Making Music

For those of you that don't know me already, I have played guitar for about fourteen years now. Most of my life has been dedicated to and surrounded by music. For a lot of people music is LIFE! I can remember the first time I heard Nirvana's "Bleach" album. From that moment on I was taken by the sheer emotion involved in it. A lot of people have that one particular album that grabbed on to their imaginiation and let them "escape" from their problems and let them relate to what the artist was saying. I am a firm believer that music is a thearaputic tool that is responsible for getting numbers of people through tough times in their lives. Think about your favorite group or band. Don't you feel like you know exactly what they are talking about on a particular song? It is the ability of a lyricist to write what they are going through or write about a subject that is of controversy or "hits home" to many people and write it in a way that makes people feel touched that makes them good at what they do.

If you are familiar with making music and writing lyrics then you know that there is a particular hit song "format" that a lot of people have discovered. There is proof of this from software created that looks at any number of "hit songs" and determined that there is a basic format that they all had in common. I would like to post some snippits of an article previously written by Clive Thompson.

"At the heart of the program is a ''clustering'' algorithm that locates acoustic similarities between songs, like common bits of rhythm, harmonies or keys. The software takes a new tune and compares it with the mathematical signatures of the last 30 years of Top 40 hits. The closer the song is to ''a hit cluster,'' the more likely -- in theory -- that the kids won't be able to resist it. Yet the weird thing is, songs that are mathematically similar don't necessarily sound the same. The scientists found that U2 is similar to Beethoven, and that Van Halen shares qualities with the piano rock of Vanessa Carlton. Even more bizarrely, 50 Cent's throbbing rap tune ''If I Can't'' correlates with ''(There's) No Gettin' Over Me,'' a twangy country ditty by Ronnie Milsap."

"Several record companies began using Hit Song Science to help pick which songs on an album to promote. Others are now using it in the studio, taking a rough mix of a new song, checking to see how hit-worthy it is, then tweaking it until it has ''good mathematics,'' as McCready puts it. He can foresee a day when most major hits will have been vetted by algorithms."

"Which is, depending on how you look at it, either a wonderful breakthrough for science or an incredibly bleak statement about the music industry. Critics for years have complained that record labels produce only bland albums that mimic what's already popular. But Hit Song Science takes that trend to its logical absurdity: it does not merely aim at the middle of the road -- it calculates it, with scientific precision." - Clive Thompson

As the article suggests, one could view this as a breakthrough for figuring out who and what will make a "hit song". Or one could view this as another way the music industry churns out all too familiar music that is less and less "original". There have been countless people for years now that have proclaimed "today's music doesn't say anything" or "they don't make music like they used to". And as I listen to some of the songs on the radio I admit that I would have to agree. However, there are bands today that do make exceptional music and bands that write lyrics with exceptional quality. I don't know where the music and lyrics that I have helped to make with the bands I have been in rate but I will post the lyrics to one of our songs and let you decide for yourself. The song below can also be previewed and is included on a c.d. I put together of my bands' music at This Site

My Pain
Written by Curt Hart of Tonedeaf Mime

I see you standing there before me like I do
I see you just like I do standing there like a prayer
Like the last year, like you killed, because of you, before me
My pain has got the best of me, release, release me
When I see you standing there just like a prayer, I don’t even care
You came back, begged before me, I won’t try to warn you
About the black in my eyes, you will regret, and I will rejoice, I will rejoice
My pain has got the best of me, release, release me
My pain has got the best of me, release, release me
I will never let you go
My eyes turn black like the devil’s soul, black
Your eyes turn red just like your soul, red
Before my friend I turn again, just like our eyes, I want you
My soul burns the last strip, before my friend, I wanna fall
My soul will wait, my soul won’t wait
My pain has got the best of me, release, release me
My pain has got the best of me, release, release me
My pain has got the best of me, release, release me
I will never let you go

Click here to purchase the c.d. with this and other great songs on it!

Some advice I can give to musicians and songwriters out there just getting started would be to write what you know. Write about something that inspires or moves you. If something inspires you then it is a good bet that it will reach out to other people as well. Here are a few tips on songwriting.

1. Start with the title. The title of the song is usually what its all about. It will be your chorus, your hook, and the main idea of the song.

2. Secondly ask questions. Let's say your song title is "Night time car ride". Ask questions about it, what was the reason for the car ride? Why was it at night? What took place during the ride? How you answer these questions will determine what the song is about.

3. Make a list of words, images, and phrases about the song title. After you have a list of related words then make a list of opposites. Use these words to help describe....

4. Lyrics are not poems. Many inexperienced songwriters begin by writing a lyric that looks like a poem, complete with nice rhymes and a regular, sing-song meter. What you get when you write lyrics without music is usually bad poetry. If you do not play an instrument then take a song that is already made and reflects the "feel" of what you are looking for and write new lyrics to the song. This is a good way to practice.


I would like to end this post with a few questions. What do you think of today's music compared to music that was written in the past as far as "saying something" goes? Do you think that today's issues are being accurately voiced by today's musicians? And finally, do you think it is easier today with the technology available and widespread access to outlets of distribution, to become "famous" or well known as a musician? Or do you think it is infact harder because of things like market saturation?

-Thank you for taking the time to read this post
-Curt Hart