Rough to Release Index

Links to all the posts in sequence.

Part 1 - the pitch: from ideas to completion

Part 2 - Space and Permission

Part 3 - Spark and Spice

Part 4 - More Spark and Spice

Part 5 - Beyond Verse and Chorus

Part 6 - Story Arcs

Intermission - Tackling Writer's Block

Part 7 - More Tension and Release

Part 8 - It's not all about you! (Co-writing)

Part 9 - Define 'finished' - a summary so far

Part 10 - Recording Basics - The Hierarchy

Part 11 - Recording Basics - Making the most of what you've got

Part 12 - Production

Part 13 - Demo, Dub, Delete

Part 14 - Arts and Crafts

Part 15 - Beyond Self-Recording

Part 16 - 'Finishing' or 'mastering for cheapskates'

Part 17 - Distribution Strategies

Part 18 - Problem Solving

Part 19 - The End - and a worked example


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Pitch: Taking your song-writing from ideas and chords to fully worked-up demos or releases.

Image
  Part 1 Hello and welcome to Rough to Release. My name's Drew Stephenson and I'm a singer-songwriter and home-recordist (that's not a real word) from the UK. In this blog we're going to be looking at how to take your song-writing from a bunch of lyrics and chords to fully worked up demos and releases. We're going to start with the song-writing, including that vital stage of actually finishing, and turning an idea into a song. Then we're going to look at recording or capturing those ideas. We'll talk about what you need to get started and, probably more importantly, how to get the most out of it. We'll also talk about the blurring of lines between writing, recording and producing - which is a theme we'll revisit throughout the series. Next up we'll get into that production concept, how to establish and support a vision, and we'll wrap up with a bit of discussion about mastering and distribution.   So if that sounds like it might be of interes...
Read more

Part 2 - Space and Permission

Image
Welcome back Song-writing then.  Perhaps you have that folder I mentioned, or maybe a stack of notebooks, or whatever it is you use to capture your ideas. Now we start the process of turning the ideas into songs - complete, finished songs.  And here is my first rule for completing songs.  Which has nothing to do with songs or music.              Space and permission. What do I mean by that? These two things come together to give you the best chance at writing your best songs. You can ignore them, but you'll make life harder for yourself.   (this is not my room) Space. What I'm talking about here is a physical space where you can focus completely on the job in hand. It might be you're lucky enough to have a dedicated music space in your house, if that's so, take a moment next time you step in there and think about how it feels to cross the threshold? Is it inspiring? Does it give you a little lift just being in ...
Read more

Part 5 - Beyond verse and chorus

Image
  Right, let's crack on. The first thing we're going to look at today is moving beyond the bounds and structures of verse and chorus. We'll start here for a couple of reasons, partly because these are often the bits we come up with first when writing, along with a riff or melody line, and - relatedly - because these are the foundations of modern song.  When songs were mostly memorised and shared in pubs and houses, a simple verse-chorus structure told everyone when to join in, when to shut up, and gave a natural breathing cycle to the song; a bit of tension, then release. We're no longer bound by those limitations, but it's important to understand how we can use those natural story-telling tools when we move beyond that simple structure. And that throws in my first 'gotcha' - which is: do we need to move beyond a simple verse-chorus structure?  Of course not. Sometimes that's all you need. But if you rely on that for every song then you...
Read more