Flags and High Fives — Season Two

Episode Three: Arvin and Ben Really Write a Song

In episode three of Flags and High Fives, Arvin and I brushed ourselves off and took another stab at making a song. The failure of episode two, and the struggles surrounding it (and our busy lives around that time) coloured everything we did for episode three.

You should probably listen to the episode before you read the rest of this article. There will be spoilers. But I’m not your mom, so do as you please.

Episode Three is out now on the website, iTunes, and Google Play. Sign up for the Newsletter to get the latest scoop and check out our Facebook Page for up to the minute announcements, Instagram for possibly unrelated images, and Twitter because you have to have a Twitter account.

The article for episode two was at least started, but I’m not sure if we ever finished it. Really, it’s such a dark chapter in our lives that I’m not too upset. I doubt if either of us will go back and finish it, or publish it. For that reason, I’ll likely spend some time in this article going over some stuff from episode two as well as the event more blighted time surrounding the making of episode three.

We started episode three with a slight base of knowledge and experience from episode two. I had started a little electro song in Garageband, but hadn’t made much progress. Rather than set up some systematic structure or a framework based on the things we had learned from our interview with Jake (our music expert from episode two and my brother) I jumped in with the knowledge I had gleaned from years of being at the periphery of other people’s experience making music. I already had a rough (and as I would learn sometimes wrong) understanding of the parts of a song and how they went together. I jumped in with a melody I fashioned out of thin air and lots of hammering on the keyboard (the computer keyboard using musical typing, not an actual keyboard which would have been a big help).

From there, I started to fill in some gaps with a supporting tune (more like supporting tones) that were kind of like a bassline and the beginnings of some drums. It was at about that pont that we decided to finish episode two with a first attempt (which I didn’t finish) and start episode three from scratch. Arvin wasn’t entirely pleased with what I had come up with and we were running out of time if we were to stick to the schedule we had chosen for season two (inspired by season one). We had a few disagreements in while making that second episode, but the real disconnect started at this point.

I think Arvin would agree that collaborating on a song was not working for us. We had different levels of understanding (and experience) and having to work in small weekly meetings from a distance made things even more difficult.

Tools

Besides the ultimate tools (Arvin and me while trying to write a song) we used some equipment that was helpful despite our inability to take advantage of them properly.

• The first tool we used were our laptops running Garageband. We both use macbooks and Garageband is a surprisingly robust software that comes free with the operating system. It excels in some areas and has some flat out amazing features (like the automatic drummer) but it isn’t necessarily as focused as more professional programs like Logic Pro. Though not having used Logic, I can’t make a proper comparison.
• Within Garageband, we used musical typing. It’s sort of a tool that comes with Garageband. Outside of having a real midi keyboard, it’s a free and acceptable way to input some music into the program.
• I use an audio interface from Behringer for the podcast, but when thing were working properly, I was using it while making the song too. I don’t think it’s necessary unless you are inputting vocals or want to record an instrument, but if you want to do those things, it’s a necessity (in my opinion).
• Arvin uses a Yeti mic and way more experience with computers
• In order to work long distance and hear what the other person was doing in Garageband, we used a program called Loopback. I think it was a nightmare, but it did work most of the time. I’m still trying to purge it from my computer.

Technically we don’t have an expert for this episode. You could say that since this is part two of episode two, the same exert will apply. Since we didn’t do an article last time, I’ll try to take some of what Jake taught us and lay it out here. (Disclaimer: We did not learn what Jake taught us).

Verse vs Chorus:

As I understand it (and you may want to look up some real resources for these) a verse is an individual section of a song that conveys one idea. It is not repeated and can be combined with other verses to tell a story. Since there is no right way to structure a song, verses can go anywhere, but typically they are separated by a chorus

A chorus is a repeated refrain which could be an answer to a verse, a simplified repetition of the song’s story or concept, or even just some fun lines easy to sing along to. It can be repeated as many times as you like, used to separate the verses, or back to back.

Most songs have both choruses and verses and they often work in conjunction with each other to tell a story and emphasize the main ideas.

Hook:

A hook is a catchy, often familiar melody, line, or tune as short as a few notes that draws the listener into the song. Hooks are usually used at the start of a song, but can go anywhere. They can be used just once, or multiple times for varied effect.

Digital vs Analogue:

Analogue refers to playing physical instruments, though it could also refer to how something is recorded. A musician or band can play their instruments and have microphones record the sound into a tape machine, or other physical medium. They could also the sound recorded directly into a computer, which would be called, digitally.

Digital refers to skipping the instruments altogether and creating the music on a computer or synthesizer. A midi keyboard is a common way for a musician to control the computer programs and create a song. Midi is the name of the way things like keyboards are connected to computers. Now, with things like audio interfaces, some instruments and microphones can be connected through usb. Some can be connected directly through usb.

Lyrics:

To get really basic. The lyrics are the words. They can be grouped in lines, sentences, or paragraphs. Even a single word can be considered part of the lyrics. They are not essential to a song, but often tell a story. They can be like poetry, rhyming or not, and can be an attempt to describe a feeling or concept.

I’m not sure what else there is to say on this one, other than we are both so relieved it’s over. Writing a song is a thing of passion, hard work, and discipline. Arvin and I both pour those things into other areas, but when it comes to writing a song, we just didn’t have the passion to do the hard work. The challenge was not only a failure, it threw our whole season out of whack and set us back a couple of months. We’ve even had to rethink how we are going to approach the last project of the season (probably a good thing in the end, but still a pain).

We’ve decided to skip a few projects as well. Arvin has an impending time sink on the way that will spell the end to the season. We will keep working on the last project and put out episodes, but, as stated, it will be a little different. When we get that last one finished, we will take a hiatus and regroup for season three in 2019 — a little wiser and a little more humble.

Thanks for listening and for taking the time to check out this bonus article. Hopefully it was informative and interesting. For more articles go to ArvinSingla.com. He writes about his tech exploits, projects, and studies. For blog posts about me and my writing, there are five years worth of weekly posts on BenVanDongen.com. Plus, you can get info about my books.