In the basement putting down some rough guitar tracks. New song is coming along. Digging deep and watching vids of Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Scotty Moore for some inspiration. Well, maybe some Cramps and Setzer too. Got the lyrics roughed out. Kind of an anti-establishment Pete Seeger vibe with a dash of psychobilly. Don’t quite know where this song is gonna go. Quite fast though, so far around 160bpm. The Gretsch is perfect for this stuff. Although the BigSky throws in too much reverb on the slapback delay. And my old Mooer is tap tempo delay and max tap setting speed won’t go fast enough. May have to bite the bullet for a newer basic delay pedal. #music #recording #songwriting #gearsquad

Maintain a consistent release schedule to keep fans excited.

I've been saturating myself in classical musicians analyzing songs they've never heard before. The analyses always give me musical ideas.

I'm just going to have to throw myself into writing this album. I have a few song ideas and/or hooks now. It would be helpful if any of them resulted in a complete song. Or piece. Or something a child could play with 2 fingers.

Okay, there are those hooks. And a rambling thing I wrote one night when I might have had some tune in my head, but now I've got pages of lyrics, instead. The tune is long gone. Out to pasture. Chasing mares. The usual sort of thing one does when one is a tune in retirement, whatever that may be.

Meanwhile, I think I might have to use the old method. Not the really old method, where I get callouses and bang something out on a guitar until just before tendinitis sets in, at which point I realize it doesn't have a bridge anywhere, but I can play some ripping lead to it, when my fingers aren't aching.

No. The newer old method, where I start writing something on keyboards. This keeps me from playing lead all the time.

I kid you not, I write better tunes after a layoff than I do when my chops are up. In the latter case, all I want to do is play lead, and the tune suffers. In the former case, I have no callouses and wish to not play any lead guitar right now, thank you, so can we please focus and write the rest of this song before we bleed all over the strings?

If anyone wants to throw poetry at me, I will happily see if I can turn it into music. We can share a copyright. That, plus waiting 5 or 10 years for the royalties to build, might buy a cup of coffee. And by then you'll really want a cup!

Damit ich musikalisch nicht zu eingefahren bin, höre ich immer wieder komplett andere Genres, als ich sonst so aus den Lautsprechern erschallen lasse.
Heute dann »James Blake« mit dem Album »Playing Robots into Heaven«.
Mit Genres selbst tu ich mich schwer, würde aber sagen, es ist in etwa bei Elektronic/Pop/Songwriting einzuordnen.

#Music #Metalhead goes #Elektronic #Pop #Songwriting

Use your brand to create a unique identity and stand out in the crowded music industry.

Apparently today is #MusiciansDay? That's cool.

If you'd like an #introduction to my music, here's my most popular song. :)

I tend toward retro-tinged #folkMusic, but my tastes are eclectic, and I hope it shows. Themes of #MentalHealth, #politics, and #spirituality come up often in my songs.

I love connecting with other #queer, #trans, #disabled, and otherwise kind folks here, so please reach out!

https://arendleejessurun.bandcamp.com/album/seeking-a-friend-in-la-single

I'm arranging some multi part vocals. I don't have a huge bag of tricks yet, so I'm listening to various things for inspiration. 70s funk, mostly. Y'all, 70s funk is so good! Listening to some more contemporary funk as well, but they don't layer vocals to the same extent. I think I'm walking the middle ground and I've got some things that make me smile or even laugh, so hopefully it's good!

XTC's Andy Partridge - How I Write Songs [Part 1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZzhjgQqCJI #Music #Songwriting

Share the one song you're most proud of releasing.

Messing around in the basement tonight with the hollow body Gretsch 5422. Had the guitar for a few months now, but haven’t really given it a good long session. Putting down some ideas for a new song. It’s wild how a certain instrument can subconsciously inspire a certain genre of music because of its historical common or typical use. In this case rockabilly or early rock n’ roll. The Gretsch has that twang thing going on; that bite like a Telecaster. FilterTron pickups are interesting. Traits of both Danelectro lipstick pickups and Telecaster single coils, but with a bit more midrange and less hum. Not as warm as a full blown humbucker though. Running it through a Keeley compressor pedal. #guitar #gearsquad #recording #songwriting

Merch plays a key role in income generation and creating superfans. Diversify!

Get clear on your big "why." Defining your purposes will motivate you through the grind.

Preaching mostly to myself here, but this also goes out to anyone else out there trying to share an urgent or at least important message through music:

You don't have time to make it perfect!

#TunesOnTuesday shares another new song that I started in February as part of the #FAWM Challenge. "Easy" is a reflection on AI and other labor-saving tools. #songwriter #songwriting #jazzpiano #jazz #jazztodon #jazzsong https://ohljazz.com/2025/03/25/tunes-on-tuesday-easy/

After a couple weeks of evenings down in the basement, finally got my new tune finished. Messed around with the mastering presets tonight and got a decent one which I tweaked a bit. Glad it’s done. Every friggin track has manually set volume automation, and lots of it on the main vocal track. And the comping looks like a freaky jigsaw puzzle. Basement is a mess. Cables and stuff everywhere. #music #guitar #recording #songwriting #gearsquad #mentalhealth #chill https://youtu.be/boT7Ow2gyrA?si=u2rRjarB9Yjm1Yx9

What's a song that so personally resonated with you that it made you think, "I wish I wrote that"?

There's a video of John Prine onstage about to perform "Clay Pigeons" by Blaze Foley, wherein he says he wish he would've been the one who stayed up late one night to write that one.

Give yourself time and permission to experiment.

Release vinyl or cassette editions since physical formats offer nostalgic value for some fans.

I have written a second new hook! This one's reggae. Not touching it. Just needs the story filled in.

And I wrote the lyrics down! This makes it officially 50% of the way to it getting recorded.

Plus I wrote down the first one! And I finalized it - aka, it needed some words to go with the tailing riff out of the hook. Appropriate snark.

It's not a long way into writing a new album, but I like these hooks well enough to think they're going to be on it.

The motivation is returning after over a year of none whatsoever. Progress!!

Refine your creative process over time.