Songwriting: My Favorite Class?

"Favorite" is most definitely an understatement.

When I first started this class, I was told by my instructor that we would have to write lyrics for two different songs. I got a little nervous at hearing this because I had never successfully written lyrics before. I tried a few times, but I just could never seem to get anything to sound decent. I also can't seem to get myself to channel all of the ideas, emotions, events, and experiences into one focal point. But with all frustrations aside, I sat down at my piano, plucked out some chords, and wrote whatever came to mind. It wasn't until this point that I actually came to realize that I wasn't such a bad lyricist afterall. I repeated a quote by my instructor over and over again in my head while working on the lyrics: "This isn't songwriting class, this is song re-writing class; your lyrics don't have to and won't be perfect the first time you write them." We had to have some kind of concept for the songs that we wrote, and the one that I chose that stuck to me was about my journey from Minnesota to Florida to attend Full Sail. I remember having so many different emotions flowing through me at the time, so it was the perfect concept for me to write about. Everything just fell into place at this point. 

Before I start any song, I try and get in the ballpark of what genre I want the song to be. I wanted to go for a little bit of a different style for my song and try something new and out of my comfort zone, but I wasn't sure how far out I wanted to go. Did I want to stay and be somewhat comfortable and go with something dance, or did I want to go with something more dramatic? I came to a conclusion that I can't put restrictions on music and decided to just go with whatever I came up with. This happened to work out perfectly! 

For the second week of class we had to have a foundation for our song and lyrics, which meant that we had to have a chord progression, melody, and drums. I remember thinking to myself, "I write music all of the time, so this won't be too hard." And boy was I wrong. I realized that I struggle when I have to write music while under pressure. After sitting in front of my Mac with Logic open for about an hour, I walked away. I just couldn't get anything to work or sound the way I wanted it.

I took a break for awhile and then went back to work. I then remembered that we could use Drummer, which is a virtual "live" drummer within Logic Pro. This changed everything. I quickly learned that this song will not be a dance tune, but a singer/songwriter instead. Things only went up from that point on. The piano sounded great; the bass line I wrote worked quite well; and the strings put the cherry on top. It all worked out perfectly, and I reinforced an important lesson: don't put restrictions on music. Just go with the flow. 

Week three came upon us, and my colleagues and I were so excited to finally get in the studio and record the vocals for our songs. Some of us were nervous, but we were all excited to start working together, sharing our songs with each other, and sharing ideas to better our songs. We couldn't help but be ecstatic because our instructor hyped it up to everything it was and more throughout the whole month. It was such a valuable learning experience in every aspect of the music creation process. I'll never forget it!

While in the studio, I got to work on and record with a Neve 9098 (pictured below) and an Audient console. I had walked by this studio with the Neve in it a hundred times. I always remember thinking, "I hope I get to work on that someday." Ask and he shall receive, right? We recorded two of my colleagues' songs before mine. Everything was going absolutely perfect. Logic was running smoothly, the sound was crystal clear, and we were getting a lot of work done. About ten minutes or so into my time slot, the Neve decides to glitch and basically shut down. The instructor did everything in his power to get it back up and running, but he couldn't. I guess that's what happens when you play fire (slang for "a really good song") on an old piece of equipment. 

Rupert Neve 9098

After the Neve decides to shut down, we head over to the other lab, wait for the other lab group to finish their session, and then we setup camp to finish my session. Everything went smoothly and we got everything I needed recorded, except for the guitar. In fact, I had never planned on getting a guitar recorded for this track, but I quickly changed my mind after hearing our lab instructor play guitar. I asked him if he would be ever so kind to lay out some acoustic guitar on my track. Afterall, you can't have a singer/songwriter track without a guitar on it! 



A few days later we headed back into the studio to put any finishing touches on our songs. It was during this session that I got the guitar recorded. I didn't have anything else to do on my song; everything I needed got done a few days prior. So I ended up helping my colleagues and friends in my group get their finishing touches finished by running the board or Logic.

Our final project entailed making a few minor changes based on the feedback that we received from our peers and the judges when we presented our songs. Due to time constraints I couldn't do everything I wanted to do. Instead, I kept things rather simple and just made the transition from the bridge into the key change a little more dramatic. 



There is nothing like being in a studio. Absolutely nothing like it. It's a place where creativity and talent go perfectly hand-in-hand. Creative minds get together and make magic. It's truly a magical experience, and I can't thank my colleagues and instructor enough for making it such an enjoyable atmosphere! I learned so much about all of the magic that happens in the studio. 

As I conclude this post, I would like to throw out a few thank yous. A huge thank you goes out to my good friend Marlon for singing on my track. Without your musical and vocal talents the song would've went down the toilet. I'd also like thank my other good friend, Christian, for singing on the background vocals during the bridge. It's always nice to have a Grammy-winning friend sing on your song. Also, a huge thank you to my lab instructor Mark. Thanks for taking the time to lay down some beautiful acoustic guitar on my track. You truly took it to a whole new level! Last but not least, a huge thank you goes out to my instructor for the month, Atom. You are by far one of the best instructors I've ever had. I learned so much throughout the course of the month. And I will use the skills and tips that you shared with me for the rest of my professional career! Thank you, Atom, for such a memorable month in Songwriting! 

Lennon
Student
Bachelor of Science, Music Production