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I was reading about Rivers Cuomo in the crap/not crap section, and I thought that whole mathematical analysis of hit songs thing was a very unappealing, cold, inorganic, not-my-type-of-thing sort of method. Since I read that, however, I've had a mounting curiosity as to 'how' certain songs I enjoy were first contrived.

I remember reading that Wayne Coyne began writing Yoshimi BTPR with a hand held tape recorder, singing the chorus to what would become _It's Summertime_ (I think that's the song's correct title, anyway.) The album has definately evolved a bit since its magnetic infancy.

Anyone have any stories regarding composition?

Most of my songs evolve out of stumbling across a good idea while messing around. Somtimes I write in my home studio by setting up a loop then adding and removing parts until I like the result. I'll write a song using standard chords, then come up with a bass line I like, then eliminate the standard guitar chords and write a new guitar part. the result is a chordially driven piece with all the chords implied by the parts rather thn just standardly and overtly played.

Some of my bands we just got three or four guys in a room and played 'til we liked a part and built off that.

I have a project called Cartographer where I write songs based off conceptual ideas rather than strictly musical. I'll decide I wan't a 2 minute song that has one part for 1:50 then splits and completely changes for the last 10 seconds before it abruptly ends.

I just try whatever and keep what I like and don't keep what I do not like.

Cheers,
ben adrian

Another good question would be, "which of the songwriting techniques that you use produces the highest quality results?" Do you like the chord driven stuff more, or do you like your "Cartographer" stuff more? And which is more consistent?

I'm just curious.

This is how I work:

I put four large coins in a large, deep plate. I fill that plate with an 1/8" of tepid water.

I place the four coins in a square pattern, at direct right angles of one another, from the center of the plate.

I take a thin string, about a foot long, and dangle it from my mouth, anchoring it with the space between my two front teeth.

On the other end of the string, I tie a horse fly.

I slowly drop the fly onto the surface of the water.

According to the direction of the fly, I write the first note.

Then I get bored and just write a chord progression like E/G/A real fast, like punk rock or some shit.l

No one way of writing songs has really given me significantly higher results. It depends on my mood, too, and what I'm trying to acheive. If I want to be obtuse or challenging or just an asshole, cartographer is more fun. If I want creative satisfaction or I'm looking to tell a story, or if I want to actually be emotive, then that, for me, comes from a more structured and refined process.

I'd say the concept followed by song process is more consistent, because I don't worry about the music as much as I do with other ways of writing songs. I start off with a final concept and just come up with ideas to meet the final concept. I've never not finished a song, though yes, some have been crap. but Cartographer is more a band about crowd interaction and comfort/discomfort, as well as dumb spectacle. Also, the band is just me and a drum machine, so I never have to come to a coconcensus with other band members.

The most rewarding musical experiences come from playing with good friends and good musicians. Also, getting my pieces played by string ensembles when I was in composition class was really exciting, but it's only happened twice.

Cheers,

ben adrian

When I write on my own, I usually figure out guitar riffs on bass (I'm more technically proficient on bass, so I tend not to limit myself quite as much) and then transfer them onto guitar. Drum machines can also be an excellent source for inspiration, especially if you get them to do more than just keep a beat.

If I'm with my band, we can usually put together a song in about an hour by just improvising. Between the three of us, someone's bound to have a good idea.

I usually get the basic ideas for songs by messing around on my acoustic guitar. It is the work horse/drawing board for my music. I find something I like, build off of it... and bring it to my band. Where it gets run through the mill and comes out differently than I could have ever imagined. It's great how you write something and get a strong sense of where you want the music to go... and then you jam with someone else, and the parts get totally taken out of context and take on an entirely new function.

Sometimes I will hear something I really like, and try to rip it off. Whenever I do that... I never even get close to a rip off. I just like to feed off the motivation that great music gives me. I rely on the excitement that I get from other peoples music to stimulate my creativity. It's just what works for me.

I used to use this technique sometimes known as serialism. It's kind of like a mathematical approach to composing. But I used to make it more of a probability game. It's actually quite fun.

*You get 12 little pieces of paper, and write a note name on each of them. So that you end up with one piece of paper for each note.
Then you put the notes in a hat and shake it up. You now have equal odds that you will randomly pick out any of the 12 tones. So now you pick a note out of the hat, and write it down. You repeat this random selection over and over, until you have quite a few notes written down. Now you write this out on a musical staff so that you have this long, fucked up, atonal melody. Now perform on piano, guitar, bass... just whatever.

There will be parts that you don't like, but there will be parts that you do like as well. And you just take what you like and build off of it (ie imply chords, stack notes... etc). It's a free for all... Have fun with it!

strum chords..make adjustments to chords (ie. if it sounds to happy, take a borrowed/minor/etc chords). make a vocal melody over progression.

decide when the song is boring to my ear. at that point, make a change. if the song never bores me, i build on the idea for a more grand resolution.

when the music is done, write words.