What’s Your System For Getting Things Done?

[53mph]

Quote:What about remembering an idea that comes into your head when you're miles from home!I carry an Olympus VN-2100 voice recorder.Light and easy to fit in the pocket, I can either hum a melody, or dictate some lyrics while they are still fresh in my mind.Then when I get home I can listen back and expand on it.So many times I've had a melody come to me while out somewhere, then been unable to recall it later.This works good for me.I use the Zen in the same vein but it's also soooo cute that I can wear it round my neck and sing or humm a tune without looking like Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks. If I want, I can download the files as MP3, but, the quality sucks so I use it only as a scratch plate for ideas and not a serious recording devise.I thought about a field recorder but for the price I'd rather get my ideas down on the Zen then expand them on my DAW later, rather than get a 'pristine' recording of a rough draft.

[ibanez468]

Quote:What about remembering an idea that comes into your head when you're miles from home! I carry an Olympus VN-2100 voice recorder. Light and easy to fit in the pocket, I can either hum a melody, or dictate some lyrics while they are still fresh in my mind..Hey dave,I keep an Olympus VN-4100 nearby at all times. Even if I'm out running errands or something. Nifty little device. Can't go wrong with that.Quote:So many times I've had a melody come to me while out somewhere, then been unable to recall it later.You & me both. But no more. I got a crapload of ideas recorded on this thing, just waiting to be brought into fruition. Well worth the small investment.ibanez468

[davekershaw]

Well, Curious Vermeer.The Olympus VN200 is purely a dictation machine, just like the old mini-tape ones, only digital.It's only for getting the basic melody down,so I can remember it later.Trouble is, when I go to play back, in between my melodies, there are messagesfrom the wife and kids reminding me to pick this or that up from the shops!As ibanez468 says, it is a "nifty little device", but keep it hidden!!

[michael11]

Quote:Well, Curious Vermeer.The Olympus VN200 is purely a dictation machine, just like the old mini-tape ones, only digital.It's only for getting the basic melody down,so I can remember it later.Trouble is, when I go to play back, in between my melodies, there are messagesfrom the wife and kids reminding me to pick this or that up from the shops!As ibanez468 says, it is a "nifty little device", but keep it hidden!!I know this is a serious thread but every time I see the heading,(What's Your System for Getting Things Done) the same answer always pops in to my head and it is...............I ask my wife!!!!!!!

[vermeer]

I want to thank you all for the great feedback. Now, I'm going back to work and will hopefully come back with something interesting to show See ya!Vermeer

[matto]

I think sometimes all these little gizmos that let us record every little creative brainfart we have, no matter when or where it may occur, can actually be a real negative.Why? because they can be a crutch that props up mediocre ideas. Particularly if your goal is to write pop music, where you want hooks that will lodge themselves in a listeners brain on first listen...Think about it, if you can't remember your own hook at the end of the day, even after having repeated it to yourself a whole bunch of times when it first came to you...what are the chances that complete strangers will be "hooked" by it on first listen?I don't carry anything when I go out. Pop hooks have to pass the above test for me to consider developing them. If I have an idea for an instrumental piece (where the "hookiness" is less important) which I don't want to forget, I call my answering machine.Then again, everybody is different...it's just food for thought...matto

[edteja]

Matto,I read in one of the bizillion music writing books laying around that Willie Nelson feels like you do. He says that if he gets an idea for a song and forgets it, it deserved forgetting. I, on the other hand, write most of my ideas on scraps of paper. Then I lost the bits of paper, or stick them in a file drawer where they amazingly don't lose their stink for long periods of time. I'm sure your approach of forgetting them from the get go is more efficient and saves trees--I just have the "grab a pen and scribble" reflex.