7 Ways I Balance Quality And Quantity

Quality vs. quantity — which is better for musicians to focus on?

Some musicians can pump out amazing music on a regular basis, like Bob Dylan in his hey-day.

Others prefer to take their time, years even, to release great music, like Adele.

Here’s the thing: they’re both the ticket to success. Balancing the two is just part of being a musician.

You don’t have to choose quality over quantity, or quantity over quality.

I learned this lesson the hard way.

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The Road To Becoming A Great Composer

Music is a universal language that creative people have used to express their thoughts for centuries. Crafting a well-composed piece of music is challenging, as there are many practical and theoretical factors to consider. 

While the old joke about how to get to Carnegie Hall is true - you do have to practice - there are other incremental steps you can take to sharpen your skills as a composer. Here are five things you can start doing today to become a great composer.

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3 Tips For Video Game Score Composers

Composing for video games is much like composing music for other productions. However, it is also a unique and relatively recent form of musical expression that requires its own approach in many ways. This can be a difficult niche to break into, but success can be extraordinarily satisfying. These three tips should help set you on the right path.

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10 Unlikely Blogs Where Songwriters Should Seek Inspiration

Guest post by Sammy Hakim. This article originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper

One of the questions I get asked most frequently as a professional songwriter is: “How do you stay inspired when writing every day?” And it’s a valid question — one with multiple answers!

Songwriters like me often draw from personal life and experience, or from the experiences of those around us; which is probably true of almost any writer in any literary format. But we may also get inspired by and invested in the characters in TV shows, films, and books as well. In fact, it is completely possible to get inspired by anything and everything in the world around you as a creative person. As long as you’re looking for it…

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How To Write A Hit in 2019 - Old Town Road (Deconstructed)

Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’ has been sitting comfortably on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for over 12 weeks now. 

In this video, we break down some of the songwriting, production, and marketing techniques used to make this such a popular song in 2019, and how they can be used for any style of music in order to make it more commercially viable.

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10 Best Songs For Writers And About Writing: The Ultimate Writing Experience

Resistance is the number one enemy for most writers. Every writer knows that the hardest part about writing is not in writing itself but the ability to sit down and start. Some writers plan their work extremely well but they are big failures when it comes to execution.

Sitting down to write is not easy. And even if you manage to sit down, starting your task or project is daunting. Writers who don’t fight resistant never achieve anything worthwhile.

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Top 5 Things To Know About Marijuana And Songwriting.

Does marijuana boost creativity and help you become a better songwriter?

A recent study showed that cannabis users have a more exceptional convergent thinking ability than non-users. As a professional songwriter, you may use cannabis on a regular basis, but you need to learn several lessons before hitting that good kush.

Not all strains are made equal in terms of creativity. One may require to spend a reasonable amount of time experimenting with different strains and write down their effects, such as how long it takes to onset, how long the effects last, and if there are any side effects. Part of the process of this experimentation may include writing a paragraph while “under the influence.”

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Nick Cave’s 9 Primary Bedevilments Of Creativity

Guest post by Will Marshall. This article originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper

Over the last few decades, there have been few songwriters as enduring or influential as Nick Cave. Originally of the anarchically violent post-punk band The Birthday Party, he subsequently formed the seminal Bad Seeds and has been releasing critically acclaimed music for four decades. He’s also a poet, a novelist, a screenwriter, and a film composer, sharing as much creative DNA with authors and visual artists as his cohorts in the post-punk movement.

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How To Write A Song In A Single Day

Guest post by Sammy Hakim. This article originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper.

You’re sitting down in your home studio with a cup of coffee in your hand, and your guitar on your lap, and it hits you: writer’s block. Rather than power through it, it makes more sense to take a day off and find a way to get re-inspired, right?

Wrong.

Ask any writer in Nashville and you’ll quickly find out that waiting for inspiration can be a quick death to your career as a songwriter. In fact, even in the Los Angeles and New York markets, writers can often have between one and four co-writing sessions a day — meaning that if they can’t write, they might not be paid.

So how do you train yourself to be able to write a song a day?

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5 Reasons To Attend Cedarsong Songwriting Retreat: South Of Nashville

CedarSong Songwriting retreat is a unique experience of likeminded individuals looking to brush up on skills and be inspired to write the next hit song. August 15 - 19 at Cedars of Lebanon State Park.

Seasoned writers and beginners alike will gain the skills to take their writing to the next level with internationally acclaimed songwriters Suzahn Fiering and Victoria Banks among a community of creative artists.

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How To Write A Song, 5 Unconventional Tips

Today we’re going to look at how to write a song. This won’t be your typical guide on songwriting though, there are already plenty of those floating around the internet.

Instead, I’m going to give you some unconventional songwriting tips that will help get you out of that beginner stage. Some of these ideas might sound bizarre initially, but give them a chance and I promise you your songwriting will benefit.

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How To Stay In Love With The Craft Of Songwriting

This post by Caleb J. Murphy originally appeared on the Bandzoogle Blog. 

I hate songwriting when things aren’t flowing.

Okay, that’s not totally true. I always love the craft of songwriting, but I get super frustrated when nothing is showing up even though I am. When I’ve been working on a song for months or even years and it’s not finished, I feel like giving up.

So to help you (and me) stay in love with the craft of songwriting, here are some things you can do.

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Eat, Sleep, Write: 5 Useful Apps For Every Musician/Songwriter

Smartphone apps are truly changing the world. Music apps have been used in music education for some time, but most of them only cover the basics. Instead of just teaching you the basics, there are many apps that can help you find inspiration and facilitate your entire recording process.

To help you write and records more songs, we’ve assembled this list of the 5 most useful apps that every musician needs. It might take some time to get used to utilizing apps to boost your creations, but they’re incredibly helpful in the long run. Add them to your daily writing/recording routine and you will see massive improvements.

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Could Strict Copyright Laws Stifle Creativity And Discourage Originality?

Back in March of 2015, Pharrell Williams claimed that the Blurred Lines copyright lawsuit will stifle creativity. Speaking for the first time since a jury determined that he and Robin Thicke copied Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got to give it up’. He explained: “The verdict handicaps any creator out there who is making something hat might be inspired by something else. This applies to fashion, music design…anything. If we lose our freedom to be inspired, we’re going to look up one day and the entertainment industry as we know it will be frozen in litigation. This is about protecting the intellectual rights of people who have ideas.”

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