Interlude - Tools of the Trade

As I have mentioned, I'm not a classically trained musician. I don't have perfect pitch or synesthesia (that'd be cool). I can read music (albeit very slowly) and know next to nothing about music theory. So, how do I write?

The most important thing is catching inspiration when it strikes. That haunting melody that you wake up to could be the next "Yesterday" (which incidentally, is the origin of that song). The half-baked line that you thought of while in line at the DMV could be a striking centerpiece for your new song.

But if you forget, these brilliant ideas are gone. Maybe you'll get lucky and think of it again, but more often than not, you don't have enough brain cells to retain where you parked your car let alone the opening lines of the Great American Novel (tm). So, how does one capture lightning in a bottle?

First, you need a notebook. I have been using a Moleskine notebook for about 10 years. They're sturdy and come in a wide variety of styles and layouts. For my purposes, I use a hardcover, line-ruled pocket-sized. It's very important to keep this notebook close by at all times so smaller is better. I keep mine in my pocket along with a pencil or pen. Anytime I have an idea, be it rolling out of bed or walking down the street, I jot it down in here.

Just opening to a random page in my current notebook

I don't wanna be free

These potential lyrics started with just the last line. I have no idea where or when it occured to me, but I do know my general feeling at the time; one of the loneliness of freedom and being single.

I would love to be saved/or barring that simply enslaved/oh how I would behave/you wait and see/I would make the bestest pet/that you've boosted yet/I don't wanna be free

Going back, I've expanded and notated the heck out of this line. You can see that there's a meter developing and even a sort of musical style that's all ready making itself known (swingin').

Usually, by this point the song has sort of "written itself" meaning the melody or chords have been made clear (to me) by the lyrics. Now it's just a matter of polishing up the lyrics and chords before laying down a rough recording or demo.

Alright, well that works for lyrics. What about the music?

You need some sort of portable audio recorder. For years, I kept a micro cassette recorder in my car. Anytime I would have a little melody bouncing around in my head, I would lay it down on there. This was also handy when I would be driving and have an idea that I didn't want to pull over and write in my notebook. Nowadays, I use an Olympus voice recorder. It's digital (and thus, much easier to get material off of it and onto my computer) and it has a metric ton of storage space (8gb). I even use it when I'm trying to lay something down quickly and don't want to set up my full rig.

Every few weeks, I listen to stuff I've recorded and see if anything pops out at me. A lot of it is meandering humming and whistling but every once in a while, a melody that I've recorded takes on its' on life; to me that is an indicator of potential. Many of my songs started out in this state; Bella Donna, Agnes, No Time and more.

Sometimes, I will take an orphan melody or lyrics and put them together. But most of the time, it's already clear what the melody is for those lyrics or vice-versa.

So if I can distill my process into 3 general steps.

1. Capture inspiration when it strikes using notebooks and audio recorders.
2. Review material seperating the wheat from the chaff. (trust your instincts here)
3. Synthesize the good stuff together to make a song!

Soon, we'll get back to the songs themselves.