Writing Hit Songs - Myths

[geo]

Quote:Quote:I fall back on the simplistic.. a great song... is a great song... GeoI'm with ya on that.AndréAt last a consensus reached.... without compromise !! Everybody wins!!!! Been fun chatting all .... gtta get back to work... Geo

[gongchime]

It seems one of the secrets for being successful with just the writing aspect of it is, after you have a handle on the basic parameters of songwriting whether you're going for radio or other media, is to be prolific. It makes you get better more quickly and even if 90% of the 100 tunes you wrote are total crap, you still have 10 you can sell whether or not they're hits or classics. Then you can focus on getting better at not wasting your time writing unusable songs and moving closer to the hit and classic variety which may show up when you least expect it.It's obvious to me that we can't be spending an inordinate amount of time agonizing over how to turn one melodic cell we've created into an antecedent phrase and then have no idea how we're going to extend it into the consequent phrase and then we need another antecedent and consequent to complete that section and where is the material for the next section coming from? Either we have to be able to come up with the answers to those questions fast or we have to stop thinking note to note and starting thinking in broad strokes. At least as broad as a whole tune and maybe even as broad as the entire album or an entire career. The master animator just puts in the important scenes and lets the grunts fill in all the rest. We have to be more like the master animator. We must have the big picture, be able to work from the top down and the bottom up simultaneously. And compose multiple parts simultaneously as well know how one will affect the other before we write it. If you can't do this, yes, you can still write songs but it's slow going. Sometimes for McCartney, entire songs appeared in a dream. That's an extreme example but when you're really prepared, stuff like that happens. The elements are bouncing around in your head and they're just like tinker toys or legos. There's an infinte number of ways to fit the pieces together. The basic song forms help us a lot to narrow down the possibilites into a manageable quantity but still leave room for creativity and originality.And sometimes, just sometimes, the pieces come together as if all by themselves but only if you've been experimenting a lot and left the pieces just right the night before.

[Casey H]

Wow, this is one heck of a thread... My comments here are general, not about the book.I wanted to say something about luck. Obviously, there is an element of luck in success... being in the right place at the right time, etc. BUT we make our own luck. I know some will argue, but without talent or the right product, the luck won't do it. The Beatles got lucky when Brian Epstein had someone in a record store ask about The Beatles. He was curious so he checked them out. But if the Beatles were not incredibly talented, the lucky break wouldn't have mattered. They made their luck with years of hard work on top of their talent.So, when serendipity comes, will you be ready? Casey

[squids]

Quote:There are two things which drive message board postings....arguments and sex. People are having sex here? Get a board, people!! Ya know, right under the lyrics one. Ooh, or maybe the screener shoutout one, that gets a lot of people hot.

[squids]

As for being prepared when the lucky/serendipitous event occurs......I don't know...I jes like to have my chops up. In case. Sort of like knowing where all the fire exits are. Or where the nearest Mexican restaurant is. Some things are jes good to have around. Ya never know when ya might need 'em.

[ciskokidd]

Ah yes, Mexican food is muy bueno! Fajitas sound terribly good to me right now.Yummy!!!!Oh yeah and a nice cold Margarita would do nicely as well! Quote:I don't know...I jes like to have my chops up. In case. Sort of like knowing where all the fire exits are. Or where the nearest Mexican restaurant is. Some things are jes good to have around. Ya never know when ya might need 'em.

[Mark Kaufman]

Ahhhh, I smell Thread Drift...

[gongchime]

You thought that smell was thread drift? It's probably the kitty's litter box. Woof! I used to live on Mexican food. You can't find decent Mexican food in Asia to save your life.

[squids]

Quote:You thought that smell was thread drift? It's probably the kitty's litter box. Woof! I used to live on Mexican food. You can't find decent Mexican food in Asia to save your life.You people are blowin' my MIND tonight. Sex, mexican food everywhere (except at my house! ). What the HECK?And no, totally this is not about thread drift! I was commenting on the need to be prepared (didn't matto jes SAY? I know who to listen to!) in the event Oprah does what she says and bequeaths me her empire when she retires next year. I'm totally gonna have my chops us is what! I don't know what all y'all gon' do but you should prob'ly get back ta work. I don't see anybody roun heah gonna have an entire network all to yourself next year called 'squids'! You got to work to get ahead like me. C'mon! All this horsin' around ain't gettin' you no forwards, see what I'm sayin? Ciskolito y yo jes gonna go find a fajita stand that has strawberry 'ritas cuz I don't even touch the other stuff. Won't take a second. Don't wait up fo us.

[gongchime]

All my gear is in Korea and still waiting to bring it here to Bali. That will happen two months after the 27th. I woke up at 4 am today and added more music to my backlog of 30 other tunes I'm going to record but how much more of that can I do? Hanging out on the Taxi boards till then looks fun.