john

Hi and welcome to Songstuff Zealsham.

So, fair to say you are more a composer than artist and you need to record songs purely to tell music performers / producers what to do. ie something to sketch out a melody and chords and that's about it as the rest would be done during the recording part of the project. You only need to make your recording more appealing so that you have something more credible to let a producer hear. My guess is you would do better with a muso with a good home studio to work with. The problem you will run into here is that most of these guys tend to write their own material. I guess the exact emphasis for you will depend on how clear a vision you have for the final piece. ie there is a big difference between raw melody and chords and a full arrangement including nuance of performance, the producer's choice of sounds etc, and exactly how much input you require at that stage in the process. In terms of making people aware, that is a whole other question, and a very big question in it's own right!

So which do you see yourself as Linir? Songwriter or Songwriter/Artist?

Hi Just to chime in with a general rule of thumb, no matter the exercise: If you want more control, you generally lose simplicity There are packages where you do get high levels of control, but the interfaces are relatively complex (sonar, cubase protools). These programmes tend to be highly specialist and indeed you generally need a DAW plus VSTi (plug in instruments) and or real instruments plus plug in VST effects. These tools are intended for producing production quality music. Equally there are packages such as BIAB that is much simpler but the level of control is somewhat less and what you can do with the sounds and loops is more limited, but then these packages are more or less all-in-ones intended as quick demo writing software for non-techies and songwriters. To create production quality music takes learning new skills. The traditional way before BIAB etc was to learn how to use a midi sequencer/DAW, how to programme a sampler (to get loops) and create and customize synth patches, plus learn how effects work and how to create a mix. If you want to create production music you still have to learn much of this... it's a matter of when. I'm a firm believer in "the sooner the better" as it takes time and practice to get good at it. It is a steep learning curve and will cost you more, but nothing truly good is easy to get. The biggest difference is that biab box music is very easy to spot. The same is true of most "accelerators" intended at shaving corners off the learning curve and improving the speed of creation. The reason is simple. Most users use the default loops and sounds. The benefit of speed is traded directly with your ability to have an individual sound. Sometimes the tools have enough versatility to be suitable for creation of production music, other times not. So depending on your goals pick whichever is suitable. If you plan to make songwriter demos to picth to artists, be prepared to work within some limitations on what you can do. What they can do, they do well, and the quality has greatly improved over the years. However if you plan to be "the artist", I recommend "paying your dues" by learning how to create finished, professional standard music, and that means learning the ins and outs of a good DAW and how to huse the various VST and VSTi available, and how to create a good mix. My two cents.