Melodies

[Riotlung]

I have very erratic songwriting experiences. To date, I have yet to have a song that I can call my own, and I have been unable to even write something satisfactorily. I can sit down and daydream and come up with very neat melodies, and imagine the drums and bass that move along with them, but when I finally get down to penning them, everything goes away, especially the magic of what was playing in my head. It's a very frustrating problem.

The biggest problem is really with coming up with the melody. I'm usually not satisfied with doing just the melody - I always prefer doing the melody together with the bass (my way of interpreting the chord, though chords do provide more variety, admittedly). But they never string together to make something good. I find my attempts too dull, too cliched. It's as if they just don't expand in style. I sometimes wonder if this is due to my constant association with my vocal range, causing everything I think of to be roughly in the same key and range. That's bad bad bad.

Maybe I don't know the exact nature of my problem, I don't know. I sometimes even listen to the lead guitar on an instrumental like And The Address by Deep Purple and I wonder how they could come up with stuff like that. I've never enjoyed writing lyrics - the idea may be there but putting it into words is another thing. But since the music is of a greater priority to me, I prefer starting with the melodies first.

How do you folks handle melodies? Do they just come naturally to you, or do you too have a lot of difficulty trying to constantly struggle to make a good, memorable melody?

Thanks. Ranting helps a lot, I hope.

[Nightwolf]

I have very erratic songwriting experiences. To date, I have yet to have a song that I can call my own, and I have been unable to even write something satisfactorily. I can sit down and daydream and come up with very neat melodies, and imagine the drums and bass that move along with them, but when I finally get down to penning them, everything goes away, especially the magic of what was playing in my head. It's a very frustrating problem.

This is simply the frustration I think most Musicians feel until they come up with a system. I used to write three songs a night, but in the morning they are gone. This is why I spent the time and energy to learn how to record on my pc, this allows, first off for me to keep the initial ideas, and secondly to build on them melodically as you were mentioning.

Do you have recording resources? If not please tell us what kind of pc you are using and if it would be practical to try to set it up to record for you. It is not as hard as it sounds.

[Riotlung]

Recording resources? Absolutely none.

Computer? It's typically a computer for gaming, so you pretty much have everything there, a decent processor speed, a decent soundcard, etc. What do you mean by what type of computer?

[Steve]

What wolf is trying to say, is get your ideas down as a recording. If your Computer is fairly up to date, you can get some recording software (free), and plug in a mic and record your ideas! Once you have a basic melody down, you can start to enhance it with bass, drums etc. If you can get the basic rhythm of what you need and get the drums down on to a track, it makes it easier to build up from there. Learning to record yourself might take a few weeks but it's worth the effort. listening to a recording gives you a different perspective on what you may have just played! If you can play the piano, and sing, you don't need anybody else! If you want to write your own songs and play them in a band, it's much better to have a basic recording of the song for other band members to listen to than trying to explain your ideas!

[Rudi]

I rarely begin with a melody, but I am beginning to drift towards that approach more now. When I have begun with melody, I have been inspired by an existing tune.

I could not have worked that way early on I don’t think, because if I had a tune in my head it would not go away, and it influenced what I was trying to do too much. As a result I would end up with something that sounded too much like the tune that inspired me. Also it would not sound as good as the original tune. Therefore I developed other approaches.

Now I don’t get hung up on the inspirational melody, and when I have finished creating my own melody, it sounds nothing like the old one. I’m quite sure no one would be able to figure out the origin of my tunes.

The advantage of beginning with melody is that once it is fixed in your head, and you start to consider the chords and the time, they are already there! I don’t mean you can’t change them, I mean you don’t have to. Only a time change can actually interfere with your melody, because phrasing is affected. But with chords, you can play around with those & hear the change of dynamics all you want.

But you don’t need to change anything. As I said, get the melody down and everything else falls into place.

[Riotlung]

I'm trying to see if I can get an organ in my room. I'm more comfortable with writing with some privacy, so hopefully if I do get around the organ thing, I could start writing something for real.

The problem with melodies for me is that, while I occasionally get that inspiration to come up with a completely new melody, it's very fleeting. Melodies almost never come at me by themselves. I always have the bass with it, and I imagine them both in my head at the same time. But they happen at the most inopportune times - when I don't have writing on me, or when I'm more in the mood to think of the ideas without going through the hassle of getting them down on paper.

And soon, the idea develops into something else (and after about 5 minutes of development, it starts to sound like total crap, and I'd have completely forgotten my starting idea that really started the 5 minutes of enjoyment). In the end, nothing is accomplished.

When I do consciously force myself to write something, they always sound like something else. Either too familiar, too cheesy, something that I look upon with much disdain. I'll see how things turn out, especially once I do get around the organ issue.

To be frank, I pretty much hate writing lyrics. They've never been at the core of what I've been wanting to write. It's always been the music for me, purely the music (though I enjoy vocals as much as other instruments when I listen to music), when it comes to writing. That's why I'm also thinking of branching into Blues - they're far easier to write, more freeform, and just... familiar. Maybe the first song I'll complete would be a Blues, I don't know. They have a lot less lyric, after all.

(On a side note, is it possible to delete and/or edit posts? Thanks.)

[john]

Hey

I guess I'd start with the simplest tool, a dictaphone/mobile voice recorder. You can pick em up cheap and they are great for jotting down your melodic ideas, or for that matter lyrical ones when you don't have a pen handy. At least then you'll not forget your melodic ideas.

If you aren't comfortable with working on your PC you could look at one of the many stand alone recorders. If budget is a concern (when is it not) you could consider buying a second-hand unit.

Cheers

John

[Riotlung]

That doesn't really help very much. I have absolutely no confidence in my voice.

For now, I'm pretty much making myself carry some writing materials to help me along. I managed to pen a little of something during those moments of inspiration today (I get them almost everyday, though at very irregular intervals and for very brief moments...). With some discipline, I believe I can do something about it!

Thanks anyways, john

[john]

Ah the notebook! The other essentail aid.

Not sure you need to be confident in your voice, after all no one else needs to hear it! Seriously though, might be worth training your voice alittle, even it is just enough to be able to hold a tune.

The other thing is working practice. However you manage to get down your raw ideas, get used to keeping your original notations/recordings unedited. Then draft a working version.

Cheers

John

[Steve]

And soon, the idea develops into something else (and after about 5 minutes of development, it starts to sound like total crap, and I'd have completely forgotten my starting idea that really started the 5 minutes of enjoyment). In the end, nothing is accomplished.

Sounds like every songwriter I know!

(On a side note, is it possible to delete and/or edit posts? Thanks.)

Yes. As soon as you've amassed enough posts. (10 I think!)

[Riotlung]

Well, quite comforting to know that I'm not alone. I guess there is a faint glimmer of hope for me after all!

Unfortunately, while I might have done that 5 minutes thingy (it usually comes complete with a melodic line for the verse which I almost always forget once I'm past the chorus, along with solos and what-not), when I do discipline myself and write something, I can only remember one part of it. Usually, I only remember the part that I was thinking of when I suddenly decided to write it down. And I have problems trying to continue on this little idea I have.

As you might have already noticed, it's VERY chaotic and haphazard. I have lots of little lines in different keys sitting around here (though I change keys frequently) and nothing much beyond them. At least I already have something to work on, except that I don't know how to work on them. Yet.

Thanks for the encouragement, inadvertent or otherwise

[Rudi]

Rather than get despondant about your limitations, why not experiment with different approaches to your writing. Plenty of ways to go about things. I have found several that suit me, but they wouldnt suit everyone. Try a fresh approach, you might surprise yourself.

[Riotlung]

Well, hopefully. I still prefer approaching it music-first, and try to adopt several types of melodic sequences. Many sound copied, uninspired or downright silly, but the rest... I'll see. There is an obvious need to listen to the various types of melodies in my library.

[Steve]

Hey! Did you sort anything out regarding your recording devices?

[Riotlung]

I've been very busy, and a tad bit troubled to have the mood for writing anything, so there.

As for recording devices, probably not anything anytime soon. I'm still thinking of a keyboard/organ to play around with, but that's when I have more time and am in a better mood. Sorry.

[john]

Hey

Hopefully nothing too serious. I wish you all the best.

Cheers

John