Getting better at making music, but I can't make songs.

[ugo]

To the OP, and anyone else in a similar situation, here is something that helped me tremendously. Thanks to another KVR member, Funky Lime, who mentioned it to me. The text below is an excerpt from what I wrote about this composition exercise in my manual for The Element of Surprise.

The 2 Hour Song

I may have modified Funky Lime's original rules a little bit to fit me better, but in essence the idea is to write as much of a song as you can within two hours. You can go back to it again later if you want, but you must do as much as you can within that two hour limit. Optimally this would include the entire basic structure of the song, intro, verse, chorus, bridges, and all.

This writing exercise worked particularly well for me because I have the tendency to get stuck trying to perfect a single 16 bar section for the whole night, instead of laying down the ground work for the entire song first. So by limiting my time to such an extent, I am forced to keep moving forward and look towards the big picture first, instead of getting bogged down in the details. (Such as tweaking presets.) It also forced me to look more towards melody instead of getting caught in the cycle of tweaking a looping rhythm section. (Something I am often guilty of.)

Additionally, again because of the time limit, you don't have time to try to force ideas that aren't working. You've got no choice but to let them drop and keep moving forward instead. If you are willing to not think so much and just run with music comes out of you, you may find you can discover a whole new side of your creativity that you were never able to tap into before. I also recommend attempting to actively avoid your usual clichés whenever possible. You can often spot them coming because you usually have to make a conscious decision to use them. So if you get the urge to fill in a section with an old idea, ignore it and just write whatever comes out of your head the fastest. You may find that it's completely different than that old idea you've been forcing into your songs.

A big part of this though is also being willing to not worry about what the results are like. Don't worry about quality or style, just let yourself explore and experiment...and since you've only got two hours, you cant expect a masterpiece by the end of it anyway. But if you really try to get as much done as you can, you will probably find that you've achieved far more than you ever expected you could within such a short time period.

By the end of your two hours (if not from your first time trying it then, with luck, in later sessions after you've settled in a bit with the idea), you'll hopefully find yourself so close to a complete song that it would be a shame not to try to finish it up, since you've already got the "hard part" behind you. So with a little more time to add more parts and polish it up, you've got yourself a new song and thus you've found your way past a bit of writer's block.

You may find it helpful to do this experiment with someone else who is also having writers block, as a weekly event. This is how it was originally suggested to me, and it's how I got started with it. (Many thanks to Dusted William for doing those writing sessions with me.) The idea here is that both of you write your own songs on the same night, at the same time. Once your two hours are up, you render what you've got and upload it for the other person to hear. Knowing that someone else is doing it at the same time helped guilt me into writing instead of getting frustrated, giving up, and watching TV or reading KVR. And even if you think the session might not go well, it's still only two hours out of your life, and you're still working on music, so its hard to justify not just doing it. Also, sending someone else what I had done helped give me a feeling of accomplishment and allowed me to get some feedback and encouragement. Once you've both settled into your groove, you don't have to do it at the exact same time anymore if you don't want to. You can just agree on a deadline each week where you have to present each other with a finished song.

But even if you don't have anyone around to try this with, you can get plenty out of this technique just doing this on your own. Ultimately it's not about working with someone else but rather just keeping yourself focused on your task, while getting out of the way of your own creative flow. It's been a quite a while since D.W. and I had those writing sessions, and I don't always stick to a strict 2 hour limit anymore, but I do still follow the same general plan of action on my own when I decide to write a song, and it still works wonders for me.

[eduardo_b]

I'm feeling more and more frustrated each day...

Well, this is very good! It tells you unmistakenly, that something goes wrong, so take it as some kind of "hint". I cannot tell if you have any talent. But I have the strong impression that you've expected too much from learning. Something like: once I have learned everything about music and music technology, I will be able to make good music. No, you won't. Knowing your tools and techniques may help, but knowledge is no substitute for creativity.

I really like this post. It says the obvious but easily overlooked. The tools, the theory, the desire are all important, but only when the creative spirit is in play. Talent also matters, but creativity is where it all starts. A blank page for writers of words or songs is often too large a barrier to overcome without really working at it. Does your desire exceed your frustration and disappointment?

Someone mentioned being a producer or engineer instead, and I certainly relate to that. Despite all my efforts at creating music, and having a vast array of tools at my disposal, in the end I came full circle and realize I'm a better engineer than creative soul when it comes to music. Not true for writing, where I can be an editor (engineer) and writer, but sadly true for music. So, try and see if your talents might be in remixing or tracking or collaborating more than creating music from scratch. Or use tools (samples) that let you concentrate on assembling the pieces.

Sometimes we can't be or do what we think we want to no matter how much we want to. But each one of us has inherent talents that need to be acknowledged and used. I think that's the most important discovery of all.

[hao nao]

try watching movies about Cole Porter, or ones with Oscar Levant

seriously, are you set up to record with a mic (i.e. mic plus preamp, or pocket recorder plus USB)?

if you have a song in mind, maybe try humming it in or singing it in for reference -- if it will turn out to be a tune with words, nonsense words will do for starters

paint from rough to refined

best wishes,

K

[debra1rlo]

Getting better at making music but can't make songs, eh? Hmmmmmm...
















Wait, i've got it. The answer is clear... you should teach songwriting!

[hao nao]

well-spotted



but seriously, if you're a songwriter, get the songs down away from the computer, then use the computer stuff to do a "cover version" of what's in your head -- the public result might not come very close, but there might also be some happy accidents

[ThomasKoot]

When you want to make a song, you're actually creating something. The funny thing with musicians (including myself) is that we can sit behind a computer, and just start creating. Grab a kick, layer a snare start playing a bass line and so forth. We don't necessarily need a plan or idea to start making a track. We can rely on a sound, sample or loop to get us going.

On one hand this is really great, but on the other hand we completely pass by the phase of thinking about what you're going to make. When there is no clear goal it is not surprising that you'll get stuck somewhere. Therefore my advice would be to think about what you're going to make and what you're going to say before running to the computer and hope there's something in there that works.

For example, write down a brainstorm about the idea you had. Draw a moodboard or gather examples of what you had in mind (not only musically but perhaps a film or photo). There are so many creatives that use these methods successfully, why don't we? The most important thing in making a song (or painting or whatever), is that your original idea is good, the tools (compressors eq's and synthesizers) are just there to translate your idea.

[tehlord]

Thanks for the advice guys - I think i'll have to grab a simple song and remake it - maybe something from the new linkin park album that i can't stop listening to (flame all you want - I still think it's excellent!)

Would it be better to stick to one sort of synth/sampler etc or just use any and everything? I'll have to pick a DAW too hahaah - I think it's probably a job for logic pro given the vocals and all!

I've been in exactly the same situation as you for exactly the same amount of time lol.

The best advice somebody gave me was to start with a song template already in place - for example open up Cubase with a project that's already structured for intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, break, verse, chorus, fade (for example). When you sit down and start creating those loops you'll already be thinking about the transition from one to the other and wont start loading up tracks with extra instrumentation that you dont need yet. It helped me immensely and I started creating 3-4 minute tracks with just basic drums, bassline and a temporary lead. Once that's in place your problem is VIRTUALLY solved.

A year is NOTHING when it comes to learning to create music though. The only negative side I see to DAW's is that it requires you to learn skills and techniques that you would have paid somebody for not more than a decade ago. I remember being a studio in the 80's where all I had to do was play my keys. The engineer took care of the rest. Nowadays sitting at home on your own doing the same thing is a hard task!

[BASSDRIVE]

Stop making loops and basic stuff. That's the problem I have sometimes with FL Studio because I end up just making loops, since their so easy to do in FL, rather than build an actual song. What I suggest is to force yourself to start from the beginning, create an intro and build upon from there. It's all about variations, build-ups, take certain instruments out, bring them back in, bring in a new instrument. That's the only way to create an actual song that keeps the listener wanting to listen more. Sometimes I just start off with a solo beat, or even just solo hi-hats, or I might start off with some chords using strings or pads, or maybe just a bassline, then build upon from there.

Technically what I can suggest if your making more loop stuff and just ideas is to put them off to the side, way off to the side, like some 20 minutes out of the picture. Think of a palette that you just pull ideas out from. Then when building up your song from the start, pull those loops or ideas back in to your likings. It's as simple as copy & paste.

That's what I do with FL Studio because it's so easy to get caught up with making just loops. Sometimes I make all my ideas on like Pattern50+ to give myself room for the rest, then to create an actual song, I simply bring them back in to the beginning.

So my idea is about giving yourself some space to work with. One area of space for ideas and the other for the actual song building. Hope that helps.

[Arsov]

I've never ever started with an intro. Verse or chorus first, then middle eight and finally intro and end.

[Sascha Franck]

Arsov, you've got some great tunes on your site!

To the others: Probably the right dude to listen to.

- Sascha

[vurt]

The 2 Hour Song

i thought it was just mystahr n me that made em that long

[Arsov]

Thanks Sascha

and thanks for all of your great plugs, free and magixal ones.

[Sascha Franck]

and thanks for all of your great plugs, free and magixal ones.

Oh, you're mixing me up with Samplitude's/DigitalFishPhones' Sascha Eversmeier (KVR nick "sascha").
But yes, these are great and I miss them quite a bit ever since I switched to OSX.

Cheers
(the other) Sascha

[Arsov]

Ou.. Sorry.

I'm the third one Sascha (o.k. they called me Sascho )

OSX? Cool. I'm thinking about that for years, but I'm not so sure if I'm willing to learn to operate with totally different operating system or to lose another few months for accommodating to Logic. ( but at the other hand, everyone claim that it is far far superior than Cubase or Samplitude)

Alex ( or Sascho )

[Sascha Franck]

Ou.. Sorry.

I'm the third one Sascha (o.k. they called me Sascho )

Hah! See, my "real" name is "Alexander". Back in the days, my parents weren't allowed to christen me Sascha (for whatever reasons, might've been too expensive for them to officially register the name, meanwhile it's a quite common name in germany), but my half-russian grandma came along saying "name him Alexander, in russian the nickname is Sascha". She was right with that, just that nobody in germany knows about that thing. So, in the end, nobody ever called me "Alexander", but it's what's written in my passport - a cause for endless irritations on whatever end (when sending invoices to people who only know me as Sascha, etc...).

OSX? Cool. I'm thinking about that for years, but I'm not so sure if I'm willing to learn to operate with totally different operating system or to lose another few months for accommodating to Logic. ( but at the other hand, everyone claim that it is far far superior than Cubase or Samplitude)

The operating system isn't too much different, to be honest. It lacks a few things Windows offers and vice versa.
But regarding Logic, it's really not up to the others in the audio department. Plus, development seems to be close to death at the moment. If I wasn't a die-hard user since almost ages, I'd switch back to Windows in a heartbeat (and probably go for Samplitude or use Cubase SX 3 - which I already own - for a while).
Let alone Macs are still overpriced.
But hey, judging by your music (and trying to bring this at least a bit back on topic ), you seem to get along just fine with whatever you might be using (I listened to a few more tracks - excellent stuff!), so why bother.

Cheers
Sascha