Topaz Bon

Monostone, this one sentence says so much and is so important. When I first started writing songs I wrote for me, then for years I tried writing to "fit-in", but never did and wrote some really crap songs (and I mean awful), now I write for myself and am much happier (but I am still not fitting in LOL). Your words are oh so true. To comment on Mike Robinson's point about technology, I agree. I remember when the Linn drum machine came out, to me it ruined so much music. However, we now have DAWs, VSTs and Autotune etc. Whether we like it or not, these cannot be de-invented and in my opinion, will continue to be used. As we all know, the first recordings were cut direct to disc with the band playing live, and they had to get it right for the first take. How many bands could do that today? Then later we had mulit-track recorders, which allowed for bouncing, editing etc and some, as I have read, thought this was cheating, being able to edit music after it had been recorded, when a good band should get it right first time. So the thoughts on new technology being some kind of cheat are not new, but I do agree MIke, it seems we are getting further away from real music. You can't beat a good band playing as one, what a groove! Actually on that, the new Santana album is a real listen for sore ears!! Real musicians playing real music! As for the main point, trends, a difficult one to predict, but what I would like to see is a time when image is not seen as everything. I remember Smokey Robinson's comment in the eighties after MTV started, he said "People don't write songs anymore, they write videos". I always remember that. As for song topics, it's amazing how many "love songs" have been written, and surely no one can find any new angles on this, but each new generation requires their own idols in their own age group to sing to them on this topic. Therefore I see the love topic being constantly recycled. Like Mike, as a consumer, I'm craving something new and something a lot more musical! This is a very interesting post, and I could go on, but I guess I've said enough!!

I have a Roland Duo Capture Ex audio interface which works fine, but I wish I had spent more on one that had a different speaker selection as mine only has the one and when mixing switching between speakers is a pain. You can get a separate unit to do this, but it's near the cost of a new audio interface!

1. Do you sing, play an instrument or instruments? I play some instruments, but my best is the bass guitar and keyboards. I have mainly taught myself, apart from some blues riffs a friend once taught me. I can sing, but I don't think very well! 2. Are you in a band or bands? No 3. Do you write songs? Yes, I write music, lyrics, do the arrangements, everything. 4. Do you record your music? Yes, I have been recording my own music for a long time and have my own home studio. 5. What other roles do you perform in the music business? I once had my own record label, but alas, it did not succeed, a tough business. 6. Are you a tech head? I hope not, well at least not the last time I looked in the mirror! 8. What are your ambitions? I would like to have my songs heard and hopefully appreciated. 9. Do you draw/paint/write stories/computer art/dance or other creative pursuit? I write stories and have self-published a book on Amazon, The Personal Possessions of Jenny Cane 10. What would you like to get out of Songstuff? I would like improve my knowledge on any aspect of the music business and to get some opinions on my songs.