6 Matching Annotations
  1. Jan 2022
    1. I’m always anxious about my singing voice, which is one reason why I always am ready to call anything I record a “demo” and cover myself from criticism (that I can’t sing as well as I should be able to, given how many years I’ve been at this).

      I find the idea of a 'demo' interesting. With technology as it is these days, it feels like a mindset more than anything else. I was interested in listening to The Story of 1999 podcast series and the way in which Prince recorded everything with a thought that it might be the take. He then covered up the bits that he did not want with explosions.

    1. My next step will be to record some lead vocals, which I will do as another track in Soundtrap. I may add some more live keyboards (myself, playing, as opposed to loops) at the end, to give the second half of the song more texture. In regards to vocals, I aim to do my best, but in my mind, I keep wondering: Who else could I ask to sing this? Or help me sing this? A backing track might make all the difference in the world.

      One of the things that intrigues me about taking a song from its core elements and building it out as the different journeys it can take. For example, in a documentary on U2's Joshua Tree, Brian Eno threw around the faders and demonstrated how the track (might have been Street with No Name, can't quite remember) could have been a Depeche Mode song. This is one of the things that always interests me with the Song Exploder podcast. I wonder then if you ever scrap a take and build a song up again with a whole different vibe.

  2. Mar 2020
  3. Apr 2017
    1. One of the advantages of being a songwriter instead of a performer is that, while artists have a hard time recovering their reputation when a record bombs, the only time the public pays attention to who wrote a song is when it's a hit. Most people don't realise that, even for successful writers, the good-v-great ratio is low: Chambers has written more than 1,000 songs in the last 15 years, of which 21 ranked in the top 10 – that's one hit for every 47 songs. That may sound like a frustrating process, but most writers would agree it's necessary to write non-hits to get to the nuggets. As with athletes, it's important to exercise the writing muscle.
    2. If anyone was hoping to stumble on a secret formula, that hope was quickly shattered. As Motown legend Lamont Dozier once said: "I've written about 78 top 10 songs, and I still don't know what a hit is. I can only go by what I feel.