Paper or Microsoft Word that's the ?

[guitardude]

dang, i never write them down....i guess i figure if it's a keeper i'll remember....although sometimes i wish i could remember some of the older ones i didn't think were so good

I have never done this. It might be a headache but you will have to memorize them sooner or later. I had a friend who did that as well.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

It depends on where I am/what I'm doing when ideas strike. If away from home, I'll either write it on paper, or more often these days, I use my BlackBerry (provided by work and I carry it with me all the time) to put the ideas in an email message which I send to my home address, then once home, copy/paste it into Notepad, then go from there. If I'm at home when the idea hits, I usually head straight to the PC.

 

[fraserhutch]

Notepad, or (more commonly these days) the Lyric editor in Sonar.

 

[dgatwood]

I once wrote an entire song including guitar and drum parts, lyrics etc ... on napkins at a SubWay Resteraunt...

People kept looking at me like was was some obsessed mad scientist creating a rocket formula... hehehe

I once (working with two other people over a multi-hour lunch) helped design a large database system, the first portion of which was sketched out on the backs of napkins. The sketches migrated three hours later onto a pair of wall-sized whiteboards. The next day, I took a snapshot of those with a 6MP digital camera and we printed copies (spread across multiple pages) on a color laser printer and posted them on our walls....

Of course, we were eating in the quad at work, so pretty much nobody gave us a second glance.

But for music... my answer is pretty close to "neither". Lines are for wimps. When I get the inspiration, I open the printer, yank out a piece of typing paper, and scrawl all over it with a pen....

 

[neon glow]

If I write somewhere in the middle of things, I use pencil and my little black book with no lines on pages. Pencil, because it inspires me more. But usually I have my laptop lying around with a couple of notepad sessions open, and anytime something pops up in my head, i just pick it up and start typing. It's the most convenient way, i think, when it comes to making corrections.

 

[cliff richard]

on paper and then type them out properly once finished. the voice recorder on my phone is a great help aswell.

 

[Folkie]

I have hundreds of little bits of paper all over the place with a line or two on them. I've also got a small (lined) pocket sized notebook and small pen I carry with me everywhere. I'll get a phrase, a line, a verse and write it down.

Every so often, I collect these bits, type them into a computer. The ones that inspire I'll maybe add a few lines, print them out double space, and work on them some more.

Eventually some of them become a full song and I type the new version back into the computer.

So I guess I write mostly on paper, and store it in word.

 

[jdavidb]

With Word, notepad or other software, the porn supply is usually coming from the same machine via Internet, so it's distracting. I use the computer for this anyway even though all my songs end up being pornographic.

 

[Folkie]

With Word, notepad or other software, the porn supply is usually coming from the same machine via Internet, so it's distracting. I use the computer for this anyway even though all my songs end up being pornographic.

That's okay. Circuit City is having a Father's Day sale on pornographs.

 

[guitardude]

the poll is almost evening out .

There are more computer users than I thought.

I Just bought a little black book with blank ivory pages....I'm starting to write back on the paper again. I'm feeling it again.

 

[dragonworks]

download Open Office, its free.

 

[Dogman]

Whichever is handy at the time. I prefer to start it on paper, but almost always need to transfer it to pc for printing, as I can't read my own writing on a good day, let alone if i'm in a hurry.
Ed

 

[true-eurt]

Toilet paper?! LOL..Whatever is the closet to me...Kleenex boxes, junk mail envelopes, I even wrote a chorus line on my hand once! I try to keep pads everywhere, but others move them and such.

 

[WholeTone]

As an IT guy who spends most of his day in from of a computer, it's easy to just use the computer. Plus, I can type faster than I can write, so it's easy to capture an idea quickly.

 

[ethos]

i prefer pen and pad, or toilet paper/napkins/my own flesh, what evers closest.
but then again, im a huge loser.

ive actually been using word more lately. being able to delete is good.
i usually end up with lots of scribbles on paper.

 

[Clintage]

Why isn't chisel and stone on the poll??

 

[Icarni]

Computer for easy editing. Besides, my handwriting sucks...

 

[ibanez468]

I started out using paper & pencil, but eventually went to the computer.
Once everything is finalized, shoot that puppy out of the printer, onto a
music stand, press play-record on the hand-held tape recorder, and work out the melodies. Works for me.


ibanez468

 

[VSpaceBoy]

I always use word for several reasons:

it knows how to spell

I can read its handwriting better

its easy to rearrange, since my ideas don't always flow out in the right order.

I can email it back and forth to myself so i can work on it anywhere I go vrs carrying crap around.

 

[jklsemicolon]

strictly vi.

It makes my lyrics seem dated though.