Where do you get ideas?

For me, the hard part isn't having ideas for songs, but keeping track of them long enough to scribble them down and coming back to them later. In my musical career, as in my academic one, homework is my downfall. But that's what's needed, generally, spending the time and the attention to grow those ideas into leafy green songs.

There are many ways to write, of course, and I think every songwriter I know does it differently. My process has changed a lot over the years, and I think it will continue to.

I'll start, though, with the most useful tool I know of for a writer...

Warming Up: Free Writes

In her excellent book "The Artist's Way," Julia Cameron notes that runners warm up every day. No serious runner goes out for a run and blows off the warm up because they warmed up yesterday. Writing, she argues, is no different.

Julia recommends that every writer fill three blank pages in a notebook every morning. This is not WRITING, with all the baggage that comes with it. It's just a warm up. The writing need not be compelling, well-reasoned or insightful. It doesn't even have to be in complete sentences. In fact, Julia specifically forbids us to read any of our "morning pages," as she calls them, for the first few weeks that we're writing them. There isn't supposed to be anything of value in there. The only rule with morning pages is that you can't let the pen stop moving. Even if you're just writing that you don't have anything to write and this is stupid and maybe you'd rather be a veterinarian after all, you keep writing. It's just practice.

Cameron goes on to talk about the word 'practice' as relates to writing. It's a practice in terms of a vocation, like a doctor's practice. It's a practice in terms of a spiritual discipline, like one practices meditation. And it's a practice like scales on the piano; something we do now when it doesn't count in order to be able to do it better later when it does.

Part of the idea with morning pages is to roto-rooter the conduit between your head, heart and hand. Just to clear the loading dock, as David Wilcox says, so that the valuable shipment can come in later. Another bit of it is to get used to writing without editing yourself. It could be argued that the worse your morning pages read, when you finally do go back to read them (but don't do it yet!), the better you were following the directions. Not editing is one of the big goals here, and that's darned hard for us to do in our over-achiever society. You're not supposed to be anything less than perfect. Well now you are. If you're writing perfectly, you're doing it wrong. ;-)

Though I have gone through significant stretches in my life when I wrote morning pages daily, I've fallen off the wagon lately. When I sit down for a writing session, though, it's the first thing I do, whether I'm writing with someone else or alone. It's a warm up, and it's essential.

So give it a shot. The laundry can wait. Fill up three pages and try not to let the pen stop moving. One caution, though: Don't be disappointed if you're not swimming in song ideas at the end of this. I think you will find that for the rest of the day you'll be over in the creative side of your head, and that was part of the point. Remember this is practice, like piano. One piano lesson doesn't end in a Chopin piece. Keep at it, and see if the seeds grow.

So how do I write better?

All right, I admit it. I don't hear this question much. Most folks have poured their hearts into their writing and are confident that what their words mean to them will communicate clearly to others. Most people are more concerned with how they can get "the right people" to hear the art they've already created, so as to become rich, famous, etc. and humbly accept all the praise the world insists on lavishing...

I think "how do I write better?" is a better question.

It's certainly one I'm always struggling with, and I think that it needs to be our primary concern as writers. That's not to say that I don't get all tangled up in business stuff and fail to make time to stretch as an artist. I do. I stand by the statement, though, that the latter is a better question. Of course you have to give attention to the business side of the page if you're trying to get your art out there, but if you're neglecting the art, then... well...

So here's the cardinal rule of writing. Not the last word or the only word, but the first one. Or rather, three. "Show, don't tell." When I'm working on a song, I'll often write the five senses up in the corner in the margin of the page. You know, hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, smelling. This isn't because I don't remember what they are. It's a reminder that ideas and emotions are generally best conveyed through strong imagery. Here's what I mean:

If you tell somebody about an experience you've had, they listen to you talk about your experience. If, however, you can paint the picture for them vividly, then it becomes their experience. It's as though they lived it. When people feel a sense of ownership of your song, you've done something. My favorite art is more evocative than instructive. That is, it draws thoughts, memories and emotions out of people more than it puts them in. I think one of the greatest challenges a writer faces is learning how to leave room for listener's own lives in one's writing. I believe that the final purpose of art is to connect people, to show us that we are not alone. Telling your own story powerfully and vividly can communicate your emotion clearly, and that may touch on other people's emotion.

It's ironic and fascinating that though every person on the planet has their own unique set of experiences, almost everyone on the planet has the exact same set of emotions. So writing well and honestly about your own grief, joy, embarassment, etc. can touch on others' grief, joy, etc.

If you've ever heard a sad song about lost love that brought tears to your eyes, I would argue that you weren't crying in sympathy for the songwriter's pain. You were feeling your own losses, and that person's grief touched your own. That's good art.

Sometimes when I'm stuck in a free-write, I'll just glance around the room at whatever is here and try to capture an object as vividly as I can with words. This might be a good place for metaphor or simile. "My dining room windowshades, pale cloth the color of banana pudding, translucent like broken eggshells, hold back the light imperfectly. They might do better, but they spend some energy jealously guarding the scent of grandad's cigars and last night's Chinese food. They are scent librarians, holding my history." I'm winging it here, but already it's going somewhere because I got down to the tangible. What color are they? I could say tan, but what would that communicate? Make it vivid. What do they smell like? I could go on through the five senses, but you get the idea (I might skip taste here, but not without considering the question - could be interestesting).

So there's your first little assignment. Pick something in the room you're sitting in and describe it thoroughly as vividly as you can with all five of the senses. If you find some ideas emerging (like my librarian above), go with it. I'm always in favor of departing from the assignment if something more compelling is coming up. Just not if you're avoiding difficulty. The Muse loves to be followed, but she doesn't love to be pushed.

Good luck, and keep in touch.

 

 

 

 

Should I quit my day job?

The word "vocation" literally means "calling." In order to play music as your job, I think you have to feel some sense that this is what you are supposed to do with your life. Otherwise it makes no sense. Long hours and hard work and lots of time away from family and friends balances against... well, very little money. In the early days, at least, you can count on smoky venues and people sitting at the other ends of bars watching baseball games on TV with their backs to you while you play the music you dug out of your own soul with your fingernails. When they cheer it's likely to be in the middle of your song, not the end, and the applause is going to be inspired by the third baseman catching the foul pop-up on the fence. And the clincher is that, unlike school, there's no guarantee that after a certain number of years it will be over. It might always be that way.

On the other hand, if you stick with it long enough and work hard and things go well, you may get to see a lot of interesting people and visit some amazing places as part of your work. And if you're really lucky, you might get to touch some people's hearts. It's incredibly rewarding to get a note from someone telling you that your song intersected their lives at a point when they needed it. And some of us have been able to support ourselves on our music, which is also a privilege, though not without its sacrifices.

The first point I want to make on the day job question is that there's no superiority implied by not having one. Some of the best songwriters I've ever met work construction, wait tables and wash dishes. There's no shame in a steady paycheck. One guy I knew a few years back had a scissors sharpening business. He would contract with local hairdressers in towns where he was playing, sharpen scissors with fancy laser sharpeners in the daytime and perform in the evenings. He's a great writer, and smart to boot. The rumor, at least, is that Mary Chapin Carpenter didn't quit her secretarial work in DC until after her first grammy.

The most foolish thing that someone can do if they're trying to get a music career going is to quit their day job too soon. The time to quit is when you've got no time to do it, and there's enough money coming in from your performances to support yourself.

Step one in a music career is to devote yourself to it, and step two, which grows out of step one, is to minimize your expenses so you can afford to put as much of your resources toward your work (music) as possible. Your primary resources, of course, are time and money, and you'll need a fair amount of both to get things up and going.

So construct an inexpensive life for yourself. Find a cheap place to live, eat cheaply and keep other expenses as low as possible. If you've got a bunch of debt, work two jobs and pay it off before proceeding to step two. (wow, this isn't sounding like much fun, huh? There's fun stuff, too, I promise, but this really is how it works best...).

If all that doesn't sound like the way you want to go, then consider keeping your day job. If music is a priority for you, then get a job that will be conducive to your music habit. The last side job I had was working on one of those inventory crews you see in department stores with the oversized calculators strapped to their waists. The good thing about that job was that every time they had a big store to do, the crew chief would call people to see who could do it. If I had a gig, I bowed out, if not I went and counted things so I could buy some more postcards to send out to let people know about my upcoming shows. Eventually, I had lots of gigs and was paying my bills with them, so I quit the job all together.

The simple rule, though, is to consider your music your primary job, and work at another one in order to support it until the music is eating all of your time and paying you enough to let your 'second' job go. If you quit your day job so you have time to work on music, you're likely to be short on the money you'll need to get your career started (you'll need to make demos, print press kits, shoot and duplicate photos, send out postcards, etc., but that comes later).

Good luck, and stay tuned...

What gear do you use?

I get this question from time to time, and it finally occured to me that I should put the answer here where people can go look at it later instead of scribbling on a napkin after a gig.

First, the pedal box (the little box that sits by my feet on stage).

- Boss TU-2 tuner: I like this tuner because it's easy to see from the floor in any light, and it has a power *output* on the back next to the power input, so you can power your other pedals all on one plug.

- Arion chorus: To my ear, most chorus pedals are interchangeable. It's about dialing in the tone and depth that you like. With the exception of the big honkin' delay effect on Shadows, I like for effects to be pretty subtle, but I use the chorus on fingerpicked songs to sweeten the sound a bit.

- Boss DD-5 Delay: I use this pedal differently from its common use. The only time in an evening that I kick it on is during my instrumental piece Shadows. I crank the delay time up, and turn the wet signal/dry signal ratio up to about even, dial in the fade time, and use it to establish a short fading loop so I can play against the bars that I just played. Put otherwise, it's sort of like singing in a round, except I'm playing the guitar, and I'm the only one playing.

For my amplification gear, I use this stuff:

- Mackie 1202 mixer: I love Mackie gear. It's clean and rugged and not overpriced, not to mention they write the most entertaining manuals in history. I don't know any other manual I actually sit down to read when I buy something.

- Stewart 1000 amp. This is not a cheap piece of gear (about a buck per watt), but if you do much traveling and need to transport your gear, it's a good investment in the prevention of later chiropractic work. This is a 1000 watt amp that fits in one rack space and weighs 11 pounds. It can run bridged (mono) or stereo (350 per side). It's clean, reliable, draws very little power, and LIGHT. I consider it the best piece of gear I own.

- Alesis Midiverb. I use this one for a little vocal reverb if I use it at all. It's got tons of potential that I don't tap, but does the very little that I ask of it nicely.

- Alesis 32-band EQ. I run the whole stereo signal through this (as opposed to just the guitar or vox). It's nice to be able to contour the sound to the room or get right to the frequency that's problematic if I'm having a feedback issue. The amp, EQ and Midiverb fit into a soft-sided three-space rack bag.

- EV performance 200 speakers. Electro-voice makes steady gear generally, and I love these little speakers. They're compact, but heavier than they look. That's because they've got big magnets driving the speakers, and that's part of why they sound so good, small as they are. It's always a toss-up between size and sound quality, and this is the best spot on that continuum that I've found yet.

- EV 757 microphone. I like this mic and find that it has a little more 'air' in a place that works well for my voice. Mics are like that; different ones work well for different voices. A good solid fallback is always the Shure SM 58. These are the industry standard, and cost about $100. The added bonus of a 58 is that if you need to drive a nail and can't find your hammer, you can use the 58, and it will sound fine afterwards. OK, maybe that's not a good idea, but you get the idea - they're tough.

I should mention that I've owned several sound systems over the years. I've had this one in the current configuration for a few years, and I'm happy with it, but before that I owned various kinds of gear. It's not necessary to start out with a component rack system. A good powered mixer bypasses most of the gear above (mixer, amp, EQ, effects), and does each of those things, though maybe not with quite the precision that all the stuff I've accumulated does. I've owned powered mixers by Yamaha, EV and Peavey. I recommend the first two. Peavey is generally rugged and inexpensive, but sounds... well, rugged and inexpensive. My least favorite sound system on the market these days, for what it's worth, is the Fender Passport system.

And that's the road gear. Best of luck with your own sound adventures. Don't skimp, though. If people can't hear you, or you sound like you're playing through a telephone, all the emotion and skill you pour into your art won't matter.