AKABubbleup

Hi. My principal instrument is bass guitar. I had played semi-pro full time for a seven year stint in the Northeast U.S. (approx 250 dates/ year - band - New Life Crisis 1988-1995)While it put ramen noodles on the table it was by no means a long term career option, hence I elect to label myself as a 'retired' performer. As life goes on I've really become inspired to write more (music & lyrics). My most daunting obstacle is that I'm not very adept at getting material out of my head and onto paper/ tape/ hard drive etc. (mainly b/c I'm not proficient playing the instruments I'm trying to translate from the brain to a sharable medium :-) I hoping to glean some tips and tricks from the site to help realize my potential as a legitimate songwriter/ composer/ arranger. Hope to lend my experience, insight and inspiration to the 'critique' section as I'm an avid fan of good material, production and recording techniques. Any advice on products (books/ programs/ online courses) to help things along would be greatly appreciated. I realize skilled personal instruction would be the best route but as a family man w/ a day job I'd like to self train and 'level up' before pursuing that route. Dave