Writing Music
Creating music from the heart
At the moment, in the Down Royale camp, we are in the writing phase of our first album. I’m having a lot of fun. Writing music is one of the greatest experiences your artistic mind will ever have. It lets you turn emotion into sound. You have a chance to share a story with another person. Just the fact that you can do this through music is mind blowing. Being able to live in another persons mind just through the sound one makes. So with this, I would love to share my writing experiences and how I approach a piece of music.
Inspiration can happen anywhere, at any time. Everyone has their own way of taping into this. This can be through sound or even visual. Writing music for this album, a lot of bands have inspired me. A lot of my favourite bands and even a few bands I’m not a huge fan of. Sometimes I’ll be driving with the radio on and I’ll hear something that triggers an idea. Most of the time I just hope I can make it home to write my idea down before I forget. I urge people to listen to music outside their preferred genre. We play very heavy music but I personally listen to a range of genres. Broadening to other genres opens up your mind to the many other possibilities you may not come across if you stick to the one genre.
Writing by yourself is fun but to write with a partner or band is amazing. The way you can bounce ideas of one another to create something is magical. Most of the time you create something that you could not do by yourself. Problem is, if you don’t find like minded people, this can be a draining experience and you won’t have fun. Find a style of writing that suits your band. Some bands flourish in the jam room. Improvising ideas until they hear something they’ll keep. I can’t do this. I think I feel to much pressure when put on the spot. Another way to write is to have song ideas already written and bring them to the band. This gives you the chance to go over your song at home and work on it until it’s the best you can do. Talk about it too. Put down the instruments and discuss the song. Where do you want it to go and what kind of message would you want to express.
A great tip is to set yourself a deadline. I will have this song done in two weeks, or a month. This has helped me greatly. It has pushed me to work harder and put more time into writing, instead of casually working on a song when I feel like it. With this time limit, I have written more in two months than I have all year. Booking studio time is the ultimate deadline. You better have music ready, otherwise you’ll be wasting a lot of peoples time, and money.
I hope this has helped a little bit. Just remember, everyone is different and has their own approach to music. There is no right or wrong way to go about it. Have fun with music. Who cares if you’re writing in a super famous band or still jamming it out in your garage. If you’re enjoying yourself and love what you are creating, that’s all that matters.
