Paranoia

Thanks for the input guys I was not aware of their free course, tunesmithth, thanks for bringing that to my attention (it's been an awful long time since I checked this site's resources too). As for the money, they say suffering for your art brings out character, but that might be a bit too much, wouldn't you say? Rest assured I wouldn't consider such a thing if it meant I'd be living without food for a month- but all the same, it is indeed a sizeable sum of money, and not something to be spent without careful consideration, which is why I made this topic. The S, your advice sounds very much like the advice I was given on a creative writing course I took a few years ago, actually. It's good advice and has served me well so far- more with the creative writing than the lyrics if I'm to be honest, lol. That said, what I'm after from such a course is definitely more the technique or formula side of things, such as the person in focus, who is the song aimed at (external or internal, etc), how the verses progress the song, and so forth. It's my hope that this will actually help with the kind of advice you gave, and allow me to 'just write' by utilising these techniques to get me through the blockers. And yes HoboSage, what I'm after is definitely lyrics Thanks again guys.

Howdy y'all. I'm really struggling to finish a lot of what I start with songwriting now, so I figured it was time to start looking into some proper courses. I hear Berklee thrown around a lot as a really good place for this sort of thing, so I've been trying to find reviews and the like on the Internet about them. Unfortunately, I think I'm getting towards the point where I need to find people who have been here and done that before, to see what they think about the courses themselves, rather than the institution. Have any of you guys done, say, their Lyric Writing Tools and Strategies, or their Commercial Songwriting Techniques courses (linked below)? What kinds of things did your courses involve for you (whatever those courses may have been) that may not have been on their course overviews? Are there any courses you would recommend for someone who's looking to be able to write a solid song (the recommendation doesn't have to be Berklee if you have somewhere else)? Apologies for all the questions, but I winced when I saw the price of the course, so I would like to be as sure as I can be... Thanks for any help you can provide. https://online.berklee.edu/courses/lyric-writing-tools-and-strategies https://online.berklee.edu/courses/commercial-songwriting-techniques

I can see how you earned the 'Sage' part of your name =P You are right about the TvTropes link, and now that you've mentioned it I can see that this is what's been bothering me about it, and some of the many other sources I've looked at. What the TvTropes link did have going for it, though, was such a wide variety of sources. I was planning on going through the list with a fine-tooth comb for ideas, but I do believe I'll skip that now. The 'fall from grace', as I'd described it, did have a profound impact on the way the protagonist thought- but rather than fighting to make it up, I had him retreat into his own world, pushing his friends away and becoming a recluse, effectively. Everyone deals with things differently, I suppose =P You have given me much to think over, however, so my thanks. I will say, only a few hours after I posted this last night, that I decided to try the angle that my protagonist would be a rising rock prodigy, incredibly dedicated to his craft... but to what expense? We will have to see =P

Good afternoon all! So, I've been working on this concept album off and on for a long time now, and it's changed a bit over time as I've defined it, as you'd expect. It's called Delusion, and it's going to deal with two major themes- * the dangers of pride, and * karmic retribution and reincarnation. The idea being that for every 'bad' action the protagonist of the concept album does, borne out of his pride, something bad happens to him in turn- karmic debt. I ended up doing a bit of research on Hinduism and Buddhism, and what I got out of that was, there's a belief that if you die with karmic debt, your soul is reborn into another life and you go another round. So there is the reincarnation theme of the album- it is cyclical, the end of the album and the beginning should match up and the story gets retold. Now, my issue... I have a (tentative) beginning to the story. I have a well-defined end to the song. But I don't have the major event- the fall from grace. And believe me, I've spent quite some time now looking for inspiration. Here was a particularly good one. Apologies for the TvTropes link; see you in a week when you manage to break out. They say pride always comes before a fall. Do you have any stories of a particularly spectacular fall from grace? Right now, I'm running short of things to spark my imagination... though I am thinking it would have to be some sort of 'challenge' that the protagonist fails. Any help you can provide here would be much appreciated... and believe me, I'm fully aware you can't write my thing for me, and that is just the way I like it too. But if you have inspiration to share, I'd gladly look it over.

Let's see here then... 1. Do you sing, play an instrument or instruments? What instruments? I own three electric guitars, and a synthesizer. When did you start playing? I can't really remember! 2009 sounds about right... My first guitar's a 2007 model at least. Did you teach yourself? So far, pretty much entirely self-taught. Actively seeking lessons to improve now, and I believe I've found my spot... 2. Are you in a band or bands? What is the name of the band? Not in a band, but oh boy do I have ideas. If I manage to make my ideas reality, it will be called Paranoia. What do you play? It would mainly be the guitar, though I certainly have nothing against backup vocals or other strings... What other instruments are in the band? I'm thinking a 5-piece- a frontman, two guitars, bass and drums as standard. I do like mandolins though... Do you have a band website? Weeeeell... the band needs to be real first. Baby steps! 3. Do you write songs? Do you write lyrics, music or both? Both. Do you have a writing partner? No- which is why, in part, I am here. 4. Do you record your music? Do you use a home studio? If so what gear do you use? I've sourced parts for a recording desktop, but for the time being I've been relying on a FastTrack C-400 into FL Studio on my laptop. Do you use a recording studio? Never used one before, and given how much they can cost I wouldn't until I know the material like the back of my hand! Do you have music available on the web? if so where? A little something on YouTube- it was a bit rushed and not all that brilliant, but one day I'll do it again. 5. What other roles do you perform in the music business? Management? Label owner? Publishing? Promotion? Other? Spectator =P 6. Are you a tech head? I do like looking at what's out there and what that can do for my sound. I'm on a bit of a tone quest... 7. What country do you live in? Australia 8. What are your ambitions? Musically at least, develop my skills, make contacts, perform in front of audiences, make some proper recordings... 9. Do you draw/paint/write stories/computer art/dance or other creative pursuit? What are your pastimes? I've had my hands in most of the above (all bar dancing) at some point in the past- some I still do. 10. What would you like to get out of Songstuff? I'd like it to be a place to bounce ideas from, a place to develop my writing skills and to ensure I don't, well, improve at being wrong basically- and to keep me grounded in reality.