The Ping Pong Method

spantini

COO of me, inc.
LOL! I call it.. The Art of Songwriting : Ping Pong Method

My current project is a friend's song I'm rewriting.


Once I had recomposed it in my head so the guitar and vocal fit well together, I layed down a scratch guitar track. Next I begin writing
a bass part by playing along with the guitar - improvising all the way. After several dozen run throughs, the bass part is developing into
something really nice, however.. one or two little things I've created there don't exactly work with the strumming rhythm of the scratch
guitar track. They do fit nicely with the melody and I really want them in there, so..

I'm at the point where I need to put down the bass and track a new guitar while replaying the bass part in my head. Then go back to the
bass and track that against the new guitar track - see if it meshes. If so, fine. I'll leave these for later and begin on the drums, which should
not present similar problems. Then I can start recording a vocal.

Now the whole time I'm doing this - over days and weeks - my mind is still replaying these parts and I'm continuing to improvise with new bits
and pieces that just pop into it. After getting workable tracks for everything, there's a chance I may want to incorporate a new idea somewhere
and will have to start the whole process over again - ping ponging back and forth to get all the instruments to mesh.

At some point I'm going to have to say "Stop! Print! :eek:" , but who knows when..
 
I'll bounce around too when writing...but I rarely write a complete part for any one instrument, and then the next, and the next.

It tends to all kind of happen at the same time, so as one part start to shape, the others are reshaping too.
I'll usually try out a few things on guitar, bass, keys...and then sort out which way go before I start to track...though, there are cases where something new pops into my head half-way through things, and then I'll rework stuff.
 
I write totally 'unplugged' (not recording). I'll have the whole arrangement in my head before I hit the Record button. Not all the exact parts (except the main rhythm instrument (guitar or keys) - these come after I've got the scratch track, and usually the final rhythm track done. I'll play along with whichever instrument I'm working with a couple of times, then hit record and record tracks until I think I've got it covered.
 
Yeah...I also just use my acoustic and my piano to write...though sometimes when I'm just playing my electric guitar or tracking for some other song, I might hit a few chords or notes, and get ideas for songs...but then I will still flush them out with the acoustic and at the piano.
Much of that has to do with ease of access...I don't have to plug anything in or turn anything on... :D ...but it's also the way I've done it for many years now, so it's the most comfortable.
Then I'll go to the actual instruments I plan to track, and sort out the more detailed parts.
 
I, too, go back and forth with instruments. It usually starts with drums, though, as I choose something pretty close to what I'm thinking and plot it down. Then I'll put rough guitar tracks over it, then bass, then go back and re-play the guitars, add another set, redo the bass, redo the first guitars, and a synth, rework the bass, etc... whatever ends up being "final" is just the place I choose to settle.
 
Ahhh.. we're all very similar here. Cool.

I've got some 7 scratch tracks with 2 rhythm guitars (full song same part) and 5 drum pieces (just the intro) that I've been writing bass to. The two rhythm guitars are not aligned with each other (first rhythm is muted) - only the second rhythm and the drums were aligned so I could write the bass. Tonight I'll set the bass down and ping over to the rhythm and do a fresh take to mesh with the new bass part. Then pong on over to the drums to at least add a kick for the full length.
 
One of the reasons I like to use playlists for creative tools. I can have ten different takes , find the bits I like then transfer them to a new track as a guide to record a final or a different instrument. I don't throw away what I don't use cuz it may be useful somewhere else or even spur a different idea
 
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