jfv wrote: Thu Apr 03, 2025 8:38 am

Shananiganz wrote: Thu Apr 03, 2025 4:30 am I feel like its all on me to make things work, to motivate people and get them to communicate, but I have to stop thinking like that, I can't carry four other grown ass men.

I can definitely relate to this. At the end of 2021, I didn't have the motivation or patience to arrange the schedules of three people anymore. That, more than anything, explains our hiatus since then.

I have had thoughts about doing a recording project at home by myself as I do have all of the equipment to do so and can sort of serviceably play each instrument. But I have had writer's block since about 2006.

Sounds like people here are ripe for an collaborative project over the internet!

cakes wrote: Thu Apr 03, 2025 10:35 am

jfv wrote: Thu Apr 03, 2025 8:38 am

Shananiganz wrote: Thu Apr 03, 2025 4:30 am I feel like its all on me to make things work, to motivate people and get them to communicate, but I have to stop thinking like that, I can't carry four other grown ass men.

I can definitely relate to this. At the end of 2021, I didn't have the motivation or patience to arrange the schedules of three people anymore. That, more than anything, explains our hiatus since then.

I have had thoughts about doing a recording project at home by myself as I do have all of the equipment to do so and can sort of serviceably play each instrument. But I have had writer's block since about 2006.

Sounds like people here are ripe for an collaborative project over the internet!

Well, shit, I might try this if somebody needs a bass player. I'm aluminum-challenged (ie. don't got one) but have assortment of other stuff and can wank some fretless (but I don't have to).

Song writers! How much do you typically write your songs before showing them to the rest? Do you demo them with drums and bass parts or is it just a bare bones strummy singy type of deal? Do you write down the chords or do they have to figure them out?
And how does it go from there?

Shananiganz wrote: Fri Apr 04, 2025 3:04 am Song writers! How much do you typically write your songs before showing them to the rest? Do you demo them with drums and bass parts or is it just a bare bones strummy singy type of deal? Do you write down the chords or do they have to figure them out?
And how does it go from there?

Depends. Sometimes I have a whole idea for a song, and other times I have parts. I generally don't write for the other instruments, but if someone is struggling to find their part, I'll have an idea for them to work with.

I don't write anything down, I only record for myself and then play it on guitar for the band.

Shananiganz wrote: Fri Apr 04, 2025 3:04 am Song writers! How much do you typically write your songs before showing them to the rest? Do you demo them with drums and bass parts or is it just a bare bones strummy singy type of deal? Do you write down the chords or do they have to figure them out?
And how does it go from there?

When things in my band were the most productive, the two main songwriters would demo songs by ourselves separately on 4-track and then bring them to the band.
Guitar and vocals at a minimum. Occasionally I might include a second guitar or bass track. Though I had the ability to lay down basic drum tracks, the amount of effort to do so was usually too much for a demo. Most of my songs were pretty easy to write out the lyrics and chords, so I would provide that as well.

Where it goes from there varied drastically, depending on the song. There are a handful of songs that we recorded the very first band take at practice that ended up sounding just like the finished product. There were others that were significantly reworked. And probably 30-50% were attempted once or twice and then forgotten.

Shananiganz wrote: Fri Apr 04, 2025 3:04 am Song writers! How much do you typically write your songs before showing them to the rest? Do you demo them with drums and bass parts or is it just a bare bones strummy singy type of deal? Do you write down the chords or do they have to figure them out?
And how does it go from there?

In the initial stage of the band I had a bunch of stuff recorded from the pandemic that was on my Bandcamp (fully arranged with fake drums), as well as a batch of demos from the previous version of the band. Pretty much said “hey listen to this” and we’d work the arrangements out in practice. I’d also produce demos in the same manner as the pandemic-era stuff to give to the band.

For this latest batch, it was a mix of pre-demoed stuff, stuff we’d jam out on in practice, songs that at the start were just me singing and on guitar and then we’d arrange it from there, and for a couple songs my bassist would bring a bassline and we’d develop things around that. We tend to record song ideas on our phones on guitar or bass and text them to each other, and it looks like for the next batch of songs I want to do a lot more stuff that’s growing from small ideas that me or someone else brings in and we create something around that.

(If I feel like a particular song I’m bringing is gonna be weird I’ll work out the chords to give to my bassist but otherwise we work it out in practice.)

Most of my bands have had someone bring basic chords and melody with lyrics and then we would arrange stuff forever, maybe come up with new parts and trying different ideas.
A lot of composing was done by me and our singer, drinking coffee and smoking on his balcony with an acoustic guitar. I've noticed a significant drop in creativity since I quit smoking some ten or eleven years ago.

I've noticed that I can't write chord changes I will feel comfortable coming up with a satisfactory bassline.
And I don't like to play the bass riffs I come up with noodling on my own. They're probably too short and feel too repetitive.

We (like many here) are older and have families and shit, so when we get together we like to get stuff done. We only meet every other week.

When I bring something new to the band I either demo it out almost completely with a drum machine, basic bass part, a guitar part, and if I want to sing it, the vocal line OR if I dont have a full idea I do a guitar part with an A & B section. Sometimes the other guitar player or bass player will then send back an idea for a part C, or not, and then we have something to work towards in the room. I usually send the ideas to the band on our off week, so everyone has time to figure something out or get ideas for input. The demos are NEVER in stone, and we usually tear them apart and rearrange/compose in the room. Having some bedrock to work from helps not to have one guy trying to figure out a part while the rest of us wait.

The other guitar player/singer, usually does the same, but his demos are usually vocals and guitar part, with a metronome or kick just to give us an idea for rhythm.

Sometimes we jam and find something in the room, we will record the room (real basic) and then I send that to the guys after practice, so we can all remember and work towards the next part.

We take the "homework" part of the band pretty serious, it is something I was never great about in my 20s, but nowadays it really works for us.

Shananiganz wrote: Fri Apr 04, 2025 3:04 am Song writers! How much do you typically write your songs before showing them to the rest? Do you demo them with drums and bass parts or is it just a bare bones strummy singy type of deal? Do you write down the chords or do they have to figure them out?
And how does it go from there?

While we only practice one night every week or so, I like to spend multiple nights each week in our practice spot where I can actually turn up the volume a little, which tends to get me more inspired. Usually after messing around playing some familiar riffs, an original riff or part will eventually jump out and, after playing it a few dozen times, I'll record it on my phone. Repeat, repeat, repeat, then try to figure out how (if possible) to tie all the pieces together and, if it works, I'll record that. For the most part during this part of the process I'm hearing a mostly completed song with all of the other instruments and where the vocals should be in my head so, when I record, I stand close to my phone so that the phone mic picks up the acoustic rhythm of my strumming and how hard or softly I'm hitting the strings along with the amplified signal, which helps everyone (especially the drummer) figure out where the accents are, where there should be dynamics happening, etc. I upload it and send to the band, and then we work on it together in the room at the following practice. Our vocalist records all of these practices on her phone so she can then take that home and write lyrics on her own time. It seems to work.

Just spent the better part of a fortnight putting together a compilation of tracks I've made with other people, in bands and side projects, as well as alone. It spans 26 years of plugging away and sounds pretty good as a varied sequence. I could not imagine playing in a live band under present circumstances. Just getting something like this release together was grueling at times. Maybe someday when there are fewer interruptions and there's less tedium and I have more space, and nothing going on in other mediums, I could be an aged band dude. Sure. MAYBE. But the sheer logistics aren't feasible now. And touring as one nears fifty--in this current political reality--I almost feel queasy thinking about it. I do still have an interest in new music, but it often feels like my tastes and emphasis are off to the side of what others are doing; I can't even pretend to have time for a lot of what's going on. It's like the literary and the film world: am curious, but only to a point; trying to be fully vigilant feels like a fool's errand. I prefer getting lost in my own projects. Barring interruptions!!

[Edited for spelling.]