Just learnt my lesson

[rightintheface]

so i've been in a wee bit of a rut for the last few weeks. been trying to make a few new songs "work" and "sound better", as my band is writing a record at present. after struggling today to force out some good stuff, i said to myself "screw it! im gonna jump on the computer and see what kinda stuff i was working on a while back". i then trawled through a bunch of old files and have pretty much written three new songs in the last 20 minutes.

so i've just learnt a valuable lesson: ALWAYS RECORD EVERYTHING AND KEEP IT FOREVER!!!!! 99% of the stuff i listened to on the computer was only a few months/weeks old, but i'd already forgotten a few gems of riffs. oh, and they were ALL recorded either directly onto my phone or onto a cheap handheld digi-recorder (not a pro one at all). it has completely lifted me out of my rut, i have been wailing away with guitar and vocals now for the last hour!! just i thought i;d share my elation, and if i ever ever get "big" enough and all that to be asked in an interview "what advice do you have for others out there?", my first answer will be RECORD EVERYTHING!! EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

try and wipe the smile off my face. it ain't leavin.

 

[imminentG]

Yeah, I've always thought about that  :guitaristgif:

 

[Schlieren]

that's funny, ive spent the last five years not touching a guitar and trying to forget everything i ever played

 

[nathan a]

I'm with you rightintheface. I usually record any idea I have, then I let it go. Months, even years later I discover parts that sound great - and I didn't even know I'd written them! Once I'm detached enough to really tell if I've written something I like, THEN it becomes a song.

 

[zogoibi]

that's funny, ive spent the last five years not touching a guitar and trying to forget everything i ever played

Hey great idea! - tabula rasa ; let us know how that works out for you in another five years  :laughing7:  Recording all your "good" ideas is a great idea but after a little while you can become swamped with a deluge of promising snippets which you have to sort through. 

 

[fdesalvo]

Haha that's awesome.  You could always do it like Sting and countless others did it- cause personal tragedy in your own life and ride it home!

 

[rightintheface]

a friend once told me that when he writes a song, if he doesn't remember it the next day then it mustn't be "good enough". i whole-heartedly disagree. thats a good point nathana, you get perspective to see if it actually IS any good other than in your own head at the time. i like every riff i come up with. but leaving it and coming back to it shows if its ACTUALLY good. maybe not in all circumstances, but definitely a lot for me.