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This morning, I’ve updated my songwriting blog with the following articles:* Mutt Lange’s Hi-Tech Songwriting – One of the most prolific songwriter of our time.I'm wondering how many of you were influenced by Mutt Lange's style of songwriting. With hit songs in pop, rock and country, he isbound to have left a mark on a few budding songwriters. I know that he did for me.* The Musak Test Technique – Stress test your song using cheese.* I Can Dream About You -- Most Well-Proportioned Song?Good readin’- Nick -

Quote:This morning, I’ve updated my songwriting blog with the following articles:* Mutt Lange’s Hi-Tech Songwriting – One of the most prolific songwriter of our time.I'm wondering how many of you were influenced by Mutt Lange's style of songwriting. With hit songs in pop, rock and country, he isbound to have left a mark on a few budding songwriters. I know that he did for me.* The Musak Test Technique – Stress test your song using cheese.* I Can Dream About You -- Most Well-Proportioned Song?Good readin’- Nick -I don't know about the songwriting influence, but I do know that probably some of the guys here will talk about the influence that Shania, (sp?) his wife, has left upon them. My hubby's eyes go immediately to the television screen when one of her videos is on

jchitty,Actually, she's pretty good songwriter herself. The problem was that before Mutt, nobody in Nashville was taking her writing abilities seriously, preferring to focus on her good looks. Beauty is a double-edge sword that can hurt one's career if not handled properly. It took me years to appreciate Charlie Sexton as the great songwriter and guitarist that he is. That only changed with the ArcAngel project (with ex members of Stivie Ray Vaughn's band). At first my brain was telling me: "no way this pretty boy can write his own songs". So I just rejected him. Guys are like that...

both Shania and Mutt Lange have been big influences for me. Someone told me once that he had to spend 2 weeks doing high hat parts for one of Mutt's tunes. hehe Perfectionist yes! I sometimes wonder if Shania's country songs, produced by Mutt would even make through the Taxi screeners. I have a buddy that plays fiddle for her tours, and his brother lives in Switzerland now engineering for Mutt. Their lives have changed a bit in the last 10 years. I got to see Jellyfish a couple of times. What a fabulous band!The cheese test seems like a lot of work to go thru just to create confidence, but ya never know what you might end up with. Your blog is a fabulous read. I look forward to your next installment. Thanks for posting it, vermeer.steve even tho Quote:This morning, I’ve updated my songwriting blog with the following articles:* Mutt Lange’s Hi-Tech Songwriting – One of the most prolific songwriter of our time.I'm wondering how many of you were influenced by Mutt Lange's style of songwriting. With hit songs in pop, rock and country, he isbound to have left a mark on a few budding songwriters. I know that he did for me.* The Musak Test Technique – Stress test your song using cheese.* I Can Dream About You -- Most Well-Proportioned Song?Good readin’- Nick -

Quote:The cheese test seems like a lot of work to go thru just to create confidence, but ya never know what you might end up with.I forgot to mention that this mostly applies to people who write with a MIDI keyboard nearby. Instead of using the most beautiful patches and a full arrangement, try to use something that doesn't sound that good to isolate the essence of the song. It works for me mostly because I write every melody note down and try to optimize the songs that way. After a while, it doesn't take that long and it's second nature. I don't think Willie Nelson would like working that way - Nick -