Category: Songwriting

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 />

This site is freaking cool. It reeks of awesomeness. The community is friendly and approachable. The design and concept is a tremendous help for any budding musician anywhere in the world. i just can't thank you&nbsp; guys enough whether you made this site or help made this site. I would also like to thank those who flatter or criticise me. You guys obviously gave me more drive to write more and much better songs. You know how great it feels to know that someone somewhere out there in this world actually cares about my music and to spent a few minutes of their precious time to comment on it. Fucking great!. And you how great it feels to know that someone out there actually cares about my ambitions by making this site exist ( i know this site doesnt exist because of me alone. It is because of people like me and you who are reading this now). Fucking Great! No words, not even music can express the gratitude and appreciation that I have for all of you. <br /><br />Love <br /><br />Hazwady

Ok welcome to my world. I know its kind of late but better late than never so I'm going to actually tell you guys who I am other than what have been said on the site. I'm 21 years of age and currently serving my nation as a soldier ( My country force their males to serve the nation for a minimum 2 years in the army, police or civil defence giving them measly allowance) and I'm not very happy about it.

I was at the School Of Music and Arts which was affiliated with the Berkley School Of music studying songwriting and production techniques. I actually didn't get to the production techniques because halfway the army knock on my door and I had to stop so I was kinda pissed.

Then I got an e-mail from imusicscene and I told myself why not since the only positive thing about being in the army is that I got more inspiration to write songs. So here I am trying to please others by writing pure power/melodic metal music which i think is dying in the metal scene today.

The music influences that you see on the main page is basically whats closest to the music being played. What I listen to is almost a bit of everything. From Abba to Slipknot to Christina Aguilera to Yngwie Malmsteen. Its endless.

So I think thats all that is to be known I guess. I would like to thank all those who have praise or criticize my music on this site. Very Very much appreciate you guys taking your precious time to listen and comment on my tracks( Hope Im not asking too much but ratings would be great as well). Your words really motivate me to do more songs and hopefully better as well. Other than that i would like to share my experience and also techniques on songwriting the next time I happen to feel like blogging again. Cheers.

Meaningful songs, kind of hard to hear those two words nowadays. I would not like to point out specific artists or songs, because I don't believe I have the right to judge their songs( who the **** am I anyway) but most of the bullshit that the MTV is feeding me with are catchy choruses, nice sometimes great vocals belting out lines that are so crappy that Gordon Ramsay would say " I wouldn't even serve it to a fucking dog".

Yes I have to admit that what I learned in the School of Music and Arts is that an attractive intro and a catchy chorus sells but for example...( damn i hate to do this but for explanation purposes) the song "Im blue da ba dee da ba da...bla bla bla". The key word is BLUE. The key phrase is I'M BLUE. If my english is correct, that means I'M SAD!!!. And we the got 2 cheeks of an **** singing it in a fucking happy tune. Yes catchy. Yes It sells thousands or even millions times more successful than my songs but what the ****. Are people to dumb enough to understand that it is stupid, meaningless and a whole bunch of crap. But wait maybe the song is trying to represent a creature who is colured blue...

My bad... sorry. But **** out. A blue creature!!! OH **** ME SENSELESS. That song is at most presentable on Sesame Street as a theme song for fucking cookie monster. But enough on my frustrations as I think i get my point straight. Now on techniques to write a meaningful song.

My basic technique to write a meaningful song is to start writing the lyrics 1st. Thats how i write songs actually,. And when you start writing lyrics, write the chorus 1st. the chorus is the most basic foundation to start your song. It is the success factor. If your chorus is ****, your song is ****. But before you start wrting lyrics you must get the idea first.

The idea which is what song are you going to write about. A love song, song a bout family, etc etc.
Once you get that, you brainstorm on the chorus. Remember music theories, melodies or tunes must not come in first. To give an example I will try to write a chorus out.

The idea : No Freedom

Chorus

Fear the bars that will trap you
the locks that will bound you
the chains that will tie you
from running away
From this place that wil haunt you
these signs that will taunt you
the darkness surrounds you
your freedom for pain

-Now by writing the chorus you have actually the base of a song. a place where you can refer to if you might write out of point. This part is most important because from this chorus you can then, start to compose your tune, set the rythm and tempo to fill the mood of the song. To make sure that the tune, the verses, intros and bridges actually are in sync with the chorus meanings. Important thing to remember what you wrote could be edited right after you get the tune for the chorus but it must still be of meaning to the idea and do not get drastically way out of that idea. REMEMBER A GOOD SONG IS WRITTEN, A GREAT SONG IS RE- WRITTEN.

I think that should be simple and basic enough for anyone to write meaningful songs and to top that the chorus I just written, I could just make a song out of it so listen out when it comes out. Cheers.