General Music Chat

I've been struggling lately with a personnel (not personal) issue. There are three of us playing music together, and I've got one guy that simply isn't pulling his weight. When we decided to get together last night, I made the decision not to contact our third guy.

And it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable, productive practices I've ever had.

My friend Jerry and I (the remaining two) have worked on originals together in the past, as well as written a mountain of material individually. Yesterday was the first time in a long time that we actually sat down to write something together...and it was amazing! Both musically and lyrically, we were finishing each others' sentences.

We managed one new song...which may not sound like much, but it's pretty much finished, and definitely has a quality to it.

We have always had a mutual respect for each other, especially in terms of writing. It's just really cool to get that chemistry going. It's also interesting the way the song developed. Jerry actually supplied the bass line and the lead vocals (usually my parts) and the basic concept. I came up with most of the arrangement and harmonies. We wrote the lyrics together, almost like he'd write one line and I'd write the next.
The best part of it was that there was no ego involved whatsoever. When I'd come up with a line that wasn't right, he'd shoot it down, and vice versa. When we discussed where to go next with the song, he usually deferred to me-but I was completely open to his ideas.

I may sound like I'm rambling, and I apologize, but I just wanted to share this experience-this is exactly why I got into music in the first place. In the past few years, I've had so many negative musical experiences, that it's nice to finally see something work. I told Jerry at the end of practice "only nine more to go"... I can genuinely see us putting out SEVERAL Cds relatively quickly.

I hope to get this song recorded soon, and I'll let ya'll hear it. "Bad Las Vegas Bet (What happens here)" is the title, BTW.

Funny how a little negativity can stifle a whole lot of creativity.

That is so true, Slacker. Leaving the other guy out was just like lifting a huge weight off of us. We both are pretty creative, and instead of writing new stuff, we've spent all of our time trying to get this guy "up to speed". Without him there, it was just like "Oh, now we can do what we WANT to do".

I can relate, this is why I only write with one other person.

"Too many cooks spoil the soup"

AWW wtf, I thought you had BAD LOS VEGAS BET already up..
(you teasing me, man?) lol

PS:I did give some of the other stuff a listen and I really like "Sound and Fury". It's so short with no change. PLEASE_PLEASE-PLEASE, cut your overall BPM by about half and finish that !!!!!!! WTF !!!!! Slowly is your key there and you need a change yet, otherwise that's some gold already in your pocket.

PSS: Never say "love beads". I don't even know what they are, but I know what "anal beads" are.. lol (I must think of lush green fields with the sun shining etc to avoid dry heaves on that one)

Somehow I just knew you would make an anal beads reference when you saw that...my bad.


Thanks for the input on "Sound and Fury". It's actually just intended to be an intro for "Claustrophobia" (which is unfinished and I may not have it posted anymore-I removed most of the rough tracks). It's been a while since I worked on that one, and I will definitely look at extending it. You think the BPM is too fast? Maybe in terms of building it up to something?

"Gold in my pocket"? Thank you. That is very cool!

Wow. Yeah, I just went back and listened to it, and it is VERY fast. The intent is for it to be very big and dramatic, and I think the tempo actually takes away from that...good call! I must have had a lot of nervous energy when I recorded that!

HALF of whatever your BPM is on that tune.

And then you need a real change.

I always write in terms of

VERSE
CHORUS
BRIDGE

I don't care how you stack them or in what order, but you probably should have all three.

You have 1 solid piece in what you recorded for that tune. (don't ask me which one, I do not know)
I wouldn't waste that as an intro, hell no.

Take that, write the other 1 or 2 parts, combine them.
You just might find something you think is really tasty.

An intro/outro for me is short and casual.

If it's good and it's long, it's possibly the better part of some tune you haven't fully fleshed out yet and good stuff from off the cuff is not to be treated casually. It's all about how you feel about the piece you have and how long it is.

30 seconds is nothing and more like an intro.

That wasn't :30 seconds and it takes you somewhere..

(do not discard that or misuse as an intro)

I have to laugh, you must be very calm and sedate.
If I had a piece like that and it was incomplete, I'd be chewing tums like it was the "end of days". LOL (incomplete work ruins me until completed, it's like going on vacation and leaving the stove on, same feeling)

Nah, I'm a lot like you in that respect...I guess I just viewed that song as finished (it had actualy been the verse to a much earlier song).

I'm going to look at developing it more...the original idea is this:

"Sound and Fury" is a reference to MacBeth:

"...It is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

I wanted a piece of music to start a performance, something that will immediately get the audience's attention, dramatic and powerful. The little inside joke being that it is a loud, aggressive noise that really doesn't mean anything. "Now that I have your attention...". It is meant to be the intro for a collection of songs that are very-stage performance based.
That 's the reason that it doesn't bother me to leave it as it is...it's serving the purpose it was intended to.

That being said, there's no reason I couldn't develop it into a "real" song...and I am definitely gonna work on that. And I agree fully about the tempo. That's one of those deals where I look back and wonder what I was thinking.

Somehow I just knew you would make an anal beads reference when you saw that...my bad.


Thanks for the input on "Sound and Fury". It's actually just intended to be an intro for "Claustrophobia" (which is unfinished and I may not have it posted anymore-I removed most of the rough tracks). It's been a while since I worked on that one, and I will definitely look at extending it. You think the BPM is too fast? Maybe in terms of building it up to something?

"Gold in my pocket"? Thank you. That is very cool!

Joseph... There are two rules that I absolutely follow, and recommend to all song writers.

1) NEVER question your initial musical Idea...which includes the BPMs and any other aspect of your song... You laid those tracks down as you did, because there was something inside you, which said it had to be that way and that was was the right way.. As always, your first instinct IS correct...

2) Standard formats (song) are just that...Standard formats... But the universe of creative music is so much larger than that. The Song within is the thing... everything else is 2nd.


That being said, I think the Sound and Fury track is quite brilliant... Leave it alone ! (One minor refinement...Technicality really, ...make sure that the end of song A ties in smoothly with the beginning of Song B.. Not sure if that last chord switch at the very end ties the knot smoothly (wont know till we hear the song B)

Good advice, PD. And yes, I think the way I had it all lined out, "Sound..." should flow nicely into the next song.

Eh, I'm open to anything people have to say-having listened to it with "fresh ears". That being said, it kind of goes back similarly to what you were saying on a different thread...basically that, as of right now, no one is hearing the finished product-the "marketable" product. I won't dismiss what Scott said, and I appreciate the input. However, I have to keep in mind the "big picture"...one of the downfalls of writing from a common theme. I have to make sure that an entire set of songs (eleven, in total) flow and work together thematically. I'm not complaining, I love that aspect of the work.

"NEVER question your initial musical Idea..."

Good call. That sometimes happens involuntarially. I'll go into edit just a little, clean up a transition or something equally trivial and end up bollixing up the whole thing.

Talbot

Happy for you man!! Gotta love that musical satisfaction. Run with it!

Yeah man, whatever makes you happy.

That's my little mantra, "does it make me happy?" then ok.
Else it needs to be worked like dough until it's "time to make the donuts".