Songwritting Thread

[Mobius]

Tryin to start a thread on songwritting, hopefully it can generate enough posts and interest to convince James to start a new sub forum on songwriting
http://soft.com.sg/forum/showthread.php?p=455149#post455149

Some tips for beginners, though I not an expert....

It always hard to get ur first tune out, but keep trying, once u compose ur first tune, u reach an "epiphany" of sorts, the tunes will start to flow..it took me half a year of trying..

Keep "practicing" , its the same with playing ur instrutments, the more u practice the better u are, the more u songwrite the better u become....

If ur first song sounds like someone else's song, dont worry, at least u wrote ur first song...keep doing it and u develop ur own style, its the same as playing ur instrutments, u start out sounding like a clone but u soon have ur own style if u keep at it.

Try to ensure that ur verse and chorus sound different,otherwise the whole song will sound monotonus....ie usually the chorus is the highpoint of the song, try to have a uplifting or catchy chorus...

Avoid repeating the same tune motif throughout the song, ie for eg u keep repeating the motif Do Me So throughout, it will end up sounding boring

But then again, as said above, also try not to make it too difficult by keep varying the tune, otherwise ur listener wont remember ur tune, as the melody keep changing....So strike a balance...

U can either come up with the chord sequence first then come up with the melody but u can also do it the other way round..there is no fixed rule...do watever u are comfortable with

Remember in songwriting, Melody is King. You aint got a tune unless u have a decent melody

When u got the tune, u have to do the arrangement, this is the tricky part. Listen to as many songs as possible and listen to how they arrange their songs...eg where to add a riff,solo, breaks and etc.... Always arrange it to enhance the song..its all about the dynamics...ie how to enhance certain moods or emotions in that section of the song.........remember its all about the song.

And like songwritting, ur arrangement skills will improve if u keep doing it, Practice makes perfect....

Lastly have fun! Its just music, don get too technical over it...

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, but hopefully this thread will attract the experts out there to post and generate enough interest to start a sub forum on songwritting....

Keep posting!

 

[Cheez]

Songwriting usually refers to writing music with lyrics. Song is meant to be sung with words. So writing music without lyrics, technically speaking, is not writing a song. It's better to call it music composition/music writing.

The reason to separate the two is because writing music with words and writing music without words are actually quite different.

 

[THOA]

I agree with Cheez. Music composition and lyrics writing are two very different things technically.

Anyway, I really like this idea. But somehow, I feel that the Open Mic is sort of like a subset to this.

If this kicks of, I would like to see a thread dedicated to just analysing lyrics, and giving tips on how to really write a lyrically strong song.

In fact, I sort of started something like this in another forum. Here's a peak of how that post was done:

I really miss the rap and poetry tutorial that the old Divine Aura forum had.

I recently had a crazy idea brewing in my head for a new project (forever sure got one la, lol) that has something to do with that tutorial but while that is awaiting further planning, I would like to start a thread that basically "preaches" about how to write rap/poetry right.

I'll be making case studies of some of the pieces I wrote to show you exactly why I wrote it in such and such a way. I'm not saying I am a superb lyricist. I can't burn a lot of people with my words, but I know that I am credible enough a person to put some thoughts about this topic.

So...


I'll start of with something recent: Eclipse.

With my umbilical tied to the twilight sky
I revive my writes anew,
Metaphors that infused with the fumes of Divine commune
Spewing blue on a pallete of crimson hues
As the colours collide in a conflict
Derived by the thoughts and the rhymes that I think.
Strokes and lines I design with my mind ink
Painting a picture worth a thousand words.
From words to verse, verse to scriptures.
Sacred thoughts extinct save from dreams and legendary whispers.
Exhume these thoughts from the bowels of existence
Bring back the lyricals forged by resistance.
My third sense tingled in a lyrical rage
To mark a page on the face of an abysmal age
Now that I suckled the milk of the sunrays
It's time I shine my exeunt for another day.

--------------------------------

Analytical study:

Rhyme schematics (note that the rhyme schemes shown here reflects more of the vowels articulation rather than proper rhymes, which, in rap, still works well enough)

With my umbilical tied to the twilight sky
I revive my writes anew,

Rhymes: tied, twilight, sky, revive, my, writes

Metaphors that infused with the fumes of Divine commune
Spewing blue on a pallete of crimson hues

Rhymes: anew, infused, fumes, commune, spew, blue, hues

As the colours collide in a conflict
Derived by the thoughts and the rhymes that I think.
Strokes and lines I design with my mind ink

Rhymes: collide, derived, rhymes, lines, design
Rhymes: conflict, think, ink

From words to verse, verse to scriptures.
Sacred thoughts extinct save from dreams and legendary whispers.

Rhymes: words, verse, scriptures, whispers

Exhume these thoughts from the bowels of existence
Bring back the lyricals forged by resistance.

Rhymes: bowles, lyricals
Rhymes: existence, resistance

My third sense tingled in a lyrical rage
To mark a page on the face of an abysmal age
Now that I suckled the milk of the sunrays
It's time I shine my exeunt for another day.

Rhymes: tingled, lyrical, abysmal, suckled, milk
Rhymes: rage, page, face, age, sunrays, day

--------------------------------------

Contextual flow(basically how one line relates to another ie making the verse whole)

This may be a supposedly "random, abstract" piece. But I still put in an effort to make sure that every part of this verse glues together, so as to not make anything seem off.

With my umbilical tied to the twilight sky
I revive my writes anew,

The "umbilical" is a life line of a growing foetus attached to the womb of its mother. The umbilical feeds the foetus.

With the first 2 lines, I am reminising about my days of writing really dark and arcane topicals and poetry, which has kept my mind alive. Hence the reference to umbilical as well as the twilight sky.

For those who know language, the first syllable of the word "umbilical" ties with the first syllable of the word "umbra" (latin for "shadow") which again reinforces the "twilight" on the line.

Metaphors that infused with the fumes of Divine commune

"Metaphors" refers to the metaphors I use in the first two lines as well as the other metaphors that will appear in the coming lines. "Divine commune" is my tribute to the Divine Aura Community.

Spewing blue on a pallete of crimson hues

"Blue" on a pallete of "crimson" (red). 2 conflicting and different colour schemes. But when mixed, it turns to purple, which is the colour of royalty. Hidden message: fusion of rap and rock, 2 conflicting musical styles mixed together to form a "higher" musical fusion.

As the colours collide in a conflict
Derived by the thoughts and the rhymes that I think.
Strokes and lines I design with my mind ink
Painting a picture worth a thousand words.

Here, I am embodying the persona of a painter/artist. The colours that I formed with my thoughts becomes my "mind ink", which I use to paint a "picture worth a thousand words", through the things I write.

From words to verse, verse to scriptures.
Sacred thoughts extinct save from dreams and legendary whispers.

Words become a verse. verse becomes a writing of high regards, like that of long lost sacred scriptures. These "sacred thoughts" then seize to exist. People will only know about them in "dreams" and "whispers" that speaks of about these "legendary" words.

Exhume these thoughts from the bowels of existence
Bring back the lyricals forged by resistance.

This is me giving command that my words be brought back to life. The resistance bit is my tribute to the XS Regiment (for which is the purpose I have written this piece).

My third sense tingled in a lyrical rage
To mark a page on the face of an abysmal age

I always make reference to what I call the four elements of expression: mind, heart, soul, fist. Soul being the third element, or in this case, "sense" in reference to Spiderman's Spider-sense. However, to bring in Spidey in this piece would really be odd, so the reference is kept subtle.

The second line is what I feel is my weakest line in this piece. I was trying to put reference to our "abysmal" present "age", and how I want to personally make a "mark" on the "page" of history. But I kinda think the placement of words on this line is a little inaccurate.

Now that I suckled the milk of the sunrays
It's time I shine my exeunt for another day.

These are my favourite lines too, heh.

In some ancient cultures, the moon is refered to as the male heavenly figure while the sun is refered to as the female heavenly figure. So, the "suckled the milk of the sunrays" was me refering the sun as a female heavenly figure who mothers me with her nourishment.

With light as my nourishment, I use it then to "shine" the end (exeunt) of my appearance on this track.

Also, reference to the sun is contrasting to my earlier mention of twilight. So, it is almost like a metamorphosis of personna, as I journey through each line of my verse.

It doesn't have to be rap. It could be any genre. But the point is about pushing the importance of good writing.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[sycododo]

http://www.lyricalline.com/

 

[Mobius]

That will be good idea Thoa, I suck at lyrics.... maybe can get some enligtenment from the experts here...

 

[Mobius]

The OM consists more of covers and random shredding, not really songwriting so even if the songs are originals, they are the product of the songwritting not about the process itself... will be good to have a sub forum to discuss on that...

 

[visa]

great to see this! i'll just share some views here.

it's difficult to avoid sounding alot like your influences. even if you consciously try your best not to, the melodies and rhythms that "appear" in your head tend to be similar (or even identical) to what you have heard.

the best way to avoid this? listen to as many different kinds of songs and styles as you can. even things that are completely not your style or genre. you will get ideas and inspiration that, when put through your perspective, become your own.

right now i recently learnt how to properly use minor and major chords to their intended effect, and i'm starting to overdo it so all my newer songs sound pretty similar. i'm trying to break from that rut.

remember that music is more than just melody- it is rhythm as well. to human beings, rhythm is more powerful than melody- that is why guitarists can be forgiven for occasionally going off key, but if a drummer or anybody else goes off time, it's a very obvious mess up.

so do consider your rhythm in your songs. Artists like Paramore (pop/rock), Bullet For My Valentine (metal?), Queen, all know the power of good rhythm. If you can't tap your feet to it, you can't get into it.

 

[visa]

while we're on lyrics, i thought i'd share the first song i ever wrote:

Mocktail Love:

verse 1:
yesterday i died from a bullet in my mind
wondering if wondering really matters
cause i'd succumb to anything that makes me feel alive
you make me feel alive, yeah you do

prechorus:
everybody wants to feel special
just like everybody else

chorus:
so come away and dance with me tonight
the stars and streetlights will shine so bright
we'll fly away in skies that burn with blue
if you want to, and if you want me too

verse2:
clouding empty minds with love and fantasies so close to her
let's make believe that everything's just fine
cause we don't want to jeopardize the wasted beauty in your eyes
drunk on our mocktail love

prechorus
chorus
bridge instrumental
chorus
end

 

[pf]

aiyah....whenever I try to write a song, I get stuck sooner or later.

My first song....or half a song.....I couldn't determine if it is a verse or a chorus.

It just got lyrics and the melody line. Then thats it.....left there half done.