HOW TO COMPOSE SONGS, WHAT TOOLS AND DAW TO USE, AND WHERE TO GET THEM?

Hey there,

This time I would like to share my experience on the subject of "how to compose songs?"

It took me a long time to figure out what is the most effective way to organize my song writhing, but here is a short description of what I like to do:

How do I get song ideas?

Sometimes when I play the guitar I just improvise and come up with a nice riff, a nice melody or just a cool sounding chord progression. Here is the first rule of songwriting in my book:

1. Immediately record your ideas

I use my iPhone's (http://www.apple.com/) voice memos to record the song idea. (You can use anything that records, it just needs to be simple). Then I send it to my e-mail as an mp3 file. From there I save it to my SONG IDEAS folder on my hard drive.

Simple enough?

2. Import your song idea file into your DAW

Whatever your DAW is:

Cubase, Nuendo

Logic, Pro Tools

You can easily import your idea file into it as a new track.
I use Pro Tools as my DAW.

3. Determine the song tempo and add a simple drum loop

Next you should determine your song tempo and add a simple drum loop.
The easiest to use programs for making drums that I have found are:

EZ Drummer, Superior Drummer



To add the loop after you choose it from the library of the program you JUST DRAG AND DROP the midi file into your DAW's midi or instrument track, than you can duplicate it several times. I use it instead of CLICK track, because this way I can make a better groove.

Still simple?

4. Record the guitar riff or chords on a track

After having set up the voice memo of the song idea and duplicating the drum loop, I record the guitar riff. To get a good guitar sound for my demo I use:

Eleven, Waves GRT


5. Build the song structure

Next I build the song structure.(Intro, Verse, Pre Verse, Chorus, Solo, Bridge etc.).
Each song is different, but you can use the memory locations to make the good song structure and to navigate fast trough the song.

6 . Record the voice

I usually play the song and start improvising by singing without any lyrics, just singing nonsense at first. After some time I get a better idea, and sometimes I even come up with the chorus line and the lyrics together.

7. Copy and paste

After I make one verse and one chorus I copy and paste them to the next verse and chorus, etc. I also record the bridge and any other parts of the song only one time.
Later I will sing with the lyrics until it is perfect, but at this stage it is not necessary.

8. Write the lyrics

Listening to the song I start marking some ideas on a blank sheet of paper. Things get clearer with time, and after a while I am done. I can and probably will make several changes later, but for now it works.

9. Record any additional instruments

At this stage I can give my song to the drummer, bass player, piano player etc. It will give them good idea of the song, while also leaving them space to get creative with it. You can stop here and leave some work for later. Because I play more instruments, like acoustic guitar, bass, and piano, I usually record more ideas to make the song sound better.

I actually record all the instruments, program the drums, drum fills, transitions between the parts, bass, piano, acoustic guitar, and after that I lay down the lead vocal and back vocals.
Finally, I make a basic mix and master the song.

This way I end up with a good sounding demo version of the new song.

Well, this is my way of making fast compositions and turning them into demos. Like with any other thing, there are several ways to approach your song writhing.

If you need to get deeper into it, I strongly recommend that you take an online course at Berklee Music:

This will definitely change your music making.

Have fun making your music!
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