Ok,
So since i’m getting rid of my studio for now it made me realise that the songs i am currently wanting to record are the same songs i have been working on for years!
Some of them are literally over 20years old and are conposed entirely in my head. I mix and match ideas and melodies untill one day it clicks and i think 'thats it, that will sound awesome’
The thing is then i should record it and get it made…
But i dont lol.
I may do a quick demo or scratch track then it sort of resides like that for years.
Most of my conpleted songs (in my head) all have about 90% of the production finnished. I know what backing vocals, melodies, breaks, solos, runs etc im going to use where and often at work i sing the entire songs with full lyrics to myself ( i get the odd funny look lol)
I was Just writing them all down now and off the top of my head i have 20 completed ready to record, 5 that i’d say are half ready and about another 10 or so melodies and chorus ideas floating about.
I need to be able to plug my mind into a usb port and download them lol.
Does anyone else have an entire albuk in their head?
I’m even at the point where i’m arranging track orders and linking songs with similar chordal notes or tempos or feelings to make it flow.
Shit i really hope i dont get a knock to the head and forget! Its my lifes work!!!
Yep, I hear you… I have always had a head full of songs. When I was fully caught up in domestic life for some years, the songs became restless and nearly drove me mad… just sayin…
I have a pile of exercise books with just words and the 3 main chords and the rest of the song is all in my head. Hah… that’s why I faff around trying to do this recording gig now, I simply couldn’t, for so many years… But most people don’t have so many songs in their heads…
And i’m still writing down new ideas… which is kinda exciting even though it means I will simply never catch up…
Write down whatever you can… are you able to keep the tunes in your head? Otherwise quick rough recordings could be a brilliant idea to keep those skeletons intact in the closet.
I hear you. I encourage you to get connected with someone in your area who is also passionate about music and meshes with you. Have them add a bit and it will help to motivate you to complete the songs and the production.
I’ve had a vague concept album in my head for a few years - about a man having a nervous breakdown and realising he’s the only person left on the planet! I have a list of songs, the concept and the beginnings of about 5 of the songs. And there they sit.
Until recently. I shook myself out of my malaise and decided to just turn up to my humble studio and just start writing, playing, recording and mixing. It’s slow going but the motivation has really got me going. I think I’ve realised that backwards is not an option, sitting still is too depressing therefore going forwards all I can do. Slow as it is, my progress is at least going in the right direction.
( I assume that’s "album’). No luckily I don’t. Songs don’t exist until I “pick up my guitar and play” (to quote Roger Daltry). But I play in an other songwriters’ band as a drummer and he’s like that. Often we don’t know which song he’s playing, each set of lyrics he uses (quite often some poem or whatever) has at least 3 or 4 versions with different chords, different rythms. It exasperated me at first. Until I realized he only had a repertoire of about 20 chord structures with maybe some tempo differences and variations. Now that I know them I see what’s coming and so do the other band members. It’s like playing jazz standards :drums2:
Oh my gosh that sounds so stressful! I tend write songs in my head, but I always write them down in some form when I have a new idea that I like. Just writing down the lyrics, or maybe singing it into a recorder or getting the guitar part tabbed or recorded. It doesn’t take too long, but then I don’t have to worry that I’ll forget something that I really liked.
I do have a lot of songs that are recorded for the sake of remembering them, but don’t have nice productions done. And I can 100% relate to wanting to be able to plug a USB into my mind and not have to go through the sometimes frustrating task of bringing the music into reality.
@LazyE yep, I’m totally with you - although 80 odd % of the time I manage to get them “sung” into my phone recorder.
At least 25% of those though, when I listen back, I’ve no idea what I was on about…
A further 40% are probably shite ideas on mature reflection. Another 10% turn out to be way too ambitious. (e.g. I don’t have any Mongolian throat singers or orchestras at my disposal) so there there can be a lot of paring down going on!
I don’t really know any other way to compose/arrange. Well I do, but I don’t do it. I don’t think I’ve ever picked up my guitar and jammed until something happened for example. For me, not being a very good musician contributes a lot though.
@Firedance yeah man thats how i see it too lol.
I do put stuff in my phone recorder when i get an idea but intend to produce in my head lol.
Most of my riffs and songs are usually written when i pock up my guitar but the best ones mature in my head when im at work without any instruments in sight.