It's hard to be a musician.
As I've mentioned before, I have three rules for writing songs. I've developed these over time based on listening to what I write that works, or doesn't, and also listening to what other people have put out. I also have three goals as a producer, three things that I would ultimately like to accomplish. And I have one motto.
The motto? Well, okay, let's get that one out of the way first. I've already mentioned it in a previous post. It's the Voltaire quote, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." I made the decision to start putting my stuff out there for people to listen to and (hopefully) comment on before I started even really writing anything. Feedback is a good thing, even though it doesn't always come in the form you're hoping for. This is not complaining when I write what I'm about to write: I have had 375 plays on my SoundCloud account. That's between 32 songs, some of which have been up for over two months. Now, I could get all depressed over that and say, "Yeah, but Deadmau5 get's that many plays before he's even recorded the song!" Which is true. But I can also break it down case by case and see which songs are getting any love and which ones go to bed lonely every night. And one that gets 15 plays in a month and maybe one or two favorite-ings (yes, that's a word because I just made it up) is by definition more popular than one that got three plays the first day and then no one ever came back to it. And I can work on what I've got until the day I die but if nobody is listening to it, why bother?
Yes, I am an artist but I also want to connect to an audience. There's nothing wrong with that.
So I stick my stuff out there even though there are glitches and pops and ideas that stopped too soon, or not soon enough. And if people like something enough to listen more than once, I'm on to something.
My three rules for writing a song are: 1) Find a groove.
2) Layer effectively.
3) Finish what you start.
The first one is both a lot more simple and a lot more complicated than it sounds. What is a groove? You know, I've never heard a technical definition of that but in context of how I learned about it, it's that time in a song where all the musicians are working together and the song itself gets bigger than the people playing it. A lot of people can write a competent song and play competently but when the song seems to suddenly become really big, and reach deep inside of you, that's the groove. With one exception (Harlem Digital Nocturnal) I haven't actually written anything that big but I keep looking for it. And I go with ideas that add to, not subtract from, the song.
Which brings us to the second rule.
There's an old rule about visual art (and to some extent it applies to music as well.) The measure of a really good artist is not only the space they fill but the space they leave blank. A lot of people, even some pretty big names, don't seem to know the value of space. But you especially notice this with rookie producers, they throw a riff in that sounds good in one particular spot so they assume that it will sound good throughout the entire song. It just isn't so. Sometimes one riff can carry a whole song, but sometimes you have to use the riff for a couple of measures then drop it as you layer in other instruments and riffs. I like a "wall of sound" as much as most people but not when it comes out as just a bunch of noise. A song should have melody, or at least a tune you can make out. That synth line you layered in after twelve measures may not sound as cool after thirty measures when you've added more synths, drums, guitar and maybe a tabla. Know when to leave well enough alone.
And now number three. A lot of people start something and then give up. I'm not really saying anything against them, at one point I was pretty bad about that. But I found that I wasn't happy leaving songs just hanging. Either I need to finish it or I need to erase it. And in music as much or more than other art, sometimes pursuing an idea you had that isn't working out leads to another idea that is better. Or you just make a mistake somewhere but it actually sounds really cool. Don't ever just write something off because you got frustrated. On the other hand, if you have a bunch of ideas that you can't seem to finish, maybe you need to face up to being a perfectionist and just get on with it. Tina Fey relates how Lorne Michaels used to say, "We don't go on because the show is ready, we go on because it's 11:35 on Saturday night." Just do it!
Which brings us back to the motto!
Well, it's late and I'm tired. If I remember, next time I'll write about my three goals. Until then...
Peace out and catch you later...
