I have a question.... I've pretty much finished the groundwork. (Lyric written, tune in my head)
BUT, in the midst of writing I have (deliberately I have to say) slipped in a reference to one of Dr Coulton's well known songs... Anyone think this would be a problem?
My shadowing includes a reference to a JoCo song as well. Namely, the entire chorus and first two verses of "Stroller Town."
Isn;t that better classed as an Homage... ;' )))
ETA @08Jedi Can't you fake it with something else acoustic? Whacked armchairs for EG? (So difficult to try and help when you have no idea what the real problem is !! ;'))) )
Good luck everyone! I'm going to pay a lot more attention now that I know and am in some sense working with (via Mandelbrot Set) some of the challengers.
I actually have an idea for a happy song. It's got a goblin in it.
I hope not... Mine has a reference to an Innes song! It wasn't intentional - two words just slipped in to one line and I couldn't find anything better to replace them with!
I've finished writing mine - the first song I've ever written entirely on the uke. Recording begins tonight... "Happy People"
Just thinking.... It would be EASY to reference JoCo in two words... Code Monkey, Creepy Doll, Skullcrusher Mountain, Space Dogitty, My Monkey, Shop Vac, Mandelbrot Set, Future Soon... And thats only SOME of the titles... I'm sure even a reference to Lady Aberlin would count ! ;' ) or Robot Bride....
@Covenant: It's no biggie. I was trying to jury-rig some Rock Band drums (since they're inexpensive and readily accessible) to be used as an input device. Unfortunately, I ended up with a crapload of lag and sync problems. But I've made other arrangements and I will have a drum track for my song, which I have titled:
Well actually I've been sort of working on a happy song and I've never written a song before, although I am a musician in that I play music other people have written. I thought shadowing Song Fu might be a good way to get some practice.
I'm still not sure if I'm shadowing, but most of what I've written before has been baroque or classical or for church. This would only be my second foray into pop-composition. Lyrics are hard! Coulton said something very interesting in his interview on jawbone radio, about his creative process requiring long stretches of boredom. I can definitely see how that would help, and it's too bad that I don't have any of those. Maybe during my commute time.
Question for regular song-writers: Has anyone tried turning on a mic and just singing randomly into it to see what happens? I did that last night, and the result was rather interesting. Not sure if it'll be useful or not. Basically I ended up singing about not knowing what to sing.
I got the idea from a freshman (college) writing class, where we often had an assignment to spend the next x minutes just writing about absolutely anything. If you didn't have any ideas to write about, then you could write about how you didn't have any ideas. Often you would find yourself starting to drift into a topic sooner or later. The idea wasn't to produce anything great, but just to exercise the "writing muscle" (or song-writing, in this case).
ETA: I did end up with one completely accidental (almost-)rhyme while I was doing it: "I don't know how it goes yet / I'm still trying to compose it."
I think it's because so many people don't like to write. Staring at a blank screen is horribly frustrating. Personally, I overcame my fear of writing by taking a class in college that required a 3-5 page essay once a week. Writing is a muscle. The more you write, the more you'll be able to write. If you need to write specs and you can't, start a journal, create a weblog, take a creative writing class, or just write a nice letter to every relative and college roommate you've blown off for the last 4 years. Anything that involves putting words down on paper will improve your spec writing skills. If you're a software development manager and the people who are supposed to be writing specs aren't, send them off for one of those two week creative writing classes in the mountains.
That, dear friends, is from an article by Joel Spolsky, and although he is talking about writing software specs, it sounds remarkably familiar. Funnily enough, in that article he has an imaginary company called The Well-tempered Software Company...
When I wrote my song, it just came to me. It was just a matter of me channeling my thoughts onto paper (or a computer screen as it were) as soon as I came upon them. All I had to do was organize and refine them later. I doubt all of the songs are going to be like that, but it was thrilling.
There sure seems to be a lot of quick progress in this round, I'm sure that by this time in the last round, most people still didn't really have ideas. Somebody should write a happy song about how nice it is when a song idea comes easily.
I have found that I write best when I don't have an instrument in my hands. I go for walks and let things start forming in my mind first.
When there is an instrument in my hands I always tend to start fiddling around and playing the same crap I always play.
Turn off the radio. Go for a walk. Let the music start filling your head. When you have something in your head that wont let go, go home and record it.
If this week is any indication, apparently my muse is sinus-infection-induced insomnia. :-p I haven't had any ideas since then. I don't know if I can finish conceptualizing it, much less recording, by the deadline. Ah, well. It's a start.
Well.... With the help of a certain Borba... Thats my first demo completed. I can't see too much more needing done to it, so I'll have *time* this time round !
This of course, after my HUGE depression that I can't open as many audio tracks as I used to be able to with the Onyx linked to my firewire... Time for a quad core and 3 gig of memory methinks!
Just finished my entry, too. I'm not sending it in until I've had a chance to listen through tomorrow, but it's definitely a big improvement on my last Song Fu submission.
I played the family an early demo on Friday night and they've been singing the chorus all weekend long. Certainly not the cleverest lyrics or greatest songwriting, but you know those songs you hate, yet end up with them stuck in your head? It's one of them. :-)
@Covenant: It just struck me that there is possibly an easy solution to your track count problem, since you did mention you are managing low latencies. For mixing purposes, the latency can be increased again, and that will save the CPU by not forcing it to work so on the edge. I don't know Mixcraft (somebody else may be able to help out here) but it is likely to be a setting called "buffer size" or something like that. Increasing this will increase latency and *possibly* solve your problem. It that works, just turn it down again when tracking and up when mixing.
I'm looking forward to hearing all of these! My own lame attempt at a happy song turned out kind of depressing, so it's a good thing I've never considered entering.
Note to self: even if the lyrics are kind of happy, the moment a tune pops into your head that sets beautifully in A minor, something's probably wrong with the 'happy' theme.
I figured that the right music renders any lyrics happy. D major, G major, A major, D major. Repeat. It's too easy. ;-) I even added some frantic screams to my song and it still sounds jolly, I think. Of course, it's nowhere near the pure happiness of, for example, Roxette's "Joyride", but on the other hand it might appeal to some folks who like... well, you'll see/hear, soon.
/tufnell [on] " D minor which is the saddest of all keys, I find. People weep instantly when they hear it, and I don't know why... You know, just simple lines intertwining..." "What do you call this?" "This piece is called 'Lick My Love Pump'." /tufnell[off]
Jutze: For some reason, I associate sharp major keys as being happier than flat major keys. I have no idea why. G major is fairly happy, D major is almost unbearably happy. This is odd, because I'm quite sure I've listened to lots of happy music that's in A flat major and not had a problem with it.
I read somewhere that in some cultures, it's the minor keys which sound happy, so it's nothing intrinsic to the keys themselves. I don't know what the difference between a major and a minor key is yet (I'll need to reread the music theory thread when I have more time), but I know that the happiness/sadness of them is culture-dependent.
However, I do know what flat and sharp mean in some contexts, and I'd agree with my misinterpretation of MaW's post that higher notes sound happier than lower ones.
Oh, wow, and this tiny difference makes a song sound happy or sad? What if you don't even play any thirds? Ignore these questions, they should be in the music theory thread.
Here's my interpretation of thirds... Major thirds have more of a sense of "motion" or even "tension" then a minor third. If you consider the dominant chord(the V chord, or chord on the 5th scale degree, or G in the key of C), then the major third of the chord is the seventh scale degree (B, in C), which is a half step under the tonic. It's called the "leading tone", because it want to resolve upward, leading into the tonic. Thus the thirds of major chords can be associated with the same sense of tension or expectation that accompanies a leading tone, but to a weaker extent.
If you flat the third to make a minor third, then you loose that expectation. The resulting chord sounds more static and less energetic. Perhaps this evokes the static feeling of wallowing in sorrow or depression??? That's just a guess on my part.
At any rate, creating false leading tones accounts for a large number of non-scale notes ("accidentals") that are thrown into music. For example, a sharped fourth (F# in C) is very often used as a leading tone to the V chord. Similarly, a sharped fifth (G# in C) is often used as a leading tone to vi. This is what happens in Shop Vac (back in the first post) where the bass progression is V, #V, iv. (I'm notating the notes played, not the chords, since the #V is actually probably part of a III chord).
ETA: Oh, wait... This isn't the music theory thread. My bad!
Angelastic: Haven't the time to do this properly, but instead of all my drivel, take a listen to Paul Sahner's minor-key Still Alive, or when you get around a keyboard play the C major scale (CDEFGABC) and then try the C natural minor scale (C-D-Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-C).
This is my first composition ever to have lyrics. This is the first time I've ever performed or recorded vocals. It's out there now. I'm kind of nervous.
I didn't finish my song. I've been battling mucus and laryngitis for the past week. I'll try to finish it up. It's called "I Can't Complain (But I Still Do)," and it's about a happy monkey.
Good luck to all of you who entered and congratulations on your submissions! :-D
Comments
I've pretty much finished the groundwork.
(Lyric written, tune in my head)
BUT, in the midst of writing I have (deliberately I have to say) slipped in a reference to one of Dr Coulton's well known songs...
Anyone think this would be a problem?
you know what they say about inspiration & genius..
Seriously, I'd say go for it. The voters might even be charmed.
I think I bit off more than I could chew, time-wise this month.
Whats the problem?
My idea for a drum track isn't working like I planned.
(said Joe... Responding for us all!! ;' )) )
and.. Bry... Isn;t that better classed as an Homage...
;' )))
ETA
@08Jedi
Can't you fake it with something else acoustic?
Whacked armchairs for EG?
(So difficult to try and help when you have no idea what the real problem is !! ;'))) )
I actually have an idea for a happy song. It's got a goblin in it.
I've finished writing mine - the first song I've ever written entirely on the uke. Recording begins tonight...
"Happy People"
@MIck
Referncing Innes??
"Urban Spaceman", "Dead Ant", "Relaxez Vous!" "Major Happy" ???
(Two words that reference Innes...Hmmm.....)??
It would be EASY to reference JoCo in two words...
Code Monkey, Creepy Doll, Skullcrusher Mountain, Space Dogitty, My Monkey, Shop Vac, Mandelbrot Set, Future Soon...
And thats only SOME of the titles...
I'm sure even a reference to Lady Aberlin would count ! ;' )
or Robot Bride....
;' )
Did the JoCo reference last time around (as well as the Bee Gees & Pallas, all in the same chorus!) The possibilities (for double entendre) are surely endless?
"Wide-Eyed Happy"
;' )))
Question for regular song-writers: Has anyone tried turning on a mic and just singing randomly into it to see what happens? I did that last night, and the result was rather interesting. Not sure if it'll be useful or not. Basically I ended up singing about not knowing what to sing.
I got the idea from a freshman (college) writing class, where we often had an assignment to spend the next x minutes just writing about absolutely anything. If you didn't have any ideas to write about, then you could write about how you didn't have any ideas. Often you would find yourself starting to drift into a topic sooner or later. The idea wasn't to produce anything great, but just to exercise the "writing muscle" (or song-writing, in this case).
ETA: I did end up with one completely accidental (almost-)rhyme while I was doing it: "I don't know how it goes yet / I'm still trying to compose it."
It tends to inhibit the process for me
I go for walks and let things start forming in my mind first.
When there is an instrument in my hands I always tend to start fiddling around and playing the same crap I always play.
Turn off the radio. Go for a walk. Let the music start filling your head.
When you have something in your head that wont let go, go home and record it.
that's my method.
blast these acursed nasal passages!
With the help of a certain Borba...
Thats my first demo completed.
I can't see too much more needing done to it, so I'll have *time* this time round !
This of course, after my HUGE depression that I can't open as many audio tracks as I used to be able to with the Onyx linked to my firewire...
Time for a quad core and 3 gig of memory methinks!
(That'll fix it, yeah ???)
Just finished my entry, too. I'm not sending it in until I've had a chance to listen through tomorrow, but it's definitely a big improvement on my last Song Fu submission.
I played the family an early demo on Friday night and they've been singing the chorus all weekend long. Certainly not the cleverest lyrics or greatest songwriting, but you know those songs you hate, yet end up with them stuck in your head? It's one of them. :-)
Note to self: even if the lyrics are kind of happy, the moment a tune pops into your head that sets beautifully in A minor, something's probably wrong with the 'happy' theme.
" D minor which is the saddest of all keys, I find. People weep instantly when they hear it, and I don't know why... You know, just simple lines intertwining..."
"What do you call this?"
"This piece is called 'Lick My Love Pump'."
/tufnell[off]
Covenant: Hah! Good one.
However, I do know what flat and sharp mean in some contexts, and I'd agree with my misinterpretation of MaW's post that higher notes sound happier than lower ones.
If you flat the third to make a minor third, then you loose that expectation. The resulting chord sounds more static and less energetic. Perhaps this evokes the static feeling of wallowing in sorrow or depression??? That's just a guess on my part.
At any rate, creating false leading tones accounts for a large number of non-scale notes ("accidentals") that are thrown into music. For example, a sharped fourth (F# in C) is very often used as a leading tone to the V chord. Similarly, a sharped fifth (G# in C) is often used as a leading tone to vi. This is what happens in Shop Vac (back in the first post) where the bass progression is V, #V, iv. (I'm notating the notes played, not the chords, since the #V is actually probably part of a III chord).
ETA: Oh, wait... This isn't the music theory thread. My bad!
Back to Song-Fu discussion!
This is my first composition ever to have lyrics. This is the first time I've ever performed or recorded vocals. It's out there now. I'm kind of nervous.
Good luck to all of you who entered and congratulations on your submissions! :-D
I too have been ill for the past week.
Maybe next time.
It's in.
and now... the butterflies set in...
(Here and now, I want to make it plain, for the record... If not for Borba Spinotti this song would have taken about 3 months to do!)
(Oh.. and ermm, please vote for me!)
:- O !!!
;' )