How many songs have you written?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Whyte Ice
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been at it since 94

I been writing since 94 and I have about 70 complete songs, but use about 40 of them. Trying to rember 70 songs is do able, but in a concert, you can only pull out so many, so i stick with my best pieces. as you write and finsh songs, some you will keep, others you will throw away or chuck in the closet.
But when I start a song, it has to be a really catch thing to motivate me to get into it because i'm very picky. Someone else may write 200 or 300 songs, but only have 5 classics out of the bunch. I feel I have 30 classics out of the 70, so that's another factor to consider, is when writing, make sure you have a classic melody to it, something someone can sing along to easy.
One guy had everyone singing around the fire place with some classics. Then along came this heavy metal dude and got on teh guitar and then everyone left. Sing alongs are the best..................."Hey jude, do'nt be afraid"...or "Lord I was bron a ramblin' man." Can't beat those, so make it catchy and have depth.
 
I recently started writing again (summer of '01) and I have lyrics for over 20 songs complete. Together with a bass/guitar playing friend of mine we have recorded 3-4 of these in my basement. For most of the songs I don't have anything other than the lyrics so I'm not sure if that counts as actual song writting. I do have an idea of the melody/tempo/feel of the songs but since I don't know how to play any stringed instrument (or piano) I haven't been able to put anything along with the lyrics.

-b
 
With only a few exceptions,...

Everything I've written in the last 20-or-more years has been a throwaway. Listening back, I'm sure, in a lot of cases I was rewriting the same tune, over and over, and it morphed through time. -All unlistenable crap.

Once, long ago, I played one of my 'jam' tapes to my friend, and he said,
"Man, that may be music, but those aren't songs!"

-Of course, he was right.

Overall, I'd say I'm a 'cover artist', mostly, with only a few original jams that are listenable to my name. I have tons of stuff which is meandering jams, and some of it's good, but I have very few actual songs, with a beginning, middle, and end, or with some cohesive structure or theme.

-I don't consider myself a songwriter, and I don't usually hang on this board. I think about songwriting, however, and I thought this was an interesting question. Cheers.

/DA
 
Dave....

Where's my free Cd...... I haven't gotten it yet.... Im taking my business elsewhere!!! (Oh yeah it's free....) DOH! :D

But seriously.. What gives.....? That big Flaming uproar and now no product:confused:
 
Vox, sure, and thanx for asking.

The update of today, 2/2/02, is that Davemania 4-cd sets are all burned, numbering ~30 4-cd sets, all cards have been printed, and all labels printed too. All materials for 30 4-cd sets, including mailing envelopes, are ready for final fabrication & packaging. The remainder of the work is tedious hand cutting of the cards, and manually adhering the labels to the discs, then it's into the envelopes.

You're right, the hubub over Davemania has died down, but fear not, discs are on the way. I'm planning to hop off the web now, or asap, and start the final fabrication work, throwing all those materials together, to form THE DAVEMANIA COLLECTION, 4-cd set, finished package. Lead time is still a couple weeks, minimum.

Thanx for asking, and I'll post a general update letter to everyone. Despite it maybe seeming like a long time, from request to delivery, I don't work on discs full time, and production/fabrication is still coming along nicely, and ahead of schedule as compared to the 1st and 2nd editions.

That's all, and I didn't want to hijack this thread with Davemania HYPE. Thanx for asking, and pls be a little more patient, discs will post asap, and relatively soon.

/DA
 
No Prob Dave....:)

Im very patient... I was just asking out of curiousity...:)

Thanks, and looking forward to it...

Joe
 
You're curious, & rightly so. I rolled the 3rd edition out on 12/7/01.

So it's been a while, now being 2/2/02. I wish I could say I just threw 30 4-cd sets together overnight, but reality says it takes longer.

Anyway, thanx for asking, and as a matter of fact, I bailed off the web a few hours ago, and have used the time to adhere all the labels to all the discs, so that was time well spent, and more progress made. I probably needed someone to come along and kick me in the pants, to get me motivated again.

I've counted 32 4-cd sets, and I'm pretty sure that's just slightly more than the number of people on the request list. That's 124 discs, total, now all labelled.

Now comes the absolute grind of cutting ~250 cards by hand, a stack of 65lb cover stock that's 3" tall, each card getting 5 or 6 hand cuts each. Yikes! Anyway, I'll slog through it, and in the end, it's all my pleasure. When all is said and done, I'll feel like I've accomplished something good.

Right now, I'm looking for my new cutting board, since I practically wore out the old one. When I find it, I'll start cutting.

/DA:)
 
Okay all of MFs, How many Good Ones?

Who cares how many, QUALITY NOT QUANTITY counts fells and gals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

C'mon now..........................Boom Shaklaklaka,
and of of that, Y'all...
 
I think I am kind of different here. I've been writing for about a year...*really* trying to write for about 8-9 months I guess. Right now, I have 8 songs. But, thats the short answer.

The long answer is that I had in total about 30. And...I liked them all a lot, at the time that I wrote them. At one point, i was like someone else had mentioned, trying to come up with a song a day (or, start one). I changed my way of thinking about it. Overtime...I felt that my songs wern't original enough...that I didn't really like them...etc., so I scrapped all of them (25 songs or so), and started over with a different mind set.

My idea is that if as a band/artist...if you can write 2-3 GREAT songs per year....then after a 10 year career you'd be one of the biggest ever. And, by GREAT song, I mean the 'classic' status (obviously that has to do with more than just writing..but, roll with me here). If all you did in 1 year was write Yesterday...With or Without You...Stairway to Heaven...or whatever...think of the list of amazing songs you'd have at the end of your career.

Now, when i get a little hook or something in my head, I might notate or record it for later reference...but, I am not trying to burden myself with wiritng tons of songs. I am still looking for a couple of other band members...and, I want to be playing live about 6 months from now....playing with about 15 or 16 songs....that I absolutely love.

I hate filler more and more. Esp with new pop albums like Michelle Branch....I like the 2 singles..everything else is a repeat of those.

I decided I would rather release a 4-5 song EP every 7-8 months, than a 10-12 song CD every 14 months. I think it would hurt the writing potential - for me. Not to say there are not people out there who can't deliver a brilliant 11 song album in a year.
 
What exactly is the VoxVendor project?

Also...I totally agree about "writing 20 songs and using 10"...i never understood that. Personally, I would never complete something I didn't fully intend on releasing (at least at the time). Even more so, I would NEVER record something I didn't intend on releasing (assuming I was recording it for any other reason than personal pleasure)

Like you hear about major label artists..."yeah...we went into the studio for like 3 months...and...we wrote the album basically..and recorded about 23 songs with such and such producer...and 9 of them are on the album"

Well, I have news for you - you are shit. Becuase of the 9 on your album, 6 are shit. Dear god, save us from the other 14 that were never released!

oh...did I say that outloud? ;)
 
27 songs and Im 24 years old

All of these have been played onstage and-or put on CD.

Here are the names

*free online at www.mp3.com/ak49 or www.mp3.com/birthtohate

Sloppy Joe
Marrywanna
Springtime in Faribanks
Like a Poem
Stupider*
The Process
P.O.W*
Sweaty Butcher
Familiar Suprise*
Lately
Neblaska
Fast Freddy*
Snow Angel*
Luvin It
Use Words Like
Jihad(The Holy War)*
Make it Last*
Days To Remember
Misunderstood
A.O.K
Fat Boy*
When I Was a Young Pup
Useless crack whore
Smoke dat shit*
Gravity bong song*
Dolly Sheep
Fixing Faucet Leaks
Coming Around
 
I've been playing music for about 5 years now and writing for the last 2 1/2. I try to write within whatever project I am working on at the time. So each cd, band, or whatever has its own cohesiveness. That challenge to be flexible is what excites me I guess. Right now I have just over 60 complete songs, and way too many tapes full of junk.
 
I've been trying to write songs for about 2 years and have trashed so many - usually because all of the songs I've written around the same time sound very similar.

My songs tend to be fairly ephemeral - I like them and play them to people for a couple of months, and then they just disappear.
;)
I can only deduce that I tire of playing them because they're not good enough songs.

So, back to the drawing board as always...

-Matt
 
matt's bedroom said:
I've been trying to write songs for about 2 years and have trashed so many - usually because all of the songs I've written around the same time sound very similar.

My songs tend to be fairly ephemeral - I like them and play them to people for a couple of months, and then they just disappear.
;)
I can only deduce that I tire of playing them because they're not good enough songs.

So, back to the drawing board as always...

-Matt
Click to expand...

Hey Matt.
I don't mean to change the topic here, but I kinda cringed when I read your post.

Ya know, I've done the same thing over the years. Some songs I wrote I just let drift off into a dim memory.
I wrote a christian rock song about fifteen or so years ago that people really liked, even when we played it in lounges and roadhouses. But I drifted away from that song, never wrote the words down and now I can only recall to lines in the whole song.

Since those songs you wrote and let disappear were not what you think as good enough to keep, please don't let them die.
Save them. In a month, in a year, in ten years you may try to remember something in one of them and not actually remember it, like my example.

One of the things I stress to everyone is to save every bit of song, idea, lick, melody, everything. In the future you may be able to fall back in it and use a part of it, rearange it, rewrite some of it, add a bridge or improve the hook, anything.

Just something I wanted to get off my chest.
Oh, and if you still don't want those songs and decide to let them die off and be eternally forgotten, send them my way. I can use them. :eek:
 
I've written two hundred and forty some songs so far.
Most of these I'm going to redo.
About thirty are 'finished' for now and I've sent them to the copyright office for copyright. No word back in them yet.
I think I have fifty one or fifty two in the works. Some near done, others just ideas with a bit of melody.
 
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