted with exceptional care is the structure. This is true for basically every possible song, even if you decide to sing blather over random free verse chords. The song structure has to be planned out clearly and coherently, and this guide is aimed at helping you do just that.
To make visualization easier throughout this article, I shall liken a song to a story. Let’s take a look, then, at a couple of common components of a song:
Stanza,
Refrain,
Chorus,
Bridge,
Instrumental,
Narration,
CodaStanzaThe stanza is the meat of the story. It serves to further the story, offer descriptions and basically tell the tale. The number of verses used is entirely up to you. It is vital, however, to maintain the momentum of the story. It’s better to have two clever verses than five incoherent, sub-standard ones.
Refrain and ChorusWhat is the difference between a Refrain and Chorus? Quite simply put, the Refrain tells what MIGHT happen. It predicts the story outcome and is unsolved. The Chorus, on the other hand, covers what has already happened. In a song featuring Refrains, the final Refrain is commonly replaced with a Chorus to ‘reveal’ the conclusion. In other cases, the songwriter might decide to reveal the conclusion after the last Refrain. This is, again, completely up to personal taste.
BridgeThe Bridge is basically a part of the song played over a melody distinctly different from the other parts. It usually acts as a climax. In Wheatus’ ‘Teenage Dirtbag’, a ‘female’ voice is used for the Bridge to humorous effect. In this particular example, the Bridge also acts as climax and conclusion.
An instrumental section is, of course, pretty much self-explanatory. Occasionally, an instrumental bridge is introduced. This involves playing a distinctly different melody...without vocals.
NarrationA Narration is a section where you ‘talk melodically’. Hardly used nowadays, but there are some tweaked variations. Josh Woodward’s ‘Gallows Hill’ can be said to be a variation of the Narration technique.
CodaThe Coda is the ending section and usually (but not always) refers to a fade-out ending.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at musical devices and the key factors in plotting a song. Here are three formulae that are simple and important.
Pitch + Volume = Tone
Tone + Rhythm =Melody
Melody + Lyrics = SongNow to figure out everything we need to know about each of these aspects.
Pitch refers to a note range and is commonly divided into sharp and flat (or high and low).
Volume, also known as dynamics, is the variation of softness or loudness. Take a look at another simple set of formulae below:
SHARP + Soft = False-voice
+ Loud = Sharp
FLAT + Soft = Breathy
+ Loud = DeepFalse-voice and sharp are classified as TREBLE. Breathy and deep are classified as BASS. Note that flat + very loud gives us something unofficially termed as ‘Power’.
These formulae show you how you can modify volume and pitch to achieve a certain tone. Plan beforehand what type of voice you wish to use. Refer to the melody to make sure everything you sing fits. A simple tip is to modulate your volume according to the sections. Sing a bit louder at the chorus than at the verses. When the drum kicks in, you should also generally sing a tad bit louder.
Now that you have a strong foundation, here’s an insanely short guide to vocal techniques. At its loosest meaning, vocal technique is the usage of vocal production for every vocal mechanism. This refers to the unifying register (head, middle and chest). Get yourself a good vocal teacher to guide you through posture, breathing, phonation and vocalization. In case you didn’t know, you should practice dropping only your lower jaw when opening your mouth when singing.
There are tons of great columns on writing melodies and good lyrics (refer to www.ultimate-guitar.com for some), so I doubt I’ll touch on them in my short tutorial. Check them out, decide what works for you, and keep practicing. Songwriting is an art form in itself and should be treated thus. I can, however, give you a couple of words of advice for writing strong lyrics.
Never force your lyrics. Be natural. Rhyming dictionaries can be used online and can come in handy sometimes. Familiarize yourself with them to enhance your skill. Always remember that, above all, the way the words sound over the melody is the most important part of the lyrics.
Broaden your mind. I’ve written songs about my emotions, my friends, degeneration of society, the end of the world, love and an anarchy movement, among others. Everyday life serves as the ultimate tool for your creative juices to flow.
For example, an expired tomato in a supermarket sparked a song complaining about supermarkets. That turned into a song about closing times (can you catch the double meaning?). That in turn evolved into a song about nights. Which led to shadows, which led to the song ‘Umbrage of the Night’. See what I mean? Inspiration comes from everywhere.
I hope my short guide has given you the confidence to write stronger songs and build on song structure as never before. Always remember, the foundation is the almost important part of the song. Happy writing.
