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Finishing songs - a method
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fuzzikitten
Annunaki
Started Topics :
40
Posts :
603
Posted : Jul 1, 2008 17:20:16
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I just posted this on another thread and thought I'd share it as a new post. Just some ramblings on a way I've found to help me finish songs:
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I started trying to write songs in 2002. Since then I have about... 12 that I would consider 'done'. For those 12 'done' songs, there are 30-40 songs on my computer that are 'in progress' - some ranging from a couple minutes of interesting ideas to some being 3/4 of the way through and needing an ending.
Anyways, here are a few things I've found that has helped tremendously:
1) I keep my creation phases seperate from arrangement phases.
Creation phases are fun, exploratory, altered moments. I do simple arrangement while I'm making noises, but I try to get a lot of creative ideas out all at once and whip up a skeleton of a track. Having more raw material is like having a nice big block of stone - it gives me more to work with and whittle away down to the statue.
After a spell of creation and simple arrangement, I'll let the song sit for a bit. Then I'll go back and do a lot of arrangement, giving a fresh ear to loops and moving things around.
2) After I do step 1 a few times and start to get a song, I begin a second step of refinement:
I burn the song to a CD.
I listen to it at work.
I make notes as I listen to it about changes I should make.
Here's an example:
"_Damage_
0:36 - Fade ramp back out before kick comes in
1:26 - Pop
2:52 - undo stutter on needly lead, don't fade around
3:41 - Pop
4:12 - Ehhh, liked it better before
4:30 - everything too quiet here, maybe rush of 'verb?
4:46+ - Need more content here to end"
While at work I can go through a dozen songs like this. Then when I get home I sit down at the computer and...
...and I have a fucking "To Do" list. Even though I'm tired from work, all I have to do is go through the list and fix the things I noted earlier.
This is exactly what Ott meant when he told me "you just finish them". This is what Colin means about 'The discipline comes in making regular time to finish tunes'. It's simple hard work.
Each pass through the song I brush out more errors and fix weak spots and the song gets a little longer. This method doesn't guarentee GOOD songs, but it does guarentee that I'll finish them.
anyways, cheers, hope that helps.
-Alex |
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orgytime
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
120
Posts :
1703
Posted : Jul 1, 2008 17:40
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Fragletrollet
Fragletrollet
Started Topics :
111
Posts :
1748
Posted : Jul 1, 2008 18:44
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AcidForAll
Started Topics :
5
Posts :
135
Posted : Jul 1, 2008 18:57
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Absolutly!
I put the track on my mp3 player and go jogging, unfortunately i forget my todo list most of the time - coz i can't write it down while powering through the jungle  |
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Axonic
Started Topics :
6
Posts :
80
Posted : Jul 2, 2008 00:00
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same here. i burn the track i'm working with on a cd an listen to it in the car before and after work.
so i can make a "to do list" in my head AND have a speaker comparison.
 http://www.myspace.com/axonic |
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bandarlog
Bandarlog
Started Topics :
44
Posts :
809
Posted : Jul 2, 2008 00:36
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3l3ctromonk
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
30
Posts :
89
Posted : Jul 3, 2008 23:53
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Thankyou:-))))))))))
Very helpful!!!
"We surely know by some nameless instinct more about our futures than we think we know."
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
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