What's your songwriting method?

[Gorgorothx]

How do you go about writing music? I usually start by making a beat(s), and then composing around that. I'm thinking about experimenting with other methods, like strictly writing a bass with lead melody, and then adding percussion later. I know this topic is similar to sandordude's "Compositions... how?" thread... but I'm just curious as to other NG artist's different methodologies, most likely for my own (and others) education. Indulge me ;)

[blackattackbitch]

Haha these threads always pop up.

Me personally, I always try to reach a goal with my songs, whether that be to tell a story, convey an emotion, or just make something entertaining.

Most recently, my newest song was made with the goal of reaching epic film music status. It's not done yet, but the 50 seconds that I do have finished definitely constitutes EPIC AS FUCK!!!!

I have to specifically thank Zero123Music for introducing me to the most amazing orchestral percussion soundfont. Without it, this song wouldn't have reached the level of epic that it has.

[Gorgorothx]

At 3/5/09 10:40 PM, blackattackbitch wrote:

I have to specifically thank Zero123Music for introducing me to the most amazing orchestral percussion soundfont. Without it, this song wouldn't have reached the level of epic that it has.

And where exactly could I find this orchestral percussion? ;)

[Back-From-Purgatory]

I write entirely around my guitar... and very rarely vocals.

Even when thinking of beats, I'm thinking of them as a guitar track over top.

But I usually go:
Guitar -> 2nd(3rd, 4th, etc) Guitar -> Vocals -> Drums -> Bass (Rarely include bass in my songs)

I do however switch things up a little when doing something a little more unique such as orchestral metal... I usually do the percussion and any and all orchestral sounds before anything else... Piano, choirs, strings, woodwinds, etc. Then the guitar and what not.

[Erectronik]

I come up with a sweet idea involving pirates, something like pirates docking into a starport and throwing molotov rum cocktails and pillagin the cargo warehouse for space gold and then proceding to maim and murder any poor souls in the way of their piratey carnage with laser blunderbusses and scimitars. But that's just one story I could compose about. Complete with guitar solos an blazing speed of light arpeggios. You get the idea.

[Krank]

i insert my penis into the 3/12 dick drive. this acts as a midi randomizer of sorts, but with a throbbing goodness

[Pure-Metal-UTA]

Lately I've been thinking in theory, I'm constantly learning theory, and have a huge interest in it, because after I get a few more projects done, I'll be starting immediately on a very complicated and epic piece.
But what I usually do is start with the riff that pops up in my head. Then immediately I start to find riffs that match it after writing it down. Once that's done, I go for the bass. Then I go for the drums, then lastly, the solos. I like hearing how the piece sounds before I input my solos.
Then I start on vocals. To do this, I look for the feel of the song, then get a title. Then I stick in a couple lines of lyrics, and then ideas start flowing like a river.
Then it's done.

[Psil0]

For the most part, its come up with a riff. Replicate that riff in guitar pro. Then start adding in new things, like different instruments, new parts, and voila I've got a song.

[Kaizerwolf]

Personally, i make the melodies first with a light single kick/hat beat in it, just to keep time. Then, after i build most of the melodies, i'll go for the drums. That's usually what works for me, and what worked on my newest LOTR song.

[blackattackbitch]

At 3/5/09 10:56 PM, Gorgorothx wrote:

At 3/5/09 10:40 PM, blackattackbitch wrote:

I have to specifically thank Zero123Music for introducing me to the most amazing orchestral percussion soundfont. Without it, this song wouldn't have reached the level of epic that it has.

And where exactly could I find this orchestral percussion? ;)

He posted the link on a thread called Orchestral percussion or something like that. The thread was started by Kaizerwolf.

[Quarl]

At 3/5/09 11:17 PM, Bjra wrote: i insert my penis into the 3/12 dick drive. this acts as a midi randomizer of sorts, but with a throbbing goodness

That's one hell of a chode. You should have it looked at. Or fixed. Standard dick drive allows for maximum variability in cock size. Clearly yours is custom made.

3/12 just isn't that common.

[NickPerrin]

Sometimes it will be based around a single melody or harmonic progression and I'll improvise the rest from there.

More often though, I come up with an idea or image of what I want the song to portray, then I try to compose that. Also, I often will compose a large chunk of a song in my head when I'm doing other things like taking a shower or being in a lecture class.... then I'll get back to my computer and flesh out the whole song. Unfortunately sometimes I forget the music or it's too complex to remember everything, so there are a few casualties in that line of composition.

Sometimes if I'm listening to a piece of music, a certain artist/composer, or a certain album a lot in one small stretch of time, I'll subconsciously inherit that style for a day or two, and compose in the same style.

Sometimes but very rarely I see the music in my head... this is hard to compose from though. I'm working on better connecting my mental visual representations of music when I listen to it so that I can eventually reverse-engineer the process and convert image into music.

[Xenoscape]

At 3/5/09 11:17 PM, Bjra wrote: i insert my penis into the 3/12 dick drive. this acts as a midi randomizer of sorts, but with a throbbing goodness

you better not be using the scsi controller for your 3/12 dick drive. That sh*t can blow up on you because of massive operating voltage differences. I know, you wouldn't think, right? But it's just how it is.

[poopr1221]

Prepare for a somewhat detailed post.

First, I gather all the samples I'm initially going to use. This is constantly changing, since I usually keep adding stuff as I go along. Before I start, I usually have an idea in my head, and so with that in mind, I assign all the samples to their mixer channels. I then begin the painstakingly tedious process of laying out my drums (painstaking because I make breakcore.). Once I get a general pattern down, I go through and apply any pitch shifts, filter sweeps, velocity changes, effect automations yadda yadda yadda.
In the end, It usually looks like this:

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u71/s oul_brutha_jake/flwork.jpg

[snapper0505]

Methods should differ depending on the style you want to go for. For example, if you're writing rap or something like that, then I always start with either the bass or the drums. If you're writing for rock, most people write the guitar first and fit everything around it, but you can write the vocal melody, drums or bass first. For large-scale music, like film-score size, I normally thing of a motif and work around that. Maybe just a single-phrase rhythm pattern or short melody, and just build on it, changing to different modes as I go. For a slighty more massive rock piece, like a ska song, I'll write the chords first, then think of a melody to go on it, and then build harmonies and embellishments with other instruments on top of the melody. The bass is normally a super-fast walking line in ska, which is essentially arpeggios, or a motif repeated in different chord structures.

[TwilightShade]

I like to think of a concept or a mood before I start working on a serious piece. I'll usually have one part such as a synth or a certain beat that the rest of the song revolves around, but that's not always the case. Occasionally, I'll try to depict a scene in the listener's minds as realistically as possible, while still including some sort of musical quality to keep them entertained, and then switch to just musical/lyrical parts.

[ShootingStar]

I usually make a drum beat first, or if i have a song i made up still waiting to be made into a song, then i'll make everything else to fit in with it...Usually you start with one theme/melody and build your song from there.

ShootingStar

[Esjeur]

Since I'm primarily a pianist and bassist, I usually start with the harmony and melodies on the keys and then build the foundations on the bass. I use this same approach when using MIDI, so I'll write the leads and bass first and then fill in the rest of the sounds as needed to add background. For songs that require lyrics, I usually write the text when I feel it. I tried the Berklee trick of obsessive object writing but I find that it only results in A material some of the time, and mostly C to D the rest, it's too methodic and generic, not enough passion when using that trick unless I have writers block and need to organize ideas.

For instrumental and electronic tracks, I usually just sit around at any instrument I have handy until I find a melody that speaks to me and I go built it from there. Usually a project takes me 1-2 weeks for writing, then another 2 weeks or so for selecting the right sound patches, adding effects, mixing, and mastering. Then when it's done I usually find that I don't like it and remix the entire project again before recording to a disk or posting.

[Chozz]

Usually my songs come off of a beat, a nice riff, or some lyrics.

Once ive got the base foundation down, the rest of it seems to come surging to me, im hit with ideas left right and centre!!!!!!!!!

My mind is unravling so soon

[Mushroomhead18nc]

for me I actually start by making the Main Melody and then working around that.. I normally create intros 2nd.. make the main melody first so I know what type of song Im dealing with.. I always like to put little Intermission pieces in my tune also.. like start off with some trance or techno around 140-160bpm and then in the middle all of a sudden slow down to like 80-100bpm.. To me I like to hear pretty stuff in a song as well as the face paced shit.. I like alot of styles of music and to me an Intermission changes the song alot.

[NeverHundred]

My song writing ranges from the chaotic and unplanned to the meticulous and entirely ententionally constructed. Although I think I like my random shit better than the work I intentionally flesh out, but the listeners usually don't agree and they like the work I actually put effort into. Who knew.

Not to say I don't enjoy actually using what little knowledge of music theory to compose the songs, I just think that's funner to go at it without trying to figure out the outcome. Although I usually visualize the songs as patterns not so much as I imagine how the music would sound. Huh, never thought about it but that's pretty weird.

Anyway, that's how I go about working at it.