Songs and technology

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cal D
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Cal D

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Lately, I have found that with the advent of all this new technology, people are using software to "compose" songs.

Personally, i don't beleive that someone who is good at assembling loops, wavs, etc is necessarily a song writer.

Songs come from personal experience, from inspiration, from within. Songwriting is very much a connection between your mind, your soul and your heart.

All i can say is that the superb computer software products that are currently being used to create music, are simply tools. A good song must have a good melody and some feeling woven into its foundation. Software can't replicate that; in fact, it can't even approach it.


So I say, use the tools to help you build on the foundation..but don't fool yourself into believing that because you can use the tools, that you are the architect.

The best songs are a soulful experience....bits and bites are just code.
 
Cal,

They play a lot of this loopy puter stuff down at my local pub - at very loud volume - and (this probably reveals my age) to me it's the soundtrack to Hell (I go for the beer, not the muzak). But I don't rule out that in skillful enough hands even this crap could turn out well. Blame the workers, not the tools.

You don't become a Booker prize winning novelist because you've bought a word processor, and digital cameras don't make you into David Bailie. But they're useful aids.

Anyway, real musicians soon break out from the limitations of computer toys.

Sarah
 
Cal D said:
Personally, i don't beleive that someone who is good at assembling loops, wavs, etc is necessarily a song writer.
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That why that stuff usually isn't in the top 40..People can't relate to that stuff.

But it make cool background club music.

Joe
 
All musical instruments are tools. Music software packages are just another musical tool and in the right hands who can say?
 
I have heard quite a few ingenious arguments for and against technology's use in songwriting and like musical taste itself, what you consider to be writing a song is pretty subjective. People constantly approach me with, "Hey, I'm writing songs too" and then they hand me a lyric sheet that makes no sense rhytmically or meterwise, and forget about any rhyme scheme or use of near-rhymes. When I ask where the music is they reply, "Oh, I'm just a lyricist".

Recently, I had to make one of my quarterly visits to my attorneys' office to keep the corporate gods and guardians of paperwork happy. My attorney announced that she's been writing songs on her computer. Basically, you pick any 25 words and type in a genre and how many bpm, and it produces a computer-written song for you. It made me fee all soft and cuddly to know that my attorneys have so little to do to keep them busy.

Technology is here to stay and I make more use of it then I ever dreamed I would in the business of songwriting, but the words and music still have to be written and that's the art or skill of being a songwriter. Try to explain that to all the CPAs, doctors and attorneys who "write" songs as a hobby or for grins and you're wasting your breath. So I bite my tongue and continue to do what I've always done - write a song about it.
 
toughie

on one hand, I don't like that software your lawyer friend is talkina bout .... whatever it is.... that blows...

on the other hand, I have.....

a) written songs with a drum machine providing rhythm with chord progressions I wouldn't have though of had the DM not been going

b) written songs with massive delay/feedback on guitar resulting in chords and sounds I'd have missed on an acoustic.

c) from day one, the electric guitar has altered what we're doing (it was just supposed to be so the guitar could be heard over other orchestra instruments...now look at what we do with it) technology in music - I mean...hell....why not make an electric guitar sound like a guitar synth occasionally if you can...what makes that any less authentic then a distorting pedal?

technology with an artist is fine...technology that replaces an artist....phooey....

RB
 
Peter D said:
... and forget about any rhyme scheme or use of near-rhymes.
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Since when did a good song have to rhyme? Some of the worst lyrics I've ever heard were conceived when someone sat and thought to themselves "now what words rhyme with 'night'?"... Don't get me wrong, I'm sure their lyrics were crap. Just making a small point here.

I agree with the general consensus of the thread, so long as I'm allowed to compose using my technology. After all, I've paid my dues, years of writing for orchestra, and copying all the parts by hand. :)
 
Re: Re: Songs and technology

VOXVENDOR said:
That why that stuff usually isn't in the top 40..People can't relate to that stuff.
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Not to sound antagonistic, but what does Top 40 have to do with artistry or good songwriting?
 
Skysaw - I admit that the worst written lyrics that people have asked me to look at were those that rhymed, but my point is that a good number of people seem to think that any writing of any kind about the subject of love, loneliness, despair, etc. is a great set of lyrics. Even the most off the wall free-form writing has some fluidity and makes sense enough to elicit a response from people that they want to listen to it. "My dog died and I feel sad" may have the potential to become the basis for a great song, but isn't a great song in and of itself.

I think writing songs is a great avocation and good therapy, but as egalitarian as it sounds, that doesn't make someone a good songwriter. I love to work on cars, but I'm not very good at, so I try to avoid showing off my labor to my mechanic. I don't like being asked,"What did you hit this carbouretor with, a sledge hammer?"
 
Trust me, I totally agree. Actually, I think most popular songs have godawful lyrics. I just wanted a little clarification, since many of my songs don't rhyme, or rhyme very little.
 
Whatever you do that makes a song a song is cool. I once wrote a song with Fruity Loops and I did the whole thing randomly. I used gaming dice to roll up the chords, melody and just about everything. When it was done I hit the play button and it sounded just like 80s Nu Wave music. I played it for some friends that are into dance music and they loved it.
 
I couldn't agree more. I think about this alot. I guess a song becomes a song as soon as someone grooves to it. No matter how stupid they are.
I , however, like to look for a little meaning in my music. I like it when I can see someones personality through a song. I don't like it when someone writes a song just to become famous. I can always tell, and my brain won't let me buy into it. I'm not impressed with how well someone can manuever someone elses music. That person is an editor, not a musician. As far as the software, and random lyric writing goes, I'll just say this, :I like to read Mad Libs, they're amusing, But I don't look to them to find any real content.
 
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