Hi Songwriters

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Songwriting Challenge: Renovating Music, Axis of Awesome Style

Try taking the chord progression of your favourite song, and writing an entirely new song with it.

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Most of you are probably familiar with “4 Chords“, the rather hilarious tune recorded by Axis of Awesome. That song highlighted the fact that many, many songs have been recorded that all use the same chord progression, specifically I-V-vi-IV. It’s also a good demonstration of why chord progressions are not typically protected by copyright. Chords are simply a harmonic foundation upon which we place melodies, and it’s melodies that are required to be distinctive and unique.

It can be a fun exercise to try your own version of the Axis of Awesome’s trick: take a chord progression from a well-known song and create an entirely new song with it. In a way, you could think of it as musical renovation.

What you’re aiming for in this challenge is to create a new song that doesn’t even remind you of the original one. For example, as demonstrated in the “4 Chords” so> …[click the link below to read the rest of the article]

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The Essential Secrets of Songwriting Blog

Hi Creative People

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MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: How Vinyl and iPods Ganged Up to Kill the CD & more

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud

 

• Ariel Hyatt: Marketing Plan Tactics For Independent Musicians – Part 2 of 3: Album Launch …[click the link below to read the rest of the article]

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Music Think Tank (primary) RSS

Hey Creative People

Here’s an article that I think you will enjoy taking a glimpse at.

iOS: Alex Matheus – Glitchbreaks

Alex Matheus Glitchbreaks is an iOS Universal manipulation tool for “Glitching” breakbeats. Manipulate beats to create new beats and record them. Really cool

“Glitchbreaks can be used as a performance tool to juggle breakbeats or destroy sounds at a granular level. You can make interesting effect-like-sounds by manipulating pitch, loop start, length, and cutting the beats with fluid responsive controls.

You can record your performance and bring it into iTunes through file sharing, or copy it out into another iOS application via Audio Copy and Paste. You pre determine the length of your recording by bars to easily make pieces to bring into a song without the need for further sample editing.”

Features:

• ✔ 90 high quality factory beat loops
• ✔ Audio Copy and Paste and General Pasteboard support
• ✔ 4 continuous looping channels with 4 channel mixer
• ✔ Auto-BPM detection / with on/off setting
• ✔ Set the BPM up to 2.9 times the original sample BPM
• ✔ Waveform Display with accurate position indicator (iPad only)
• ✔ XY-Pad Loop Modulation (Loop Length, Loo> …[click the link below to read the rest of the article]

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Making Music

Hey Songwriters

Here Is some info that I think you will enjoy taking a look at.

Ugly Kid Joe – they’re back!

Here’s the first new Ugly Kid Joe music in about a billion years. If you’re not familiar with UKJ, here’s the gist: they were one of the last hard rock bands to sneak through a hit before grunge tore a hole through the world of pointy headstocks and lyrics about partyin’ that didn’t involve heroin. So here’s “Devil’s Paradise,” the firs> …[click the link below to read the rest of the article]

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I Heart Guitar

I get very interested in seeing what other musicians invent when it comes to their own instruments to create music.

This is a random video from youtube that is tagged with “Home Made Instrument”. Some of them might be crazy and overly simplified, and others might be elaborate and highly technical. Either way, I hope you get some kind of enjoyment and possibly even inspiration from it!

Experimental art music group INVISIBLE discusses and demonstrates their homemade analog drum machine, Rhythm 1001 at Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, VA. www.soundsinvisible.com

Hey Songwriting Junkies

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The Primary Error Response

“Display confident body language, come what may.”
–The Musician’s Way, p. 194

Are you confident in your ability to deal with on-stage mistakes?

I’ve found that rising musicians seldom practice handling errors, so they typically don’t manage them as gracefully as they could.

In fact, many aspiring artists fear errors, which feeds their performance anxiety.

Here’s a primary error response that I’ve taught for years.

1. Keep Going
Audiences connect most deeply with the pulse of our music, so it’s vital that we maintain forward motion.

When you stumble – whether due to a memory slip, flubbed note, or whatever – uphold the groove, improvising as necessary.

In contrast, rhythmic interruptions jolt listeners.

2. Release Tension
Mistakes can trigger a startle response in which our muscles clench and our breathing constricts.

So, as you keep up the pulse, breathe into your abdomen and release tension.

In so doing, you support your execution, quell nerves, and free up your creativ> …[click the link below to read the rest of the article]

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The Musician’s Way Blog

I am a big fan of creativity and I love watching people demonstrate their various ideas on songwriting. I thought using an automated function would be a great way to get a diverse set of ideas without my own influences showing through too much. Hopefully I have set up the filters well enough that the videos chosen by the process will be fitting for this blog.

Jonathan Richman knows very well how provide answers the interviewer (Bram van Splunteren, VPRO Lolapaloeza) is not really asking for… circa 1994

Hello Songwriting Junkies

Here’s some info that I think you will enjoy taking a look at.

How to Get Gigs on Sonicbids

A while ago, I wrote this article about How to Get Better Results From Your Sonicbids Submissions. Since then, there have been a few changes to the site (both for promoters as well as performers). All of the advice from the first article still applies so if you haven’t read it, take a look at it first.

Here’s some practical advice for those of you who would like to use Sonicbids to get gigs and what my thoughts are on it (both as an artist as well as a promoter):

1. Make Your EPK Stand Out: There’s nothing worse than submitting an incomplete EPK. This includes tour dates. Contrary to what you might think, the EPK is the first thing that the promoter sees, not the submission questions that you’re sometimes required to complete. If you plan on using Sonicbids often (let’s face it, it’s one of the few ways to submit to SXSW, CMJ, or some other opportunities), then splurge a little and pay for the premium account, at least for the months that you’re using it often. Get your elevator pitch down. Grab their attention immediately. Listing the band members in your bio (unless you have a celebrity in the lineup) is a waste of time, same with spending an entire paragraph talking about what you sound like. Instead, focus on what sets you apart from every other artist, how&nbs> …[click the link below to read the rest of the article]

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Hello Creation Junkies

Here’s a tidbit that I think you will enjoy taking a look at.

Good Vibrations: A Q&A With Mickey Hart

From his early days working in his Dad’s drum shop through his years with the Grateful Dead to his diverse work as a solo artist and ethnomusicologist, Mickey Hart has been fascinated with the inner workings of rhythm, melody and harmony.

His latest album, Mysterium Tremendum, combines the lyric poetry of Robert Hunter, the rhythmic celebration of a Dead concert and the science of light turned into sound into a critically acclaimed and wholly satisfying musical experience.

While on tour in Seattle, he took a moment to share his thoughts on his long relationship with Robert Hunter, his departed colleague, Levon Helm, and how the music of the spheres found its way onto his new album.

How’s the tour been so far?

It’s been really uplifting. The band (which also appears on the record) is playing beautifully. The groove is right; the rhythm is right. It couldn’t be better.

A lot of people don’t realize you co-wrote Dead songs like “Fire On The Mountain” and “Playing In The Band.” What were your contributions there?

“Fire On The Mountain” and “P> …[click the link below to read the rest of the article]

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Blogging Muses

This video was picked at random through an automated function of Creative-Music.org. I am a big fan of creativity and since I am a guitar player I thought I would showcase some random guitar lessons on the blog. I thought using an automated function would be a great way to select different styles and difficulties of lessons without my own influences showing through too much. Hopefully I have set up the filters well enough that the videos chosen by the process will be fitting for this blog. If in the odd chance that this video does not fit the purpose of the blog, I apologize!

Whenever I learn a new guitar technique, I tend to want to put it into action right away… which typically leads to writing a new song. Hopefully this will do the same for you

In this guitar lessons we check out a hybrid fingerstyle percussive strumming thing… Kinda Neil Young stylee lots of fun. I show you the basics in theis video then it’s up to you to explore the concept further. More advanced students might like to try my tune From Katie’s Window which I wrote using this technique. There are some more hints on pattern variations and TABS on the web site.Taught by Justin Sandercoe. Full support at the web site where you will find hundreds of lessons on a wide range of subjects, and all the scales and chords that you will ever need! There is a great forum too to get help, no matter what the problem. And it is all totally free, no bull. No sample lessons, no memberships. Just tons of great lessons To get help with your lesson or song look up the number at the start of the video title (like ST-666 or whatever) on the Lesson Index page. www.justinguitar.com .
Video Rating: 4 / 5