I have a family member that has been writing lyrics for the majority of her life. She has not has much luck in placing them though.
Shortly after I opened my studio doors, my relative began to indoctrinate me with lyrics and request for me to record them. The problem was that the lyrics were not formatted like songs, they were formatted like poems.
At that time I really only was producing hip hop and trying to learn how to do R&B. I was actually willing to make her songs, so I would ask her, "ok, how does it go?" Initially, she would say "I don't know...I didn't have a melody in mind yet" since I didn't know how to sing and she couldn't sing, those songs had to basically sit, until me or her found a singer to come up with some good melodies.
Tip: Most parties who are interested in buying songs, are interested in just that, buying songs, not just lyrics.
Eventually, my aunt realized that when she came to me her songs needed to be formatted a little better, and that she at least needed to have some sort of melody to give me with her lyrics.
In regards to formats, you have multiple song formats to choose from, or you can just wing it...there doesn't have to be any rules....but if you want to learn about song formats just google (song formats).
Lyrics......check! Format....check!.......Melodies.....check!...wait a minute..uncheck! My relative pretty much had the same melody for every song, and it was a country western melody....Problem, because I definitely didn't know how to make country western music.
So, we tried and tried to turn these lyrics into good songs, but they were trash. I told her to find a singer, and find a singer she did.....she found multiple singers but most of them had never recorded and were just very inexperienced in general. So the songs still didn't come out well. I'm sure this process frustrated my aunt and caused her to almost give up on music......So how do you stop this from happening to you?
First, let me say that you do not have to be a singer in order to be a writer, you just need to have a relatively clear idea about what you want your song to sound like, then you can find all the right people or pieces to make it sound that way.
When it comes to writing styles, writers are different. There are some that don't write with music at all. Those writers can just peruse instrumentals until they find one that fits their lyrics. Then there are some that have an idea about what they want their music to sound like. In that case, those writers can find a producer who can create exactly what the writer is hearing.
Personally, I like to pick the instrumental first. (There are millions of instrumentals online, but I use www.freshoffabreakup.com), then write to the instrumental. I can't sing, but what I do is make sure the timing is how I want it, and I just try to get in the general ballpark, melody wise. I also like to record my lyrics (on a little personal recorder) instead of writing them down, because when I write them down, I find that I often forget the timing of the lyrics, or the way I said certain words.
Next in order, is finding someone to record your song. You need a good or professional singer that is familiar with the genre of music you are seeking to make. What I like to do is ask potential demo singers to sing my song over the instrumental that I have chosen. That way I can determine how well they are at writing melodies. This is important to me because without a good, fast melody writer, the session will be long and there will be a good possibility that it won't turn out the way I want.
What do you do after the recording session is done and you actually like your song? Mixing time..thats what. Most likely, whoever engineered the original session will also be able to mix your record...it will just take a little more time and a little more money. You also need to be able to express to the mixing engineer what you want the end result to sound like. If not, you are taking the risk that the sound engineer may not do what you want him to do, the way you want him to do it.
The last step is mastering. There are mastering houses that you can go to, but they may be expensive. At the beginning of your career, a less expensive route should suffice. That route would be asking the mixing engineer to master the song.
Once that is done then your song is ready to be presented to anyone or any song contest or any opportunity. Keep in mind that often, people want the lyric sheet, the full song, and the instrumental when you submit, so keep those in handy. But before you submit, you're going to want to copyright it, and register it with you writing society (ascap, bmi, sesac, etc...)
If you follow the simple steps above, you'll be ahead of the game!
Shortly after I opened my studio doors, my relative began to indoctrinate me with lyrics and request for me to record them. The problem was that the lyrics were not formatted like songs, they were formatted like poems.
At that time I really only was producing hip hop and trying to learn how to do R&B. I was actually willing to make her songs, so I would ask her, "ok, how does it go?" Initially, she would say "I don't know...I didn't have a melody in mind yet" since I didn't know how to sing and she couldn't sing, those songs had to basically sit, until me or her found a singer to come up with some good melodies.
Tip: Most parties who are interested in buying songs, are interested in just that, buying songs, not just lyrics.
Eventually, my aunt realized that when she came to me her songs needed to be formatted a little better, and that she at least needed to have some sort of melody to give me with her lyrics.
In regards to formats, you have multiple song formats to choose from, or you can just wing it...there doesn't have to be any rules....but if you want to learn about song formats just google (song formats).
Lyrics......check! Format....check!.......Melodies.....check!...wait a minute..uncheck! My relative pretty much had the same melody for every song, and it was a country western melody....Problem, because I definitely didn't know how to make country western music.
So, we tried and tried to turn these lyrics into good songs, but they were trash. I told her to find a singer, and find a singer she did.....she found multiple singers but most of them had never recorded and were just very inexperienced in general. So the songs still didn't come out well. I'm sure this process frustrated my aunt and caused her to almost give up on music......So how do you stop this from happening to you?
First, let me say that you do not have to be a singer in order to be a writer, you just need to have a relatively clear idea about what you want your song to sound like, then you can find all the right people or pieces to make it sound that way.
When it comes to writing styles, writers are different. There are some that don't write with music at all. Those writers can just peruse instrumentals until they find one that fits their lyrics. Then there are some that have an idea about what they want their music to sound like. In that case, those writers can find a producer who can create exactly what the writer is hearing.
Personally, I like to pick the instrumental first. (There are millions of instrumentals online, but I use www.freshoffabreakup.com), then write to the instrumental. I can't sing, but what I do is make sure the timing is how I want it, and I just try to get in the general ballpark, melody wise. I also like to record my lyrics (on a little personal recorder) instead of writing them down, because when I write them down, I find that I often forget the timing of the lyrics, or the way I said certain words.
Next in order, is finding someone to record your song. You need a good or professional singer that is familiar with the genre of music you are seeking to make. What I like to do is ask potential demo singers to sing my song over the instrumental that I have chosen. That way I can determine how well they are at writing melodies. This is important to me because without a good, fast melody writer, the session will be long and there will be a good possibility that it won't turn out the way I want.
What do you do after the recording session is done and you actually like your song? Mixing time..thats what. Most likely, whoever engineered the original session will also be able to mix your record...it will just take a little more time and a little more money. You also need to be able to express to the mixing engineer what you want the end result to sound like. If not, you are taking the risk that the sound engineer may not do what you want him to do, the way you want him to do it.
The last step is mastering. There are mastering houses that you can go to, but they may be expensive. At the beginning of your career, a less expensive route should suffice. That route would be asking the mixing engineer to master the song.
Once that is done then your song is ready to be presented to anyone or any song contest or any opportunity. Keep in mind that often, people want the lyric sheet, the full song, and the instrumental when you submit, so keep those in handy. But before you submit, you're going to want to copyright it, and register it with you writing society (ascap, bmi, sesac, etc...)
If you follow the simple steps above, you'll be ahead of the game!
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