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The only way I can keep it all straight in my head to write everything down.

I have many notebooks. Some last a week, some last a month, some maybe even span a year. But I always take notes on what I regard as my music, as originally constructed in my head on what I call "channel z".

If I don't write it down, the best ideas go 'up in smoke' as fast as they came.

I then feel this overwhelming sense of loss.

As I said, I have many notebooks. Not all of them are chock full of goodness, but some of them definitely are.

I am working to empty my first one now. Not my best, but my latest to be sure.

After I record it, the notes go in a folder so they do not "poison" my brain and suggest duplication of something I already wrote.

I am hoping my "magnum opus" is coming from one of these notebooks.

Time will tell.



Do you use a notebook>? What do you record your ideas with?
How do others do it? This is the only way it works for me thus far with any level of success AT ALL.

No notebook, no recording of note. To construct from thin air is not a doable process for me. Too many cooks/musicians make my "inner channel" go silent/spoil the soup.

Do other people hum a few bars and make something worthwhile?
inconceivable...

I need minimum 5 lines of guitar as a skeleton and full lyrics.
I typically throw out 1 line that doesn't fit according to collaboration and accept any and all lyrical adaptation/vocal ideas.

Percussion is an unknown skill to me. I know the theory but couldn't play a drum set even if my life depended on it.
I equate it to a technical skill set I do not possess.

Keys are the same way to me. The only part I grasp is some theory and basics. Otherwise, I know what sounds good and what doesn't.

Guitar/Bass/Vocal(s) all more or less the same level of thing to me and is usually covered by the basics of any tune I am trying to "give birth" to.

And I should mention that 90% of what I write is in ONE GENRE only.

I.E. If anyone ever told me I would write something in any other genre, I'd laugh and say "that's impossible because channel Z only plays the best music for your listening pleasure 24/7/365. So if you're in the mood, keep the dial right here for channel Z. It's what you see, it's what you feel, it's what chooooooo need, BE-caussssee it's channel Z".

I had some cohorts that were working for WPOT and seemed to think that it was similar, but in the end there wasn't enough "headroom"..so we parted ways and channel Z went back to being pirate radio only played with no interruptions/commercials in my head.

(The big nod to Jack and Clint, good luck with your new show "Grilling and Chilling". Try to stick to grilling edible meats and leave the roadkill on the road.)

And a sincere thanks to God because ultimately I owe him for any and all of it to a degree I am surely not comfortable with/or understand at this juncture. amen.

-S.

Have never used a notebook.
I hum or play into some sort of recording device. If a device isn't handy and I don't remember it later, then I figure the piece wasn't strong enough to live.
I could be missing out.

OUCH, by your standard all of my music wouldn't be strong enough to live..

lol

It seems like it's with me for only a few minutes before it starts to evaporate.

I can either try to write it down and remember it or just let it turn into so much vapor, letting it return to the stratosphere where it was originally conceived/contrived.

I've lost so much music that way, I fear I already lost my magnum opus.
That's why i write everything down now.

=

Someone just called me an OZONE RANGER earlier and actually that's not too far off the mark. I told him that a SILVER SURFER type was a better metaphor.

He meant it as a slight, I took it as a compliment.

***"The stars are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And light years to go before I sleep."

*** R. Frost adaptation.

I think the notebook is a great idea wish i was less scattered in my approach to song writing . bruce springsteens note book is legandary!

I have written down lyrics while driving (at red lights or pulled over) but it all gets transferred into my computer. I use a template I've made up and adjust it as needed. My equivilent of your notebook is a lot of scrap paper and a computer directory.

I like the notebook idea though - my attention span is no better than yours and songs are a gift from God. They just seem to come along and we have to grab them while we can.

I've been writing chord charts along with lyrics and find they aren't worth a damn since they don't tell me the rythym. I'm lousy at sight reading too.

been working on learning how to use computer for recording so that a song will consist of the lyrics and a recording in a sub directory.

I'm frustrated with Audacity. It's simple to use but not simple (for me) to edit. We've been recording warm ups and jams mining for useful licks but hard to edit them out of the mess that Audacity creates.

I've got better recording software (pro tools) and a new external soundcard but for right now all want is something equal to my old cheap tape recorder - with a fast forward and reverse! One tape dedicated to just storing ideas.

Talbot

Chief Engineer Scott wrote:OUCH, by your standard all of my music wouldn't be strong enough to live..

lol

It seems like it's with me for only a few minutes before it starts to evaporate.

I can either try to write it down and remember it or just let it turn into so much vapor, letting it return to the stratosphere where it was originally conceived/contrived.

I've lost so much music that way, I fear I already lost my magnum opus.
That's why i write everything down now.

=

Someone just called me an OZONE RANGER earlier and actually that's not too far off the mark. I told him that a SILVER SURFER type was a better metaphor.

He meant it as a slight, I took it as a compliment.

***"The stars are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And light years to go before I sleep."

*** R. Frost adaptation.

Sounds like its more constant for you.

My method wouldnt go well with a constant stream of musical ideas.
I try not to think too much about the process these days, or dare to look directly at the beasty.

I like the idea of a notebook, but I have been known to write it down on bathroom walls ,(Knowing I'll be back) or even on my dusty windsheild , until I could get home... Usually key phrases and such...not very detailed...just enough to preserve the idea I also have a crap load of index cards scattered around everywhere in the house......

Sometimes its the lyric, other times its the music ... So I try to remember the mood...

I still use a notebook. I use my cell phone when I'm driving, it has a decent recorder built in.
Sometimes I'll use the computer.
I have scattered scraps of paper and index cards in my recording room and ususally a few in my pockets of spur of the moment lines I've written.
If it's a musical idea I go to the computer and turn on a mic and record a single track.
I'll usually burn a CD of a song idea and play it while I'm driving. I get my best ideas for lyrics and melody bass lines etc...in the car. I don't have much privacy at home so it works well for me.

I'm not that organized I guess.
I just use what ever scrap paper, lumber receipt or Sonic bag that happens to be in the floor board of my truck.

sanshouheil wrote:I'm not that organized I guess.
I just use what ever scrap paper, lumber receipt or Sonic bag that happens to be in the floor board of my truck.

It's still being written down and thus the same thing to me, Sans.

I keep my Zoom H2 handy at all times. It is my notebook. When it gets full, I move the files to my computer.