Hi all
Been under a lot of stress lately but the upside of this is that I feel like I've had a lot of music stuff wanting to come out. I've been planning for a while to try and write some new songs, using minimal instruments etc just to get the basic elements of the song decent before "covering them" in a more full way once they are good enough. I thought this might help with quantity and enable me then to get a pool of ideas together which could always be mixed and matched or developed or editted etc.
But also, what I wanted to try and do with this approach is to try and weed out the cheesiness I seem to create with my songs. I have quite a good musical memory for tunes (hence end up recycling a lot of things or combining several different elements of very different songs together without realising until it's finished) but that seems to result in quite cheesy "obvious" sounding songs. It's not just the lyrics because I tend to just use any old crap to start with to get the tune and chords down. But it always comes out quite corny and too "pleasant sounding", which is fine in moderation but the music I tend to actually like has more punch and attitude than this, and that's what I seem unable to write.
For example, I wrote this with a friend in mind who is in an acoustic+violin duo up in the north west, I thought I'd try and write for somebody else to see if that helped as I could then use this approach for myself by writing for a different version of me musically if that makes sense. Admittedly they are aimed at a more mature crowd and therefore whilst their music is lovely with nice arrangements etc it's not exactly cutting edge cool! But I thought i could try and use that kind of style to get writing. I've got three ideas but only got around to demoing one of them. And yes I know the lyrics are shit, but the music itself just feels so dull, lifeless, soulless, lacking in any kind of edge whatsoever, but sounds generally fine. Background music to youtube videos basically.
Oh and I've since counted at least four songs I've nicked from without intending to, bonus points if anybody can sport them as well
Any idea how I can try to make myself sound a bit cooler when writing? That's basically the TLDR version
Cheers
Comments
So you need to work out what "cooler" or "edgy" means to you, and try to start out from that place. That's how to make it authentic. And when it's authentic, it's not cheesy.
I liked the song.
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Yeah I know what you mean but I don't tend to come up with a vibe as such it tends to be a vague notion of chords in my head then I just hum it out to get a tune then take it from there*. Improvising with an instrument tends to lead to worse ideas than doing it purely with humming (very difficult to come up with piano accompaniments that don't sound like cruise ship jazz singer!)
Re second para, That's the trouble (as with most things) i don't know what it is that makes it that, hence I can't work towards it. But think you're probably onto something with the authenticity I guess rather than just stuff that sounds objectively inoffensive. I can't really work on that, my feelings are pretty bland and shallow haha so I can't really call on that.
*EDIT: that is why I tend to unintentionally plagiarise a lot though I think, because I'm actually hearing something I've heard alreay without necessarily realising, then adding tunes that already exist. The one above alone nicks stuff from Lumineers (Ho Hey), Laura Marling (Ghosts), James Bay (Let It Go) and Travis (Sad Song), and only one of those would I like to sound anything like.
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Somebody else has suggested I forget about working out tunes for now and just try to do some instrumental or backing tracks, and try to add stuff later. Seems an ok idea in theory but it's a pain in the ass typing out virtual drums and stuff so by the time I've got that working the mood has usually passed and fuming rage has replaced it
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Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
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In your song, I think the verse melody starts well in that respect - it attracts attention, rather than being the dull thing that you are concerned about. However, by the time it gets to the chorus line it has gone a bit flat, and I think this is leading to your concerns. So my first suggestion is to think about redoing your chorus melody and perhaps editing the chorus lyrics to go with a new melody. While I’m writing this it occurs to me that whereas your verse melody has a bit of rhythm and high notes, the chorus is a bit monotonous in terms of notes and rhythm, so maybe think about giving it a shake up in both respects.
Lyrics are tough. When I’ve tried to write songs, I find lyrics so difficult that if I haven’t got a theme then I don’t even start. I tend to think there’s no point trying to write a melody if I don’t have something to sing about. You say your lyrics are shit. I would say that they don’t really say an awful lot and leave much of an impression, but they aren’t shit. For more punch your lyrics don’t have to say much as a whole, but having some attention grabbing phrases or ideas is worth having.
A lyric writing approach that I found useful was to put the actual lyric bit off. I would think of a theme and then brainstorm words and phrases related to that, without aiming towards lyrics yet, without filtering anything out, including the wild and wacky etc. The results might actually lead me to modify the theme a bit, and lead the theme towards a narrative that I could start to form into lyrics. At the end of it the original theme might be gone entirely, but I would have had some lyrics which satisfied me a little bit and which I felt could hold the listeners attention.
I think your guitar arrangement is pretty good. There is a little melodic think going right at the beginning, which grabs the attention quite well. If you are looking for more punch you could look for some more distinctive rhythm variation somewhere. You’ve mainly got some straight finger picking, plus some chords strummed on the beat. Can you introduce some more rhythmic interest in the guitar part, in the chorus, say?
One day I realised I never sing about places or try to paint a real picture.
And I realised that if you start including objects, real spaces etc in your songs, prosody becomes much easier. Because musical structures generate their own kind of 3d space, have their own relationships, and you can either mirror or contrast those with the actual semantic meaning of your words.
And in turn, once you understand the perceptual space your music exists in, you get a better understanding of where to place notes etc. So it works in both directions. It's a bit of synaesthesia I guess?
And... places have their own vibe. So if you get the place right, you can worry less about having to waste words describing how it feels to inhabit.
Anyway, crack on and write some tunes
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