KVR Audio

Ogg Vorbis · Post by **Ogg Vorbis** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 4:26 pm

I got a songwriting gig to do and its going to be due in April. I need to write a themesong for a professional baseball organization. So far I am struggling to develop a strong concept and direction for this song. The clock is ticking!

What do you do when you need inspiration...fast?

X

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elxsound · Post by **elxsound** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 4:40 pm

Watch lots of Sports, baseball movies and attend sports games... get out the house and it should fall into place easy.

icelizarrd · Post by **icelizarrd** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:26 pm

Play some pieces that you didn't write on a piano (or whatever instrument you're best at; a polyphonic instrument works best, in my opinion). You can just practice trying to get through them if they're too difficult. And it can be classical, folk, pop, whatever--just something to get your mind thinking about music and processing it.

After you've done that for a while, see if it's any easier to come up with melodies.

Or, maybe try to write a lot of different melodic ideas out quickly without being too critical about how good they are. Then play around with them and see which ones seem to have potential; take the good ones and abandon the others. Then, among the remaining ideas, play with those to see which work best, rejecting the less promising candidates. Until you've got a few that seem to work.

beltrom · Post by **beltrom** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 1:56 pm

I typically surf the web for ideas - there's actually lots of sites to help you get out of blocks - so I just surf around. Also this book has helped me out: http://www.amazon.com/Frustrated-Songwr ... 0879308796

If all else fail, you always have Eno:
http://www.ultrapasty.com/oblique-strategies/

mojogigolo · Post by **mojogigolo** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 8:31 am

steroids will help you write a better baseball theme, although people will be suspicious at just HOW good it is and start asking questions eventually.

dacaumodo · Post by **dacaumodo** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:35 am

Ogg Vorbis wrote: What do you do when you need inspiration...fast?
X =

I collaborate with other peeps.

PM me if interested (music and stuff on my homepage, link below). There's not a lot to risk.

OR if you don't want this, what I do is I take a walk out with a recorder of some sort, take a good walk and tune the speed of my steps to the mood I want to compose in. Walking stimulates the brain like nobody's business.

Ogg Vorbis · Post by **Ogg Vorbis** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:44 pm

dacaumodo wrote:
Ogg Vorbis wrote: What do you do when you need inspiration...fast?
X =

I collaborate with other peeps. PM me if interested (music and stuff on my homepage, link below). There's not a lot to risk.

OR if you don't want this, what I do is I take a walk out with a recorder of some sort, take a good walk and tune the speed of my steps to the mood I want to compose in. Walking stimulates the brain like nobody's business.

Hey thank you for your song that you IM'd! Sounds great. I also love to walk in order to create. I do not do talk therapy very well, everything to me is kinetic.

This project is hard since I've only been to one baseball game my whole life (including little league).

I'll IM you the other details

dacaumodo · Post by **dacaumodo** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 3:55 pm

Sounds good to me! I googled "major league baseball theme song" and found a few interesting things, on youtube as well. Most of the stuff I've heard combine hard hitting breakbeat/electro beats with epic orchestral/macho layers on top. They also often include cheesy guitar leads

Aloysius · Post by **Aloysius** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 7:27 am

Ogg Vorbis wrote:What do you do when you need inspiration...fast?
X =

Get a new sample library - instrument - set of presets - go for a long walk off a short pier - see a therapist - join NA, AA or both - fall in love (with one of the players) - get a pet - go back to your therapist - help old ladies across the road, even if they don't want to go that way -

Ogg Vorbis · Post by **Ogg Vorbis** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:16 pm

Aloysius wrote:
Ogg Vorbis wrote:What do you do when you need inspiration...fast?
X =
Get a new sample library - instrument - set of presets - go for a long walk off a short pier - see a therapist - join NA, AA or both - fall in love (with one of the players) - get a pet - go back to your therapist - help old ladies across the road, even if they don't want to go that way -

Thanks for the powerful suggestions. Actually I have been doing okay with this project because having a deadline produces more inspiration than anything else for me.

God bless deadlines! Desperation is the mother of inspiration.

t5wGl · Post by **t5wGl** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 9:43 pm

It's been said every poet is a thief..actually I think that is bit of an unfair statement. Just like scientific researchers build upon the latest information and the work of others, good artisans do the same. That does not mean we go around copying people, instead we recognize good ideas when we hear them and we let that build our pallette of choices and influence us.

If you are stuck and you don't have an established direction, my suggestion is to find other pro baseball theme music and listen to their ideas...what they were painting...that will give you a solid and safe point of reference for you to create and imagine from.

When I am writing or arranging genre specific, I have no problem listening to what I believe is the best in the genre and see where it is coming from so I can better connect with the already established ideas within that particular subgroup. Nothing wrong with fresh direction either, but I think it is wise to at least have a frame of reference to begin from.

I Am Stuck!