Musical Resonance - Writing A Song...
“Good Friends We’ve Had & Good Friend’s We’ve Lost, Along The Way” (Bob Marley)
Bob Marley released ‘No Woman No Cry’ back in 1975, a beautifully written song that is timeless. Sadly, we’ve lost many iconic musicians who have crossed the ‘Rainbow Bridge’ but they did leave us a legacy of incredible music. If you enjoyed Marley’s ‘No Woman No Cry’, then check out local SA maestro, Jonathan Butler’s version on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgeGx5Sn7cs – he does an acoustic cover that is worthy and once again goes to show that a well-written song is eternal.
Let it Bleed Brothers & Sisters…
Aaah, it’s probably a bit of each. Kind of like a good ‘cake’ baked with all the appropriate ingredients. Likewise, a song requires all the right ingredients. One wonders how the master songwriters of the 60’s and 70's wrote all those lingering classics. We’re talking here about Lennon & McCartney; Jagger & Richards; Page & Plant; Marriott & Lane; Rodgers & Fraser and so many other prodigious combos of that time period, including the solo writers like Dylan; Donovan; Bowie; Hendrix; Ray Davies; Phil Lynott and so on…priceless…!
They obviously understood the basics of good music and the many components that make up a song, but there’s a lot more sublimity to it. It’s called ‘Talent’. Some have a bit and get by, others have mountains of it and write their names in musical history.
Creative people are eccentric – well yes, most of them are
Creative people don’t live long – not sure about that one
Creative people are weak and resort to drugs and alcohol – a lot do
Creative people are self-indulgent - probably more than most
Creative people are highly intelligent – most of them are creatively intelligent
Creative people crave fame and the spotlight – not all, some are scared shitless
Creative people were loners at school – difficult one
Creative people come from broken homes – not all do but the hurt ones often have a
story to tell, which emerges in their music.
And so, it continues…
Creative people are right brain dominant so yes, school work, idiot people and all the active day-to-day left-brain activities are difficult for them to deal with. This is often why left-brain dominant people consider creatives to be somewhat weird and they are a little out there but in those dreamy creative right-brains, there is a whole other dimension going on that left-brain people wouldn’t really understand or even care to understand. A lot of creatives see things in colours (Hendrix) or in 3D, kind of like dropping acid and all your senses slowly become incredibly lucid. You kick back and check it all out, completely absorbed in even the most inconsequential things surrounding you.
When I was young I was told if you learn to play guitar, you’ll have lots of friends and if you learn to write a song, you’ll become rich and famous and have your pick of the ladies. Big incentive for a little kid to get creative…!
The Left Brain, Right Brain conundrum…
When writing a song, the majority of songwriters, write the music first and then add the lyrics to ‘fit’ the music. The great songwriting combo’s (Jagger/Richards, etc.), have one partner writing the lyrics while the other writes the music. This is one of the reasons why they’re often successful plus they get to bounce ideas off each other. It all takes time plus a lot of experience (earned) and huge helpings of patience.
Fortunately, time is not an issue for right-brain dominant people and there are no time rules for writing a song. You can write a song in ten minutes or you can write a song in ten days, which obviously suits right brain creatives. For most, the journey of writing a song is the actual high. Weaving that guitar riff into the melody, selecting sublime chords that blend effortlessly, getting the rhythm section right, writing good lyrics, laying down the tracks and putting all the bits together for that first rough mix. Then sitting back in anticipation to listen to the rough mix. This is a big moment.
Thing is, at this stage, you need to really listen to that first mix. You’ll know within a few listens whether it has legs or not. Play the song to others you trust. You’ll pretty much tell by the look on their faces if the song sucks or if they dig it. If it’s good, you might have a keeper. Develop it further until it becomes you. Real easy hey…?
Crazy Horse, the notorious Sioux Chief, claimed that as a young gun, he would roam the plains with his friends, learning to ride a horse, fight and take care of himself. When he got back to camp every day, his father would question him re every finite detail of whatever he had witnessed for the day, asking probing questions like:
Which side of the trees had lighter bark…?
What bird calls did he hear and what was the meaning of each call…?
When the swallows flew, were their mouths full or empty…?
Which plants did he see that could be used for medicinal use and which plants could be eaten…?
What new smells were there and what did they mean…?
Note: An average adult Native American living on the plains knew the medicinal properties of over two thousand plants. Think about that…!
Chief Crazy Horse…
For Crazy Horse, this heightening of the senses program continued every day. It seems absurd but this was about survival in harsh, arid and very competitive conditions. It’s not a lot different to the music industry. No easy haul; the pie is only so big, everyone wants his/her slice and they all have heightened senses. You work hard to get your share. It takes 120% commitment. Know your instrument and your music like Crazy Horse and his buds knew the plains. However, playing and writing music is also a shitload of fun, so let’s keep it that way…!
Bear in mind, there’s a subtle difference between those who pick up a guitar to enjoy a good strum and a sing-along and those who every time they pick up a guitar, they’re intuitively writing a song. I’ve met amazingly gifted guitarists who can play almost every lick from well-known cover songs but ask them to write and produce a song of their own and you sometimes get this blank stare and a vague answer. Not all of us can finger-pick like Marc Knopfler or shred like Malmsteen but you can still write a good song. It doesn’t have to be complicated, it just needs to be unequivocally good.
You get muso’s who can do both…
Knopfler & Clapton Trading Licks…
This is where the cream rises to the top when you get guys like Clapton who can shred with the best and still write incredible songs or Marc Knopfler, whose songwriting and tasteful guitar playing ability are sublimely effortless. Musical aficionados’ rate ‘Sultans of Swing’ next to ‘Stairway To Heaven’ with regards to composition, lyrics and musical ability. Knopfler totally shreds this song with beautiful finger picked fills, triplets, trills, hammer on/offs, vibrato’s, slides and runs. Absolute masterful talent.
The actual ingredients that make up a good song are always controversial because everyone has their likes and dislikes when it comes to music. You need the basics - a good hook, riff, an easy on the ear melody, a sing-along chorus, a catchy bridge, a lasting refrain and good rhythms if you’re in a group. Speaking of rhythms – if you have a bass guitarist who syncs perfectly with the drummer then you have an insane rhythm section driving and carrying your song. This is good. It will also allow the lead guitarist a lot of freedom to weave those intricate solos into your song. A good combo rhythm example is John Paul Jones and Bonzo from Zeppelin who together put out a monster rhythm, allowing Page to blitz at random. How about Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in Cream’s days, it certainly gave Clapton the backing he needed. My all-time favourite was Andy Fraser, a fifteen-year-old masterful bass player with Simon Kirke on drums for the blues-rock band ‘Free’, which also included the late Paul Kossoff on guitar and the almighty Paul Rodgers on vocals – incredible line-up…!
Another important element is your vocalist. Whenever your group plays live, the vocalist gets center spotlight plus the majority of the audience’s attention. Fact is, a good vocalist can make or break your song. With a good stage presence, oozing confidence and sex appeal, a vocalist can boost your live song ratings tenfold, as long as they remember the lyrics…! When Mick Jagger was asked how he remembered the words to all the Stones’ songs, he candidly replied, “Cause I wrote em…!” When it comes to the lyrics, be very critical. Audiences love to know the words to a song because then they can sing along, plus subliminally, the song stays in their subconscious mind (right brain) and mentally pops up continually throughout time. That’s when you’ve got a fan hooked. Keep the lyrics simple and easy.
To really get a feel for good lyric writing, listen to the Beatles. More people worldwide know the words to a bunch of Beatle songs than any other artist. Lennon and McCartney were songwriting gurus. The way they selected their chord sequences, the unloaded key changes, John’s triad rhythm strumming technique (similar to Dylan’s), brilliant harmonies with George, Paul and John, powerful refrains (Hey Jude) and sublime lyrics were a huge part of their success. They had it all, no wonder they’re still the biggest selling artists of all time. The more I listen to them, the more I appreciate their artistic value. Their music is forever. You can listen to Sgt. Peppers today and still raise goose-bumps. This ground-breaking album, released in 1967, changed the face of music for all of us. I was never a big Beatle fan until Sgt. Peppers arrived. It simply blew me away.
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band…
So many artists and even groups sometimes produce many songs, many albums before they hit the right formula and attain world-wide success with just one song or one album. Pink Floyd enjoyed some early success in their career but it was only when they released, ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ in 1973, they became global phenomenon’s. Weirdly enough, as our moon revolves around the earth, it always maintains the same face to us; this is because the moon rotates at the same rate as it moves around the earth. No-one had ever seen the other side (dark side) of the moon until NASA sent up spacecrafts. This obviously appealed to Roger Waters, he introduced this marvel to the world and maxed out on it, creating one of the biggest selling albums of the era. How about Fleetwood Mac. They also enjoyed some early success but their ‘Rumours’ album, launched in 1977, was the one that catapulted them onto the world arena. Jethro Tull was making a noise early on but the masses never took any real notice until their iconic ‘Stand-Up’ album arrived in 1969. And so, it continued. The Beatles absolutely set the bar with Sgt. Peppers - and let’s not forget Dylan’s influence from the other side of the pond, he touched everyone, even with his ‘sand & glue’ vocals.
Writing and producing a good song is not all about attaining worldwide success, which is not going to be possible for everyone. There are so many talented muso’s out there today getting their rocks off on music. Some of them, still little kids and they’re already shredding the frets off a guitar. There’s a lot of luck and timing that contributes towards success. It obviously requires a good song but that’s a given. For an unknown artist, you need to be at the right place at the right time, have the right agent, the right record deal, good radio time and so on. There are many factors to consider and most of us will never get there. Yes, it’s for the chosen few. Accept it, move on but never give up playing and writing good songs, even if you’re just slipping them in between covers at your live gigs and selling a few CD's. There’s an awesome stoke, watching people spending their hard-earned bucks on purchasing one of your CD’s to go home and listen to or play in his/her car. It’s deep and should be enough incentive to keep you playing.
Free Wheeling Bobby Dylan…
I recall as a young gun growing up on the South Coast in Natal when some of us started playing guitar. It was back in the late 60’s, we had basic acoustic guitars and mostly played CSNY; Cat Stevens and so on. Then one day a local guy who played really well and sang like an angel came to me and asked if I’d heard of Bob Dylan. I hadn’t. He took me to his place and played me Dylan’s early records. The first song he played was ‘Blowing In The Wind’. After listening to it once, he saw the lost look on my face so he played the song again but this time, he asked me to listen to the lyrics and to get over the gravelly voice (which does grow on you). I was gobsmacked. Dylan told stories in his songs - The Times They Are A Changing; Mr Tambourine Man; Just Like A Woman; Rainy Day Woman; Like A Rolling Stone; too many to continue. Local radio stations didn’t play his music, instead, they preferred love songs with heart-warming lyrics that rhymed. I quickly learned every Dylan song I could plus my nickname was ‘Bob’ so I thought it was kind of cool to play Bob Dylan songs…!
And then we found Bowie with ‘Hunky Dory’, an album that totally set the world alight with deep lyrics and beautifully written songs. We also discovered Donovan who was Dylan’s opposite number in the UK, equally telling stories in his lyrics. Fact is – Dylan was an artist who really stood out from the rest and he’s still writing and performing today in his seventies and still telling stories in his songs, a formula that worked for him and inspired many an artist, including luminaries like Hendrix. I later played in a Hendrix tribute band and we noted the similarities in Hendrix’s lyric style.
The One & Only…
So, is there a standard formula for writing a good song…? As already mentioned, there is an overall list of given’s but individually it will require fine-tuning, according to the respective artist’s genre and creative direction. Plus, if you’re looking for radio time then you will need to apply the standard three verses and chorus in your writing, which is horrifically boring but radio stations love it. If you live in South Africa like I do, then your song needs to be in one of the black languages, preferably in the Bass & Drum or House genre or in Afrikaans, which is kind of Country and Western with a twist, so take careful note of the conditions that apply to the country you live in if you want to try and score radio time. In addition, your lyrics need to be fairly straightforward. Refrain from writing anything that will upset anyone. You also need a catchy rhythm and a good hook and melody, all nicely packaged for radio…! The thing is – radio time will get you noticed very quickly, so if you’re doing an album, allow one or two of the songs on the album to be radio friendly. The balance of the songs can then be your thing.
You will also need to belong to a performing rights body like SAMRO in South Africa (it’s different in every country). These licensing societies administer the copyright and royalties of their members who are primarily music composers, authors and publishers and will use these assignments to license individuals and businesses that use your music for business or commercial purposes. If you don’t belong to one of these licensing societies, you will not get radio time. It’s not difficult to join as an individual. If you have a record deal, even a basic one then the record company will take care of all that for you. Back in the day, it was heaven to get offered a record deal, even though you only enjoyed 5% or so because your records/CDs were distributed in all the music stores countrywide. Huge stoke…! Nowadays, it’s financially more viable to do it all yourself by listing your music on the internet music distribution sites.
If you’re not worried about getting radio time and you’d like your music to be exposed to a global audience then the internet music distribution sites like cdbaby, are definitely the way to go. Listing your music with cdbaby will cost you some dollars upfront for every album you list but they will distribute your music to something like 150 additional digital outlets, i.e. Apple Music; Amazon; Spotify; iTunes; etc. You can select your own genre and go for it. There are very few rules. If Blues or Rock or Country & Western or whatever genre is your thing then write and produce songs in that genre because the internet audience is very niche focussed. They will only focus on their respective genre when they’re looking to purchase a new song for their iPad’s, etc. Realise too that you are not alone on the internet music distribution sites. You are up against every songwriting muso on the net, including well-established names, they’re all there so make sure your music is on the button. The good news is you have a massive global potential audience via the internet sites for your music and they pay you in US dollars, no matter what country you live in. You don’t have to be at the beck and call of Agents, Managers, Record Label Producers, etc., demanding you to perform at gigs you don’t want to do or controlling your creativity on your albums. In this realm, it’s all about you, with good financial rewards. Come get some…!
Kiss – Keep It Simple Stupid…!
And then there’s the production. Recording your album at a professional recording studio is going to set you back a plenty. Today, a lot of dedicated muso’s have their own home recording studios. The computer software programs are really good. You can produce a very professional recording from home, using programs like Cubase; Pro-Tools; Samplitude; Sonar; Cool Edit Pro; Band-In-A-Box – to name but a few of the more popular programs available. It takes some trial and error and even a few tears before you work your way around the ins and outs of the various programs but there are excellent tutorials available and ‘How To’ videos on YouTube to help you, so persevere and you’ll get there.
When producing your songs for the internet sites, bear in mind they all work in MP3’s, which really sucks because all the hard work you do recording in 64 or 32 bit and then dithering down to 16 bit for CD, is all watered down even further when it gets compressed to a simple MP3. Sadly, it’s the only acceptable format at the moment due to the size of the files. Wave files are huge and take too long to download so we are sadly stuck with MP3’s for now. Neil Young produced a wizard box called, ‘Music Pono Player’ to overcome this problem, so things are happening. Neil was very frustrated with MP3 quality, claiming, "We live in the digital age and unfortunately it's degrading our music, not improving it." He pointed out that even a CD is a dumbed down version of the original master recording, devoid of dynamics and detail, never mind an MP3, which can hold as little as 5% of the original information. So, he created this electronics box that produces HD quality output for downloads. Thanks Neil…!
Neil Young’s Music Pono Player…
If you do cover songs, make sure you get the licensing sorted. There are companies like ‘Easy Song Licensing’ that will handle everything for you. Distribution companies like cdbaby, will refuse to list your music unless you have the licensing covered. To build your name initially, it is advisable to put out a few cover albums. You will sell downloads and create an audience. It’s probably the easiest way of building an audience on the net. It can take anything from three to five years to build a good audience of loyal fans on the net sites so be patient. It’s worth it…!
Streaming is another way to make easy money on the net. Every time people listen to one of your songs on any of the sites, Spotify, etc., they pay a minimal amount (like 0.01 cents). It may not sound like much but 10,000 listeners later and you’ve made 100 dollars for doing nothing. And then you get YouTube. To promote your album or song you need to produce music videos and list them on YouTube. Not only do videos promote your sales in downloads on the music sites but YouTube will also pay you every time your video is viewed. Once again, it’s a minimal amount but all these little extras add up at the end of every month.
Selling CD’s at gigs is easy money. Okay, so no-one buys CDs anymore. Well, they do. At least, at gig’s they do. In SA we sell CD’s for R 100.00 each at gigs. Ten CD’s and we’d made the easiest R 1,000.00 ever…! And you will easily sell 10 CDs. If your gig is good, you’ll sell a lot more and go home with cash in the bag, besides your fee for the gig. Merchandise is another easy money spinner. Branded Tee-Shirts do sell. You don’t have to print your band-name/artist name all over it. Just do it tastefully and you’ll have a loyal fan for life because every time they wear that Tee, they’ll think of you. The thing is – if you’re locked into a record label then you can’t do anything like this because they do it all for you and you will only get your little 5% or whatever.
One of the nicest things about having your own music on the net is linking your web page (you must have a web page) and your social media links to the various music sites. You will then receive fan e-mails from all over the world who have spent their bucks purchasing your music and want to ask questions about you and your music. Sometimes it’s muso’s wanting to know the chords/tabs and lyrics for one of your songs because they want to play them at their gigs. Awesome…farking awesome…!
The negatives are (aren’t there always negatives…!), once you list your music on the major music distribution sites you will find your music up for sale as downloads on some very dubious, dodgy and suspect sites, very often in Asian languages. I have tried in vain to stop this for my music. It is frustrating and a blow to the ego but it’s hopeless. Rather accept it’s going to happen and move on. If it happens to little guys like us then one can only imagine what the big names are losing in revenue. It is said that as much as 95% of all genres of music are pirated in one way or another. People will copy CD’s and pass copies onto friends (they do the same with movie DVD’s). Music and movies are downloaded illegally every minute, 24/7 (the IT guys always find a way and share it), but once the dust settles, you kinda realise - music is about sharing…!
Sit around with buddies and discuss a new artist you’ve heard. Someone will say, “I’ve got the download, give me a dongle and I’ll load you a copy…!”
Can’t win…
Robin Morris
1.2 billion songs downloaded illegally. Music fans illegally downloaded more than one billion tracks this year, according to figures released. A report published by industry body the BPI found 7.7 million people illegally downloaded music worth almost £1 billion in the UK.
If you want to check out the BPI report for 2018 - https://www.bpi.co.uk/news-analysis/the-bpi-yearbook-all-about-the-music-2018-is-out-now/
Streaming Music, or more accurately Streaming Audio, is a way of delivering sound, including music, without requiring you to download files from the internet. Music services like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music use this method to provide songs that can be enjoyed on all types of devices.
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