Introduction

Ok before anything, I would like to thank the supportive Mixposure community for their kindhearted comments and feedbacks. Going on, a bit of history about myself in case no one knows.<br /><br />I was in School Of Music And Arts(Singapore)(SOMA) for a brief period of time studying A Diploma in Songwriting and Production Techniques. Went through all the songwriting part but never really get to the production part( so you guys know where the bad mixing actually came from... hehehe) because my beloved country call me to serve the nation by being a soldier for a whooping 2 years. <br /><br />So basically I woud like to share with you whatever I have learnt about songwriting in SOMA. First before we start off anything we need an introduction. Every song has an introduction. Whatever I'm going to say here is not techniques but merely interesting facts that sometimes we tend to overlook upon.<br /><br />Ok first we will touch on why intros are so freaking important. <br /><br />1. This is the part that your listener will listen to first(Obviously!) and this is the part that turns their ears on/off<br /><br />2. The average human being now in our age does not tolerate long attention spans.... for example: If you were watching this movie at the start(only applies to the male species) and Jessica Alba is nude inviting you to come to bed with her, you would surely stay on watching(Unless you are not straight or your mom just came back home from work or you are to loyal to your wife or somehow or other you never find Jessica Alba attractive which is wierd) Get the point?<br /><br />3.This is always where you want to attract the kind of listeners that you prefer.<br /><br />So how can we get that intro that we want? Well there are certain formulas that have floating through the music scene since before the year I was born( Which was 1986). One of the most famous myth is the 8 seconds rule.<br /><br />8 Seconds Rule<br />- The 8 seconds rule means that your intro must not exceed 8 seconds but it could be less though. This usually applies to mainstream radio music but I find this a load of bullcrap. Examples of songs with long intros that made it to radio<br />- The popular Guns &amp; Roses song November Rain<br />- The recently debut The Day That Never Comes by Metallica<br />So the trend I could see is this, long intros usually suceed in a Rock or Metal outfit. I know that they are some songs of other genres with long intros that made it to mainstream radio but I couldn't think of it right now and i really do believe that there are very few of them out there.<br /><br />The Introductory Chorus<br />-The chorus of the song(with vocals) becomes the intro. Usually a shorter version of the original chorus or sometimes the whole chorus itself. It has proved very effective since the hook itself is the introduction so if your hook works the whole freaking song works. Examples of such songs<br />-(shorter chorus) Backstreet Boys-Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely<br />-(full chorus)Evanescence-Litium<br /><br />The Instrumental Intro<br />-This is the most famous of all intros. There are freaking millions with this example. And, and freaking millions have succeeded with this formula. There are too many examples to point out from but I will list it in different styles<br />-The chorus melody<br />-The verse melody<br />-A totally unique introdutory melody(which means different from the verse or intro or any other part of the song. This melody usually is used for the interludes after the chorus before the 2nd verse)<br />-Intro/Ending melody(only applies to the intro, interludes and ending)<br />These intros also works freaking well with lead instruments.<br /><br />The Other Intros<br />-Ok these intros fall in the others category<br />-The speech intro( This is where the intro is a speech or sometimes a poem read out with or without music)<br />Songs that succeded in this category Natually 7 feat (some female singer with a great voice) - Music heals the Soul<br />-The Special Effects intro(This is where the intro is an atmosphere of a situation for example like sounds from a warzone or a car racing event)<br />Songs that succeded in this category <br />Synergy-Suicide By My Side<br />Backstreet Boys-The Call<br />-(Place Text Here)<br /><br />In conclusion, before getting your intro, you have to know what kind of listeners you want to attract and you must also know what attracts your listener. It is like seducing a woman( maybe the same as seducing a man). If you know that your woman love lingerie, goddamnit buy for her one already. So if you know what your listener wants/needs, godamnit write/compose/produce for them a song already.<br /><br />Rocking You Out<br /><br />Hazwady<br />