JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Songwriter Message Forum Has technology come full circle back to the Songwriter ?

Yeah! man ! the dang dog does it in one take. Any way, I think that the technology is growing almost to fast. The last piece of equiptment I bought for recording does it all, and then some. I really dont need that much. What I need is something that will record, accurately, exactly what I sound like. You end up spending $1000 for something that you only use $250 of. I guess there are a lot of folks who want to record themselves with an orchestra and zoological soup kitchen backing them up. Trouble is trying to replicate that same sound in a live performance. Oh well, it is fun to play with. What ever happened to the KISS principle?? I had a cassette recorder that worked really well for over 20 yrs. Finally bit the dust. If the industry could offer a basic digital recorder their sales would probably soar. Most folks don't need a Swiss army recorder. I like to add my own effects and try to minimize the canned stuff. Like I said, I only use about a quarter of the gizmo's potential.

Hi Niteshift:

It's great that a portion of the "playing field" is getting level. Technology is indeed available for the "everyday songwriter" that was not available a few years ago. Regardless of one's talent and recording ability, the problem still remains of getting one's product to market. The competition is so stiff and the big money people are so firmly entrenched in the music/entertainment biz, the songwriter on the outside will probably remain that way.

Talent without "connections" equals zero.

Great topic.

All my best,

Dave Rice http://cdbaby.com/cd/daverice

Lipstick on a pig can't disguise the fact that it is still a pig. A bad song will be a bad song regardless of how technologically sophisticated it is, and a good song will be a good song in the same way.

What the hell does technology have to do with songwriting?

By the time you get to the recording technology and the digital distribution technology, the song has already been written.

Everyone in art, sport, politics,
business, hobby and etc. wants the "playing field to be leveled." In golf, they want a new club to be able to compete with Tiger. Guitar players want a guitar that sounds just like Clapton's. In war they want the Geneva Accords to apply to themselves but not the other guy (and the funny thing is, people from either side of the debate will get mad at this statement.) In politics they want gerrymandering. And, of course, we songwriters want a level playing field with all those "unfair" songwriters who write so much better than we do.

Well, I have the solution. Mike Dunbar Industries is offering the "Make Them Like My Songs" program. By adding a track of secret vibrations I've developed, you will beam into the minds of the listener and make them think your songs are great. Simply send me a copy of your demos along with a non-refundable money order for $67,000.00 per song and I will add my "Make Them Like My Songs" program to your demo tracks. Soon, your songs will sound better to everyone (that is, unless everyone is using my "Make Them Like My Songs" program, at which time the playing field will again be level and you'll just have to try writing better songs).

All the Best,
Mike


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You have to practice improvisation. -Art Tatum

Mike Dunbar Music

Couple things.

First, I intend to claw my way up to Da Top of Da Heap in the music business. Note that that presupposes the existence of both a Heap and a Top to claw my way up to. I also note--maybe I only think--that the more clawing I do, the better I get. I am accordingly really not interested in a level playing field. I am interested in a playing field that has a Heap and a Top.

Second, I don't think technology is or has been much assistance in writing. Good writing is good writing. The availability of mass-produced technology at a price the common man can afford enhances *access*, in that it allows (in theory) anyone with something to promote to deliver it in a form the Gods of the Music Biz say they want it in. (In practice, however, I think them there Gods are not listening, have not been listening, and will not listen unless and until forced to.)

There are trade-offs to all this plethoring of technology; if you can get your stuff to market more readily and competently, so can everybody else--and "everybody else" includes a lot of folks whose material probably should not see the light of day. (Present company excepted, of course.) So there is more wheat--but there is a *lot* more chaff. And by multiplying both, we increase the likelihood the abovementioned Gods are not going to listen to anything.

Additionally, I believe it has all happened before. (Makes me sound old when I say that.) 20 or so years ago, studio technology of the reel-to-reel era got inexpensive enough so that any moderately successful band could afford a basement or garage studio and produce their own records. (I did.) The industry fought back--successfully--by overproducing everything to the point where the average non-multimillionaire couldn't compete. And something similar may happen here, too. (Dang, I'm hopeful today...) We also had back then the same challenge of getting even good, well-produced material to market. And I think the Gods listened better back then than they do today.

So no, I don't think a lot has really changed. Good writing is still good writing, and marketing is every bit as much of a challenge as it once was. The basic distinction remains, I think, the one mentioned by Lyndon Johnson, 40 years ago--you are either on the bus or off the bus. And if the bus is not stopping for you, you better figure out another way to travel if you expect to get anywhere.

And thanks for the opportunity to vent.

Joe
www.soundclick.com/bands/7/joewrabek_music.htm

[This message has been edited by roxhythe (edited 09-29-2006).]

Hi All:

Great comments. I especially like the "lipstick on a pig" theme. Unfortunately, there are lots of pigs on CMT wearing big money lipstick. Sure the songs are hogwash but they are getting airplay. I wonder how? Could it be the payola?

Truman: To my mind, having the ability to take a lyric and go directly into the melody creation and recording process is a big step for the modern songwriter. I agree with you that the song would be written regardless. It's just that more can be done with today's technology.

I write an average of ten to twelve songs per month. Granted, not all are good. Many just plain stink! I put them down on paper and record most of them anyway. You never know when a rewrite might turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. (Sorry rblight, did not mean to "horn in" on your act!) Hope everything goes well in Houston.

Mike: Had any "takers" yet? If you succeed, have I got a deal for you!

Thanks for the quote, musica! Hang in there.

Rox: When you get to the top of the heap, I hope you remember the rest of us poor schnooks down here at the base of the pyramid.

All my best,

Dave Rice

Technology absolutely helps songwriting. 30 years ago if you wanted to present a song with strings and woodwinds, you usually couldn't unless you were wealthy or supported by a big label/company who could hire those players to make those sounds. Technology today allows someone who hears any type of instrumentation in their head to be able to affordably get that sound down into a recording. Technology has leveled the playing field between the musical haves and have nots. It doesn't make a song better or worse, it simply allows someone without money to still present their songs in the same positive light only a rare few could before. Technology allows the songwriter to compete fairly. More great music is being made and documented via inexpensive recording and performance methods than ever before.

Brian

My Dearest Brian,

I think, perhaps, that you should rephrase your 1st sentence.....Something along the lines of "Technology will greatly help your 'presentation', but Tech will not help you to write a decent song...

My thinking is that some Folks can write, & some Folks can keep up with the Tech,,,& some Folks can do both....All Folks should keep perfecting what they do best, & hire other Folks to fill in their weak spots...To Quote Dirty Harry..."A man must know his limmitations"....

Midnite

I think Brian said it pretty good myself.
We songwriters do have stuff we can use to compensate us for our shortcomings.
Just like the artists we hope may give our songs a whirl use in the studio, and often live even.
Maybe that should be almost live given the fx we now see on mixing desks at gigs.
I don't know it is a full circle thing though.
More of a new phase.
Or a development of what has always been there in some degree.
Even alternative tuning of instruments would have opened the door for some not so gifted playes when it was first introduced.
The microphone gave a lot of weak voxed people the opportunity to become a voice folks wanted to listen to.
The tape recorder, when it first came out enabled presteners like Bing Crosby, not only to go world wide, but to also edit out their bloopers, and so sound beter.
I started using digital keyboards back in the late 70's or early 80's to find chord progressions to suit the melodies I made on a little casio thing.
No matter what melody I punched into it, it would come up with a six chord progression.
It was then up to me to decide which chords could be killed and have it still singable.
I leant stuff doing that.
Now I still use a casio combined with computer software to make my bed tracks a lot cheaper than I could using real artists.
Or even a studio using the same gear as i use.
They are still not great productions, but they are up to a level I an get away with performing them live to, and far better to listen to than me just thrashing about on guitar or keyboard.
I even got to be keyboard player on a record that sold well.
That wasn't supposed to happen just the producer decided my demo sounded better than what the studio player did with it.
I believe we have entered an era where anybody who cares to learn that little bit more, can improve what they put out.
no matter if a person is chasing the big one, or simply doing it for the enjoyment of doing it, I believe today is a great day for the songwriter.
Top that off with the ability to send track anywhere in the world to box up talents, and it sure is a whgole lot of fun believe me.
And the big thing is.
Our songs are being heard no matter the fact we may never get a big cut and make a fortune.
I am sure that is the major aim for most writers.
Graham


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http://www.soundclick.com/bands/2/grahamhenderson_music.htm

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Graham
....And the big thing is.
Our songs are being heard no matter the fact we may never get a big cut and make a fortune.
I am sure that is the major aim for most writers.
Graham


Graham, well said!,,,our songs are being heard, & that's plenty 'nough for me Mate...And if the rest of us can keep on doing what we do, & using whatever Tech we can while writing & singing & performing the best that we can & never worry about making a fortune...Well then, we'll all die rich & leave our children to collect the benefits!

Midnite




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Satchel was right...Something is gaining on me....
www.jackcouldntmakeit.com

I disagree, there are lots of ways technology can help the creative process. I mean, we have three Lyric forums where people can get advice from peers 24/7, from thousands of miles away, at all different levels of expertise. You can also post an MP3 for near-instant feedback. Isn't that something enabled by technology?

Cheap n' fast digital recording technology makes demos almost disposable, and makes it super-easy to collaborate with other writers over the internet. A few years ago I co-wrote some songs with a songwriter on the other side of the USA -- we've never met face to face. Can you imagine how much more difficult that would have been with cassettes and postage?

There are tons of tools, from free online rhyming dictionaries to programs like Lyricist and MasterWriter which can assist with your songwriting skills. My favorite is the Dillfrog Rhymer -- it's gotten my creative juices flowing more than any other tech out there, and it's totally free.

Not to mention the tons and tons of how-to songwriting resources out there on the web. Instant access to news stories and current events provide a constant pipeline of song ideas.

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Scott Andrew
Lo-fi acoustic pop superhero!
http://www.scottandrew.com/music

The bit of tecnology that does it for me?

the net... I have a site and I get an audience from all over the world... Some of the masses get to hear what I write... something that just would not be possible for me if it wern't for the net. I also get to hear a much wider range of song writing now... once my only gauge of "Quality" lyric writing was the music I heard on the radio...

The digital nature of IT has made great inroads to our ability to improve dramatically the quality we distribute and allows us to reach a much greater audience .. it gives the audience a much greater choice....

And yeah it levels the playing field a hell of a lot... you don't need to be the worlds greatest singer... otherwise Kenney Rogers probobly wouldn't be popular... you don't have to be good looking... the big O and Meatloaf proved that... you only need good songs and clean recordings... and then let the audience decide if they like it...

Cheers

Noel

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http://www.soundclick.com/whichdoctor

Toerance means if you don't like something you ignore it