richardjmorgan Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 (edited) At the moment, my band and I have a big stack of songs that are "NEARLY done". Obviously there's an element of "oh just get on and write the vocal parts/work out what happens here next and stop faffing about", but I find often when I'm trying to do this I'll go off on a creative tangent and BOOM, yet another one to add to the increasing pile of unfinished material. Was just wondering if anyone else a) experienced this problem and b ) had come up with any effective strategies for managing it. Edited May 15, 2013 by richardjmorgan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 I'm a better finisher than a starter tbh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Yes I experience this problem all the time - I've got loads of unfinished songs. No, I don't have the first idea what to do about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Left Foot Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Do what the Melvins do and just play a continuous string of badassery for two hours straight. Yeah I have the same thing at times, depending on what sound you want depends on endings > going into feedback > fading into silence > merging everything into one mammouth song etc. I hate those awkward moments inbetween songs so I usually try make some feedback or weird modulation noise fill those gaps. The best way to stop is not play the next part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogHammer Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Have just managed to get over this problem with the band. In a 4 hour practice we now have a structure, first 3 hours for tightening, writing and adding bits to existing ideas, then the last hour on new ideas or jamming only. As long as we all agree to stick to it and press on then it seems to work out well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 OK, I'm slightly confused now - is the thread about finishing writing a song or is it about how you bring a song to an end when playing it live? There seem to be both options being given as answers here at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Left Foot Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 I thought it was about live performance, even though, the best way to stop both writing and playing is to stop playing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 From the OP it seems clear it's about the writing process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogHammer Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 The OP is talking about finishing his original material in the practice room by the sounds of it to me. And hes running into the problem of starting to make new songs from fresh ideas, and its getting in the way of finishing the songs he has started previously.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 [quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1368622109' post='2079290'] From the OP it seems clear it's about the writing process. [/quote] That's what I thought - ta! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardjmorgan Posted May 15, 2013 Author Share Posted May 15, 2013 Yep, sorry if I wasn't clear! I'm talking about the writing process - with regard to getting stuff completed, rather than specifically the ending of the songs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 [quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1368621312' post='2079264'] I'm a better finisher than a starter tbh. [/quote] We need to work together, I have a million ideas, and maybe 4 finished songs floating about at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 [quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1368624009' post='2079342'] We need to work together, I have a million ideas, and maybe 4 finished songs floating about at the moment. [/quote] I have millions of ideas too, it's just sitting the f*** down in my studio and starting to arrange and record them I got a new recording system and I'm only just starting to get the hang of it, I find it daunting and have to push myself to geet in there. I have a fair bit of pro recording for an album to do aswell which will definitely push me to learn it quickly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardjmorgan Posted May 15, 2013 Author Share Posted May 15, 2013 [quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1368624287' post='2079347'] I have millions of ideas too, it's just sitting the f*** down in my studio and starting to arrange and record them I got a new recording system and I'm only just starting to get the hang of it, I find it daunting and have to push myself to geet in there. I have a fair bit of pro recording for an album to do aswell which will definitely push me to learn it quickly! [/quote] Yeah, I wonder if it would help to sort my home recording setup, meaning I can get ideas fleshed out more quickly, and hopefully follow that through to completion. On the other hand, it could just end up being yet another displacement activity… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Left Foot Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 (edited) I just hit record on my laptop, its really lofi (obviously) but even without external mic it gives the idea. Edited May 15, 2013 by Left Foot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 [quote name='richardjmorgan' timestamp='1368626225' post='2079385'] ....On the other hand, it could just end up being yet another displacement activity… [/quote] That's what I find with getting involved in recording, which is why I don't record anything other than barebones rough demos. If I can't get a song finished the last thing I want to do is start distracting myself with arrangement ideas. When I get something ready to be recorded I'd rather spend my money on going into a studio & getting it done properly than pissing about with a home set-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziphoblat Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Yeap, prone to this myself. I'll write something, get to a point where it needs some sort of middle eight or variation (if it's a less "typical" song structure), and then try and write something for that. Usually I write something that I really like, but that doesn't work, so that itself becomes a new song and then the previous one gets put on the pile. Rinse and repeat.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sausage Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 From my experience you just have to be brutal. Figure out what you want from the song. be completely honest and decide if sections add anything to the song. Is it valid. If not dump that section from that song. For instance, in my band, we were going thru a creative phase. We had written about seven songs. Five polished of quick. (You can hear four at [url="https://soundcloud.com/asedya"]https://soundcloud.com/asedya[/url]). But we had two that we kept working on that we couldn't figure out. In the end we took the best bits from the two,altered them slightly to make it work and made one song out of it. We just discarded the other parts. You gotta be careful of just leaving bits in because they have been written. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 [quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1368624287' post='2079347'] I have millions of ideas too, it's just sitting the f*** down in my studio and starting to arrange and record them I got a new recording system and I'm only just starting to get the hang of it, I find it daunting and have to push myself to geet in there. I have a fair bit of pro recording for an album to do aswell which will definitely push me to learn it quickly! [/quote] Ha, same same same. I just installed reaper. So far so good, that performance meter is a godsend, now I know which plugins are trying to run the CPU at 250% I know which ones to turn off. The really good sounding ones unfortunately Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Perhaps you could take a leaf out of this book..? [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Suffer"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Suffer[/url] ...you decide the format; it doesn't have to be any set length; when it's done, it's done. The general rule wuld be: if you've nothing left to say, say nothing. No need to add for adding's sake, imho. Just my tuppence-worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 (edited) [quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1368630491' post='2079476'] ... You gotta be careful of just leaving bits in because they have been written. [/quote] +1 Also when you find something you like but doesn't fit what you're working on, record it and continue looking. I've got a Zoom H4 which is far simpler than computer etc as you just plug your bass into it a hit record. Also: Deadlines! Set a date or a number of hours to finish a song. You can get drawn into going back and tweaking and messing with a perfectly good song. Write it, teach it, play it, record it, move on. Edited May 16, 2013 by TimR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 As mentioned above, deadlines are your friend For instance: the monthly new music challenge on Basschat has spurred me on to produce - and importantly finish! - lots of new music, when normally I'd churn stuff out at a rate of a track per 2-3 months. I imagine setting a recording deadline for an EP or some such would provide even more incentive. Also, for me it helps to use software/equipment that is simple and immediately accessible. Stuff I can be working on with within minutes of booting up my computer. Other than that, maybe try finding someone else who can finish the tracks for you (ie. another band member or close friend), so you can concentrate on generating the initial ideas. Oh yeah, and self-discipline is a useful thing too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low End Bee Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I find if we're having trouble finishing a song it's probably because it's not good enough and it's time to move on to the next one. If there are good parts I will keep them in the song bank. Many songs in the current set have choruses/verses/lyrics from previously junked projects. I'm sure it doesn't work for all bands and songwriters but ruthless and brutal are the way to go for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 [quote name='Low End Bee' timestamp='1368702794' post='2080308'] I find if we're having trouble finishing a song it's probably because it's not good enough and it's time to move on to the next one. If there are good parts I will keep them in the song bank. Many songs in the current set have choruses/verses/lyrics from previously junked projects. I'm sure it doesn't work for all bands and songwriters but ruthless and brutal are the way to go for us. [/quote] This. Completely. If we can't get a Terrortones song ready to gig after 3 sessions, it will get put aside in order to work on something else. For course how effective this strategy is depends on how prolific you are. In the 3 years that the Terrortones have been going we've averaged one new completed song every month. There's probably an equal number that were't quite good enough to get finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyKnees Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 I find the best general strategy for writing and recording ideas is not to spend too long on any one particular thing. I like to have lots of ideas on the go at once, that way I can work on one for say an hour, and then move on to something else - that way I don't loose perspective and get too bogged down in specifics. I also think keeping the instrumentation/effects etc down to the bare minimum while developing a song is a good idea. Once I'm happy with the overall structure I'll start to think about further embelishments, but when I'm putting something together i like to keep it all fairly simple. As above, I also find that if i'm having to try really hard to make something work, then some or even all of it is no good and should be parked or even binned. Finishing things can be hard - it's finding that perfect balance between the spark of the original idea and the stuff that you add to it to make it 'shiny'. Knowing when to stop adding more is a skill that take a long time to learn... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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