Ok...so I have an aunt who has been writing songs for a long time, to no avail. In this article we'll use her example and see what we can learn from it.
When I first started producing, she would come to me with songs written on loose pieces of paper, asking me to record her songs for her. Her songs mostly consisted of lyrics that were not really formatted in any particular way. They really looked more like poems than songs.
Then, I was barely making hip hop that anyone would listen to. However, I still wanted to help record her songs...so I needed to know how the lyrics were supposed to go? When I asked her, she didn't know. Since she didn't really sing, she had never thought of any melodies. I couldn't sing either and couldn't think of any melodies myself at the time, so the lyrics just sat on the shelf.
Note: Most executives that are interested in buying your songs are not interested in just buying your lyrics....so it is better to submit full songs instead of only lyrics.
Before long, this relative began to format her lyrics better, and even began to come to me with melodies in mind.
In regards to formats, you have multiple song formats to choose from, or you can just wing it...there doesn't have to be any rules....but if you want to learn about song formats just google (song formats).
Ok...so we have melodies and lyrics, but we still had a problem. She had melodies but she really couldn't sing them well, and they all were similar to country western melodies. In addition, they eventually began to sound out-dated lyrically.
So, we tried and tried to turn these lyrics into good songs, but they were trash. I told her to find a singer, and find a singer she did.....she found multiple singers but most of them had never recorded and were just very inexperienced in general. So the songs still didn't come out well. I'm sure this process frustrated my aunt and caused her to almost give up on music......So how do you stop this from happening to you?
Tip: To be a writer, you do not have to be a singer, but you do need to find or have access to someone who can perform you lyrics.
When it comes to writing styles, writers are different. There are some that don't write with music at all. Those writers can just peruse instrumentals until they find one that fits their lyrics. Then there are some that have an idea about what they want their music to sound like. In that case, those writers can find a producer who can create exactly what the writer is hearing.
Personally, I like to pick the instrumental first. (There are millions of instrumentals online, but I use www.freshoffabreakup.com), then write to the instrumental. I can't sing, but what I do is make sure the timing is how I want it, and I just try to get in the general ballpark, melody wise. I also like to record my lyrics (on a little personal recorder) instead of writing them down, because when I write them down, I find that I often forget the timing of the lyrics, or the way I said certain words.
Once you have that, then you have to find someone to demo your song. You want to find a professional demo singer that does the type of music that you want your song to be (They vary in cost, but they generally are not that expensive). Make sure that you listen to a demo of them, or better yet, in your first meeting with them have them sing the song for you to determine if they are the right match for you and whether or not they can perform what you need to be performed, how you want it performed. Remember, in addition to paying them, you're going to have to find a studio, and they are going to charge hourly, so the longer this demo singer takes the more money it's going to cost you.
What do you do after the recording session is done and you actually like your song? Mixing time..thats what. Most likely, whoever engineered the original session will also be able to mix your record...it will just take a little more time and a little more money. You also need to be able to express to the mixing engineer what you want the end result to sound like. If not, you are taking the risk that the sound engineer may not do what you want him to do, the way you want him to do it.
The final stage is mastering. Nowadays, most engineers that mix can also do a presentable mastering job. All mastering really is, is a process of different effects that make your song sound clear, loud, and the same on pretty much any system that anyone plays it on (basically good industry standard sonic quality).
After your hit song is mastered, copyrighted, and registered with ascap, bmi, or sesac, then you are ready to submit!
If you follow the simple steps above, you'll be ahead of the game!
When I first started producing, she would come to me with songs written on loose pieces of paper, asking me to record her songs for her. Her songs mostly consisted of lyrics that were not really formatted in any particular way. They really looked more like poems than songs.
Then, I was barely making hip hop that anyone would listen to. However, I still wanted to help record her songs...so I needed to know how the lyrics were supposed to go? When I asked her, she didn't know. Since she didn't really sing, she had never thought of any melodies. I couldn't sing either and couldn't think of any melodies myself at the time, so the lyrics just sat on the shelf.
Note: Most executives that are interested in buying your songs are not interested in just buying your lyrics....so it is better to submit full songs instead of only lyrics.
Before long, this relative began to format her lyrics better, and even began to come to me with melodies in mind.
In regards to formats, you have multiple song formats to choose from, or you can just wing it...there doesn't have to be any rules....but if you want to learn about song formats just google (song formats).
Ok...so we have melodies and lyrics, but we still had a problem. She had melodies but she really couldn't sing them well, and they all were similar to country western melodies. In addition, they eventually began to sound out-dated lyrically.
So, we tried and tried to turn these lyrics into good songs, but they were trash. I told her to find a singer, and find a singer she did.....she found multiple singers but most of them had never recorded and were just very inexperienced in general. So the songs still didn't come out well. I'm sure this process frustrated my aunt and caused her to almost give up on music......So how do you stop this from happening to you?
Tip: To be a writer, you do not have to be a singer, but you do need to find or have access to someone who can perform you lyrics.
When it comes to writing styles, writers are different. There are some that don't write with music at all. Those writers can just peruse instrumentals until they find one that fits their lyrics. Then there are some that have an idea about what they want their music to sound like. In that case, those writers can find a producer who can create exactly what the writer is hearing.
Personally, I like to pick the instrumental first. (There are millions of instrumentals online, but I use www.freshoffabreakup.com), then write to the instrumental. I can't sing, but what I do is make sure the timing is how I want it, and I just try to get in the general ballpark, melody wise. I also like to record my lyrics (on a little personal recorder) instead of writing them down, because when I write them down, I find that I often forget the timing of the lyrics, or the way I said certain words.
Once you have that, then you have to find someone to demo your song. You want to find a professional demo singer that does the type of music that you want your song to be (They vary in cost, but they generally are not that expensive). Make sure that you listen to a demo of them, or better yet, in your first meeting with them have them sing the song for you to determine if they are the right match for you and whether or not they can perform what you need to be performed, how you want it performed. Remember, in addition to paying them, you're going to have to find a studio, and they are going to charge hourly, so the longer this demo singer takes the more money it's going to cost you.
What do you do after the recording session is done and you actually like your song? Mixing time..thats what. Most likely, whoever engineered the original session will also be able to mix your record...it will just take a little more time and a little more money. You also need to be able to express to the mixing engineer what you want the end result to sound like. If not, you are taking the risk that the sound engineer may not do what you want him to do, the way you want him to do it.
The final stage is mastering. Nowadays, most engineers that mix can also do a presentable mastering job. All mastering really is, is a process of different effects that make your song sound clear, loud, and the same on pretty much any system that anyone plays it on (basically good industry standard sonic quality).
After your hit song is mastered, copyrighted, and registered with ascap, bmi, or sesac, then you are ready to submit!
If you follow the simple steps above, you'll be ahead of the game!
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Looking to find the best deal on beats keyword #1, then visit www.freshoffabreakup.com/blog to find the best advice on keyword #2 for you.
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