DeadSkinny

Just mail a demo copy of your music on CD with lyric sheets to yourself (registered mail only). That'll do the trick. You technicaly own the copyright as soon as you put your work into tangible form, this means recording it or scoring it. You still need to (like John said) set something up to prove this date of ownership somehow, just in case. -Joel

I saw a guy once that was sreaming out this death metal vocal while smoking like a whole pack of cigaretts on stage. He would let out this howl while the smoke rolled out of his mouth. It was good showmanship i guess. I wonder if he's a mute now? -joel

I once had to go without playing the drums for over a year (no place to set them up) and that was hard. When I finally played again , most of my hard earned chops were still there, but my finess was very much lessened. I've rarely went more than a few days without picking up a guitar, but if i did go without for a while, i imagine that that i my playing would get rather shakey. I'd survive alright playing the keyboard i suppose, but i would get tired of exclusivly playing an instrument that i'm crap at.

John, you got it right! "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" has definity some of the best lead Guitar ever, it's like every note is right where God intended it to be. Also, i think his guitar's tone is uncommonly ear friendly. To add to Gilmour's prise, I think that the solo on "Comfortably Numb" was excellent. It's an ultimitly satisfying cresendo at the end of that song. The man is very good at bending notes and at vibrato. His playing gives a good lesson too, about the importance of the space between the notes, the breathing room.

I'm afraid "Rock and Roll", John Bonham is probably the most recognisable rock drum track of them all. I personaly like "Good Times, Bad Times". Some really good signature double kick (without a double kick). -joel

i like to tune in thirds. makes a very satisfying "chord" if you will, when you play two together. -joel

no, i wasn't saying just chord progressions could get you in trouble. if that was the case, we would all be screwed! I just used guitar riffs as an example of unconciously channeling from your memory while creating a piece of music. however, a chord progression, basic vocal melody, and vocal hook accidentaly borrowed from another song might be a problem. -joel

Humm.........I'm not sure about that. I get the impression that it's looked upon with less severity than intentional plagiarism in the eyes of the law, but i'm sure it could destroy the career of a new writer. Two different parties can own individual copyrights on an almost identical piece of music, if it's deemed that the later had no access to the first work, and came up with the similar piece on his/her own. So i guess your best be in such a situation would be to go with that defence, although the song would be completly unmarketable ("hey guys, have you heard the new song 'Sexy Bakk'? It sounds just like 'Sexy Back', by Justin Timberlake). I don't know, in todays world of ten million copyrighted songs, it's probably got to be very, very similar to another's work before anyone would raise their eyebrows. -joel

I've done a little more research about this. The tecnical court term is "subconscious plagiarism". George Harrison was once found guilty of it. I've never had a real problem with this myself either, but in aspiring to be a commercial songwriter, you have to wonder what exactly inspired that great song you just wrote. Of course, trying to emulate the sound of another's song for you own new work is different, your aware of what your doing, so you don't just copy the other persons material. You make something new, something that only borrows a feel from the other song. I think it's highly plauseble that someone might accidentaly end up with a melody (or chord progression) and hook that came from another's song unaware's, thinking it's their own. This has never happened to me that I know of either:-/ , but it seems like it would be all to easy to do. -joel

I've heard of this before, a phenomina that sometime affects even professional songwriters. You think you've written a brand new song, the words and melody for a chorus just kindof poped into your head. You finish and demo the song. Then it turms out that your "inspiration" came directly from a song you've acually heard before (playing quietly over the intercom speakers at the doctors office eight years ago, for example). They call your song a rip-off, tell you that you've made a copyright infringement. Now you've embarased you're self in front of industry professionals, and your reputation is tarnished forever. But it was an accident! It was a mistake of you're subconsious! Now, i've done this before once or twice (when I was first learning to play) with bit's of music, or riffs, generaly accompanied by some vague vocal melody. I would think they were my own, most of the music I wrote (and write) come's to me with a vocal melody already in mind. Then later I would hear them on the radio, some song from my past, or some album that i hadn't played in a very long time. Crap! No big deal, but what if a chorus you've written, complete with the hook and melody, was identical, or almost identical, to someone elses? I don't believe that this would be able to happen with really deeply personal lyrics, but what about commercial lyrics? Has anyone ever heard of, or have any thought's on this? -joel

Grammar be blowed! When the average person speaks, they use bad grammar, slang, etc. Nobody wants to hear their english teacher sing them a song! And John Lennon of all people! That heckler may have never been born if his parents hadn't conceived him in the back seat of their Volkwagen Bug while listening to the Beatles!!! -joel

a good article..... -joel

If your song has a weak spot (or two or three) why wouldn't you want someone to point it out? O.k., i'll admit, it's kindof a sting in the pride sometimes, but it can only make it better in the end. Maybe you don't have to follow each critique word for word and do exactly what the other writer suggests ( although a lot of the advice that i've recieved here have been right on the money), but it gets you thinking about, perhaps, other ways to improve the song. I mean hey, if i notice you've got a tire on your car that's almost flat, wouldn't you want me to tell you about it before you drive off to work and get stranded? You wouldn't want me to keep quiet just because you "patched that tire yourself, and did a perfect job". A large chunk (a majority perhaps) of the hit songs out of Nashville are written by two or more people. The more input, the better in many cases. We all intend to write music that other people will love, so it makes sence to tell people what you think about their songs and vice versa. Think about how much time and money a big company spends on market research and testing before a new product is put on the shelves? These are the top people in their fields, genieus's at building amazing products that the rest of us can't concieve of doing, and they want to know what "we" think every step of the way! Why, because it makes it better. -joel

i bought my monitors brand new for a hundred dollars (musicians friend, clearence). yeah, a hundred dollars is a hundred dollars, but i don't have to guess so much when i'm mixing anymore. headphones lie, even the good one's which by the way, cost way more than a hundred bucks. you say you don't have room for them. is your recording studio in a cardboard box? -joel

i've had this problem, it's noise from the 1/4" cable. i just needed to turn down my input level (on the back of my recorder) to about a forth of the way up, and turn up my keyboard's volume and my fader to compensate for this. Oh the agony before if figured this out! -joel

i record my vocals dry, or maybe with a touch of reverb. if i do to much on the front end i'll never be able to do my best (in tune) performance. head phones on one side works very well sometimes. If a singer is having problems getting it right, try turning down unnessisary tracks in the mix. -joel

i like the o rings for good muffling, remo makes the best ones, but the set they offer isn't sized for a standard kit. if you get the ones the other guys make, put some margarin or oil on the backs. no buzz, no fall off. as far as boomy drum sound on tape, try a good condensor mic some distance away from the kit, in a fairly ambient room. i like to put mine off at my three o'clock when i record this way. good luck -joel

Sometimes it helps to write a short story about what your writing your song about. This can give you a wealth of ideas for your lyrics, and give the song a genuine feeling of backstory. Think of the first verse like an introduction. Second verse could maybe step back in time and explain the situation a little more. Third (and hardest) verse need to be a kind of conclusion. Bridges are pretty freeform, in my experience. They go where they want! I dunno, this works sometimes

i used to always write music first. then the lyrics would be started (first verse and chorus typicly) and usualy finished later, in a week or two in most cases. lately i've been writing lyrics first, then constructing the music to fit it. this can be difficult, since i'm not a great musician, to build the music i've had in my head when writing the lyrics. to make it worse, i've been writing a lot on the piano as of late, not my usual acoustic guitar. I can only barely play the piano, but what i've been coming up with im quite happy about. My unfinished song's ratio has droped very sharply.

O.k, maybe that what i just said kindof sounds like a very limited overly structured type of songwriting. I would never try to write a song strictly by formula. If it could be done like that, computers would be doing it. As an amendment to what i posted above, a hook can be anywhere in the song, i just have a preference for something catchy at the end of the chorus, that's all. A hook can even be just a short line, said only once in the song. You'll recognise this type when a few of people at a party who were paying little attention to the music sudenly sing along with this one part of the lyric (just an example). That said, I think you still need a traditional hook or two to back it up. I usualy try to use as many as the song will allow. Would a soldier go into battle with just a rifle, when he could talk a rifle, a pistol, and a knife? With several hooks, you don't have to drive the listener crazy by repeating the some one over and over.

John's got our backs! It's true that things that are to good to be true usualy are. All these reputable companys with closed doors......what's this.....an open door? Someone who will listen to my music and promote me? So you walk up to the door, and a hand reaches out and grabs you wallet! When desperate for some attention, these offers are easy to believe in. Thank's for helping us stay in reality..........-joel

A good hook.....it needs to really sum up what it is that the song is about, in a few memorable and unique words. Or a single word, in some cases. All of your verses (and the music that acompanies) need to be written to lead up to the hook. It helps to set it up especialy well off of the line that precedes it. This will give the hook the extra power it needs to fulfill the listeners needs. I'm talking about a song that put's it's main hook at the end of the chorus. Of course, this is not every song, and there are tons of good songs written in other formats. Elton John, for example. "I'm a rocket man...rocket man, burning out the sootie pootie haww" or what ever he says. "Rocket Man" is the hook in this case. The last line of the chorus is almost uninteligible, but it works well as a sort of second hook. The hook must be also be a constant within the song. What i mean is that if the lyrics involve a change of mind, a realisation of some kind, the hook needs to be something that still works by the end of the song. If he thinks he's a loser at the begining, and he'll never get the girl, but by the end finds his confidence to go and talk to her, the hook can't be "I'm a loser". O.k, i hope at least some of that babel made sence. If this post was a song, you'd probably turn it off!