tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5961429304845947202011-11-27T18:53:27.363-05:00The intent of this blog is to discuss my journey as a songwriter. The songwriting process, song demos and studios, song creation, musical equipment and musical instruments used to create music and songs, such as guitars, keyboards, drums, processing equipment &amp; music software will all be discussed in this blog. Songwriting melody and lyric development and structure will compromise a large part of this blog. Additionally, how to market songs effectively.Ray Fontenaulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03758493703199605542noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596142930484594720.post-31357689989104847142010-06-17T18:25:00.000-04:002010-06-17T18:25:34.325-04:002010-06-17T18:25:34.325-04:00Ray Fontenaulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03758493703199605542noreply@blogger.com2Some songs are melodic based, some groove based and then some songs are lyric based. When it comes to lyrics, they are king in Nashville. But you can find great lyrics in all styles of music. I generally like to think of a great lyric as the story that captures a listener’s heart, funny bone, sorrow etc…through relatable stories. There have been entire books on lyric writing, so in this blog <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/T4KogjXnl8qKpkOneRcRTgROzXo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/T4KogjXnl8qKpkOneRcRTgROzXo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/T4KogjXnl8qKpkOneRcRTgROzXo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/T4KogjXnl8qKpkOneRcRTgROzXo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ASongwritersJourney/~4/mv1Zk4r1zw0" height="1" width="1"/>http://songwriterjourney.blogspot.com/2010/06/lets-talk-lyrics.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596142930484594720.post-70136112347154013692010-04-20T13:16:00.000-04:002010-04-20T13:16:31.295-04:002010-04-20T13:16:31.295-04:00Ray Fontenaulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03758493703199605542noreply@blogger.com1A Need To Network Like any other business there’s a need to network. It’s the relationships that you build along the way that will help you obtain your goals. Developing relationships with co-writers, artists, publishers, record label associates (yes that includes the secretary) and other music industry contacts can help you on your journey. In today’s music industry networking has never <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QHfgY7eG4PL0wf6DDnMHyGAwpM4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QHfgY7eG4PL0wf6DDnMHyGAwpM4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QHfgY7eG4PL0wf6DDnMHyGAwpM4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QHfgY7eG4PL0wf6DDnMHyGAwpM4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ASongwritersJourney/~4/zHhKPNgMH-0" height="1" width="1"/>http://songwriterjourney.blogspot.com/2010/04/need-to-network.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596142930484594720.post-48981956813945364122010-03-19T10:45:00.000-04:002010-03-19T10:45:54.496-04:002010-03-19T10:45:54.496-04:00Ray Fontenaulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03758493703199605542noreply@blogger.com0Last month we discussed “When is a Song Done?“. Once you deem a song “done”, it’s time to decide if you should demo the song. The main factor that should be considered is, will you be pitching the song. If the answer is yes, then in my opinion you should demo it once the song is deemed ready. It’s really important to pay close attention to whether the song is truly ready to be demoed before <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dIYXH4Qd8diqHW7votmvm_RQUdA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dIYXH4Qd8diqHW7votmvm_RQUdA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dIYXH4Qd8diqHW7votmvm_RQUdA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dIYXH4Qd8diqHW7votmvm_RQUdA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ASongwritersJourney/~4/dv1NjaC8s58" height="1" width="1"/>http://songwriterjourney.blogspot.com/2010/03/time-to-demo.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596142930484594720.post-47188411883641941752010-02-18T14:30:00.001-05:002010-02-18T20:01:08.439-05:002010-02-18T20:01:08.439-05:00Ray Fontenaulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03758493703199605542noreply@blogger.com1Ah, tough question for sure. Let’s take this from the angle that the songwriter wants to market their songs commercially. And generally, I think the answer resides in additional questions… 1. Does the lyric paint a picture of what you want to say? Anyone can tell a story, but not everyone can hold the listeners attention. The pictures you paint will be the vehicle that captures the listener’ <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/d38gXYophNAcp9jcT2IjPD-Ev2w/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/d38gXYophNAcp9jcT2IjPD-Ev2w/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/d38gXYophNAcp9jcT2IjPD-Ev2w/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/d38gXYophNAcp9jcT2IjPD-Ev2w/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ASongwritersJourney/~4/8s2FbH4ImKM" height="1" width="1"/>http://songwriterjourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/when-is-song-done.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596142930484594720.post-3835642345532014692010-01-19T09:36:00.000-05:002010-01-19T09:36:50.816-05:002010-01-19T09:36:50.816-05:00Ray Fontenaulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03758493703199605542noreply@blogger.com0Hi all, Welcome to the first edition of “A Songwriters Journey” for 2010. With the New Year upon us many of us think about resolutions to improve ourselves. As songwriters, we may want to incorporate new ways to create music by getting out of our comfort zones. When I think of “comfort zones” what comes to mind is the same old - same old tried and true ways we’ve come accustomed to writing <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ME9VDwG0Y1vZBTV0XvdRA5Yx2-0/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ME9VDwG0Y1vZBTV0XvdRA5Yx2-0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ME9VDwG0Y1vZBTV0XvdRA5Yx2-0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ME9VDwG0Y1vZBTV0XvdRA5Yx2-0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ASongwritersJourney/~4/OIlqPdmzGBQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://songwriterjourney.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-year-new-start-stepping-out-of.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596142930484594720.post-73603751553805586752009-12-23T14:14:00.000-05:002009-12-23T14:14:20.154-05:002009-12-23T14:14:20.154-05:00Ray Fontenaulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03758493703199605542noreply@blogger.com1Since I’ve been writing songs, the one thing I’ve come to understand. Songwriters and artists have always been willing to “give back”. With the Christmas season upon us I thought it would be fitting to discuss just that “giving”. At the end of this blog I will point out a few artists and songwriters in action. Feel free to comment on my blog and introduce your own links to charities and <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tx8Oze1kd_B6Za2W8mxLjSzwdpE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tx8Oze1kd_B6Za2W8mxLjSzwdpE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tx8Oze1kd_B6Za2W8mxLjSzwdpE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/tx8Oze1kd_B6Za2W8mxLjSzwdpE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ASongwritersJourney/~4/MqvZumDt3QQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://songwriterjourney.blogspot.com/2009/12/songwriters-reaching-out-through-song.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596142930484594720.post-56447758314041719812009-11-20T18:11:00.001-05:002009-11-20T18:33:51.261-05:002009-11-20T18:33:51.261-05:00Ray Fontenaulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03758493703199605542noreply@blogger.com0Welcome to this month’s edition of A Songwriters Journey. This month’s topic, well of course with Christmas coming up next month, I thought it might be worth discussing “Christmas” songs. Generally, I’m a bit of a “humbug” with the commercialization of Christmas, but I am a sucker for a great Christmas song and tend to enjoy the spiritual side of Christmas. Christmas songs are packaged in many <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Dh0PSfY4zUoryO-uSUAd6AfKu8E/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Dh0PSfY4zUoryO-uSUAd6AfKu8E/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Dh0PSfY4zUoryO-uSUAd6AfKu8E/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Dh0PSfY4zUoryO-uSUAd6AfKu8E/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ASongwritersJourney/~4/ZV9tR0_yLY0" height="1" width="1"/>http://songwriterjourney.blogspot.com/2009/11/christmas-songs-significant-songwriter.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596142930484594720.post-1521520121983560282009-10-26T11:17:00.000-04:002009-10-26T11:19:16.354-04:002009-10-26T11:19:16.354-04:00Ray Fontenaulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03758493703199605542noreply@blogger.com1One question that I’ve seen over the years is… “What constitutes songwriting success?” The first thing a new songwriter should do is to determine just that. It’s like any other venture you might embark on, you need to set goals and determine what constitutes success for you. Songwriting success is not a one size fits all scenario. For some success can only be achieved by earning your primary <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/66K2hISH43jBmDf9SomgRmOIb4Q/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/66K2hISH43jBmDf9SomgRmOIb4Q/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/66K2hISH43jBmDf9SomgRmOIb4Q/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/66K2hISH43jBmDf9SomgRmOIb4Q/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ASongwritersJourney/~4/bEDe-R9SuQk" height="1" width="1"/>http://songwriterjourney.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-is-songwriting-success.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596142930484594720.post-31651203504977221052009-09-30T15:57:00.000-04:002009-09-30T16:24:13.773-04:002009-09-30T16:24:13.773-04:00Ray Fontenaulthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03758493703199605542noreply@blogger.com0Hi all, I decided to blog about my songwriting journey, as I believe this is a topic where many folks pursuing songwriting have shared many of the same stories.  Whether it be song sharks, the demo process, the craft of songwriting and the musical tools used to create songs. The intent of this blog is to discuss my journey as a songwriter. The songwriting process, song demos and studios, song <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dWf31Qi5kJsbg_ifCHT683He39c/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dWf31Qi5kJsbg_ifCHT683He39c/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dWf31Qi5kJsbg_ifCHT683He39c/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/dWf31Qi5kJsbg_ifCHT683He39c/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ASongwritersJourney/~4/G-95ZYclUyU" height="1" width="1"/>http://songwriterjourney.blogspot.com/2009/09/yet-another-blog-welcome-to-my-new-blog.html