TV makes it look so easy......

[arkjack]

Just a thought before I go..... (thats a line from something??) Anyway I'm heading out, but I was reflecting on a recent collaboration experience (no names) and thinking about the shows I see on the TV and internet about hit songwriters and the volume of high quality material that comes out as a result of co-writes. They make it look so easy. But then I thought, wait a minute ...... its TV, and just like punching in they can make it look like it all happened one bright sunny day in Nashville like it was on automatic pilot in a perfect world. But just like the pornstar with the amazing performance, I wonder if the everyday life of a hit songwriter in Nashville is really like more normal. We spent 5 hours getting through the melodies and change ups. Didn't really start on lyrics. Granted if you worked on it day in day out session after session your production would be quite high. But I really wonder how long it takes them, and how many re-writes and changes they go through before they say, this is a hit and we can go into the studio for the demo. And they probably have more direct and timely feedback on a constant basis that would help them hone in on the right stuff. Still the experience of collaborating again after a long hiatus was quite an eyeopener. The Hitmen have 130 songs cut and charted to No.1 over the years. It defies the imagination to think how many rejects there were in between.ArkJack

[ciskokidd]

Hey arkjack,You've nailed it on the head. It all looks easy when you can edit out all the bad stuff. The streets of Nashville are paved with the remains of all the duds that never made it anywhere.Sure we can all think of some great Classical piece of music, but you can be sure that there was a whole load of Classical dukey as well. It's just that over the centuries we have trimmed all the fat.Also, I listened to a satellite station a year or so ago that had the most god awful songs ever recorded from the 70's and 80's yet I always look back on those decades as being rife with great songs.In the end it takes a great deal of hard work, imagination, and a little magic to create quality work. We just have to keep going back to the drawing board and get better. Hears to our future hits!Cisco