Ok...so I have an aunt who has been writing songs for a long time, to no avail. In this article we'll use her example and see what we can learn from it.
At the beginning of my production career, my aunt would bring song lyrics to me and request that I record songs with them. The lyrics were not formatted in any particular way, and they really seemed more like poems.
At that time I really only was producing hip hop and trying to learn how to do R&B. I was actually willing to make her songs, so I would ask her, "ok, how does it go?" Initially, she would say "I don't know...I didn't have a melody in mind yet" since I didn't know how to sing and she couldn't sing, those songs had to basically sit, until me or her found a singer to come up with some good melodies.
As a side note: When you are trying to sell your songs, remember that most potential buyers want to buy actual songs, not just the lyrics...so you need to make complete songs as present those.
Eventually, my aunt realized that when she came to me her songs needed to be formatted a little better, and that she at least needed to have some sort of melody to give me with her lyrics.
In terms of formats, there are multiple song formats you can choose from (google "song formats"), or you don't have to use any format at all, as long as it sounds good.
Ok...so we have melodies and lyrics, but we still had a problem. She had melodies but she really couldn't sing them well, and they all were similar to country western melodies. In addition, they eventually began to sound out-dated lyrically.
What happened from there is that we could not make a song that sounded like she envisioned. So, she began to recruit people who said they could sing, but most of them had never even recorded before, and even if they could sing, just because a person can sing does not mean that they can write melodies. These experiences made my aunt irritated at me and they made her have a bad taste in her mouth regarding music as a whole....so what can you do to avoid this feeling?
First, let me say that you do not have to be a singer in order to be a writer, you just need to have a relatively clear idea about what you want your song to sound like, then you can find all the right people or pieces to make it sound that way.
Some people write their lyrics without music, or they hear the music in their head while they are writing. In those cases, these writers need to find producers who can do custom tracks (you hum what you want and they play it). For the people who write without music, they just have to listen to a variety of instrumentals afterwards and pick the one that matches the feel of their lyrics the best.
Personally, I like to pick the instrumental first. (There are millions of instrumentals online, but I use www.freshoffabreakup.com), then write to the instrumental. I can't sing, but what I do is make sure the timing is how I want it, and I just try to get in the general ballpark, melody wise. I also like to record my lyrics (on a little personal recorder) instead of writing them down, because when I write them down, I find that I often forget the timing of the lyrics, or the way I said certain words.
Once you have that, then you have to find someone to demo your song. You want to find a professional demo singer that does the type of music that you want your song to be (They vary in cost, but they generally are not that expensive). Make sure that you listen to a demo of them, or better yet, in your first meeting with them have them sing the song for you to determine if they are the right match for you and whether or not they can perform what you need to be performed, how you want it performed. Remember, in addition to paying them, you're going to have to find a studio, and they are going to charge hourly, so the longer this demo singer takes the more money it's going to cost you.
When the recording session is over and done with, the record needs to be mixed. It is very possible that the same person who engineered your demo session could also mix your song for an additional fee. When I was a less experienced engineer and I needed sessions mixed, I would take songs that I heard on the radio or in my cd collection to the mixing engineer so that he would know exactly how I wanted my mix to sound. I found that when I didn't do this, i never got the mix that I wanted and my song did not sound like I wanted it to sound.
Lastly, you need to get your song mastered. You can find a mastering engineer, which is kind of expensive, or you can most likely get the mixing engineer to do pretty much the same thing cheaper.
Once that is done then your song is ready to be presented to anyone or any song contest or any opportunity. Keep in mind that often, people want the lyric sheet, the full song, and the instrumental when you submit, so keep those in handy. But before you submit, you're going to want to copyright it, and register it with you writing society (ascap, bmi, sesac, etc...)
That's it for now, stay tuned for more helpful advice!
At the beginning of my production career, my aunt would bring song lyrics to me and request that I record songs with them. The lyrics were not formatted in any particular way, and they really seemed more like poems.
At that time I really only was producing hip hop and trying to learn how to do R&B. I was actually willing to make her songs, so I would ask her, "ok, how does it go?" Initially, she would say "I don't know...I didn't have a melody in mind yet" since I didn't know how to sing and she couldn't sing, those songs had to basically sit, until me or her found a singer to come up with some good melodies.
As a side note: When you are trying to sell your songs, remember that most potential buyers want to buy actual songs, not just the lyrics...so you need to make complete songs as present those.
Eventually, my aunt realized that when she came to me her songs needed to be formatted a little better, and that she at least needed to have some sort of melody to give me with her lyrics.
In terms of formats, there are multiple song formats you can choose from (google "song formats"), or you don't have to use any format at all, as long as it sounds good.
Ok...so we have melodies and lyrics, but we still had a problem. She had melodies but she really couldn't sing them well, and they all were similar to country western melodies. In addition, they eventually began to sound out-dated lyrically.
What happened from there is that we could not make a song that sounded like she envisioned. So, she began to recruit people who said they could sing, but most of them had never even recorded before, and even if they could sing, just because a person can sing does not mean that they can write melodies. These experiences made my aunt irritated at me and they made her have a bad taste in her mouth regarding music as a whole....so what can you do to avoid this feeling?
First, let me say that you do not have to be a singer in order to be a writer, you just need to have a relatively clear idea about what you want your song to sound like, then you can find all the right people or pieces to make it sound that way.
Some people write their lyrics without music, or they hear the music in their head while they are writing. In those cases, these writers need to find producers who can do custom tracks (you hum what you want and they play it). For the people who write without music, they just have to listen to a variety of instrumentals afterwards and pick the one that matches the feel of their lyrics the best.
Personally, I like to pick the instrumental first. (There are millions of instrumentals online, but I use www.freshoffabreakup.com), then write to the instrumental. I can't sing, but what I do is make sure the timing is how I want it, and I just try to get in the general ballpark, melody wise. I also like to record my lyrics (on a little personal recorder) instead of writing them down, because when I write them down, I find that I often forget the timing of the lyrics, or the way I said certain words.
Once you have that, then you have to find someone to demo your song. You want to find a professional demo singer that does the type of music that you want your song to be (They vary in cost, but they generally are not that expensive). Make sure that you listen to a demo of them, or better yet, in your first meeting with them have them sing the song for you to determine if they are the right match for you and whether or not they can perform what you need to be performed, how you want it performed. Remember, in addition to paying them, you're going to have to find a studio, and they are going to charge hourly, so the longer this demo singer takes the more money it's going to cost you.
When the recording session is over and done with, the record needs to be mixed. It is very possible that the same person who engineered your demo session could also mix your song for an additional fee. When I was a less experienced engineer and I needed sessions mixed, I would take songs that I heard on the radio or in my cd collection to the mixing engineer so that he would know exactly how I wanted my mix to sound. I found that when I didn't do this, i never got the mix that I wanted and my song did not sound like I wanted it to sound.
Lastly, you need to get your song mastered. You can find a mastering engineer, which is kind of expensive, or you can most likely get the mixing engineer to do pretty much the same thing cheaper.
Once that is done then your song is ready to be presented to anyone or any song contest or any opportunity. Keep in mind that often, people want the lyric sheet, the full song, and the instrumental when you submit, so keep those in handy. But before you submit, you're going to want to copyright it, and register it with you writing society (ascap, bmi, sesac, etc...)
That's it for now, stay tuned for more helpful advice!
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Want to find out more about keyword #1, then visit Eric L. Mims J.d.'s site on how to choose the best instrumentals keyword #2 for your needs.
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