How many songs do you write a year?

[Alistair]

Tom aka phantomengineer said in his new year musical resolution that he plans to write 15 new songs in 2005 having written 25 this year.

Which got me to wondering how many others write a year?

I wrote roughly 140 between 1980 and 1987 which is around 18 a year. Mind you, a lot of them were GARBAGE.

Then I wrote about a dozen between 1988 and 2001 (got a job, got married and other distractions)

Between september 2002 and december I wrote 7, 3 of which were finishing off songs I started in 1996.

In 2003 I wrote 6 and this year I have wriitten 14.

Out of around 170 songs, 50 of them are for public consumption and perhaps 20-25 are top drawer.

In all cases a 'song' can be played on a single acoustic guitar. Of course if you are writing different parts for different instruments it's going to be more work so this gives you some idea of what I mean by 'writing a song' basically chords/riff, melody and lyrics.

[FinnArild]

It would be around 10-12 good demos in a year. This is my first year of writing mostly all by myself, and I seem to be producing more that way (less people to argue with :-) ...). But I won't have a trend before next year.

I do have a harddisk full of ideas, though. That's a lot of the process, for me. I walk the dog and suddenly a theme hits me. So I run in, record the theme roughly and then leave it.

Every now and then I go through them all to see if I can string a song together based on some text idea (which often come at night, in bed - even sometimes when I sleep) or other musical or thematic idea.

I would say I'm around 60-70 musical/lyrical ideas in a year. A lot of them are crap.

[Alistair]

A lot of them are crap.

Yeah, the hard part is knowing the difference!

I have a little notebook so I can capture the lyrical ideas before I forget them.

Unfortunately I can never remember to carry the notebook with me.

[Steve]

I do have a harddisk full of ideas, though. That's a lot of the process, for me. I walk the dog and suddenly a theme hits me. So I run in, record the theme roughly and then leave it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I hope you run back out and rescue the dog?

I have a little notebook so I can capture the lyrical ideas before I forget them.

Unfortunately I can never remember to carry the notebook with me.

[FinnArild]

I hope you run back out and rescue the dog?

.. oh, sh** ....

[FinnArild]

Unfortunately I can never remember to carry the notebook with me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, I know what you mean. For a week now, I have forgotten to bring paper and pen on my nightstand, and I know I had just the greatest lyric idea here the other night (it could be crap the next morning, but you never know ...)

[tgrover]

this year has been very productive for me. Cut an acoustic album that had about 17 songs on all finished. 10 made the album just becuase i didn't want the album to be any longer than 35 mins

Written most of the pilfa album this year and a few planned b sides and that is about another 15.

Le t you decide if they are all good or rubbish

[phantomengineer]

As Al pointed out, i've written 25 songs. all this year. Last year, I wrote 22. But they were all crap. really really stinky crap. I was tryin to be like Dylan, all nonsensical-like. Unfortunately, I didn't even know what any of the songs meant. Therefore, i trashed them. So, i'm still at 25 songs

[ATom2]

I'm guessing you are looking for a metric number.

Up until this past year when I developed writer block, I wrote 92 metric songs, (68US) but only 1/2 of those are any good. Those came in a period of 3 years.

Now, nothing, nada, ziltch, zip!

[Steve]

I was tryin to be like Dylan, all nonsensical-like. Unfortunately, I didn't even know what any of the songs meant.

Nobody knows what Dylan songs are about? That's how he became so famous!

[FinnArild]

Nobody knows what Dylan songs are about? That's how he became so famous!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, the answer is still blowing in the wind

[phantomengineer]

Haha Finn. Good response

[Alistair]

Do any of you cannabilise the good bits of your crap songs to make better new songs?

Generally, I don't. Well, at least not deliberately.

[FinnArild]

Do any of you cannabilise the good bits of your crap songs to make better new songs?

Generally, I don't. Well, at least not deliberately.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I do. My songs are usually not written from start to end anyway (sometimes, but that's 2/10).

[phantomengineer]

i often take good lines from crap songs to make new songs. Why waste a good rhyme, correct?

[Alistair]

I'm not judging whether you should or shouldn't and, in your case, having seen your lyrics it works.

I tend not to revisit my old lyrics, maybe I should!

[Alistair]

Two new songs so far this year - not a bad start. One from scratch and the other I had the music but no lyrics.

Three more on the drawing board at the moment.............

[tgrover]

It has been a productive month for me.....

Two new pilfa tracks finsihed. Ideas for a couple more and i finished work on a song with bill boutin (new member) here the other day. Hopefully feb will be as creative

[hariossa]

Usually when I have time I can finish a song from scratch to master in 15 days, but some songs just refuse to be finished, my goal this year is to have at least 9 new good songs to stuck in a cd...

[olivejuice3]

i got 22 songs last year! i didn't notice it until i actually counted today...thanx guys for keepin me motivated