Having a Song Baby Part 4, A Free Mini Course

Ok, Now that you have the basic song parts down, it is time to make some meaningful changes.  Remember rewriting the verses of the song to convey a deeper emotional experience and to take the listener to the place by using descriptive words?  That is basically what you are going to do with the music.  

If you have some home recording equipment, you should definitely use it to record your song.  If you do not have recording equipment, use your mobile phone, or even a cheap voice recorder will do.  Record it once through, from start to finish.  

Get ready to listen.  This is actually an important step, you will want to have a clear, focused mind and ear.  Some people do meditation, some people do breathing exercises, I prefer the breathing exercises.  Do whatever floats your boat, but get ready to listen critically at the music and grab a pencil and paper to take notes.

As you listen to the song the whole way through.  Listen for things you may want to change about the layout.  If you want to change the layout, make notes about what you want to change.  Now is a good time to start thinking about an intro and outtro as well.

Start at the beginning again and listen to the chorus only.  rewrite the melody to emphasize different words of the chorus.  Rework the melody and phrasing of the chorus as well.  I would say two extra takes usually does it for me.  Often times if I record 5 or 10 I find that I prefer one of the first two reworks, or maybe even the original.  If you prefer the original, move on.  If you like one of the reworks, record it separately.  You may also prefer more than one, and use both during different choruses to build energy in the song.

Start at the beginning again and listen to the verses.  Rewrite each verse a few times just like the chorus.  If you prefer the original, move on.  If you like the rewrite, re-record  them separately.  

Move on to the bridge and repeat the process.  

If you have home recording equipment, edit all of the new song parts together.

Finally, practice all of the parts of the song you want until you have it down.  This will be a slightly different version of your song that will move your audience members and connect with them in a way that the original may not have.  Don’t scrap the original, you may want to release it as bonus track for your fans.

Okay, so far you have written, rewritten, and reworked your song baby, are you ready to give birth?

Get ready to listen again.  Make sure you have at least a half hour to an hour.

This time, draw up a song graph like this

Start the playback, and watch your audio time.  Make notes at the top of your page when the song starts, when the intro ends if it has one, when the first verse ends, pre chorus or chorus begins....etc, until the song is over.

Now that you have your framework, analyze the song for dynamics, when you want the song to build, when you want it to fall, when you want it to climax, and how you want it to end.  Do this by drawing a line across your song graph from left to right as the song plays. This will be like a seismograph that records where you want the emotional emphasis.  Like so:

Decide how you want the song to build, do you want to add more instruments, do you want to scream the vocals, do you want to add distortion?  More percussion?  During the lows do you want the song to die down to just vocals?   Or maybe vocals and piano?  Do you want a break in the song? 

Now, listen again and make all necessary notes and rewrite the song again with these aspects.  

It is time to do your final recording and have your song baby!

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Ryan