Tag Archives: music

Saturday with the Spark

Do You Make Music? These Five Free Programs Could Help You!

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As a musician, singer, and composer, I’ve long wished for desktop applications to help me record and even notate the music that I write. (Most of my pieces of music are still in my head, not notated anywhere because I hate hand-notating so much. LOL)

On a whim this week, I began a new search for music-creation and music-notation programs…and I came up with the following five programs, which can help musicians and composers of all types and experience levels. Not only are these programs helpful, but they’re all free!

For Generating Electronic Music on Your Computer

Psycle
Psycle is music creation software, with less emphasis on recording and more emphasis on making music within the program itself. The open-sourced nature of the program also leaves users free to build plugins for it themselves, so it’s great for the music tinkerer who also loves to code. And, if you need help at any time, it’s got a lively, deeply-established online community built around it…which is also great for showing off your newest creations!

For Recording, Editing, and Converting All Sorts of Sounds

Audacity
As one of the premier open-source audio recording/editing programs on the Internet these days, Audacity can help you record any kind of audio track, edit all manner of audio file formats, convert old tapes and records into digital form, and even change the pitch or speed of a recording! (Ooh, I might use this to see how certain songs sound in my favorite keys. “Titanium” by David Guetta in C-sharp minor, here I come!)

For Recording/Editing MIDI Sounds

MidiSwing
If you can connect your MIDI musical keyboard to your computer, MidiSwing can help you record the music made through that keyboard. It can also help you edit MIDI files, as well as compose music from within the program itself. Best of all: it’s compatible with just about any system that can run Java 2. (I might look into this to record my music on my computer, since I <3 my digital keyboard. 😀 )

For Automatically Notating/Playing Back Music, and Making Sheet Music

MuseScore
A must for anyone who hates hand-notating music as much as I do. MuseScore can not only automatically notate the music that’s played into the program through a MIDI connection, but can play it back, and print out real sheet music, too! (DEFINITELY getting this–I’ve been wanting to get my music on paper for years!)

For Recording/Generating Music and Mixing It Yourself

Frinika
A complete Java music workstation in one program, Frinika supports MIDI, sequencers, recording, and editing, among many other audio tasks. Pretty much, if you want to record/edit/mix it, Frinika can handle it! (This looks pretty technical, so this is probably for the more advanced music mixers among us, but it’s a great all-in-one program nonetheless.)

More Music Creation Resources

For a much more comprehensive list of free music-creation programs, visit Free Music Creation Software on Squidoo–options for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems are available, as well as more specific kinds of software for various musical and audio purposes.

Saturday with the Spark

How The Right Music Makes Things Weirdly Funny

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Today, I wanted to feature a very creative video from Youtube that’s always made me laugh, but has also puzzled me.

This is a scene from the 2005 film War of the Worlds (loosely adapted from the book by H.G. Wells), but instead of the original musical track for this scene, someone has put the theme music for The Benny Hill Show, a comedy variety show, in its place.

For some reason, this combination of scary/serious events plus this upbeat, whimsical music makes for hilarity–I find myself giggling even though I know I shouldn’t.

I’ve shown this to people who know what kind of show the music’s from, as well as people who’ve never even heard of Benny Hill, and both groups responded with laughter the same way I did. What is it about this music that makes this grim scene so funny?

I think it has something to do with how the music and visuals combine in a movie to affect our perception of the events. The original scene is terrifying and dramatic, not just because of the visuals, but because of the ominous, grand music in the background; putting the more comical music with it helps us take the visuals less seriously.

What do you think? What are some other reasons this video might make us laugh?

Tuesday on the Soapbox

The Reigning Queen of Mondegreens: My Misheard Lyrics

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Despite my love of literature and music, and despite my aptitude for both subjects, I am laughably terrible at deciphering verbal words, whether spoken or sung. Mumbled speech or not looking directly at a person’s lips while they are speaking leads to hilarious misunderstandings. And, as you’ll see in the following blog post, trying to decipher sung lyrics from a song can result in awesomely bad mondegreens.

Definition of a Mondegreen

From Dictionary.com:

mondegreen: a word or phrase resulting from a misinterpretation of a word or phrase that has been heard. (Origin: 1954; coined by Sylvia Wright, U.S. writer, from the line “laid him on the green,” interpreted as “Lady Mondegreen,” in a Scottish ballad.)

Some Examples


Song: “Shotgun” – Jr. Walker and the All-Stars; tune video to about 0:25

Actual Lyric The Lyric I Heard
“Shoot ‘im ‘fore he run now” “Shoot up Orville Redenbacher”

Upon hearing this song for the first time as a 10-year-old, I turned to my dad and asked, in this horrified voice, “Why do they wanna kill the popcorn man?!” LOL


Song: “Mickey” – Toni Basil; tune video to about 1:45

Actual Lyric The Lyric I Heard
“I’ll take it like a man” “I’m kinky like a man”

…My lyric makes sense, doesn’t it? Kinda…sorta? 😛


Song: “Hungry Eyes” – Eric Carmen; tune video to about 1:00

Actual Lyric The Lyric I Heard
“Hungry eyes” “Come three eyes”

Okay, okay, in my defense, I was 3 when I first heard the song… xD


Song: “Devil with the Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” – Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels; tune video to about 2:05

Actual Lyric The Lyric I Heard
“See Miss Molly rockin’ in the house of delight” “See Miss Molly rockin’ in the house with good light”

And this is why you enunciate your words when you sing! Otherwise, people can hear all sorts of strangeness. 😛


Song: “Jesus Loves Me” – traditional Christian children’s hymn; tune video to about 0:34

Actual Lyric The Lyric I Heard
“They are weak but He is strong” “They are weak but He is JOAN!”

I never heard my Nannie laugh so hard as when I sung my version of “Jesus Loves Me” on the way home from Sunday school one morning. I think there’s a rather incriminating tape of this lying around the house somewhere… xD


Song: “You Sexy Thing” – Hot Chocolate; tune video to about 0:18

Actual Lyric The Lyric I Heard
“Where ya from, you sexy thing?” “What is wrong, you sexy thing?”

Until about two weeks ago, I thought my hearing of the lyric was correct. My boyfriend, whose ears seem to be incredibly accurate lyric-picker-uppers, corrected me. 😛


Song: “You Really Got Me” – The Kinks; tune video to about 0:33

Actual Lyric The Lyric I Heard
“You really got me!” “You really got mad!”

I went around singing this as a little kid, completely oblivious to my mishearing, till all the adults in the room busted out in big ole laughs. 😛

BONUS: Mondegreens from Mom and Dad

Apparently, I get this “talent” for mishearing lyrics honestly. Here are some of the mondegreens Mom and Dad have come up with over the years:


Song: “Five O’Clock World” – The Vogues; tune video to about 0:20

Actual Lyric The Lyric Mom Heard
“It’s a five o’clock world when the whistle blows” “It’s a five o’clock world and the wind’s so cold”


Song: “I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction)” – The Rolling Stones; tune video to 0:10

Actual Lyric The Lyric Dad Heard
“I can’t get no girl reaction” “I can’t get no gut reaction”


Song: “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” – The Beatles; tune video to about 1:00

Actual Lyric The Lyric Mom Heard
“I can’t hide” “I get hives”


Song: “Dance to the Music” – Sly and the Family Stone; tune video to about 1:05

Actual Lyric The Lyric Mom Heard
“I’m gonna add some bottom” “I’ve got a handsome bottom”


Song: “Black Water” – The Doobie Brothers; start video at beginning

Actual Lyric The Lyric Dad Heard
“I built me a raft and she’s ready for floatin'” “I built me a refuge, she’s ready for clover”
Saturday with the Spark

Chord Colors: Perfect Pitch and Synesthesia

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Last year, I referred to colors and music as being completely intertwined in my head–it’s a positive condition known as synesthesia, or as I like to refer to it, my “brain feature.” Every time I listen to music, my inner sight explodes in colors; it has always been this way, even when I was a very little girl and wasn’t as involved with the production of music as I am these days.

Though I’ve shared this particular picture with you before, here is my complete, colored piano scale, created by my combination of perfect pitch and synesthesia:

This pitch-color connection is an instantaneous response to music, something I don’t have to think about to “see;” it’s just there. And today, I thought I’d share some of that experience, in the form of created images capturing the colors of various musical chords.

(Before we begin, please excuse the relatively low artistic quality of these images; I can’t quite seem to recapture exactly how each chord “looks” to me when it is played, but I have done my best. :P)

B-flat Major


To me, B-flat, whether major or minor, has always had a little shade of darkness to it on the “left” side of the pitch; it’s not sad or evil darkness, just kind of shaded. Here, the B-flat major chord is described, with shadowy teal, light blue, and bright green (B-flat, D, and F, respectively).

B Minor


The 80s called and said they want their pastel palette back. LOL! This is how B minor looks in my head–a wash of lilac and white in the background (the note of B, with the lightness of the major chord), with a little light blue (D) and deep blue-green (F-sharp) mixed in. It’s a gracefully beautiful key, but also somewhat reserved and icy-feeling.

C Major


C major has always appeared bright and colorful in my head–almost too colorful! The golden-yellow C, the pale pink E, and the bright red G are a bit jarring together; this color combination is probably why I associate C major with childhood, especially toys. But you can’t say C major isn’t cheerful enough! 😛

C Minor


In stark contrast to the brightness of C major, C minor has always seemed broodingly dark, even a little slinky, especially with the red of G combined with the red-orange of E-flat and the gold-to-black gradient in the background. (The added darkness in the background is nearly always present in my head when minor chords are played, excepting B minor.)

C-Sharp Major


This is the only key for which very bright silver sparkles appear scattered across the background; I’ve done a poor imitation here, but this gives some idea. The bright green of F and the rich blue of A-flat do not overpower the deep violet and silvery shimmer of the background, which is possibly one reason this is my favorite key to hear music in.

C-Sharp Minor


I love both the major and minor keys of C-sharp, and with good reason–the tones are beautiful, as are the color combinations in my head. In its minor form, C-sharp’s violet is darker, with less emphasis on the sparkles in the background, and the light-pink E adds a more monochromatic dimension to the chord color. I can become wrapped in the chord very easily…it’s melancholy and yet beautiful.

F Major


F major, like C major, is very bright and happy, with the off-white A and deep golden C accenting the vibrant green F. It feels festive and unapologetic, which might be one reason I’ve always associated the key of F major with celebrations and lots of people.

G Major


Can’t miss G major! :O What an explosion of nearly-patriotic colors, with the powerful red G, soft lavender B, and bright blue D. This key feels energetic and powerful, even when it’s used for an easygoing song–I guess it’s all that red. xD (Odd fact: as American as this particular chord palette looks, it’s interesting to note that our national anthem is usually sung in A-flat major instead of G major. Oh well, there’s no accounting for my brain’s sound-color associations!)

To Learn More About Synesthesia

Synesthesia @ Wikipedia.org
Mixed Signals–for synesthetes and non-synesthetes alike
American Synesthesia Association
The Synesthesia Battery of Tests–find out if you’re a synesthete, too!

Saturday with the Spark

The Lost Song (A True Story)

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In January of 2011, I had written a wistful, prayerful contemporary Christian song, titled “Adrift,” and performed it for my church. They enjoyed it, and I loved singing it because it was a way to worship. Once I had performed the song, however, I moved on to composing newer songs and working on other projects. Little did I know that it would be the last time I would perform the song as it existed then.

Sickness, Difficulties, and Losses

A few months later, I began to fall ill repeatedly, suffering strange new headaches that lasted up to 3 days and were not treatable with any medicines. My will to create, my will to write and sing and play, were thus taken from me, since I sometimes suffered up to 10 headaches a month like this. Soon, weeks went by in which I was never without burning, crushing head pain, whether I was sleeping or awake.

It felt, as spring blossomed into summer and summer faded into fall, that I was living 25% of my life. I went to bed feeling like I had been run over by an 18-wheeler, and woke up feeling like I’d been run over by a school bus. And the constant pain, which got worse if I tried to sleep it off and never truly went away, about drove me nuts. During this time, I also lost the use of my laptop for a little while (due to someone else’s carelessness), and that added stress didn’t help my health much. My mental creativity stunted, my physical energy sapped, and my creativity-producing machine gone–it felt as if I were getting slapped around by life.

Finally, during a routine visit to the dentist in October 2011, we discovered that my wisdom teeth were severely infected and had to be removed. The subsequent oral surgery in early November not only pulled the sources of infection from my jaw, but also seemingly got rid of those burning, never-ending headaches. At last, I could live my life again! I thought everything would be back to normal concerning my creativity, so I could get back to doing what I loved–writing and polishing my prose, poetry, and music.

Not so, as I found out. A mere month after my surgery, my poor injured laptop’s hard drive died, and the data on it was completely irrecoverable. All the work I had done since June 2010 was lost–including the lovely song I had written and performed almost a year previous. All I could remember, because of my grave illness and all the stress, was the title. No lyrics, no melody…no nothing. I mourned it along with the rest of my lost works, knowing that with my forgetfulness, I would likely never remember it.

A Little Scrap of Unexpected Song

I was horribly sad over this, but at least I could comfort myself with a large fraction of my work, which I could still build off of. Slowly, I began to amass more works, though they were nothing like what I had lost, I knew that.

In the middle of all this personal, creative rebuilding, my boyfriend and I had gone to the movies to watch The Avengers when it came out, and I was reminded of how much I had liked some of the other Marvel movies that had come out before, especially Thor, which had come out in March 2011, during the first stages of my terrible headache/wisdom tooth infection.

I ended up borrowing the movie from my boyfriend’s family, then buying a copy of my own, since it had quickly become a favorite of mine. (And, as is my wont when I really enjoy a film, I had already watched it several times back-to-back-to-back. xD)

But it was during one of my many repeat plays, as I watched the scene in Thor where Loki discovers he is not truly Odin’s son, that a little scrap of song started playing in my head. Occasionally this happens to me, where a character or a mood will inspire a new song within my head–it’s a great way to get new ideas. And, since I had composed very little during my illness, I was understandably stoked.

“COOL, I finally got an idea for a new song,” I thought, watching the evocative, sad scene play out as the plaintive, new little melody curled around my brain cells. The melody ached, expressing such wistful sorrow that it nearly brought me to tears. And then…something in the tune jarred memory awake. “Waitaminnit…” I thought, analyzing the short little melody. “That tune–oh, my God, that’s ‘Adrift!’ That’s my lost song!!”

Rebuilding The Lost Song

You never saw a chick pause a movie and run down the stairs to get to her piano keyboard so fast. In minutes, it felt like, I had reconstructed not only the chorus melody, which was the first bit I had remembered, but I had also gotten back the melodies for the verses and the bridge. Not only that, but some lyrics were coming back, too, albeit slowly and in pieces.

A couple of frenzied rebuilding hours passed, and I was able to get back 90% of the original song, with new lyrics put into the places I simply could not remember. I was overwhelmed with the creative urge–after all, my lost song had come back after I had feared I would never, ever remember it all.

Though I am still a little sad for the bits of lyrics I can’t remember, the new lyrics seem to fit even better than the old ones, at least in my estimation. This gives me hope that perhaps all of my lost works, all the little stories, poems, and beginnings of songs, might one day come back better than ever, too, after being cast “adrift” in the void of memory.

Saturday with the Spark

Music as Therapy? YES!

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Music is generally thought of as entertainment; for some, a career, for others a pastime or even just background noise. But music is more than this…it can be a creative activity is the most personal sense. It can help you recreate yourself when you have lost your soul’s song.

My Personal Experience with Therapeutic Music

For me, music has always been a lifeline back to sanity. In the afternoons when I got home from a particularly torturous day of middle school, for instance, I knew that solace awaited me atop the piano keys. The melodies I played could drown out, at least for a time, the ugly voices of the girls (and boys) who teased and physically abused me during those years. Indeed, from the memories of my pain, I could create music that was sorrowfully beautiful, and turn their shameful work into something amazing.

Music has been a longstanding companion for me, a lyrical form of therapy that cost nothing and healed me more than medicines ever could. But I’m happy to say that even non-musicians can benefit from music therapy; actually, the profession of being a “music therapist” is a legitimate job now, as one of my college friends can attest. Music can be the key to finally getting rid of your stress, in a creative way.

“Therapeutic” Music: Not Just “Easy Listening”

In my opinion, music doesn’t have to be “relaxing” or “soothing” to be therapeutic. I have gotten rid of a lot of anger while headbanging to Disturbed’s “Indestructible” or Slipknot’s “Before I Forget”, for instance. LOL

I often find that trying to listen to quieter music (which everyone else says is relaxing) actually makes me more agitated, because I have a head full of whirling thoughts that never shut up, and quieter music doesn’t drown those out as effectively. What works best for me is to “bang out the stress,” listening to music with a strong beat, captivating melody, or incredibly apt words for whatever I’m going through.

I’d say that different people relax in different ways, and whatever type of music you really enjoy, you should go with that as your “music therapy.” Soft music works for some, and then there’s people like me who relax with thumpin’ bass and rattling windows. 😛

Participating in Making Music Can Help Even More

Listening to music can be quite therapeutic, as I just noted…but if you try to make music of your own, you can activate creative thought processes as well as relax yourself.

That doesn’t mean that you have to pick up a musical instrument and learn how to play it beautifully. This can mean rocking out on Guitar Hero or Rock Band, fiddling with a music-making software program or Flash game, singing in your church choir or playing in your praise band, or even playing with a musical toy that belongs to your child (or perhaps your kid brother or sister). Anything that gets you involved in the physical process of making music can be therapy for you.

why does this work? Because when you’re focusing on making music, you’re not concentrating on your worries and problems, and you’re not as aware of your surroundings. You can kind of “lose” yourself in the process of it all, letting go of stress. Just don’t worry about the quality of the music you’re making–even if it’s got a whole bunch of wrong notes in it, it doesn’t matter, so long as you’re enjoying making the music.

Write a Couple Ditties of Your Own

If you’re feeling especially creative, you can even try your hand at writing some lyrics and melodies for yourself, almost a musical diary entry. Many of my songs fall into this category–most of my piano/vocal music, in fact. Lyrics just flow better when they’re about my life and various aspects of it, and no matter how personal I get, it seems others still identify with what I sing about.

This is another important part of musical therapy–using music to talk about what you’ve been through. Somehow, couching your past problems in a bit of melody seems to help “close the book” on that part of your life; you’re singing about it, so it’s not as painful anymore. (I’m pretty sure this kind of songwriting got me through middle and high school, though the products of such efforts might be unlistenable. LOL)

If you don’t trust your own songwriting skills, you can seek out a “songwriting buddy” and craft it together, which will work just as well. Who knows, maybe if you find enough people who can sing or play an instrument (and like your songs), you could end up making a band/singing group and have a new joy in your life!

Summary

Think of music as another form of communication. Not only can it help you relax and talk about the problems you’ve worked through, but it can help you remember better times, too…and all of that is therapeutic. It’s amazing what music can do, if you start interacting with it and making it personal!

Saturday with the Spark

Avoid Writing a Boring Song

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Boring songs do not get listeners. And yet, what do I find myself writing when I have such an awesome idea for these lyrics and it’s gonna be totally amazing? Thaaaaat’s right–a boring song.

Or what about when I find a melody that’s just crazily beautiful and I gotta find words to go with it right now or I’m gonna burst? Yup–I end up writing a boring song.

What prevents such awesome lyrics or beautiful melodies from being interesting? Well, I find that when you focus too hard on the lyrics and message of a song, the melody and chords–what really carries the message to your audience’s minds–go by the wayside. Ultimately, you end up with a really weighty song, like a cake that’s dense and chewy instead of light and fluffy (and yummy).

Conversely, when you work really hard at the melody and chords of a song and forget about the lyrics and message, the words of the song seem not to match up to the beauty of the music. It’s like trying to match a lovely, subtle striped pattern with a garish, huge polka-dot pattern; the delicacy of the former is overshadowed by the brightness and boldness of the latter.

Can You Quantify “Boring Music” or “Boring Lyrics?”

Well, I’m not sure, but I’m going to try. Here’s some examples of how a songwriter can bore audiences to death, at least in my opinion:

Boring Lyrics Boring Music
  • Introductory verse is too long/wordy
  • Too much “meaning” has been crammed into the song
  • Lots of trite or unnatural rhymes/word rhythms
  • Introductory music without words goes on too long
  • Music between first chorus and second verse repeats too much of the intro
  • Melody is reused over and over without any innovation

When your melody/chords sound like they repeat themselves ad nauseum, or the lyrics just don’t sound natural, your audience is going to be turned off (trust me, been there, done that :C ). You can just tell when their minds start to drift away and stop relating to what you’re singing about. Any time your music and lyrics are not in balance, any time they tug against each other for attention rather than supporting each other, your song becomes a drag to listen to.

Well, What Makes “Interesting Lyrics” and “Interesting Music?”

I believe the following examples are ways we as songwriters can make our songs more interesting to hear:

Interesting Lyrics Interesting Music
  • Introductory verse frames the “story” of the song
  • Song contains just a kernel of meaning, and builds emotion around it
  • Rhymes/word rhythms sound natural
  • Wordless introduction lasts just long enough to set a mood
  • Main melodic theme of the song is strengthened between verses with accompanying, grounding chords
  • Main melody is toyed with between verses, or a secondary melody is added

Wait, This All Looks a Bit Formulaic

I admit, this seems more like a mathematical formula or scientific theory rather than the stereotypically ethereal and beautiful practice of writing music. And I agree, sometimes good songs just form–they pop into existence in minutes, and it feels as if its chords and its words fit perfectly together without any help from you. But sometimes, especially if you’re struggling to write a new song, it’s hard to figure out what will be listened to and what won’t be.

That’s why I started coming up with this listing, as a way to educate myself about the creation of music (especially music that includes lyrics). Songwriting, at least for me, is kind of like speech-writing combined with music performance–you’re trying to get across a verbal message, but at the same time couch it within melodies and chords that are easy on the ear. How do you get someone to listen to a speech? You make it relatable and meaningful without being heavy. Same thing with a song–it must mean something and be memorable.

Summary

Boring songs, suffering from either lyric failure or melody/chord failure, do not have to stay boring! Thankfully, music and lyrics can be rewritten and revised till they both support each other, and an interesting and lovely song emerges. Believe me, it’s possible to make a previously boring song into something magical to listen to!

Saturday with the Spark

Writing a Relatable Song

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What makes a song “work?” What makes a song resonate with people?

Musical artists have been trying to capture that idea for centuries, and yet it still seems like it’s more luck than anything. Sometimes you just have a wonderful idea, not a winning formula.

As a longtime poet, composer, and songwriter (since the age of 12), I’ve written a lot of songs that either just don’t captivate me or don’t get a whole lot of response, even though they have a lot to say. Then, I’ve written songs that other people absolutely love and enjoy. Studying my “better” songs versus the less-popular ones has brought me to understand something about music that I never really thought about before.

Songs people enjoy are ones they can relate to best.

Seems too simple, right? I thought so, too. But as I thought about how I listen to music, and what kind of music I like, I realized more and more it was right. As a songwriter, you have to make your song relatable to others, and to do that, you have to balance between being too personal and too generic. So, I came up with lists of what makes a song too personal (as in, I can’t really listen to it because there’s so much detail I don’t relate to), or too generic (as in, it doesn’t have a point and/or doesn’t feel like it’s saying much of anything relatable to my life).

Note: Even though I ain’t professional yet and am not formally trained in “songwriting,” I have had a lot of experience playing, writing, rewriting, reworking, and eventually performing my songs.

You know your song is too personal when…

  • Your lyrics are cluttered with many specific place and people references, like a diary entry
  • You’re having trouble stretching your melody to fit around all these specific place names and friend names
  • There doesn’t seem to be enough room within the “2-verses, 2-choruses, 1-bridge, final chorus” song template to say all you want to say about the situation

I’ve fallen into the “too-personal” trap a good bit with my own songs. When others hear lyrics that are more about you than about how your situation parallels theirs, they can find it hard to relate to your song. Personal details flesh out the story you’re telling or the imagery you’re crafting, but don’t load the song up with tons of personal details that are too specific to you. It’s hard to sing along when you don’t know the story and can’t imagine it!

You know your song is too generic when…

  • The verses seem “empty” when you sing them, like there are too few words, but there are plenty in there
  • You’re not sure anymore which episode in your life you’re drawing inspiration from for the song
  • It seems like you’ve heard something similar on the radio, somewhere along the line

While trying to come up with an awesome new song for my church, I was falling into this trap over and over again. Everything I wrote felt forced, trite, and stupid–I kept thinking, “This verse could have been written by anybody! It sounds good, but it’s…not me, and it’s not about me. Grr!” I was trying too hard to write something people would like, and I was going too generic to do it. When audiences hear a song that’s too generic, the usual comment is that it feels like it’s been done before. And it likely has been!

So What Makes a “Relatable” Song, Anyway?

I believe it’s all about being just personal enough and yet appealing to all listeners’ emotions. (Good songwriters know how to strike that over and over; I hope I’ll get there one day, though many people have already told me they hear themselves in my songs just as much as they hear me. But not every one I write is a hit, and I have to remember that–it’s a balance you have to recalibrate every time.)

The following list of tips are the ones I follow when I’m writing a new song. To make this list, I thought, “What makes ME love a new song?”. The resulting list seems to work well and cover all the bases. (It’s more about crafting lyrics than melody, but there’s ways in which crafting one definitively influences the other.)

A Relatable Song…

  • …References emotions/repercussions coming from a specific event, rather than referencing the whole event itself
  • …Describes a state of being, even a transitional or transformational state of being (like coming to terms with death, entering a new relationship, etc.)
  • …Uses visual imagery to describe a place, intertwined with feelings that the place evokes
  • …Matches the mood of the melody (bouncy, somber, peaceful, tormented) with the mood and tone of the lyrics
  • …Contains the main emotional idea of the song within the chorus, and expands upon the main idea (and how it came about) in the verses

Summary

Though writing a “good” song may not always be quantifiable, I think we can weed out some of the too-personal/too-generic problems that hurt many beginning songwriters. It’s not about trying to “market” something, but trying to make something that others genuinely respond to. When I weep or laugh aloud at the end of the first playthrough of my song, I know it’s pretty good. When others weep or laugh aloud at the end of the first performance, because they have felt that way before and know exactly what I’m singing about, I know it’s really good.

Saturday with the Spark

I’ve Still Got It!

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My creative musical life has gotten a huge boost very recently–in fact, “Monday of this week” recently! Thus, the following blog post is in honor of it. And if you’re experiencing a slump in your own creativity, I urge you to read this for advice that really helped me get back my creative groove.

Before Monday: I Haz a Musical Sad

It seemed that I was no longer interested in composing music, as I once had been. I had been used to writing tons of piano solos and piano/vocal music every year (at least 15 every year); in recent months, however, it felt like years since I had even sat down to compose. Once, I had done performances for other people, but even those were rare. It was like the desire for my own music had been drained from me, replaced by performing others’ music, as well as not having a ton of time anymore to muse at the keyboard.

I mourned this loss, and it made me downright unsure of my creativity in music anymore. I wondered, “Do I even have “it” anymore, the gift of writing beautiful music? Or has it all been replaced with ‘everyday life’ and random stuff?” Not only that, I feared I had lost the capacity to write beautiful melodies, and had also lost the time to just sit at the keyboard and expand upon them.

Then, I Got Mad

On Sunday, I realized all this. My first instinct was to wallow about in my sadness, and I started to draft a Saturday with the Spark post about “losing my musical mojo” or something like that.

And then, I stopped about halfway through. “Why am I LETTING this happen to my music?” I thought, staring at my writing. I was starting to get ticked off. “What is all this stuff about ‘I used to be good at music?’ Dangit, I want to be good AGAIN. And I can be–it’s just there’s all this CRAP in the way!”

Getting Rid of the Aforementioned “Crap”

So, in a fit of drivenness rather than rage, I systematically removed all the obstacles towards practicing music. Since my keyboard is currently set up in our finished basement, there were a LOT of physical obstacles in the way. I replaced the cold, creaky, too-short keyboard chair with another; I moved the pile of junk that sat boldly in the path to the keyboard; with Dad’s help, we fixed a light on the basement stairs to make it easier (and safer) to go down.

But that still didn’t remove all the mental obstacles. I had a lot of fear about whether I still had “it,” whether I could still write beautiful music. That, I left ’til Monday, and rested the rest of the night.

The next day, I spent most of the day writing, kindasorta avoiding the melody (and part of a little song) that had been twisting and twining between my brain cells for the last month and a half. At last, about 6:00 Monday evening, I set aside what I was writing, and began to fix up the song’s lyrics properly so that they matched the melody–what I had roughed together was okay, but it wasn’t the best.

About 10 minutes later, I took computer and all down to the keyboard, and set up the screen so I could see it from the keyboard. Then, I began to play and sing the song…

And Then, I Haz a Glad

…and it was magic. The song slid from my fingers easily, and I maneuvered the vocal melody just as easily as if I’d been practicing it for days (which, in a way, mentally, I had been). Not only was it prettier than I had imagined, but it was easy to sing, was honest, and…it was good. Much better than I had expected from myself after months of not doing this.

I had been so long out of practice that I had been afraid to try anymore. But I was pleasantly surprised–and very, very happy. I wept at the keyboard–it was like a long-lost friend had finally come home.

Have You Lost “Mojo” for Anything Creative Lately?

(Pardon the Austin Powers reference 😛 ) If you’ve lost the ability or time to be creative due to too much work, illness, etc., then you know the sense of emptiness and loss I was feeling. It really took me getting mad about it and getting fired up enough to change what had been happening, and I think that’s what it takes for any change like this to come about. You have to be dissatisfied with how it’s been going, and know what to change to make it better.

One key, as I found, is to remove all the obstacles towards being creative. If you feel at a loss for writing because you have no space to work, for instance, make a space to work. It might be at a kitchen table or counter, or it might be a cheap folding table in the corner, but make a place for your creativity. For me, the junk pile, the lack of light, and the too-short chair made it easy to make excuses…they had to be changed.

Another key is to make time to be creative. If you allow no time for creative activity, it won’t just happen on its own. If you keep yourself busy, don’t leave the Internet behind for a few hours, or don’t carve out even a teeny bit of time in your commute to just think out a couple of ideas, it won’t happen. I had to leave the Internet behind on Monday afternoon, just long enough that I could draft and play my song…and it was WORTH IT! 😀

The last key? Trust your ability. If you could do it before, you can do it again. You might be a touch out of practice, you might feel a little differently about the process, but if you expel all the doubt and fear from your system, you’ll do fine. At least, that’s what I found out.

Saturday with the Spark

Finding the Harmony

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Singing along with the radio or my personal music in the car is awesome–and yet it poses a unique challenge for me, as a person with perfect pitch. Whenever I go anywhere in the car, I challenge myself to find pretty harmony to sing along with the songs I hear, without any help from other instruments to find the “correct” note.

My Personal Experience with Vocal Harmony

With any singer, I can generally add either a harmony line below the melody line or above it, as appropriate for my vocal range. (My normal vocal range is from F-sharp below middle C to F-sharp above C above middle C, which is two octaves. I can get down to E below middle C and get up to A above C above middle C fairly comfortably, buuuuuut not all the time. :D)

I sing either soprano (high) or alto (medium-high) harmony with female singers, and either alto or tenor (medium-low) harmony with male singers. It’s kinda funny to sing harmony that goes below where a guy singer is singing, but it does happen–listen to “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor for a perfect example of a song that I sing below the melody line on.

Another song that I can do really cool harmony on is Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”; I sing a harmony line that is generally a third above her melody, making a haunting, lovely chord (even if it does get a teensy bit close to the top of my vocal range, LOL).

Why Bother Doing This?

Firstly, it’s fun; it adds a new, personalized twist to the songs you love to sing along to. Secondly, it’s a great way to keep in practice if you’re a harmony singer in a singing group–it gets you used to picking out harmonies. Thirdly, it can train your musical ear to “hear” these harmonies better in general, whatever instrument you play, whatever kind of musical training you’ve had.

Try It At Home!

Even if you don’t have a sense of pitch that helps you make harmony on-the-fly, you can still do it using an instrument. I use a physical piano keyboard; you could also use piano sites, like Virtual Piano, or apps like LittlePiano (for Androids) and Magic Piano (for iPhones)! (Since many band and orchestra instruments are tuned differently, you’ll probably want to stick with a piano for picking out melody and harmony–I find it’s easier. But maybe that’s the pianist in me talking. LOL)

First step is to pick out the original melody. Easiest way to do this is to listen to the song in the background and then try to match the notes you hear, one at a time.

Then, you’ll want to add a second line of notes to what you’re playing, either below or above the melody–this will form your harmony line. Follow the key signature and the sharps and flats that the key has for these steps; for instance, “Rolling in the Deep” is in C minor, so the E and A will be flatted (they are the third and sixth steps in the octave, respectively), and after you hit the A-flat, you’ll go up to a B-natural for the seventh step (called a “raised seventh”).

I’ve made up a small sheet-music-style selection of the melody and proposed harmony lines from the first two lines of the chorus of “Rolling in the Deep,” below. (Please forgive the fail quality of these–this sheet music approximation was all I could do using Microsoft Paint and a laptop mouse. LOL)


This is the original melody, with no harmony put in.

This shows harmony a third above the melody, in light blue. This is what I usually sing in the car along with the song. ^_^

For those who do not read sheet music (or if the images aren’t showing up), here’s the translation for playing it on the piano.
(“Bb” = “B-flat”; “Eb” = “E-flat”)

Original Melody

“We could have had it all – ll, roll – ing in the dee – ee – eep”
(G) (Bb) (G) (Bb) (G) (C) (Bb), (Bb) (G) (Bb) (G) (C) (D) (Bb)

Proposed Harmony

“We could have had it all – ll, roll – ing in the dee – ee – eep”
(Bb) (D) (Bb) (D) (Bb) (Eb) (D), (D) (Bb) (D) (Bb) (Eb) (F) (D)

More Tips on Finding Harmony

Singing an interval of a third above the melody (like I’ve done in my example), or a third below the melody, or even singing in intervals of sixths above or below the melody line make generally pretty harmony. In some cases, you may have to change the intervals slightly for harmony that fits better in a chord (such as changing a third-above interval to a fourth-above interval so it doesn’t sound out-of-key), but otherwise it usually works out okay.

A Note (tee-hee) About Voice Timbre

If you sing this along with the song, try matching voice timbre with the singer as much as possible–if he or she sounds a little more nasal than full-throated, try to match that, or if they have a lighter, bouncier voice rather than a big, heavy sound, try matching that. If you match how they sing really well, the harmony ends up sounding like a seamless part of the song. (Matching Adele’s bell-like pronunciation of the “ee” vowel on the word “deep”, while singing the higher E-flat…chills and goosebumps. It’s COOL 8D)

Summary

If you’ve never tried finding vocal harmony before, I encourage you to try it. It may take a couple of tries (or more), but it’s something you can use to train your ear and give you a new way to enjoy your favorite songs.

(And I don’t own any rights to “Rolling in the Deep”–I used it as an example in this post because it’s a lovely song, and the chorus is easy to translate into sheet music.)