thepopeofpop

I do have the Pro version, so it definitely sounds sweet!

A pair of Tannoy 502s. (I also use KRK headphones - KNS-6400 - which were recommended to me by professional recording engineer, and they are really good and very reasonably priced).

I've only just realised that Sphere exists. Since I will want to upgrade to v6 when that happens, I guess it's partly a question of will it be cheaper if I'm subscribed to Sphere rather than paying for the new version.

This is where you should be looking for information, I believe that this category would be your best shot: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/about-visa/high-end-music-act-visitor-act What you need: You must provide a letter from an "approved promoter" that includes: your name the name of the act your role in the act the dates or duration of the performance(s), or the length of time you’ll need to be in New Zealand with the act. The cost of the application is $140 in New Zealand currency, which is less than $100 US. An "approved promoter" will know whether or not they are in fact approved by the New Zealand government. You'll need to find a promoter who has booked overseas acts in the past. You'd be best advised to try and make some contacts in New Zealand - I don't have any suggestions unfortunately - I live in Australia and I don't know a lot of people active in the industry in New Zealand. Does the band have any following in New Zealand? It might be difficult to get any promoters interested if your band isn't known, unless you can be booked into some kind of music festival. If you do have some fans in New Zealand then you might want to reach out to them for ideas.

Yes, I recorded two albums! I was working on one album late 2019 into 2020 - and then, even before lockdown, I went into overdrive in February when I realised the world was going to change, and very quickly finished that album (by March 2020) and then started work on another album which I finished in late 2020. Now I'm four songs into my next album (which will be my fourth album overall). So yes, for me the current situation is just a reminder that time is short and I need to focus.

Yeah, G#. I Mistyped that. But, It doesn't alter the point that a C#m chord and an A chord share two tones: C# and E.

If you were really in A minor then your first chord would not be A major! But your first chord is A major. But ... as far as chord sequences go you don't have to stick just to chords from the key you think you're in. That's a pathway to predictability. Go with whatever sounds good to your ears! Also the way chords fit together has a lot to do with the melody you're singing or playing over them and the "voice leading" between chords. Sometimes a supposedly "wrong" tone, in this case the "C" (instead) of the "C#", can be much more interesting. Here's one reason why: Your first chord is A ... composed of A, C# and E Your second chord is C ... composed of C E and G# The chords have one tone in common: E. That makes the chord change already smoother than you think. C is the "bIII" chord in A major. You are thinking that you want to use the III chord, which would be C#m. But C#m is composed of C# E and G#. Now that chord contains two tones in common with the A chord. Now, there's nothing wrong with that, but when you shift between chords that are almost the same the changes aren't always as interesting. Try playing the chords as: A C#m D7 E7 does that work as well as A C D7 E7 for you? Also your D7 chord has a "C" in it as well ... so, no reason why you can't have another chord with "C" in it. You can have a lot of fun playing around with the 3rd tone in a scale ... is it minor, is it major? Keep the listener on their toes, it's a classic songwriting trick.

yes, I've written verses after the chorus.

Ah, but technically if a song has never been performed then the songwriter can refuse to allow cover versions until he (or she) has performed it.

Well ... one thing you could try is not following the chords so much! As an exercise, take the first bit of melody in the song (1 bar or so) and try to repeat it a few times - just making minimal changes to fit the subsequent chords. That should at least give you some ideas as to the possibilities. Another thing to consider is: are you determined to keep the exact chord progression you are using? I often find that once I start to "flesh out" a melody a little that I end up making changes to some of the chords. This can certainly make things sound more interesting.

There are certainly no hard and fast rules. Songwriters as commercial as The Beatles often ''broke the rules''. You don't want to do it with every chord - but occasionally defying expectation about the next chord will certainly make for the odd memorable moment. As for the original poster's first example - if the first two chords in a sequence are C and F I don't see any reason why the third chord has to be G. For a start, you're assuming the song is in C major, but if the song was in F major then the third chord could be a Bb. Even if you're in C major the third chord could be Dm or Am. But really, the possibilities are endless. Rather than using a G, why not try Gm? (Or Gm7?) In fact the same goes with Dm - you could substitute a regular D major chord instead. A 2 - 5 - 1 turnaround might sound more interesting if you use D - G - C instead of Dm - G - C. Of course, a lot of this also depends on the melody.

I think it's fairly commercial - so that's a good start.

"Leave them wanting more" - this is why a lot of pop songs wear out their welcome pretty quickly, because they have one good idea that they pound into the ground and so don't leave you wanting more. If the hook is repeated over and over, especially through a long fade out at the end, you may please the listener the first few times but your song will have little long-term replay value. Anthony is exactly correct - the most powerful thing you can do in a song (like "We Are The Champions") is make the listener immediately want to hear it again to capture that special moment. Setting up that classic hook one last time and then denying the "payoff", or changing it radically, is one very effective technique. Gary has a good idea ... changing the duration of chords. Definitely a good thing in a song - not just for dramatic effect but also to add variation.

I'm very into structure - but of course it varies from song to song. That being said, when one talks about the "hook" - you certainly don't have to limit yourself to just one! Many successful pop songs really have a number of good hooks scattered throughout. Take something like the Beatles' "She Loves You" - the obvious hook is the "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah", but it's hardly the only one. Certainly the various "Ooohs" and "With a love like that" also qualify - as well as how the last syllable of every line of the verse is stretched out over three notes. This song is also a very interesting example of structure - the song starts with the chorus, and yet every time the chorus is repeated it is subtly different. The chorus even is transformed into a striking full ending.

Start off enough songs and eventually you might find that the 50th song you start will complete the 1st one that you started - or something like that. If I'm stuck finishing a song that I'm half or 3/4 of the way through then I might go back through my notebooks and look for fragments that never got finished. Most songwriters have lots of half finished ideas. Keep everything. Some songs take 10 minutes to write, some take 10 years. I'm usually surprised, and delighted, when an old fragment fits perfectly into my latest opus. It happens more often than you'd think! To me it's like an unexpected bonus and also sort of like collaborating with a slightly younger version of myself...