I've been down for the past week or so. I've been thinking about how music took me in this past year. I'm wondering how everyone writes songs. Do you guys plan ahead or have a blueprint structure of how each of your songs go? Do you guys work on the instrumentals before the vocals itself or the vocals first? Do you guys basically do whatever that comes to mind? Is there a specific genre/style you guys sing only and solely for? I'm basically a newbie and I would here from everyone. It might also be a very good way to get to know each other's musical background as well as personal background better. Hope to hear from you guys. I'm not looking for what's right and what's not, so please feel free to say even the most ridiculous things. More importantly have fun!

i've just finished my first song. the title is "Come Home". i wrote that when thinking about my girlfriend who got a scholarship to America. i missed her soooo much iloveyou :sry . she was the greatest girl in the world to me after yui and before my mom. :sry . when i was thinking of her i suddenly had an idea for a song. of course i never made a song before then. but when the inspiration kicks in, i just can't stop perfecting it. :nah . in the end it's done and all my friends liked it. and you know what, my friends mostly the girls think that i'm a romantic guy. of course my heart satys with Nadira(my girlfriend) :cool hehehe....

i think you should start finding your own source of inspiration first and then find the tunes that reflect your inspiration or felling. then you you make your lyrics. that's what i do. :sry

good luck!!!

erm, i was a part time song writer/producer assistant. i used to help local bands write stuff for a fee. but later some songs got personal and so didn't 'sell' songs anymore. so instead, i wrote songs for ppl for free or dedicated them to individials. been writing for like 2 years and a bit i think. lately, i've been writing stuff about homesickness and leaving home etc. everything's personal i guess. i usually write a chord sequence or riff before anything else, then comes the melody. once im happy with the melody or melodies, then i put lyrics in. but then i usually know what im gonna write about even before i start to structure the chords. the longest time it took me to write a song is forever, lol still writing something from 2 years ago. the shortest time for completing a full song was 3 hours. chords came, melody came and then lyrics just spilled out. weird experience.

really? XD

anyways... im like a newbie to songwriting too~
cuz like... when i was grade 4 i luved to write poems and evrything... when my bro told me he wrote some songs(not sure if its true) i thought "anything HE can do... I CAN DO TOO!" XD

<3so i decided to try... ~
(but until now ive completely forgotten about it so maybe ill start again XD when i have time)

i realized i sucked at it though... u know me... my thoughts are very random... and im not so good at explaining things... especially my thoughts T__T

my classmate are good at that especially Melody... :cat

I try to write a song and i've made it but....i never shared it to my friends neither to my family..im shy..and i know that its not so good
:sry

its started when im bored and think about my friends..about what where doing...
and the content of the song is true,very,very true... :sry :cat

im happy that i can make a song...but i wont ever do it again

Cool stuff guys!

@you_and_i: You're one lucky guy. Cherish what you have forever.

@zenaku: Wow that's very amazing. I know you're getting a music major and all but it's still amazes me. I'd like to learn from you. Haha . . .

@pinky: Sometimes words just cannot describe how you feel, that's why it's music. You don't necessarily need words or lyrics to describe your emotions. You can accomplish that just by the melody of the song. Don't give up. I'm sure no one literally sucks, maybe some just know slightly more than another person.

@led_fran: I see. You're one of those one time people. That's fine. But the feeling of being accomplished is just great, isn't it? I'm sure passion will drive all of us.

I'd like to hear more. There are much more songwriters on this forum than just these 4 people. Come on out and express yourself.

haha alright

well for me, i've been writing for like three years but not all of it is any good tho haha. music for me is a way of expression. often alot of peopel have a hard time expressing their feelings and deeper inner thoughts. and music when other people listen to it allows them to relate and go yeah thats exaclty wt im thinking. in a way we can express what they think too, as well as ur own feelings and thoughts

i usually have no strucutre just write off of intuition and inspiration. first find a few chords, find a progression and just keep playing then i usually start humming a melody to it.

and i tend to forget so i have to record myself in the process haha. and then i put lyrics in

but i found that my good songs comes when im not making hte melody first haha. it comes together lmao... like i start singing the melody but i sing words to it just coming out of my mouth randomly, and i write these things down, work through verse by verse chorus by chorus. and then somehow i have lyrics to it lol it works, suprisingly for me. i think tahts when u truly have inspiration and it comes completely from intution

i've read books on songwriting. for lyric writing many sed you must plan oout ur song or else it wont make alot of sense or flow. of course u have those times where it just comese out of intuition without need for planning. but int he long run as u keep writing songs, many of ur songs must be planned, or ull hit a roadblock

its like writing a story or essay plan out the story/idea ur trying to express. usually verse tells a story or parts of the main idea. and then the chorus is like the thesis the main idea, the completely idea, highlighted.

Also, one tip i got, although many dont follow this, but it completely makes sense. is to make up a title first. one phrase to descrbe the topic ur on. so ur thoughts will focus on it and from that title if its a good one, inspiration will flow from it

also the first draft for lyrics, must be completely intuition. DONT ever stop and think about it, and think wow taht was a horrible line, and then go about changing it and all taht, that will only block ur creative processes. u need to write down stuff like brainstorming, all ur thoughts about the subjects, withotu stopping. and then when u stop and look at it, u realize wow that wasnt that bad, the whole thing makes sense. infact when u use intuition often the best lines come out, cuz it becomes natural, and u open ur mind up to let all ur creativity flow out.

Also, like YUI write LOTS of poems keep writing poems no matter how bad it is, and ull get better at it, and ur lyrics will improve. often u go back to ur poems and u find good song ideas from it

For melody... its also intuition, depending on what type of music u like, or wt u sing, u make the melody. i found taht my music is always inspired from different artists. when i was in my punk phase, my music was all punk, in rock, it was all rock, now its more pop/pop rock, and its alot softer and poppish. for my voice pop fits the best so im sticking with it

chords, u gotta know ur theory so u know in which key which chords go nice together and stuff. if u know ur scales, u are able to make up great chords, and use good chords, that arent just boring and over done a billion times

Well said yukio. I would really like to hear one of your songs since you said you have some good songs. I'm not teasing you in anyway. I'm sure all of us would love to hear it. There should be no competition here. No no*shakes head*. This thread is solely for discussion and expressing your techniques with or without backing information. I think you should really put up one of your songs.

heheheh. one day ill show u, when im ready hahaha. well let me get my condenser mic first then ill have better recordings

btw... i havent heard ur clips yet soo... haha

Yeah about that yukio . . . You're the more experienced singer and guitarist so please do show and tell. The rest will sit back and enjoy and even possibly learn some things. "Everyone cheer for yukio!" *yukio . . . yukio . . . yukio!*

ive always tried to write a song, but sometimes i give up coz i can't seem to put the song in tune (and some times, i dont know what lyrics is to fit for the song)...

I try to listen to musics that i like but i keep saying to myself ''i want people to relate in the lyrics, i want it to have a cool tune, etc.''

I there anyone here who can teach me how to write a song ? pls ? i really wanna learn how to write one...

Yukio, we gotta hear your originals on saturday during the jamming session. btw, where can i get a condenser mic in toronto? im kinda using this crappy built in one right now lol.

this is a really cool thread.. and i love the idea that we can all share our own thoughts and experiences in song writing.. XD (and yes, NO COMPETITION... definitely..)

my song writing is pretty much similar to yukio's... no joke.. but i guess there are many others who have similar ways of writing songs / music...

usually, i don't go looking for "an ideal song" to make.. i wait for the song to come to me.. meaning that, if the feeling comes, then it comes..

a lot of times, i write on experience, other times, it's stories that i experience in a dream, and once and while, it'll be a subject that i feel really strongly about (war, hate, conformity, etc...)

in some of my songs, actually, i try to get a certain message across to the audience.. a positive message for that matter...

and for the most part, i want my music to make people feel good, as well as myself..

BUT, i noticed that what ever mood you are in (happy, depressed, angry), your sound will connect and produce a similar vibe... so when i'm depressed, i use a lot of minor chords, when i'm happy, i use a lot of majors and so on and so forth.. of course, it's not intentional.. it just reacts with my feelings or attitude..

gahh, that's what i love about playing guitar and just music in general... i really believe that this is the greatest form of expression!

PEACE@

edit: well, for those people starting out or who want to write songs but are having a hard time, (i dunno if i'm the right person to give advice but..)

well for lyrics, i guess just think about a major event that happened to you in your life (someone leaving or going away in your life, struggles that you are experiencing at the moment, friendships, hardships, all those "ships", the ever popular "love" experience, or "crush" feelings, etc....)

but yea... just start writing.. even IF you think "ah man, this sounds terrible.. it doesn't even rhyme!"

that doesn't matter! lyrics and poems DON'T have to rhyme... it's the feeling that counts and that we understand... also, if you keep on writing, no matter what it is, you're bound to get better and better!

if you're still stuck on writing out your experiences, do it the easy way.. write about a dream you had.. who was in it? what happened?

that's the great thing about lyrics and poems.. the diversity.. it can be about anything and there are no rules, no restrictions..

just your word..

for music , try playing around with different chord progressions until you find the ones you like... then just stick with it.. this comes, i believe, from just "jamming".. it could take minutes, it could take hours, it could take days... but don't get discouraged right away! it's different for everybody.. just go at your own pace, don't rush it, and when the music comes to you, you'll know it..

even when you're playing songs by your favorite artist, and you like some of the chords you hear, you can borrow some of those chords and mix them together with chords you thought up or that came from another song..

anyway, most importantly, just jam..

alright, well.. those were my two cents.. i hope it reached some people..

good luck!

thank you guys SO much T___T

<3Yukio and ROxy

i tried writing again and it was VERY random but... i tried...
anyways i forgot the melody to it so i gotta make up one again XP

Thanks for the advices guys ^_____^. Later before i go to sleep, im gonna start making a song...im gonna keep in mind what you guys said...

i think im gonna make it a bit deep...

@Roxy: That was very deep man. I love the way you're able to explain in a way we can all understand. Also thanks for the advice!

@Riyu: That's good to hear. It seems as if Roxy has reached someone if not everyone. We would all love to hear your song!

@Pinky: I didn't get a <3. :'( Good luck with your song too!

Hey guys. I have some questions. Does anyone use any form of music studio software to add sounds into their songs? What I mean by music studio software is like ACID, Fruity Loops, and etc. This is because I'm not equiped with instruments such as drums, piano, violin, cello, and etc. I just want to be able to have access to these sounds. I'm a beginner at this though but I have made some ACID projects and they pretty much stink because I overused so much of everything because I was limited to loop files. If anyone has any recommendations, I would love to hear them. I pretty much want access to orchestral and piano sounds. Thanks guys!

did u want one? :sry

<3JustAnotherYUILover~

haha. nope i dont have those kinda software... iuno, cuz i dont really need those sounds yet... i gotta get past the acoustic plus singing stage first hahaha. i need my condenser. with my condenser i can record my drums too heheheh. and electric and everything yeyyy...oh back to the software... from wat i know those kinda software if u want good quality stuff that actually sounds like those instruments i think its pretty darn expensive. i see these like 500 dollar audio software... haha... if u have a mac i think garage band could do a bit of that... iuno if it has like orchestral sounds tho. oh for drums check online. i think i googled once and found a drum loop effect thing... mayb u can edit the loops on a program like audacity put them together and stuf... oO iuno havent gotten that far yet

@justanotheryuilover: errr hahaha.... mayb someday... not till i get my condenser mic

@zenaku: u can get some at long and mcquade, the markham road one is pretty good, which is where im heading for mine. i think the big stores have time steve's, cosmos? i think thye have audio stuff too... about performing originals hahaha im pretty shy about doing my songs live haha... mayb.. lol if im in the mood haha

@Riyu: one thing thats really important is to NOT think those thoughts about how u want ur lyrics to relate and stuff, or a cool tune. its important to NOT think at all and just write from intuition. from ur true feelings. often if u can write ur true feelings, they relate to others cuz others have gone thourhg the similar things. just expressurself. for melodies, dont thinka bout a cool tune, cuz that as i sed before limits ur creative process. ull spend alot of time stopping and going i dont like that, that sounds bad and not get anything done. most of the time if u stop and do that, u think the stuff u just made is crap, cuz u can never get perfection. no matter how good it is to others, to urself its crap haha. tahts soooooo true haha. good luck songwriting!!

i sent some lyrics to my bestfriend and she said its great but i think it sucks XP

i always seem to think that shes just trying to be nice to me cuz shes my best friend and all... XD

:cat

So how are your songs coming along guys? I'm so confused haha . . . I should probably just stop thinking about it and use whatever comes to my head. :sry

Well ACIDPro lets you do that and there are many free samples online. I've made a short piece. Probably not that great but here it is for anyone that is interested. I'm trying to do something Classical. I lack the voice needed for Rock.

EDIT: Link removed by JustAnotherYUILover

Okay so some playing around with loops on ACIDPro led to this:http://www.mediafire.com/?0znp9n5b4cd

It's incomplete but please listen to it. Give me feedback.

yea i lack the voice for rock, but i still do rock type music because i can sing in a pop style.. like pop punk stuff. and of course u can do acoustic style stuff and like YUI, her voice isnt really rock... well i guess its also cuz im rock based trained lol, guitars drums and stuff lol

the ACIDPro stuff sounds pretty coolll. but i dont like classical much so haha. btw, is that u singing... oO

yes and write intuitively never think about it

@yukio:Nah that's not me singing. I can't hit that note for my life. Lol. Why don't you like classical?

How can you say no to this?
Jesse Nemitz's cover of You Raise Me Up

Jesse Nemitz inspires me to sing so much. Just listen to his mixed voice. It sounds so powerful. He blends registers like second nature.

Listen to this too
Jesse Nemitz before clip

I've posted these clips before on my old singing thread. But you're new so I'll share them with you as well yukio. Those were the same singers. Don't believe? Look at that transformation!