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March 24, 2009
Just One Voice
I’m starting work this week on a major recording project with an artist who is producing two CDs worth of material in one go. She has just sent me several songs to work with, and all I have received is a recording of her singing her melodies and lyrics, with no accompaniment. It is my job to find chord progressions to go with her melodies, create the arrangements, and produce the backing tracks for her to sing to. She will then come down to Florida and stay with us for a while to record her vocals.
Sometimes songwriters, who write in this seemingly primitive fashion, where they just sing a tune without even playing the guitar or piano, actually come up with better melodies than songwriters who write “on the guitar” or “on the piano.”
It’s not too hard to see how that might happen. A guitar player or piano player may get so caught up playing the riff or chord progression he or she came up with, that the “melody” becomes whatever fits over those chords. Then, if you remove the accompaniment, the melody turns out to be fragmented, unmemorable, even a little boring.
A great many songs today are built from the “bottom up” in the studio. Everything starts with a drum loop, or a loop with a chord progression. The track is constructed, parts are added, and often the last thing written is the melody. It’s easy to hide a weak melody with an attention-grabbing track! (Often the lyrics are pretty flabby as well.)
Do you want a challenge for your songwriting? Try writing a complete song “acapella,” that is, entirely without accompaniment. Challenge yourself to come up with a song that stands completely on its melody and lyric content. Trust me, its not easy, but it can be done.
I can help you with the chords!
Posted by leonolguin at March 24, 2009 10:53 AM
Comments
I'll take that challenge Leon. Today!
Posted by: Sybil Gage at March 28, 2009 12:53 PM