Rough to Release

 Welcome to either the half-way point of this blog, or the end of the blog, depending on your perspective... This series is titled 'rough to release' because for me, the release is the end* of the process. It's the point beyond which there are no more re-writes, re-arrangements or just general tweakery. In releasing it to the public it is committed to the record. But not all of you will work to this definition of 'finished'. For some it is enough to have a set of lyrics written down, a structure established, and a chord progression or tune notated. And if that's you then you might be pleased to know that your work here is all but done. After this blog we'll be moving onto the 'release' part of the series. So before we take that step, let's have a quick refresher on what we've covered so far. In part one we set the scene but didn't really broach any finishing techniques, so let's go straight onto... Part Two - Space and Permission. Th...

Welcome back to Trollholm and Rough to Release, our series on taking your half-finished ideas and turning them into finished songs.  So far we've assumed that your creative process is you, alone, slaving away by the midnight oil in your artists garret. Or in the train on the morning commute, whatever works for you (according to part 2). But obviously this is not always the case; you might be working as part of a writing group, you might be working with a partner, you might be taking your song ideas to a band to develop into a live show. All of these scenarios bring both advantages and dis-advantages, but there are some consistent points as well. Let's have a look... As part of a band In my (limited) experience, bands tend to be run either as dictatorships or communes. Under the dictator, the band leader tends to bring the songs and sets the rules about how they'll be played. If it's a benevolent dictatorship they will allow the other players control of their parts and a...

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 ...