A quick message to the writers
Hi people
If you find yourself spending too much time on the recording process, and trying to make stuff sound great, it’s a fair assumption that your song writing is suffering.
Sound design/recording&mastering etc can be very addictive (trust me I know!!). Just don’t let it stifle your creative flow. Decide what you want to mainly be. I’m not saying give up on the recording, but put your song writing and playing first.
Just don’t let your main gift go rusty while trying to learn too many things.
Additional
This post is mainly aimed at the writers using guitars or piano’s etc. The sounds used in electro production are an integral part of the material, so the sound creation of the piece has to go hand in hand with the writing. There is actually a biological reason why the 2 styles differ. For example: The guitarist sits virtually anywhere and writes a whole song, purely in creative mode. No technical distractions. Whereas the electro writer is already in technical mode as they create their latest track.
I used to be a pretty good guitarist, and I could sort of write songs, until I discovered the recording process, and the nice toys that come with that. Luckily for me it was a natural move, as my songs were rubbish, but I hate to imagine the good writers who get so distracted, that the new material stops coming. The phrase “use it or lose it” is very relevant in music creation.
Prioritize your talents, Stay focused!!
Tone
Agree wholeheartedly. I’m pretty good as a singer/songwriter. I suck balls as an engineer. I keep trying to improve simply because it prevents me from delivering the music the way I hear it, but I have no illusions I’ll ever sit on the engineering side of the house!
Hi Mr B.
Keep at it though dude, sometimes it all just falls into place!. I wrote that little piece based on what I have seen with many of my friends, and myself. I started recording, to get my songs, which were coming thick and fast onto tape (at the time) and out to the world. Luckily I never really managed it
. The pursuit for recording excellence (holy grail), took me on a totally different road. To the extent, that I spent a long time trying to make the same songs sound great. By the time I could place a mic well, and record and mix it all pretty good, the cruel outcome was that I could no longer write any tunes at all.
For me, it was just fate. My songs were crap anyway, so the technical side of it was where I belonged. But I have seen good writers get lost in the technical stuff, trading one natural skill to learn something that is almost alien to them. I just saw Kierons comment on the twitter timeline, saying sound is a part of his writing process. I completely agree. I suppose my post was aimed at the people who write with a guitar, or piano etc etc. I don’t think you can get far writing electro tunes on a guitar
. The sounds are integral to the tune.
I used to be a pretty good guitarist, I literally haven’t picked any of them up in a year
. I think the bottom line is this….make sure the tunes keep coming, if the writing starts to suffer….re adjust the balance.
Thanks for commenting bud.
Tone