I like to have a long list of song titles to inspire me whenever I sit down to write a new song, and I build my list every day (or almost everyday). This may sound like hard work but this is quite easily achieved.

While in a public place (on a bus, in a cafe etc), set aside ten minutes to come up with ten song titles. Don’t allow yourself to do anything else, don’t read that book, listen to your MP3 player, text your girlfriend/boyfriend, eat that chocolate bar you’ve fancied eating all day, until you have done this.

To make sure you get your inspiration from various sources, it might be useful to concentrate on a specific source for each session, and rotate the sources throughtout the week.

I usually break down the sources in 5 categories, but you may add more of course:

• what you hear - conversations around you
• what you see - people interacting, shop signs etc
• what you remember - what are the words you remember from your previous day? Any interesting story someone told you? Any unusual anecdote?
• what you daydream about - just let your mind wander into a world of its own
• what you read - browse through a newspaper or magazine in search of great song titles.

I use a pocket size notebook, which I carry with me everywhere, and once in a while, I transfer all my song titles ideas into my songwriting notebook, which stays at home with me.

The next time you sit down to write a song and you have no inspiration for the lyrics, you will appreciate a full list of titles

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My primary recording software was Ardour and I also used Audacity. Since then, I have switched to Windows but I still use Audacity for rough demos and for exporting my files to MP3 for example. However, most of my recording is done with Cubase, and I use Finale Songwriter for notation, both fully commercial softwares.

Do you use open source software for recording your music? If so, which one? And is this open source software for Windows/Mac or is it for Linux? Do you run a full DAW on Linux?

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 Here’s where they explain the move… http://www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk/membership/join_us/Pages/MembershipfeesFAQ.aspx

It is now available in our “free ebooks” section, on the right side of the screen (scroll down a little if you don’t see it).

The PDF features simple ideas to compose music, and even more crucially, to help you finish your compositions. So if you feel you are a bit stuck in a rut, it’s a quick read (3 pages) and well worth it.

20 ideas for composing

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I use both a rhyming dictionary and a thesaurus when writing, or rewriting, lines for my songs. Do I feel like I am cheating?

No.

Writing a song is all about the words YOU choose and about how YOU use them. The fact you might get the idea to use a word because you saw it in a list of rhyming words will not make the line good, even if it rhymes. It’s all about the words fitting in with the context of the lyrics and being able to use the words well so the lyrics flow, make sense and sing well.

Yes, perhaps there is some value in having a huge amount of vocabulary in your head but I don’t think the value of a lyricist comes from his or her ability to be a walking human rhyming dictionary or thesaurus; to me, the value of a lyricist comes from the ideas they convey and the style they use in their writing.

Who are your favourite lyricists? Do you admire them because they are walking dictionaries or because they express in words what you feel in your heart?

So do not hesitate to get those rhyming dictionaries and thesaurus out!

There are quite a few around on the market. For hard copies, I recommend the Concise Oxford Thesaurus and the Oxford Rhyming Dictionary. I have used the Songwriter’s Rhyming Dictionary by Sammy Cahn before but I found it very difficult to use so I do not recommend it. Online, I recommend http://www.rhymezone.com and I also use http://www.answers.com to check on pronunciation if I ever have a doubt.

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It’s short and sweet, and it’s at http://sivers.org/songwriters-only

Firstly, you need to establish which component you are expected to give feedback on. It could be the song itself (eg songwriting), or the recording (eg producing), or the performance of the singer. It could be a general element, such as “the overall sound”, or a specific element such as “the cymbal sound”.

Then, listen to the song with this criteria in mind. Listen out for both what works and what doesn’t work. For example, if your task is to help determine if the performance of the vocalist is strong enough, don’t just listen out for flat notes but also take stock of the sections of the song where the performance is good. Most situations aren’t black and white and the answer might be “keep the vocalist but get him in to re-record the bridge”.

Now, comes the time when the song is over and your friend is looking at you expectedly. A little psychology won’t hurt. Start by stating what you think is the strongest aspect of the song, whether it is part of the criteria you have been asked to critique or not.

For example, maybe you’ve just heard a bad production of a good song and you were ask to comment on the production. Well, start by saying it is a good song. By pointing out the strength of the track, you will then give a benchmark against which you are offering a critique of the other elements.

This brings us to the second thing you say, which should be the specific critique of the element(s) you have been asked to consider. In our example, if you were asked to consider the production, you would be saying “the production lets the song down, it’s a shame because this song has got hit potential”.

Then dig one step deeper. OK, so the production sucks. But it won’t help the producer much to say that. Pick out specific aspects of the production, such as the drums, the synths sounds, the guitar sound, the instruments used, the effects used and so on. An overall track might sound bad but individual elements might be good. Never forget to state what works; a critique should be both positive and negative, as it is about telling the person what works and what doesn’t.

Then, finish your critique by re-expressing what is the best element of the song, as stated at the start of your critique.

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“I have a Mac laptop and a DGX Yamaha keyboard. I would like to copy some of the keyboard music styles on a CD ROM for a friend to play on a CD player away at his home. How can this be done? Any advice would be appreciated.”

As the purpose here is to listen to a CD on a CD player, we are talking about audio recording, and not MIDI.

The easiest option is to connect the audio outputs of the keyboard to the audio input of the laptop, and use the free recording software Audacity, which runs on Mac OS X (as well as Windows and Linux).

To download Audacity, go to http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

After that, it’s only a matter of burning the recorded audio to CD. Audacity allows you to save the audio in several formats, including WAV, AIFF, and MP3. For CD, choose WAV or AIFF. Then it’s down to your MAC to burn it to CD. As I do not have a Mac myself, I’m not too sure what the process is but i guess Mac users will be able to find plenty of information about this on the web.

I hope that helps

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In a nutshell, the article demonstrated the theory that an artist (in the general meaning of the word) does not need millions of fans to make a living off his/her art. Kevin went on to demonstrate that having 1000 True Fans would be enough for a solo artist to make a living.

Various articles around the blogosphere and threads on various forums have been discussing the article, dissecting the numbers and examples used by Kevin. Some people have questionned his definition of a True Fan (according to Kevin, this is someone who would spend $100 a year on the artist), some others have questionned some statements in the article such as “modest expenses”,  but one thing is sure: most artists and musicians seem to believe that Kevin’s theory is right. The practical details are up for discussion but many seem to agree on the principle.

So, how useful is it to the songwriter?

Non-performing and non-recording songwriters suffer from their inability to directly take their music to the audience. Generally, they have to concentrate their efforts on looking for a publishing deal or a “cut”, that is getting their song recorded by an artist.

Kevin’s model is mostly based on the artist being able to deliver a “product” to an audience. As such, even if Kevin’s theory rings true, non-performing non-recording songwriters might find it difficult to see how it applies to them.

However, Kevin’s 1000 True Fans principles are most relevant to songwriters.

As a songwriter, this means that you don’t need to team up with a famous artist to make a living from music. You could team up with an unknown artist, a local artist whose voice and performing abilities you like.

If you recruit someone able to record at home (or if the artist has the knowledge), you could create a “product” as a team. Kevin’s theory dictates that if there are 2 people in a team, the team would need 2,000 True Fans. If there are 3 people (let’s say a producer comes on board), you would need 3,000 True Fans.

Kevin’s calculations imply that the True Fan spends US$100  year. For argument’s sake, let’s assume a value of US$50, which would be deemed more accessible by most people. In a team of 3 people, it means you would need 6,000 True Fans.

However, it is likely that some of this money will be spent on merchandise and tickets, none of which would go to the songwriter. Here is when the whole theory falls down for a songwriter…

 … but fear not! The answer is to get involved in more than one project at a time and to cement your place within each team. But is it possible?

Let’s assume an album takes about 2 years of an artist’s life (time to pick the songs, time to record, time to release, time to tour it) and has 12 songs.  Let’s assume you write 2 songs a month. So that’s 48 songs in two years. Of course, no one can write great songs with a consistent rate so let’s assume half of your songs are so-so. It leaves you with 24 songs being potentially picked up by a bunch of different artists over the course of 2 years, or 12 songs a year. 24 songs is enough material for 2 albums! Or for 4 half albums (artists might use a bunch of different songwriters on the same album)! Or for 24 singles (with downloads, the single format is working quite well for independent artists)!

So a songwriter could be part of two or three teams.

The concept of “teams” is very important.

Traditionally, a songwriter only makes pennies per album sale. It’s a percentage of the gross sale price, variable between countries, but it’s never a lot. However, independent artists using Kevin’s principles bypass the traditional music industry practices, and this is where songwriters can learn from it.

If a songwriter is willing to get invested in the final product, to provide resources for it and to promote it, the songwriter can become part of an artist’s team, and take home much more money than the royalties rate.

Providing resources doesn’t mean investing money. You might be able to provide knowledge in an aspect of making the album (for example, designing the cover); you might have marketing skills; you might be able to convince your cousin to make a video of the single for his film school project; you might invest time in participating and moderating the forum on the artist’s website.

Kevin’s principles imply that an artist connect with fans, one at a time, build up a True Fan base step by step, and interact with fans. Well, this work is rather daunting for an artist to take on his/her own. If you can share the load, you can share the benefits.

Independent artists can make a living by connecting directly with their audience, bypassing the music industry. Independent songwriters can make a living by connecting directly with their audience, except that “their” means “their team’s” in this case.

It’s not easy making a living as an independent artist, and it’s not easy to make a living as an independent songwriter. It takes time and hard work. It takes energy and willpower. But it’s possible.

If he/she wants to make any money, a non-performing non-recording songwriter needs to associate with others. But rather than targetting a music publisher or an established artist, who will only pay pennies for each song sale, you could associate yourself with an independent artist, whom you can help in many more ways than writing great songs and who will treat you as a team mate. Of course, it requires time and hard work, energy and willpower. But it’s possible

 Update (8th June):

Back in April, Kevin Kelly, the originator of the “1000 True Fans” theory has published a post titled The case against 1000 true fans on his blog.

Yesterday (7th June), Ernst-Jan Pfauth interviewed Gerd Leonhard, a specialist in media, and Gerb Leonhard said “streaming music is the new radio”. I find this particularly interesting because I’m a user of Napster subscription on-the-go service and i love it. I do not buy any CD or download now, I just pay for my monthly subscription with Napster.

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