Weekly Music Writing - Like lifting weights made of creativity

A while back I wrote about writing music constantly in order to build your skills and flex your creativity. I've been making music for several years now and my biggest project had been a 16 track score for a tragically unreleased computer game, which I finished in about 6 months. This was a great exercise, but afterward I got somewhat lazy. I was still producing music and getting better all the time, but unfortunately at a very slow rate.

It was roughly two months ago when I had completed a song in the studio that took me about a week to make when I realized 'You know, I should really be finishing a song every week.' That's when I decided to start my project.

I call it the Jupiterman Weekly Song-A-Thon. I'm writing and producing a new piece of music every week for three months. This means by the end of it I'll have twelve tracks, and so far I've completed nine. There are no requirements in the project other than finishing each song by Friday. The songs can be any length and any genre. In the 9 songs that I've already made, I've done electronica, jazz, solo piano, cinematic, ambient, and... er, harpsichord rock (kind of a failed experiment. It was a rough week.)

Here are some things I've learned along the way so far:

1. There are ways around writer's block. Usually by Friday when I'm finishing up a new song I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do for the next week and I may even start working on the next song immediately after finishing. This isn't always the case, however. There have been a couple of weeks when I've started without any clue what I was doing and nothing I try seems to click with me. It can be very frustrating. This is not the end, however! I've somehow managed to deliver a song every week regardless. How?

Well, one week I simply couldn't get much time to work on anything. Instead of just giving up, however, I dug around through my hard drive and dredged up an older song that I had been working on several months before. I hadn't been too happy with it, but in the few hours that I had that day I polished it up and finished it off in time to release it that afternoon. I became much more satisfied with it.

Another week was truly a case of writer's block. Friday came around and I still had nothing, despite having spent a lot of time in the studio previously that week. I didn't know what I was going to do. Then I remembered I had a piano piece that I had written as a sort of chord exercise for myself almost a year ago. I only played it on my keyboard in my bedroom and never really considered recording it. Until now, that is. Despite it starting out as an exercise, it was musically sound, had an interesting chord progression, had some real emotional power and I could play it fairly competently. Problem solved! I recorded it, tweaked it, and had it done in less than two hours.

Writer's block will most likely hit you sometimes, but there are creative ways to get around it. You can also try doing something completely off the wall, if you have no ideas left. This is how you get stuff like harpsichord rock; not the best thing ever, but something different, at least.

2. I have a style/formula and I have certain limitations. I've always kept this idealized vision of myself as a composer who is genre-less who can write a competent piece of music in any style imaginable. This project has shown me the reality of myself as a composer. There are certain genres that I gravitate towards, like electronica, and others that I struggle with, like rock or symphonic. I really want to make another rock song after the success of Mighty Surf Wizard Battle, but I have a hard time mixing electric guitar sounds and coming up with chords to make up the verse and chorus sections. I have an easier time with symphonic works, but again, chords (my arch-nemeses) are difficult. The real problem with symphonic, however, lies in the technical limitations of my own studio.

I also have a very specific way of putting chords and, indeed, whole songs together. I tend to have chord changes occur every measure, but almost never more frequently. This can be very limiting.

None of the problems I've mentioned here are insurmountable. They are not intrinsic aspects of my or anyone's character. There more learned about music and more practice one gets, the better their work becomes.

3. Time constraints will give you perspective. Since I'm not living in a mansion built out of solid gold BMW's, I have to work at a job like everyone else. My particular job, thankfully, affords me some flexibility to work on other endeavors. Still, work, social obligations, self-education and writing for multiple websites take up a lot of my time, and I'm sure you can relate. With all of this in mind, I set aside around 8 to 16 hours of my free time each week to work on my music. This is certainly not enough time to create a masterpiece, but it is enough to put together a well-made 2 to 3 minute song.

Having such a time constraint will force you to know and understand what is most important in the music you're composing. There are many things I could tweak on each piece that I write; making sure every last drum beat and portamento swing is absolutely perfect, but I simply don't have enough time. Instead I focus on making sure it's a finished product that has some emotional weight and is produced well. When you write all the time, you get more efficient. Little technical things that you struggled with before and would take up so much of your time will eventually fade away as you become more competent at them or you find a more efficient way of doing things. You'll learn to produce quality on your first try, rather than your third, simply because you'll have no choice.

4. Forcing yourself to make music is incredibly rewarding. This project has been great fun and I've learned a ton from doing it. It has even given me a lot of ideas for things to do after the project is over. I'm thinking of doing a pure electro-jazz album in the style of my third song in the project. I want to do some collaborations with a few of my friends. I've now proven to myself that I can make quality music quickly and efficiently, so there's no hesitation or wariness about getting started on a new project.

I urge you, fellow makeshift musician, to start your own Song-A-Thon. It doesn't matter if all you have is a guitar and a tape recorder, just give it a try. Maybe bring some other musicians in to help. By the end of it you'll have a sweet album to give away or sell. It could just be the best thing you've ever done for your music writing career.

The Beginner's Guide to Becoming a Musician

If you're looking to learn about playing, writing or recording music in some way, any way, but don't quite know where to start, this is for you.

So you want to start making music? You want to be the next Bach? Have lots of ideas and want to make a CD? Perhaps you just have a serious deficiency of groupies in your life and you want to change that? Whatever brought you here, you want to make music in some way, and doing that may not be as hard as you think. This guide will act as your starting point on your new path. Regardless of what instrument you want to play, or what kind of music you want to get into, this guide will show you how to get started, from choosing an instrument and learning to play it to composing and eventually recording.

Before you start

If you're completely convinced of your own ineptitude, or you think it is too late for you to take up the difficult task of making music, then I've got something to say to you:

You Don't Need Musical Talent to Make Music

Getting an instrument

The most popular instruments in Western society are the rock staples (guitar, bass guitar and drums) and piano. There are plenty of other instruments out there to choose from though, if you feel like doing something different. If you haven't decided yet, take a look at this article for advice on choosing and buying an instrument:

Picking up an Instrument

If you've picked piano, here are couple of other articles that you should check out:

Starting out with Piano
Piano Playing Tips for Beginners - (note: while this article was technically written for pianists, the lessons generally apply to all instruments)

Becoming a better listener

As you start to play music, you'll discover an interesting phenomenon: you'll notice more about the musical world around you. After a while, you'll gain the ability to de-construct all the different music that you've been listening to. This is a wonderful experience and will make you a more observant person in general. Now is a good time to take the initiative and start actively becoming a more deliberate listener. Try the techniques listed in these articles and discover new dimensions in music that you never understood before:

Introduce Yourself to New Musical Genres
Listening to Music Intelligently

Composing music

I have two things to say here about composing music, whether it's a short rock song or a 20-minute symphony. 1. All music, and I mean all of it, is made of of the same basic components, which means that if you can write a bluegrass song, you can also make a disco song, a dirge, a traditional Japanese folk song or anything else you could imagine with the same basic techniques. 2. There's no special talent or magical skill needed to write music. If you have the ability to make pleasing sounds on your instrument of choice, then you also have the capability to compose your own songs. Once you've learned some music theory, even just a little, you'll realize how simple it is. If you can take a pile of colored blocks and arrange them in an interesting pattern, then you'll be pleased to know that while writing music is a bit more complicated, it's still pretty much the same basic concept. If you're still not convinced, this might change your mind:

Gain the Confidence to Compose Music

Then look over these once you've decided to take the plunge:

Don't Find Inspiration: Create It
Daily Songwriting Exercise

Making a studio and recording music

This is possibly the most complicated part of being a musician, but it can also be the most fun overall. Recording is also most likely the most mysterious aspect of music creation for beginners. Years ago, the recording realm belonged solely to the professionals with expensive studios. Now that computers have changed literally everything in our society, anyone can make a studio of their own and even make their music sound fairly professional with minimal equipment.

There are a couple of things you need to know when delving into the recording world. First is the concept of multitracking. You need to understand how that works before you can understand how a studio works:

An Introduction to Multitrack Recording

Knowing and understanding the components of a studio and how they relate to each other make up the second important part of what you need to know. You can learn this and how to build your own studio on a minimal budget in the Makeshift Musician's most popular article, short and snappy:

Make Your Own Recording Studio

or go in depth with the ultimate resource:

The Makeshift Musician's Comprehensive Guide to Building Your Own Studio

Read these too:

What Speakers Should I Get?
Do-It-Yourself Sound Dampening

Once you've got your studio up and running, this would be a good read:

How to Make the Best Recordings on Earth

Beyond

What is left to learn, now that you've become a prolific, multi-talented musician? Believe it or not, there's still a lot we don't know about music and how it affects us. There's much to learn, and you could devote your whole life to music and still not learn everything there is to know about it. Here are a couple of articles that may help guide you towards a deeper understanding of the mysterious phenomenon that is 'organized sound':

The second most popular article on the site: The Importance of Music to Humankind
Book Review: This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin
The Origins of American Music

How to Make the Best Recordings on Earth

Thanks to Jade from OffBeatLove for the article idea

I recently went to see a great funk band perform at a big event. I've been into funk music lately and I really liked their sound; enough that I decided to buy their CD after the show. I was pleased to learn that the album contained pretty much the same set that the band played at the show, and since their set was fantastic I was excited when I put it in the CD player in my car a few days later.

Well... It was clear that it was the same band. The talent showed through, but... it was just so dull! I kept skipping tracks, ready for the next one to blow me away with some badass funkiness. Instead I got that disappointing feeling of being underwhelmed. (Now you know why I don't name the band itself!)

Why does this happen? How does a great band make such a stunningly mediocre album? The answer, good reader, is what I call conservative recording.

Let's say you're just learning how to record. You've learned all the rules of proper recording, like avoiding overloading and conventional EQ techniques. For example, you are supposed to record with a loudness threshold at just below the point of overloading (overloading causes distortion) and you are expected to keep the entire mix that way. When using EQ you are told to dampen tracks instead of boosting them whenever possible. Reverb is only for room ambiance. These and many other techniques make up what is considered 'correct' recording: methods for making music that is pleasing to listen to.

It is vitally important that you learn these rules and implement them. Understanding why these guidelines and practices have been established will make you a better recording artist. What I'm getting at though may involve a fundamental rethinking of the recording and mixing act itself.

In both the visual and musical arts, the great, respected masters have spent years learning the rules of their craft. A master painter has learned perspective, light and shadow, and anatomy techniques. A master musician and composer has a deep understanding of music theory, like chord progressions, rhythm and melody. Their status of 'master' however, was not achieved by their technical skill alone, but also from the skillful way that they bent and broke conventions in ways that surprise and move us and allow us to see the world from a new perspective. Yet they could not have achieved any of that without first learning the rules. One who has no technical skill and who simply breaks conventions will likely end up producing ugly art, and one who has great technical skill but doesn't surprise us will end up boring us to tears. Both trained skill and the creative violation of expectations are necessary to make great art.

How does this all apply to recording? Instead of viewing recording as a means of getting your live performance on tape, you should instead be looking at your recorded music as a separate kind of performance, in a way unrelated to your live one. The recording act should be seen as an integral part of the performance, rather than a means to an end. How you mix your music will affect how people enjoy it, so it should be given just as much care and attention as your playing.

Let your drums overload a bit. Crank the midrange equalizer on your guitar track in a way you've never heard before. Use effects in unconventional ways. Never be afraid to break the rules of recording to see how it sounds. The beauty of digital recording is that you can simply change it back if you don't like it.

Give your recordings some life! Do everything you can to make the recording as breathtaking as the live performance. You and I both know that this is possible, but as long as you keep viewing recording as an obstacle in the way of your music, then you'll never be able to achieve true studio greatness. The problem with the funk band was that they recorded and mixed their music very well, with great technical proficiency, but they didn't take advantage of the opportunities available to them with producing an album.

The sound made by musical instruments and human voices are fundamentally altered and weakened when recorded and played back. You can easily tell the difference between a real guitar playing and one playing through a speaker. This is why we have studios in the first place; you can't just put a microphone in front of a band and expect the recording to sound great. You need to use the recording and mixing tools at your disposal to make that band sound incredible.

So do it. Learn the essentials of good recording, and then add the same level of passion and creativity to your studio work as you would anything else that you love do. Don't play it conservatively. Do it like you mean it, and your album will be something you're proud about.

You Don't Need Musical Talent to Make Music

You know why I believe in this so much? I'll tell you why.

I joined the school band when I was in fifth grade. I played trumpet. I didn't particularly like playing the trumpet and I only mildly enjoyed class. When, in high school, we had to learn music theory, I was almost completely mystified by things like the Circle of Fifths, chords and other musical concepts. I never did particularly well and and mostly languished in the beginner level classes while my classmates moved on to the advanced ones.

I never showed any real musical talent; indeed, folks around me probably thought I didn't enjoy music at all. I didn't listen to popular bands like other kids my age listened to and I was very vocal about my disappointment in the music on the radio. I appeared to be a pretty un-musical young person.

You know what though? Now I play piano and the banjo. I've learned and understand a great deal about music theory. I've made several hours worth of music. I went to school for Audio Engineering and got an A- on my final independent study (writing and producing a six-song album.) Someone thought my music was good enough to ask me to write music for their game. I write about music, for a site you may have heard of, and actually have people writing to me, me for answers about making music. This is the guy who could barely stay afloat in band class! If those poor folks only knew!

Am I writing just to praise myself? Well, after putting all that together I have to admit it does sound pretty awesome, but that wasn't my point. My point is that if I could do all that without any 'inborn' musical ability, then anyone else can do it too. I don't see myself as a particularly self-motivated guy either, so I'm sure anyone out there can probably do better than me.

I've heard many people say that they won't pick up an instrument simply because they think it is too late for them to learn. There are a lot of scientific studies that say people can't learn as effectively past their teenage years and after age 17 your neural pathways are pretty much do-blah blah blah. Forget that crap. Maybe my neural pathways aren't as flexible as they once were, but I have many other skills and traits that come with age that make up for that problem, like self-discipline, good time management, big-picture thinking, and the prospect of getting paid for what I do. I had none of these things when I was a kid, and my learning was probably much slower because of it.

The only reason you might think that you are aren't a musical person is because society tells you that you aren't. But the fact that you can enjoy music scientifically proves that you can also make it, since you use much of the same parts of your brain for both listening and performing. In many hunter-gatherer cultures, the concept of musical talent doesn't even exist. Everyone is taught how to make music and dance from a young age. This is how our own cultures were until relatively recent times. Why the change? Different values? Elitism? Who knows? You shouldn't let it hold you back.

So what are you waiting for? Angels to come fluttering down, bestowing upon you a golden guitar? You definitely have no excuse now. If you do still have an excuse of some sort, you can bet that the Makeshift Musician will do it's best to unceremoniously blast that one out of the water too. Go pick up an instrument and start playing!

Starting Out With Piano

Despite the fact that I've been writing music and performing melodies on my various keyboards for something like eight years now, I've only relatively recently started learning to play the piano in a formal fashion. You know: proper hand position, sight-reading, stuff like that.

Although I've had some musical training and could, in fact, read music, I wanted to learn piano as a beginner, as if I couldn't read music and had no training whatsoever. I did this so that I knew I wouldn't miss anything important. This might be beneficial for you too, if you're thinking of playing.

If you want to learn piano, here's what I think you should do:

First get yourself a keyboard. No one who isn't smoking hundred-dollar bills can afford a real piano, so don't bother. I tend to make fun of Casio keyboards a lot for their uninspired, out-of-date sound, but in fact I have a Casio keyboard in my bedroom and practice on it every day. The piano sounds fine on it.

Anyway, get yourself a keyboard that has a full 88 keys. Any less and you'll be hindering your own learning, and you don't want that. DO NOT get anything that has fewer than 88 keys. If you're really serious about practicing all the time, you will, within a few months, regret getting a smaller keyboard for cheaper. You'll start trying to learn an awesome new song that you've always wanted to play and then find that you can't because you don't have enough octaves to work with. This is maddening.

The best place to find a nice keyboard is a local music shop. They'll have a nice selection and can point you to a decent one in your price range. You can get one with 88 keys for around 200 to 400 dollars. It probably wouldn't hurt to check a place like Best Buy too, though their selection is limited.

Now you need to actually learn to play. You could pay for private lessons and they certainly would be nice, but you don't need them. There's nothing wrong with getting lessons, but you can very easily teach yourself. I've looked through a number of beginner piano books and the best one, the one that taught me to play, is the Hal-Leonard book Teach Yourself to Play Piano by Mike Sheppard and James Sleigh. You can probably find this one at the same music shop where you bought your keyboard.

Teach Yourself to Play Piano assumes that you have no experience with music whatsoever, so its a good start for the beginner. It emphasizes using the left hand as much as the right, it teaches some basic music theory, and best of all, it doesn't resort to godawful kid's songs like Mary Had a Little Lamb or London Bridge to teach you music. You even get to play a genuinely enjoyable and satisfying étude at the end of the book. You will be able to play piano by the time you finish, and it's only 50 pages!

After that, I suggest you find some beginner-level books of sheet music for you to learn from. Find books with music that you've always wanted to play, like from bands or composers that you really enjoy. This will make the learning process very rewarding. Not only will you be able to appreciate the songs on a more intimate and technical level, it's also simply very satisfying to hear yourself play a song that you love. I really enjoy music from video games, so I bought sheet music from old games Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana, both of which have great soundtracks. You can also find a near infinite amount of sheet music on the internet, if you know where to look.

As you keep playing, you'll learn more and more about music theory. The best advice I can give you is: practice every day, even if it's only a few minutes. Really, you should be practicing about thirty minutes every day at least. For maximum results, practice an hour-and-a-half or longer every day and your skills will skyrocket in weeks.

Now that you've gotten to this point, take a look at my other article, Piano Playing Tips for Beginners.

By the way, no one paid me to endorse the book Teach Yourself to Play Piano. I don't get nearly enough traffic for anyone to pay me anything!

Piano Playing Tips for Beginners

Now, I'm not a fantastic pianist, but I've been learning for a few years now. While I'm not going to teach you to play, (there are plenty of other resources on the internet for that) I can share a few things that I've learned about playing. They all tie in to one golden rule: with practice, skill comes automatically. These principles can apply to practicing with any musical instrument, by the way.

Forget the tempo: go for accuracy - The most important thing to remember when practicing with an instrument is to slow down. Play as slow as you need in order to play accurately. With practice, speed will come automatically. You never need to worry about tempo. The correct tempo will come on its own. Remember that: ACCURACY is the most important part of practicing and playing.

No problem is insurmountable - As you're playing, you'll come across parts in a song that seem too complicated for you to play. Most likely, this is because you're going too fast (see above). There's no leap in skill or ability required to nail a particularly hard part, just keep practicing it over and over very slowly and the skill needed to play the part will come automatically.

Reading music will get easier - Reading music was always a chore for me at first. When I would get to a new note, I would have to stop, look closely at where the note was on the staff, then go over the acronyms in my head (e.g. FACE) to figure out what note to play. It's painfully slow in the beginning and really frustrating when all you want to do is play, but after several songs, you'll just start to remember what notes are where, and the link between the musical staff, the names of notes, and the notes on your instrument will strengthen to a point where, once again, it becomes automatic.

Take frequent breaks - As soon as you start feeling clumsy, or if you're like me, clumsier than usual, take a quick break. Do something else with your hands, like play a song you already know well or play a quick game of Tetris for a few minutes, then go back to practicing. This works wonders for me. Roughly for every 20 to 30 minutes of playing I'll take a 5 minute break. I'm convinced that I'm getting better faster simply because of this.

Okay, so that last one doesn't tie into my golden rule so well, but it is important, so I'm keeping it in there. Deal with it. Remember these principles and practice every day and you will be able to play anything. I promise.

Picking up an instrument

Deciding to learn a musical instrument could be one of the best decisions you'll make. But if you don't know anything about music and don't have someone who can help you, trying to decide may be difficult. What if I pick out an instrument and hate it afterwards? What if there are some hidden downsides? What if it doesn't attract the opposite sex like I'm hoping for? For that matter, how do I start without looking like a total knob?

You could go to a local music shop and look around, but those places can be intimidating and occasionally irritating. There's always some random guy there playing bass guitar like he's Bootsy Collins just to show off and, with luck, you'll see my favorite music store patron: the guy who subjects everyone else to the only song he can play over and over. It's usually better to go when you already have a pretty good idea of what you want. Let's go over some instruments so you can know what each offers.

By far the most popular instruments are guitar and piano. This is for a good reason. Their strength lies in their versatility. With a guitar you can easily play just about any song you've ever heard, once you know your chords well enough. The piano was originally built as a composing tool, and was therefore made to be adaptable as well. Lets look at it in more detail:

Guitar
Pros - It's light and easy to take with you. There's already a ton of literature at music stores and all over the internet. If you want to learn any song, all you have to do is Google search for the song name followed by the word 'tablature' or 'tabs' and you're done. The guitar can cover just about any genre imaginable, from obvious ones to folk, rock and country to other stuff like classical or blues.

Cons - Well, you're fret fingers are going to look ugly after a while, but such is the fate of all string players. Seriously, getting a guitar is a great idea, especially if you don't really know what to get.

I recommend getting an acoustic guitar to start with, instead of an electric one, because it covers potentially more genres and you don't have to lug around an amp everywhere you go. Those things are like bricks suffering from obesity.

Piano
Pros - The piano is versatile just like the guitar, and like the guitar, there's been plenty written out there about learning to play. Probably the best thing about learning the piano is that you will automatically learn a lot about music theory in general. Like I said before, it was built as a composing tool, so it's pretty much a mechanical representation of the musical staff. You have no choice but to learn to read music by playing. Also, if you want to make music using a computer, piano knowledge is a must. And hey - playing piano is just classy.

Cons - You can't take it with you. Until someone invents the telescoping keyboard, (I just had an idea...) lack of portability is the biggest disadvantage for the pianist. Getting a real piano is prohibitively expensive and decent electronic ones are pricey also.

Don't think that if you're starting out you should only get either a guitar or piano, though. If they sound kind of dull to you, or you just want to play something unusual to make a unique impression, you can choose several other instruments.

Some instruments work better on their own than others, however. Though learning any instrument is a good idea, something like a piccolo, which was designed to be part of a larger orchestra, just won't be much of a hit at parties. If you want to share your music with others, generally something with a lot of range is better. Here are some more unusual ideas for something to play:

Cello - The cello is a favorite of many and has an incredibly expressive sound. There aren't enough cello players in the world and it's a crying shame.

Banjo - I've been slowly learning to play the banjo myself, and it's a lot of fun. While there isn't much out there besides folk and bluegrass to learn from, I believe the banjo has the potential to play other genres as well. It has a very unique sound that is pleasing to the ear when heard live.

Marimba/Vibraphone/Xylophone - These have many of the same advantages and disadvantages as the piano, since they're structured similarly, but you can make an entirely different impression when playing.

Saxophone - The saxophone has an amazing dynamic range and can play very softly or extremely loud. Once again, it's very expressive and though its generally used for jazz, it has a lot more potential.

Violin - A classic and elegant instrument. It is good on it's own and can accompany in many other styles. By the way, the fiddle and the violin are the same thing; it's all in how you play it. If you like folk and classical music, this is a good way to go.

Harmonica - The ultimate cheap, portable instrument (besides your own voice, of course.) If you happen to be a blues fan, than there's no reason not to start learning.

There are innumerable other instruments you can learn. Things like bass guitar, drums, flute, or horns are great things to learn, but if you're not planning on playing as part of a larger group, you might not be as satisfied with the results. The instruments I've recommended above all sound great both by themselves and when accompanying others. Now, there are people who can make any instrument sound great by itself, so if you're set on playing bass like that guy from Primus, don't let me discourage you.

Once you know which instrument you want to get, it's helpful to simply go to a music store and tell a friendly employee what kind of instrument you want and the amount you're willing to pay for it. In my experience, they usually know what they're talking about and will point you in the right direction. Then you'll be on your way to being the coolest person at social gatherings.