Here's a question we hear a lot.

Q. I have the very frustrating situation that, although I am good with accompaniments, I need help with how to arrive at a melody.

A. Good question. I bet a hundred different songwriters would give you 100 different answers. And then you would have to figure out which one (if any) would work for you. That's not such a far-fetched proposition. But I'll get back to that.

Here are some things that work for me. It helps if I'm not starting from absolute zero. What I mean is, if I have no music, no lyrics, no chorus, just a blank piece of paper, that's the hardest place to start from, IMHO.

If I'm writing music to a set of completed (more or less) lyrics, that's much easier. It doesn't matter if I wrote them or someone else did. What I do to find a melody is to follow the rhythms of the syllables. I speak the words out loud to see how they flow. I may add a word here or there to make the flow better. Or I may stretch a word out or
make a section of words staccato. All this without singing a pitch. That usually leads to bits of melody, which lead to more bits which usually build into a complete melody.

Another thing I pay attention to in lyrics when I'm looking for a melody is the meaning or the mood. I want to support whatever mood is created by the words. Simply put, I don't write a bouncy, happy melody to lyrics that tell a serious or sad story and vice versa. If you really listen to the words for meaning and mood, I believe you'll hear the melody.

What if you don't have the lyrics first. Another piece of the puzzle that can help find the melody is the chord progression. Some people, myself included, like to write the chord progression before writing melody. Maybe that's because melody is hard for me to write, I don't know.

At any rate, the chords give you a huge head start. You can limit your melody to only using notes in the chord being played at the time. That's a good place to start. The chords also set a mood, so pay attention to that.

All right, now the toughest question. What do you do when there are no lyrics and no chords, no theme, nothing. One teacher I know suggests walking around. In fact, many writers do their best creative thinking while ambling about in nature. There's something to this. It has to do with getting your blood flowing to your brain and with breathing more deeply than you would sitting at a desk. It has to do
with inspiration in the outdoors (even in a city) and it has something to do with relaxing, taking the pressure off. I has to do with all those things and probably a lot more. I can't explain it. It just works.

I hope some of this was helpful. Now back to the 100 songwriters. Since all of the above is just one person's opinion, wouldn't it be better to get opinions from a large variety of talented songwriters? There are over 11,000 songwriters registered for the STJ message boards, plus thousands of others who drop in every month. Check it out.

Good luck.

Let the world know you're a songwriter and proud of it, with Songwriter's Tip Jar caps, T's, sweatshirts, mouse pads and other swag. Check out the swag here.

Have you seen the web site called Album-a-Day, in which the site's
owner challenges people to write and record a complete album in a 24 hour period and post it to the internet (preferably with no sleep break in-between). He then adds your project to his list. He defines an album as a minimum of 20 minutes or 30 songs.

His parting words: "A bad song is better than no song."

Anyone up for it?

The most common choice for novice engineers who want to make an instrument sound "special" or more like a record is reverb. And while reverb is an extremely useful effect for giving mixes their own unique ambiance, there's another way to achieve that sound without eating up as much space in your mix.

Next time you want to liven up an instrument without sounding gimmicky or obvious, send its signal to a delay unit. A delay usually consists of some, but not all, of the parameters you'd find in a reverb processor. You can use a short delay to add thickness (try 4-8 milliseconds with 10-20% feedback on a rhythm guitar); you can go a little longer for a "slap" effect often found on lead vocals (try 30, 60, 90 or 120 ms to employ an Elvis or John Lennon vocal effect.) Or you can use a really long delay (e.g. 800 ms w/40% feedback) for a more obvious effect, like having certain words of the vocal repeat and trail off in the distance.

Tip: For your lead vocal, try using a delay and a reverb. The delay is only used to thicken the vocal - dial up anywhere from 30-90 ms, with little or no feedback, and leave the fader just below where you can detect the sound of the delay. Then utilize the reverb (short hall, small plate, etc.) to create the more noticeable ambience for your vocal.

The information above came from "Studio Buddy -- The Home Recording Helper." It's a self-contained, easy to use database of recording tips designed specifically for people with home studios. If you find this article helpful, you should download the FREE program at Studiobuddy.com.

Reprinted with permission from TAXI: the world's leading independent A&R company helping unsigned bands, artists and songwriters get record deals, publishing deals and placement in films and TV shows.

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:24:56 -0800 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1081568 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1080412

"I'm just a folksinger, not an entrepreneur. My hope is that my music and poetry will be enjoyable and/or meaningful to someone, somewhere, not that I maximize my profit margins...I'm glad I didn't sign on to the corporate army. I mourn the commodification and homogenization of music by the music industry, and I fear the manufacture of consent by the corporately-controlled media. Last thing I want to do is feed the machine."

- Ani DiFranco

Have you seen the open letter (below) from Ani DiFranco? It was written in 1997, but her ideas are just as valid today, if not moreso. It's well worth the time to read it if you are a performing songwriter or recording artist.

From the Ron E., the Righteous Babe Records Minister of Communications:

The li'l folksinger has asked me to distribute the text of this open letter to the editor of MS, in response to a short paragraph in their Sept./Oct. 97 issue. It's a tad long for e-mail, but Ani wanted folks to be able to read the entirety of her message instead of an edited version. We would really like to see this posted on websites wherever possible.

**You may distribute or forward the following as long as you do not alter or edit it.**
----------------------------------------

November 5, 1997

Marcia Ann Gillespie
Editor in Chief
Ms. Magazine
135 W. 50th Street
16th Floor
New York, NY 10020

So I'm poring through the 25th anniversary issue of Ms. (on some airplane going somewhere in the amorphous blur that amounts to my life) and I'm finding it endlessly enlightening and stimulating as always, when, whaddaya know, I come across a little picture of little me. I was flattered to be included in that issue's "21 feminists for the 21st century" thingybob. I think ya'll are runnin the most bold and babe-olishious magazine around, after all.

Problem is, I couldn't help but be a little weirded out by the paragraph next to my head that summed up her me-ness and my relationship to the feminist continuum. What got me was that it largely detailed my financial successes and sales statistics. My achievements were represented by the fact that I "make more money per album sold than Hootie and the Blowfish," and that my catalogue sales exceed 3/4 of a million. It was specified that I don't just have my own record company but my own "profitable" record company.

Still, the ironic conclusion of the aforementioned blurb is a quote from me insisting "it's not about the money." Why then, I ask myself, must "the money" be the focus of so much of the media that surrounds me? Why can't I escape it, even in the hallowed pages of Ms.?

Firstly, this "Hootie and the Blowfish" business was not my doing. The LA Times financial section wrote an article about my record label, Righteous Babe Records, in which they raved about the business savvy of a singer (me) who thwarted the corporate overhead by choosing to remain independent, thereby pocketing $4.25 per unit, as opposed to the $1.25 made by Hootie or the $2.00 made by Michael Jackson. This story was then picked up and reprinted by The New York Times, Forbes magazine, the Financial News Network, and (lo and behold) Ms.

So here I am, publicly morphing into some kinda Fortune 500-young-entrepreneur-from-hell, and all along I thought I was just a folksinger!

Ok, it's true. I do make a much larger profit (percentage-wise) than the Hootster. What's even more astounding is that there are thousands of musicians out there who make an even higher profit percentage than me! How many local, musicians are there in your community who play gigs in bars and coffee shops about town? I bet lots of them have made cassettes or CDS which they'll happily sell to you with a personal smile from the edge of the stage or back at the bar after their set. Would you believe these shrewd, profit-minded wheeler-dealers are pocketing a whopping _100%_ of the profits on the sales of those puppies?! Wait till the Financial News Network gets a whiff of _them_!

I sell approximately 2.5% of the albums that a Joan Jewelanis Morrisette sells and get about .05% of the airplay royalties, so obviously if it all comes down to dollars and cents, I've led a wholly unremarkable life. Yet I choose relative statistical mediocrity over fame and fortune because I have a bigger purpose in mind. Imagine how strange it must be for a girl who has spent 10 years fighting as hard as she could against the lure of the corporate carrot and the almighty forces of capital, only to be eventually recognized by the power structure as a business pioneer.

I have indeed sold enough records to open a small office on the half-abandoned main street in the dilapidated urban center of my hometown, Buffalo, N.Y. I am able to hire 15 or so folks to run and constantly reinvent the place while I drive around and play music for people. I am able to give stimulating business to local printers and manufacturers and to employ the services of independent distributors, promoters, booking agents and publicists. I was able to quit my day job and devote myself to what I love.

And yes, we are enjoying modest profits these days, affording us the opportunity to reinvest in innumerable political and artistic endeavors. RBR is no Warner Bros. But it is a going concern, and for me, it is a vehicle for redefining the relationship between art and commerce in my own life. It is a record company which is the product not just of my own imagination, but that of my friend and manager Scot Fisher and of all the people who work there. People who incorporate and coordinate politics, art and media every day into a people-friendly, sub-corporate, woman-informed, queer-happy small business that puts music before rock stardom and ideology before profit.

And me. I'm just a folksinger, not an entrepreneur. My hope is that my music and poetry will be enjoyable and/or meaningful to someone, somewhere, not that I maximize my profit margins. It was 15 years and 11 albums getting to this place of notoriety and, if anything, I think I was happier way back when. Not that I regret any of my decisions, mind you. I'm glad I didn't sign on to the corporate army. I mourn the commodification and homogenization of music by the music industry, and I fear the manufacture of consent by the corporately-controlled media. Last thing I want to do is feed the machine.

I was recently mortified while waiting in the dressing room before one of my own shows. Some putz suddenly takes the stage to announce me and exclaim excitedly that this was my "largest sold-out crowd to date!" "Oh, really?," I'm thinking to myself, "that's interesting...too bad it's not the point." All of my achievements are artistic, as are all of my failures.

That's just the way I see it. Statistical plateau or no. I'll bust ass for 60 people, or 6,000, watch me.

I have so much respect for Ms. magazine. If I couldn't pick it up at newsstands my brain probably would've atrophied by now on some trans-Atlantic flight and I would be lying limp and twitchy in a bed of constant travel, staring blankly into the abyss of the gossip magazines. Ms. is a structure of media wherein women are able to define themselves, and articulate for themselves those definitions. We wouldn't point to 21 of the feminists moving into the 21st century and define them in terms of "Here's Becky Ballbuster from Iowa City, she's got a great ass and a cute little button nose..." No ma'am. We've gone beyond the limited perceptions of sexism and so we should move beyond the language and perspective of the corporate patriarchy. The Financial News Network may be ultimately impressed with me now that I've proven to them that there's a life beyond the auspices of papa Sony, but do I really have to prove this to _you_?

We have the ability and the opportunity to recognize women not just for the financial successes of their work but for the work itself. We have the facility to judge each other by entirely different criteria than those is imposed upon us by the superstructure of society. We have a view which reaches beyond profit margins into poetry, and a vocabulary to articulate the difference.

Thanks for including me, Ms., really. But just promise me one thing; if I drop dead tomorrow, tell me my grave stone won't read:

ani d.
CEO.

Please let it read:

songwriter
musicmaker
storyteller
freak.

-Ani DiFranco

]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:47:31 -0800 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1080412 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1074540

It was very eerie... reminiscent of 9-11. I watched from my living room window as the traffic to the Lincoln tunnel came to a stand still on the viaduct. People were standing outside their cars and trucks for about and hour. All the traffic was then diverted off the highway and the viaduct was empty! Manhattan was CLOSED ....

AGAIN ! All night long there was a mass exodus of people aimlessly walking from the NY Waterway ferries up the dark local streets, guided by the beam of their flashlights or the voices of the people in front of them.

At some point when it was still light, I decided to start grilling whatever meat I had in my fridge before it went bad. And of course I had to open a bottle of wine!

So what's left for a songwriter to do ... as darkness set in and the wine kicked in, I lit some candles opened up my notebook and started clustering!!!!! Broke out my guitar for the rest of the evening and now I have the start of a few new blackout inspired songs!!

submitted by Phil Risen,
Acoustic rock with a world beat feel and a blues edge

I met Phil at Paul Reisler's Song Camp a few years ago, where he blew me away with one after another of his amazing original songs.

]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:14:46 -0800 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1074540 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1073450

The irritating truth of it is, songwriting takes practice. It seems I never tire of saying it. You can read books & blogs, take classes, go to workshops and subscribe to 'zines, but these are all supplemental to a steady, ongoing, daily practice routine.

It takes practice to fully apply what you are learning, to really internalize it. It takes practice to make sense of some of the stuff you've only read about. And it takes that daily, repetitive 'P' word to find what works for you.

What do I mean when I say to practice writing songs? I simply mean write a song, including the rewrites. Then write another one and so on. It's hands-on learning. It's learning by doing.

This is so important, yet how many times do we overlook it, instead, spending our energies searching for a new technique or new teacher who will give us the secret to songwriting?

]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2009 05:23:21 -0800 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1073450 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1070662

Music is powerful. Our entire physical being is filled with tonal vibrations and rhythms, from the dance of the DNA to the rhythm of our brain waves. Music can slow our heart rates, give us stamina, unlock our emotions, heal our psyches.

Most of us make music because we couldn't bear to do otherwise. Music gives us joy, music give us a sense of self, music gives us fulfillment. Most of us use music naturally and intuitively to support our health and well being. But how much more powerful can we be as musicians and songwriters if we really understand why this art can enhance our lives and those of our audience. I would like to share with you a brief sampling of ideas and techniques that I have learned that have increased my awareness of the power of music.

For those of you wanting more information, I have an online bibliography of related materials.

Rhythm speaks to our old reptilian brain. It helps us organize time and as a result allows us to feel more comfortable and safe. Rhythm can effect our physiology. Heartbeat, breath rate and brain waves will alter in an attempt to entrain (match up) to the rhythm in the music. This is why hard driving music can help us exercise longer and why slower music helps us relax. The use of rhythmic repetition creates a sense of security and strength. Rap music is a good example of this use of rhythm in our popular culture.

Melody and harmony speak to the limbic system, the part of the brain where emotions are processed. Music, especially pieces from the Romantic period, with lush melodies and complex harmonies, can carry a great deal of emotional content and can support the release of emotions in listeners. Instrumental music can give a means of expressing emotions too powerful to speak. Using movement or visualization with instrumental music can also be ways of releasing those emotions.

The voice is the sacred self, the persona, which connects directly, the brain to the heart. Singing nurtures that connection, stimulates emotion and self expression. Singing in a group encourages the development of a sense of self within a larger community. Combining singing, instruments, and movement expands the power of these elements exponentially.

Toning is a way of vibrating the cells to bring them back to optimum rhythmic alignment. This exercise is something to help with stress management. It also helps clear the mind, and heighten listening ability.

Take a deep breath and then let it out in a sigh. Do this again and let the sign be sustained on an "ah" sound. With each breath allow your "ah" to be toned on the pitch that spontaneously occurs. Your intuitive self will choose the pitch you need at that moment. Do not change pitches within a breath. Keep everything relaxed (throat, jaw, shoulders, etc.). Let your authentic voice come out.

This is not singing so don't worry about breath control or tone production. Let your voice work naturally. When toning in groups, don't worry about matching pitches with others. Sometimes the tones will be discordant and other times harmonious. It doesn't matter.

Try this for 10 minutes standing, with eyes closed. On another day pick one each from the three different categories: eyes open or closed; standing, sitting, laying down; ay ee ah, oh oo or hum. Once you have made your choices stick to them for at least 10 minutes but no longer
than 20 minutes per session. Vary them from day to day and see how the different combinations work for you.

- Alice Olsen

The above is an excerpt taken from one of the workshops Alice Olsen has given for music teachers on the power of music. Hear Alice's music at MySpace.

Learn more about Alice and her work at her website." (www.aliceolsen.com)

]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:55:38 -0800 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1070662 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1068357

In my day job I called a computer company's tech support line yesterday and was told by the automated system that the estimated hold time was one hour!

Since it was a free call (1-800) and the on-hold music was good (amazing) and I could do other work on the computer while waiting, I actually stayed on hold for about 45 minutes before I gave up the ghost.

I called back again this morning and was told the exact same thing. The name of the company is Webroot. Good products, terrible phone support.

]]> Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:26:24 -0800 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1068357 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1066986

I got an email from a high school teacher who is teaching teenagers how to write songs. He said they're having trouble starting and asked for some advice. Here is my two cents.

I find that getting started is the hardest part, even for experienced writers. And sometimes the more you know about songwriting, music theory, the music business, etc., the tougher it can be to get started.

I approach 'starting a song' very differently than working on a song that's already started. Once a song is in progress, I can put all sorts of pressure on myself to make it better, but that sort of stress is a real creativity killer in the tender, early stages of a new song.

So the first thing I do is stop taking it all so seriously. Yes, it may turn out to be a serious song. And yes, your career (or your grade) may be riding on it. But it's counterproductive to think about that too early in the process.

So go crazy with your most wild, oddball ideas that any rational person would reject. Now is not the time to be rational. When you're looking at a blank piece of paper, it's time to be weird, silly, out there, gonzo, bananas and basically free to express whatever comes into your head or whatever pops out of your mouth. You can edit later. You can censor later. You can throw out 95% of it later, but that still leaves an inspired 5%.

How can you NOT think about a project seriously, especially when there's a deadline? How do I trick myself into not thinking about it? I just say to myself "I'm writing this one for me and me only, just for the pleasure of writing it. Maybe the next song will be the one to help my career, but right now, the pressure is off."

That way, if I write a terrible song (and 19 out of 20 of mine are terrible), it's cool, because it wasn't meant for anyone else but me and I can just chalk it up to practice.

Or another way to think of it: that's one tune closer to the 1 in 20 that's a keeper.

However, if it turns out good, then of course I don't have to keep it to myself. I can turn on a little pressure and spend the time to work out the details, polish and refine it.

Let the world know you're a proud songwriter with Songwriter's Tip Jar caps, T's, sweatshirts, mouse pads and other swag. Support our efforts to support songwriters. Check out the swag here.

]]> Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:17:19 -0800 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1066986 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1061794

Hide dents with a Songwriter's Tip Jar bumper sticker. ]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:59:30 -0800 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1061794 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1060840

The now defunct Home Recording magazine shared their Top 100 Recording Tips and Tricks with Virtual Studio Systems, makers of Lyricist. Here are a few of the gems.

1. Add the ambience last in your mix. Get it pumping with no verbs or delays, and then introduce them to taste. You'll be surprised at how many boxes you don't need.

3. Nothing digital exists unless it is in at least two places. In other words, until your files, performances, audio, and presets are backed up, they can all be gone in the blink of an eye.

8. Normalization is a great tool, but can work against you if the audio track hasn't been recorded properly (i.e., if there is unwanted noise on the track, it will just get louder when you recompute the overall track level).

17. Bounce tracks only when it's absolutely necessary, especially when you're recording on analog tape. Not only do you lose a generation, but you're also locked into the bounced mixes and about to erase the original tracks! Better to mix to a second machine- even the native 16-bit audio of a computer-- and transfer that back to a new multi track tape.

32. Have your gear set up and ready to go. When inspiration hits, you don't want to lose an hour hooking up your mics or fiddling with MIDI cables.

52. Eschew perfection; respect performance - a year from now you won't hear the "mistakes," but you will notice if the performance is lifeless.

60. Today, virtually all recording musicians are posting music on the web in the form of MP3 files. In order to create an MP3 file, you need an encoder, and there are many shareware versions of MP3 encoders available on the web, with varying degrees of quality. If you care about the audio quality of your music, purchase a full version of your favorite MP3 encoding software. This usually costs only about $30. It will make all the difference in the quality of music that you post on the web. Try Audio Catalyst as well as Music Match encoding software.

65. Want to get that telephone voice sound? One kHz is the magic frequency here. Equalize and filter out all your highs and lows, and just boost the hell out of 1k. You can even overload the channel to get some pleasing distortion.

95. For acoustic guitars, nothing beats a mic. Going direct from your piezo-powered acoustic/electric guitar may be convenient, but as of today, the technology has not been able to surpass a good non-cutaway acoustic (ye olde Martin and a fine condenser mic).

96. Get a chair that doesn't squeak. Almost everything today is made of, or with, plastic. In the case of office chairs, most squeak, especially when you pivot or tilt. An open mic will pick it up, even if you're oblivious to it. Get a solid, non-swiveling chair. Instead of bells and whistles, opt for solid and quiet.

See the complete list of 100 top tips and tricks at Virtual Studio Systems.

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:26:03 -0800 http://virb.com/soulpajamas/posts/text/1060840