Willy Minnix: how to be a songwriter

Showing posts with label how to be a songwriter. Show all posts

Friday, June 28, 2019

5 Reasons Your Songs Suck

Have you ever felt like no matter what you do your songs just suck? We've all been there. Here are a few things you can check out that might be able to help fix your songs. Hopefully, some tip here will be just the magic that you've been missing.

1. Boring Chord Progressions - Some songs can play the same simple chord progression over and over and for some reason it's magical. Think Joe Cocker's version of "Feelin' Alright," or "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu." These songs have just two chords but for some reason they do not get boring. Yet sometimes as songwriters we find ourselves reverting back to the same trite chord progressions that we use all the time. Try something new, and maybe your song will find the spark it needs.

2. Bad Production - This is something I have been guilty of myself, bad production can ruin a pretty decent song. Maybe the vocals are just a little bit off, or maybe you could go back and do the guitar line over just one more time. It might be the thing that really fixes a poorly produced sounding track.

3. Simplistic Lyrics - I don't know how many songs I've heard where the writer went for the simple lyric. And it isn't just with amateurs, there are a lot of songs that artists just consider "filler" that could have had a better lyric. Don't settle for a lyrics written at the kindergarten level. Dig deep and come up with something better. Here's a hint, your first rhyme probably isn't the best one.

4. Repetitive Melody - This is almost as bad as the monotone melody that has taken over the airwaves today. A repetitive melody that sounds like it could have been a good hook, but instead of writing supplemental material, just gets used over and over through the entire song, is something that you really want to avoid. Even the above mentioned simple songs, change it up from the verse to the chorus even though the chords don't change.

5. Whiny Melody - I don't know how to describe this, but you will recognize it when you hear it. Some songs just make the singer sound like a whiner. I mean when you think about it, all blues songs are basically sung by whiners. But you never, ever think they are really whiners the way they sing them. But there are some songs out there that just sound like you want to punch the singer in the face instead of sympathizing with them. Don't be one of those songwriters.

So there are a few more ideas to consider if you feel your songs are lacking some of the sparkle they need. If you found these tips helpful, you can find out more about songwriting tips and tricks in my new book: "Lyrics and Music: Music Theory for Aspiring Songwriters" available now at Amazon.com, or with several additional Appendices at Barnes and Noble.

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Thursday, June 27, 2019

5 More Tips for Recording Vocals

Last time we talked about some tips that you can try when recording your vocals. This article I have a few more ideas for you.

1. Try a variety of microphones - When I was first starting out I was enamored with the idea of using a certain microphone for the vocals I needed. But after years of recording people, what I have learned is that each situation is unique, and certain situations call for different microphones to capture the situation the best. Sometimes that one special mic that you think is so amazing, just doesn't capture the sound for this particular performance like you think it should. So don't be afraid to try out different mics to see what they do for your recording.

2. Harmonies - When you are writing your harmonies, try using varying numbers of vocals. Maybe the harmony section only needs one voice. Maybe it needs 200. Who knows, and you won't until you try out a few different approaches.

3. Compression - Compression can do a lot for your vocal, but it can also be an interesting effect in and of itself. So experiment with varying levels of compression to see what works the best for the vocal you are recording.

4. Reverb - Almost everyone uses a little reverb on a vocal, but there are so many different styles and types of reverb, it would be beneficial to any budding artist to try out various types of reverb to see which one you like the best, and which works the best on the vocal you are recording.

5. Effects - Compression and Reverb aren't the only effects. Try out various effects on the vocals to see what makes them pop or what makes them blend in the way you want. They can all bring a different sound to the table and make your song unique.

So there are a few more ideas to try out when recording your vocals. If you found these tips helpful, you can find out more about songwriting tips and tricks in my new book: "Lyrics and Music: Music Theory for Aspiring Songwriters" available now at Amazon.com, or with several additional Appendices at Barnes and Noble.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

5 Tips for Recording Vocals

Now that you have your song written and a good start on figuring out how you want to arrange it, you need to figure out how to how you are going to record your vocals. Here are five tips that will help you with your vocals.

1. Vocal Doubling - This technique has been used on thousands of recordings. This is one of the easiest technique to add some depth to your vocal lines. A cool trick is to use slightly different adjustments for each vocal. Perhaps make one version with the lows a little higher and the other with the highs bumped up just a bit. If you want you can also slightly panned left and right.

2. EQ - Speaking of EQ settings, don't be afraid to mess around with the EQ settings on your vocals. Adjusting the Highs all the way and everything else down will make it sound like an old transistor radio. Whereas, if you do the opposite and turn the lows up but the other settings down, it'll sound like you're in a very dead room or a hole in the ground.

3. Mic Placement - Feel free to experiment with mic placement. Sometimes putting your mic in a different place, or using more than one mic can give you an interesting sound.

4. Larger than Life Vocal - Double or Triple your vocal, then trim off a bit from one, and then increase the length of the other, just a tiny little bit, then pan one Left and the other Right, and leave one center. The resulting effect gives you a larger than life vocal, and if you add effects to each track, you can get some really interesting effects.

5. Accent - Try a different accent. You might move your voice closer to the front of your face, or back further into your chest. Using a slightly different accent can make your vocal pop when you need it to. Also, thinning out a vocal can help blend harmonies and other vocals that seem to stick out too much in a mix. By thinning out the vocal, I mean holding back on vibrato or other resonating techniques.

So there are a few more ideas to try out when recording your vocals. If you found these tips helpful, you can find out more about songwriting tips and tricks in my new book: "Lyrics and Music: Music Theory for Aspiring Songwriters" available now at Amazon.com, or with several additional Appendices at Barnes and Noble..

Monday, June 24, 2019

5 More Tips for Arranging Your Songs

In the last article we discussed the important process of arrangement of your songs as a way of finishing them for the recording process. In this article there are five more tips for arranging your songs.

1. DAW Set up - Some songwriters like to use their recording software to pre-plan each part of the song prior to recording. Using a DAW you can layout how many bars you want your into, verse adn chorus to be, and can even be used to give you a metronome or a basic drum beat.

2. Rhythm - While you are arranging your DAW for recording, you can spend a great deal of time creating and arranging different rhythms for various parts of the song. With just a click of a button, you can combine complex rhythms and make your song take on new heights.

3. Time Periods - Understand various time periods and styles of music to give your piece a certain bygone flare. A good exercise is to try to write and arrange songs from a wide variety of time periods. Make a version of a 20's jazz classic, or try a 60's psychedelic song. Maybe you might find that the 1950's is the time period for you and you will have a knack at that type of song.

4. Mix and Match - Once you get a good feel for a variety of time periods and styles, don't be afraid to mix and match various styles to see what you come up with. One of the fun things about writing songs is the experimental process that songwriters go through while creating and arranging them. Don't forget that playful experimentation can lead to greatness.

5. Effects - Experiment with arrangement effects like vocal doubling, lush string arrangements and other techniques to make your song sound over the top.

So there are a few more ideas to help improve your songs at the arrangement stage. If you found these tips helpful, you can find out more about songwriting tips and tricks in my new book: "Lyrics and Music: Music Theory for Aspiring Songwriters" available now at Amazon.com, or with several additional Appendices at Barnes and Noble..

5 Tips for Arranging Your Songs

So you've written a few songs and you want to record some demos. What do you do next. The important job of learning to arrange your song is the next part of the song creating process. So here are several important things you can do to help you get started arranging your song.

1. Intro - Create an amazing intro. A really catchy, interesting into will be very useful for you when you are beginning to arrange your song. If your song starts with the perfect into then it will grab the listener's attention and propel them to listen to the next section of the song. It doesn't have to have relation to other parts of the song, and can stand on it's own. Elton John's song "Your Song," is a great example of this. The intro stands alone, apart from the song, and was added in the arrangement process in the recording studio. However, it establishes the greatness of the song to follow, and is hard to imagine "Your Song" without the intro.

2. Sonic Treats - Plan for Sonic Treats throughout the song. The idea is that certain sounds will be used as ear candy just to grab the listener's attention for just a moment and also propel them to listen to the rest of the song.

3. Try various types of song forms - When you are finished writing your song, you might feel that you are finished and your song is in it's final form. But you might find that when you are recording it that you might want to rearrange the form of your song. Maybe it is better to start with the chorus, or to move the bridge to another part of the song. Keep an open mind and see what pops up in the arrangement process.

4. Song Parts - This brings up another topic, song parts. When you are working on your song, determine which parts of the song are really needed. Maybe you don't need a bridge, maybe you should add a pre-chorus. You won't know until you experiment a little.

5. Buildups and Dropouts - Plan buildups and dropouts for various parts of the song in order to give the song more dynamic range. By building up more and more instruments to a song, you create a larger sonic pallet, but when you drop out to just a couple instruments or voices, you change dynamics greatly and give something exciting for the listener to experience.

Arrangement is an important part of finishing a song, and a good arrangement can really help improve your songs. If you found these tips helpful, you can find out more about songwriting tips and tricks in my new book: "Lyrics and Music: Music Theory for Aspiring Songwriters" available now at Amazon.com, or with several additional Appendices at Barnes and Noble..

5 More Tips for Better Rhythm in Your Songs

5 More Tips for Better Rhythm In Your Songs

Today we are going to be looking at five more tips that will help your songwriting. As mentioned in the previous article starting with rhythm when writing a song is fairly unusual but can help you if you are stuck in a rut and need something to help give you inspiration. Here are five more tips that should help you use rhythm to break out of your songwriting slump.

1. Swing It! - If you have written a piece of music that has a relatively straight beat. You might give some consideration to adding a swung rhythm to it. Maybe it should be a little more bluesy or jazzy? If you try adjusting the rhythm by swinging it and it doesn't quite seem right, perhaps instead try anticipating the rhythm more like Reggae or some Caribbean styles.

2. Ramp Up the Tempo - One thing that you don't hear much on recordings is an advancing tempo. One example is "Changing of the Guards" by Bob Dylan. This song gradually increases tempo which coincides with the increase of apocalyptic nature of the lyrics. In the modern age of computer quantization, it is possible to work in a tempo increase, or decrease, in a song when you are recording it.

3. Compound Rhythms - If you want to experiment with poly-rhythms, but do not want the percussion of your song to sound to "busy" you might experiment with compound and poly rhythms within the various instruments of the song. By giving the guitar and the piano conflicting rhythms, or two guitars, or what have you, you can come up with some interesting fun combos.

4. Unusual Rhythm Instruments - You might want to try adding some unusual rhythm instruments to your song. Maybe try tapping on a glass of water, or recording the water dripping from a spout. Maybe when you make the recording of your song, you can use natural rhythmic sounds like crickets, or songbirds, as a back beat to your song.

5. Split the Rhythm - You can make a simple rhythm sound a little more complex by splitting the rhythm across a sampling of various instruments. Even the most complex rhythm can be split up using several instruments (and even non-traditional rhythmic instruments) to give it an interesting feel. Perhaps a repeated piano note, or a guitar note trading off with a bass note creates a cross rhythm that is interesting in the final recording. Experiment and see what you can come up with.

So there are a few more ideas to help improve the rhythmic aspect of your songs. If you found these tips helpful, you can find out more about songwriting tips and tricks in my new book: "Lyrics and Music: Music Theory for Aspiring Songwriters" available now at Amazon.com, or with several additional Appendices at Barnes and Noble..

5 Tips for Better Rhythm In Your Songs

Today we are going to be discussing how to improve the rhythmic aspects of your song. Rhythm is one of the parts of the song that songwriters often do not give a lot of thought when working on their songs. But if you decide to start with rhythm as a springboard for launching into a new song, it can help you break out of a rut and give you melodic ideas based on the origin of the rhythm that you might not have thought about. So here are five tips for using rhythm to help you with your songwriting.

1. Rhythmic Change - Don't be afraid to try a rhythmic change for different parts of a song. Maybe the bridge switches to 3/4 then back to 4/4 for the chorus.

2. Rhythmic Switch Within a Phrase - Don't forget you can switch rhythm within a phrase. Think about the Beatles "All You Need Is Love," for an example of this technique.

3. Irish Dance Rhythms - World rhythms can add a lot to your songwriting skills. One of my favorite is to use Irish dance rhythms. Lauren Daigle's recent song "Look Up Child," sounds like it was influenced by African rhythms, but when it gets to the bridge, the bridge is reminiscent of either Scottish or Irish dance tunes. I think this is such a good example of using world rhythms to inspire and grow a simple song.

4. African Rhythms - And that brings us to using African Rhythms. There are so many beautiful and interesting poly-rhythms that come out of Africa, and any songwriter that will spend the time to learn and be inspired by African rhythms will find a well of inspiration that will never run dry.

5. Cuban Rhythms - Another interesting world rhythm that is worth studying is Cuban or Spanish rhythms. Traditional Spanish rhythms were heavily influenced by North African rhythms, and Cuban rhythms are a beautiful mixing of the Spanish rhythms that grew from the North African line, and the rhythms that came to Cuba from further south in Africa during the slave trade. This mixing of two beautiful world rhythms led to all sorts of awesome Cuban Jazz rhythms. These jazz rhythms can greatly shape and transform your songs, so they are worth giving a listen and seeing if they work for you.

So there are a few more ideas to help improve the rhythms of your songs. If you found these tips helpful, you can find out more about songwriting tips and tricks in my new book: "Lyrics and Music: Music Theory for Aspiring Songwriters" available now at Amazon.com, or with several additional Appendices at Barnes and Noble..

5 More Tips for Writing Better Chord Progressions

Last time we talked about five tips for writing better chord progressions, and in this article we will take a look at a few more tips to help your chord progressions become much better.

1. Don't be afraid to change keys - All of the great songwriters have experimented (and in Brian Wilson's case mastered) changing keys within a song. There are hundreds of ways to do so, and as a budding songwriter you should give it a shot too. Don't worry if it doesn't sound good when you are done, the nice thing about a key change is they are easy to get rid of if you don't like them.

2. Try changing keys modally - The simplest form of a modal change is going from major to minor, or from minor to major. But you can also go from major to Dorian, or to any of the other modes. Changing a song modally is a really good way of introducing some exotic flavor to your sound.

3. Consecutive Key Changes - You might find that one key change just isn't enough. Maybe your song needs to work upwards or downwards through a series of key changes. This is one of the things that makes "Good Vibrations" such a classic. Brian Wilson wasn't content to just repeat "Good, Good, Good, Good Vibrations" but with each repeat the song shifted up to a new key. It was a great way of making the song build.

4. Colorful Chords - Use more colorful chords to decorate a more simple progression. Try using sus2 or sus4 chords. Or instead of just playing a V make it a V7. If you really want to branch out start teaching yourself how to make some of the more jazzy sounding chords like 9, 11, or 13 chords. Then use the added notes to guide you to new chords that use those included notes.

5. Cadences - Finally, try various cadences for ending phrases. If you have a basic progression, try experimenting with the sound of your chord progression by tweaking the way the phrases end. Does it go straight from V to I. Perhaps try a cadence where you go V IV to I. Or V iii I. Anyway to expand or tweak the cadence might make it sound a little more appealing to your ear.

So there are a few more ideas to help improve your songs. If you found these tips helpful, you can find out more about songwriting tips and tricks in my new book: "Lyrics and Music: Music Theory for Aspiring Songwriters" available now at Amazon.com, or with several additional Appendices at Barnes and Noble..

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

5 More Tips for Writing A Better Melody

This post we are going to get into some less heard of techniques for developing a melody. I have adapted the following techniques from a discipline of melodic writing called counterpoint. These definitions have other meanings to true counterpoint devotees, but I find they help suit my purposes, so I like to use them.

1. Try using Retrograde motion - So let's say you have half of a melody. Maybe you only have two measures. You want to do something else, but you're not sure what to do. Maybe just flip it backwards and play it in the opposite direction.

2. Try using Contrary motion - A variation on the above is what I like to call contrary motion where as retrograde motion is the reverse of a melodic piece, I like to think of contrary as the mirror image of what you originally wrote. So if the piece goes up, you bring it back down, if it goes down you bring it back up. If you write a line that goes up a third and then plays that note three times. Repeat it by going back to the original note, then going down a third and repeating it three times.

3. Oblique Motion - Oblique motion requires another melody line that you are working against. Perhaps it's the guitar line, or the piano line, but basically while the one line remains mono-tonal (that dreaded word from last post), the other melody will rise or fall against it. This works great with harmony lines of a song.

4. Melodic Doubling - A similar but different technique is to double what another instrument is playing. So if the guitar has a really cool riff, then sing the riff with lyrics over it. Maybe stack up a few instruments playing the same riff and it becomes a really ear catching section of the song.

5. Use Chords to Derive Your Melody - Chords can be used to help you out of a jam. If you are playing a progression that you've written, and you start to decorate up your chords with sus2's and sus4's and 7ths and other interesting ways to doctor up the chords, you can add some of those chord voicings to your melody as well.

Bonus:

6. Hooks - Instead of just concentrating on writing one major hook for the chorus, take the time and craft hooks for each section of the song. If you listen to a song like "Bohemian Rhapsody," every part of the song if taken on it's own, could have been the hook of a song. It's a cool way of approaching your songwriting, and it makes your song strong on every single part.

If you found these tips helpful, you can find out more about songwriting tips and tricks in my new book: "Lyrics and Music: Music Theory for Aspiring Songwriters" available now at Amazon.com, or with several additional Appendices at Barnes and Noble..

5 Tips for Writing A Better Melody

In the spirit of continuation of our series on songwriting, we need to now turn our attention to how to write better melodies. In this article I will give you five tips on how to make your melodies a little better.

1. Falling Melodies Tend To Remain Popular - When you examine the vast history of popular music from the dawn of the recording age until today, and even when you include popular classical and romantic melodies that have remained popular throughout the years, you will find that melodies that fall (in other words melodies that start high and drop low) tend to get more attention. If you seem to have melodies that are static, or do the opposite (start low and end high) then give the opposite a try and see how it works for you.

2. Mono-tonal Melodies Must DIE!!!!! - Ok, so maybe I'm a bit dramatic here, but I am so sick of rap type melodies in pop songs. They have four to eight bars to impress me, but instead they just blast off a rap style melody and then launch into the "hook." Well, I for one refuse to stick around for the hook, because I HATE mono-tonal melodies. Take the time to actually write a song, not just a catchy chorus, hint hint Taylor Swift, your early stuff was so much better than the crap you've been peddling lately. I digress. Mono-tonal melodies are all the rage these days, but they are really a waste of talent, and my thinking is that there are very few, if any, of these songs will actually stick around past the fad age where they live.

3. Learn How To Develop A Melody - So what do you do if you don't want a mono-tonal melody? You learn how to develop a melody. There are a lot of motions that you can try to make your melody more interesting. Read on and find out about a couple of them.

4. Try Ascending Motion - So if you are stuck and you want your melody to go somewhere, try writing an ascending passage. Ascending melodies rise from a lower pitch. They don't have to rise dramatically or jump up to a high note, they can take their time and gradually get there, but they rise none the less.

5. Try Descending Motion - Well, what if your melody is already up in the rafters? Try doing the opposite. You don't have to keep the melody all the way up there, bring it down and let it drop in pitch. It could also drop in volume and make some dynamic change while you're at it.

So that's it for this post. Check out the next post where we will continue this exciting topic! And if you found these tips helpful, you can find out more about songwriting tips and tricks in my new book: "Lyrics and Music: Music Theory for Aspiring Songwriters" available now at Amazon.com, or with several additional Appendices at Barnes and Noble..