Not sure if this is the right place, but it's here anyway :)
It's confession time!!
Just right now I feel a bit of a fraud being on this forum. I can't play too well, can't sing, and can't come up with melodies too well either. About all I can do is occaissionaly come up with a few maybe ( sometimes) halfway reasonable lyrics. Although I've been writing things for quite a while, turning them into songs, and collaboration, is new to me.
The thing is, I'm 54, been fiddling around with the guitar on and off for a long time now, and it may be too late to get much better, so probably won't be able to contribute much to the music side of things.
I'll post a couple of lyrics, with the general style/feel of how I think they should sound and see what happens.
If the general consensus is that I'd be better off bowing out for a while 'till ( hopefully) my playing and stuff gets a little bit better, I'll go along with that.
I know this sounds a bit self-pitying, but it's really not, just self-honesty and realistic, seeing what just about all the rest of you can do musically, and I'm sure I'll never come close to that.
I'll be posting some lyrics in ' collaborations ' in the next day or two. If you want, have a look and let me know what you think, and maybe do something with them? It's more than possible my words aren't as good as I think some of them are either.
Please, one thing I ask is BE HONEST, I won't take offence :).
Bollocks!!! To me, and I am sure everybody else, this forum is about micro recorders, the MBR in particular, making music with it, collaborating with others on it, and having fun doing all the above. I see no rule posted here that you have to be some sort of virtuoso!!!! Hell, I know damm well I'm not, especially compared to some of the guys on here, but I post anyway 'cos I enjoy it. You put your stuff up mate, dont worry about how bad you think it is. It is a great learning process apart from anything else, honest feedback and good advice will help you overcome your self perceived faults, which are probably not anywhere as bad as you think!
Pitooty! This forum welcomes all, from the shiny french-tailored shoe to the rotten leather boot at the bottom of the sea that has green muck growing on it that is gently wisping in the frigid current.
Technical proficiency with an instrument or vocals has never been a requirement for making good music. It's more about putting honest feeling into it. If your lyrics are as honest as your message, I'm sure we'll all enjoy hearing them. Go for it.
i agree with steve. i'm sneaking up on 54, can't read a note of music, haven't picked up a guitar since '84, just started playing the bass 3+ months ago that i stripped of it's frets and i'm going to attempt some keyboards next - all in a more difficult discipline known as Jazz. i don't think this site is about who's better than who. and... if any criticism is directed towards me regarding my talent or lack of - i hope it is meant to be constructive. yes - there are some very talented artists here displaying their... well, their talent. i choose to use that as an inspiration that i might get that level. hang in there my fellow musician. you will arrive.
i'll step down from the soapbox now
mark r
Thanks guys. I was just feeling a bit down and reflective when I put that up, but feeling quite a bit better now. That'll teach me not to post things in the wee small hours when I'm like that. Maybe I should have just tried writing a few lyrics instead, but then again they'd probably be instant wrist slashing stuff ;D
Really I'm determined to get a bit better! I'll try posting a couple of bits and see where it goes from there. And BMB, I might nick that bit about the shoes, it's given me a vague idea of something.
Anyway, thanks again.
Cheers.
I sometimes like wrist slashing songs ,,, depends on the mood ;)
Go for it mate, it aint gotta be perfect, and if you put a rough sketch up on the collaboration thread and it catches someone's interest, well .... who knows where it will end up!
Agreed. Music is about creativity and fun. I'm 64 and betting better every day (well every day I practice anyway) and I like the shoe poetry too.
Hell I wish I could write lyrics. I would love to do at least one of my own but when I pick up a pen to have a go my head goes completely empty. Thats why I stick to covers.
Thats probably the wrong way to do it ( by picking up a pen)
How do you write lyrics? ??? ???
Don't ask me,I don't know if I can either, you'll have to judge for yourself as and when they're posted.
Words just appear sometimes. On the odd ocassion it comes out as nearly a complete song, with just a bit of tweaking, most of the time it's just a jumble as I think of them, then put in some sort of order.
I've got LOADS of bits of paper with odd bits written down, sometimes just a couple of words, or maybe a title. They may or may not get any further.
The one thing I ( nearly) always have is a pad and pen handy, just to jot down odd bits.
Lets face it, there's been more than a few songs that have been big, but if you listen to the words you think "what a load of crap, how did that even get released!"
It's a bit like the others have said to me on here about playing, just go for it. ;D
+1 steve. well said.
Sometimes, and perhaps for the most of us, I think it's just having a constant awareness of songwriting.
Hmmm Maybe there's a song in that..
It doesn't just hit you, you hit it.
It doesn't just "come to you" you go to it.
Once you have a starter phrase or a riff, it helps to get organized and maybe write out what the song is "about" and where it should go.
Then don't worry about the final words, just write what you want to say and modify.
Just one method
Just go for it. Nobody on here will ever take the p*ss, because all of us are lacking in something - whether it's our vocal, guitar, songwriting, or lyric skills. The beauty of a place like this is that it gives us a chance to collaborate with people who can complete the missing parts of the jigsaw. And just listening to some of the talent on here has been an inspiration to sing / play / write better.
I can't read music, I taught myself the guitar, and I don't know my pentatonic scales from my elbow, but it hasn't stopped me! :D
Get your stuff up!
As Greeny said:
Just go for it. Nobody on here will ever take the p*ss, because all of us are lacking in something -
and I think I am lacking in sense. I've been using the MBR a lot (sorry no tracks yet but I will get there) but tonight I was using it to practice songs that I thought I knew. I should have been doing this all along. In particular I was playing songs that I normally play with my practice band (gtr/keys/bass/drum) and I had assumed that everything was ok. The difference tonight was that I just recorded the songs with a metronome in the background. Not bad but I'm not as tight as I thought I was, not by a long chalk. I love this little machine - always finding new ways to highlight my deficiencies.
i very rarely write lyrics with a pen,
i usually listen to the music, maybe with an idea/theme/title and just let what comes out come out and get it onto the mbr in a stream of thought uninhibited kinda way.
then i get a pen and write down whats came out, then i start tinkering.
sometimes the lyrics can come in one go very fast other times i might get a line at a time but each line seems to inform the next line sorta thing if you know what i mean.
anyway i believe there are a few clinical psychologists and maybe a few psychiatrists on the forum , maybe they can do the honour of give my lyrics a more profound interpretation.
I agree with above.
A few will be truely exceptional, but most of us are just messing around, and I think we all LOVE to hear others' music, regardless of how good. Lyrics for me have always been a challenge, for collaboration we need more like you.
I thought that they were handing out free drugs......
The original post could be a song idea. I'm always surprised what I find as "good". As long as it's honest, it usually gets a passing grade in my book. Even the "best" pop songs sound flat if they are fakin' it.
Make a song about how you can't do anything well and show it!
I've missed getting a lot of these, just catching up now. Can't answer 'em all, except to say, thanks a lot guys, you're stuck with me now!!!! :)
I've posted a couple of things on collabs now, brave huh??
Wooperman, that sounds like a challenge, got an idea already! ;D
I guess an easier way I coulda said it is : One man's $h!t is another man's hit...
sorry ma.
Good idea though. Half way written now, sort of ;)
I funadamentally disagree with the tone of the replies in this thread. I feel we should be striving for excellence and not accepting anyone who is anything less than a virtuoso. I believe my virtuosity could be used as such a benchmark, to keep out the mediocre.
In order to support this view, I plan to upload a link to demonstrate the standard we should be willing to accept. At least I will do so once I have managed that tricky C chord!
Seriously, I have been playing for a couple of years and whilst I get a great deal of pleasure out of it, my abilities are very definitely limited but have continued to improve, partly due to help from users such as ourselves, who have offered support.
What's a C chord? ;D I've heard of a G string, anything similar to that??
Quote from: wooperman on January 20, 2009, 09:25:32 PMOne man's $h!t is another man's hit...
sorry ma.
ooohhh thats a good title for a song.....
Quote from: StevieM on January 21, 2009, 01:59:48 PMWhat's a C chord? ;D I've heard of a G string, anything similar to that??
are them the things that go up yer bum
"ooohhh thats a good title for a song....."
( Don't know how to put things in quotes!)
Oh no, not ANOTHER bloody challenge? ;D Whoops, think there's another one there too. Bugger, and another one!!
Think I'm stopping there, need me medication.
Quote from: StevieM on January 21, 2009, 02:57:21 PMThink I'm stopping there, need me medication.
It was a queue for drugs..... ;D
i have to tell you bounty - you got me in the first paragraph.
my first thought; "who let this jag in?" welcome to the site :D
Yep, got me too. Not saying what I thought reading the first bit!!
Think you'll fit in well ;D
They have another word for a g-string. I believe it is called a thong. Bring it on guys. ::)
elmer fudd thang thome gweat thongs
I was out for a walk, breveing the fresh air, when I saw a crotchety old man who's face struck a chord. I remembered he'd sent me a note some time ago, so I upped the tempo and rushed by.
Quietly strumming to myself,trying to work out the coda, I didn't cee the snare at the edge. An effing bee flew too close, I slipped and landed up flat at the bass of the cleff, just missing some sharp rocks. Gee, I thought I had a broken neck, so fretted for a time, but it was minimal, just had a drumming headache hammering on and off.
Picked myself up out of the discarded pots, found a bridge, "A, that's D thing I need", I said.
I scaled the path with the help of a dog on a lead, felt strung out with the high action. I put my high hat back on, went home to the triplets, who were playing with the band, had some jam on toast, felt the blues coming on, so got a bit pizzicatoed and all that jazz.
There you go, I've just lowered the tone of this thread.
i think ya got some lyrics to a song there, mr. m.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I'll think on it. You do the music, I'll have a go at the words? ;D