Part 18 - Problem Solving

Over the last four months(!) we've introduced a number of tools and techniques, but we need to use them to get something finished. Then we need to keep going. The sports scientists will tell you it takes 66 repetitions to build muscle memory and create a habit; I'm not saying you need to sit down and write 66 songs (though that's not a bad target) but you do need to go and flex those new metaphorical muscles.

So here are a few suggestions, some of mine and some from my friends at the Sound On Sound forum, to help unblock the process and finish the job.

Tackling preventative behaviours. The first step is recognising this as a problem. If you're not sure what I mean by a preventative behaviour, this cartoon by Asher Perlman should explain it adequately: https://www.instagram.com/asherperlman/p/C0b7oCwuyMj/?hl=en

Do you suddenly find yourself gripped by a compulsion to re-wire your studio? To write to your estranged aunt in Bogota? Do you convince yourself that you can't possibly finish writing this song until you've restrung your guitar or got the piano tuner to pay a visit?

We don't all have a little tic(s?) like this, but if you do it shouldn't take you long to identify it if you focus on it. And if you do, write it down. Then write down what you're going to do to tackle it. I'd recommend that action be something small. So if it's the guitar strings thing, then maybe write down that as soon as I feel that compulsion I shall instead spend just 5 minutes working on finishing the song. Set a timer* and go. Chances are that first five minutes will break the block and you'll spend a longer chunk on it.

Stick that piece of paper somewhere prominent so that it intrudes on those preventative behaviours.

If that worked, great. If it didn't, have a think about why not, and try something else that will mitigate that. 

Fear of a blank page. We talked about tackling writer's block previously in our intermission, the fear of a blank page is slightly different. You have an idea, but when it comes to putting pen to paper for the words or melody it either goes blank or you can't seem to force the idea out. I have three suggestions here: 

1) If the words are a block then start with a melody and a beat. Clap your hands and stomp your feet and "pa, pa, papa, paaa" your lungs out. The beat and melody will start to suggest words and phrases. If the words are coming but the tune is not, sing them out loud. Start with a simple ascending and descending scale and let the words shape the pacing and the direction.

2) In the creative writing world there is the concept 'writer's pages'. This is a daily exercise of just writing to fill two (typically) pages of a notebook, first thing in the morning, to get the brain going and get into the habit. There doesn't need to be a theme, or a story, or even anything coherent. It's the 'gym work' equivalent for the non-sportsman. As a song writer you don't have to write two complete songs, just write down phrases that grab you; ideas overheard, quotations that inspire, story-outlines, plots to rule the world... it doesn't matter, just write them down.

3) All these ideas you've written in your writer's pages, or any other method you use, can be a collage for your next piece. So don't start with a blank page, go back and grab a couple of those ideas and start with them, your pre-broken ice. You don't even need to keep them once you're up and running. 

Fear of a blank DAW. I don't suffer from fear of a blank page, but I do have a block with a blank DAW. For some reason I find it hard to start a new project. Once I'm up and running it's all grand, but until that first guide track is recorded then I engage in all manner of preventative behaviours. Like writing a 19-part blog series...

Here I have two bits of advice. The first is to remember not everything will work, and nor does it have to. It is absolutely fine to write a song, record the draft, and then decide that it's not working, or not good enough, or you just don't like it. Not everything you write or record needs to be published. But you can't make that call until the work is finished up to a certain standard. So crack on with the confidence that no-one need ever know that you were halfway through the second act of your space dwarves rock ballet before you got hit by a sudden bout of taste.

The second tip is to use what you have. You'll remember, hopefully, that I talked about practicing into a metronome when you were pulling your song together, and taking a video copy to as a reminder. Import that video as your guide track. You've already got the tempo, most DAWs can now handle video (I think?), if not there are plenty of tools to strip the audio out. So just lob that video in and voila! Now it's not blank, and it can be unlocked.

Iterative steps. This one is courtesy of Richard T and relates mainly to the mixing process (but could be applied elsewhere). If you've identified something that's a problem, that you're struggling to fix, remember that you don't have to fix it straight away. Make it a bit better, then come back to it and make it a bit better still. It doesn't have to run the full gamut of putrid to perfect if one fell sweep. Progress is the important thing. And a few small changes might give you the clarity to see where a large one is needed.

Nothing is carved in stone. A helpful reminder from Big Red X is that up until** it's released, nothing is set in stone. So if you're adding a killer vocal line but it's jarring with the bass, then go back and change the bass part. There's nothing sacred in the supporting parts, even the bits you really like; they're all there to serve the song as a whole. So don't be afraid to rewrite a part if later changes or additions mean that it's needed. It's generally far easier to go back and 'write it better' than it is to try to 'fix it in the mix'.

Cut the intro by half. If you're not saying anything new then get to the point quicker. I'll frequently find that once I've built up the song I can cut the intro entirely. It's not to say that intros don't have their value, but don't drag them out a note longer than they need to be. Thanks to Exalted Wombat for this one. 

Lend me your ears! Finally, get yourself a listening group. You're looking for some people who know enough to give you solid advice, but aren't so stuck in their ways that they're not open to new ideas. People who can be honest with their opinions, but constructive in their feedback. You're looking for people who will tell you, "I think verse two would work better if it was less cluttered, try dropping the acoustic guitar part," rather than, "I don't like verse two, it's crap."

But it's not just about the negative vibes, someone telling you something is amazing when it isn't stops being helpful pretty rapidly and actually holds back your progress. Instead of, "That's brilliant," you're looking for, "that's good, but it might be even better if..."

So that's it from me, but here are a couple of useful external sources with some top tips from very different perspectives.

5 Strategies I Use to Finish EVERY SONG

5 (Stupid) Tricks To Be A Better Musician

For our final instalment next week (if I can get everything done in time) we'll have a worked example video where we go from scrapbook to streaming.

* Be careful to avoid the trap of then spending an hour browsing different timer apps on your phone... The default one is perfect, set it and start. ;¬)

** Actually plenty of stuff can be changed even after release. I have a few songs that have gone through a few iterations over the 20 or so years I've been playing them. It's not that nobody cares if you rewrite something, it's that actually lots of people really like it when something that they already love is given a fresh lease of life.