Its all about the formula...
Sunday, 18 May 2008

I have been doing a lot of examination lately.  Why do I hit lulls in the creative work flow?  One thing that came to mind is that I create songs on the same skeleton.  The pop-length formula that I was taught and I have used for years.  I do vary it slightly, but I don't stray far from the path. 

8 bars intro / 16 bars / Chorus / 16 bars / chorus / bridge / chorus / 8 bars outro. 

It usually finishes out about between 3:10 and 3:40 depending on the pace of the song.  From the listeners perspective its easy to follow, but from the creative perspective its lacks.  Not to say I will ever throw it out, but I need a couple of different frameworks to build on.  I tried to create a true FUNK track on the same frame and it fell apart.  Partially my lack of experience, but I also felt it didn't move right.  I might try more of the old school jazz approach, establish a groove, free form for 2-3 minutes, bring the groove back, clean finish. 


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  Comments (1)
 1 Written by Honeycomb, on 05-18-2008 15:50
You don't need a skeleton. You don't even need a chorus. If you're looking to branch out into a more unusual song structure, I strongly recommend picking up a copy of either "154" or "Chairs Missing" by Wire. Their songwriting is both melodic, yet unconventional. I've learnt a lot from them in terms of what is and what isn't require to make a great song.  
 
As an example, I've just finished a song in 6/8 time with 6 lines of words and no chorus that lasts 1:50.

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