rock and roll is dead : live in the living room by oldrottenhead

[SE]

As always interesting, cool and melodic, magic!!

[64Guitars]

Sounds great, but I'd love to hear it rearranged in Norway with the full band treatment.

cheers nelson, i stayed away from writing altogether. then after my break, this was written and recorded almost spontaneously, with no thought or preparation, as per usual for me.

A break can be good for getting some fresh ideas. But, for me, I find the break has to be quite long; like a couple of months or more. A couple of weeks doesn't seem to make any difference for me. But I guess it's different for everyone.

Instead of taking a break, I think you should try Nelson's suggestion. Record a rough demo of a song idea, then listen it to it frequently for at least a week. On each listen, try to decide what are the strengths and weaknesses of the song. Then build on the strengths and eliminate the weaknesses. Also, try to imagine parts for other instruments, then record some additional tracks with those parts and instruments. Make a new mix and listen to it some more to see if the new parts can be improved.

If you want some fresh, new ideas, then I think a good way to achieve that is to compose a song differently from the way you normally do it. Since you normally write and record "almost spontaneously, with no thought or preparation", it makes sense to try the opposite. Spend some time thinking and preparing before you record, then spend more time refining your song.

Writing and recording a song in half an hour has some benefits in terms of creativity and capturing the moment, and I certainly admire your ability to do that. But I think you've pretty much mastered that technique. So if you want some fresh ideas, maybe is time to try a new technique. Take some time to write a song and refine it. And create some interesting parts on other instruments to build your song up. Sure, it's a lot of work and you'll have to control your inner puppy, but the results can be very rewarding. At the very least, it's a valuable learning experience.

[Oldrottenhead]

i'm saving this one for norway. i have lots of ideas for this in my head, that on my own i am not capable of but with jarle on drums and geir on mandolin and whoever else might be there................mmmmmmmmm wow!

[Oldrottenhead]

regarding taking time on things, i find that usually kills a song (for me anyway). frank black is to blame for that (as i have studied his approach for years now, studied never replicated). he usually records everything with everyone live to two tracks with no overdubs.
after teenager of the year (where i believe he preferred the demos to the finished product)  he did everything that way. here is a brief quote as to his whys and wherefores.

Well, it's real. It's a recording of a performance, of a real performance between a group of people, an entourage, a band, as opposed to a facsimile of that, which is frequently what people do with multi-track recording ... I prefer it. It's a little more real. It's got a little more heart.

i cant find what else he said but i recall and concur with him, that the more time you spend and more takes you take from the moment of the idea, you dilute the vitality of the first spark of the idea, or some such. tho there is no way i could do stuff live, i like to get it done quick.

probably same reason i hate dire straits  so much.

[Redler]

Nice pop song - I'm looking forward to hear "Norway version" of this!