Actually benefiting from "write and finish a song in one hour" web posts

[MikeRobinson]

These days, there are lots of website postings which talk about either "writing a song in one hour," or "writing and recording a song in one hour."  Most of them seem to be trivial.  Some of them are good.  Some of them are very good.  Here's one that I think I've found which falls into the last category:

 

https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-write-record-a-song-in-one-hour-or-less--audio-9435

 

Although this post is certainly no longer current – it was written in 2011 – the essential principles do remain the same.  That you really can "bust through the various blocks" by simply refusing to be held back by them – for the purely-artificial and purely-contrived reason that "you are in a hurry and do not have the time."  That is to say, if you [artificially ...] choose to prioritize "bustin' through to the finish line" ahead of "winding up with anything that you'd tell your mother about, once you get there."

 

Also this:  https://blog.landr.com/write-song/

[Lisa Gates]

Hi Mike, you mention the age of the first link, so I googled it and found some other links but it seems they are also selling something. Gone are the days where people post information to share...

I did follow the blog and watched the video about the keys and chords...ugh...I've forgotten them!

thanks for the refresher!

Lisa

[MikeRobinson]

Sorry about that, Lisa.  You see, I use the "uBlock Origin" ad blocker (as well as quite a few others), so I don't see that commercial content.

 

Although I don't subscribe to the notion that "this is a practical way to write music" ... nor do I seriously think that the authors intend for you to suppose that it is ... I do think that it is valuable for encouraging us to switch-off the internal critics who would "keep us from actually finishing(!) anything at all."

 

Also:  in the various other kinds of creative endeavors in which I actually do (right now... heh...) "make my daily bread," I am from time to time re-reminded just how quickly your own material sounds or looks like "the work of a total stranger."  Because enough time has now passed that you do not completely remember what was in or on your mind at the time that you created it.  And, suddenly, you find yourself approaching it now as though you were "the stranger."  (That is to say:  "the audience.")  And, lo and behold, "it looks/sounds pretty darned good!" 😮

[Lisa Gates]

1 hour ago, MikeRobinson said:

Because enough time has now passed that you do not completely remember what was in or on your mind at the time that you created it.  And, suddenly, you find yourself approaching it now as though you were "the stranger."  (That is to say:  "the audience.")  And, lo and behold, "it looks/sounds pretty darned good!" 😮

Mike, this happens especially with songs I wrote for a Songstuff Challenge. I go back to it and think "did i write that?" "What made me write that? Oh yeah! A challenge!" "It does sound pretty good" LOL

 

But seriously, I find that I can't finish a song if I've gone too far off the message I originally wanted to say. Whether it's been an hour or more. I have to stop and cross it out. Come back to it later to see if I can tell the real story I wanted to tell. For me it's about the story, not the time it takes to tell that story... I enjoyed reading the page and the blog. Thanx

 

[MikeRobinson]

Lisa, maybe an alternative perspective might be ... "what if this is another story?"  What if this might turn out to be "your next story?"

 

I say, "no matter what happens, never 'cross it out.'"  Instead, shove the file into a "trash-bin folder (or set of folders) that you never, ever empty."  Whether you're trying to find the right tune or the right story, "above all else, keep everything."  (Ummm, it's not like any of us are ever going to run out of disk space, eh?  And if we do, "external drives" are cheap and fast.)

 

Newspapers (and, criminal investigators ...) famously kept their "morgue files," the likes of which J. K. Rowling freely admitted were part of her inspiration of the "Room of Requirement" in her Harry Potter series:  "the place where everything went, but never went away."

 

Sometimes, when I feel that I am absolutely at a creative dead end, "I visit the morgue."  And there I find something.

 

"If you created it, it deserves to live forever."

[Lisa Gates]

1 hour ago, MikeRobinson said:

If you created it, it deserves to live forever

 

Thank you. Good point.

I do keep the drafts... I never thought to keep them in a separate file. They stay with the lyrics but get moved to the bottom of the page. As I tighten the lyrics up the most recent version is on top. (I AM an Administrative Assistant for my day job can you tell?) I see now this is a disadvantage because they get lost and do not get to come back up for air (or put to another song) Hmmmm...this may be my next project.

 

My late husband backed up everything. I have two external hard drives, two PCs, and about 4 laptops (that are all out of date and act as DVD and CD players!LOL)