songwriting notes from Road Rally 2007

This was my 3rd Rally (a music conference for songwriters/musicians/artists), and altho I had my notebook, I didn't write much down this time. I just kinda soaked it up.

But here are some of my scribbles:

RALPH MURPHY - re county music writing - especially lyrics:
-- humour, irony, detail; the woman is always right;
-- 4 to 7 repetitions of title, first use of title within 60 secs;
-- the singer is never a loser or over 30

FETT - re audio mastering
-- mastering means adding finesse, power, clarity, polish, cleaniness to a mix
-- it is NOT a fixing process

Steps of mastering:
1) - completion of the mix process - you get the stems (stereo sub mixes) as well as the final mix, the final mix is two tracks
2) a - tone shaping - looking for warmth, crispness - balance the tone & ensure frequencies are shared between low, med & high band -- this should be subtle 2) b - leveling - smoothing out the dynamics of the mix
3) - audio repair

If you are mastering an album you want to make the tone of each cut have the same tonal quality -- look for a tonal centre for the album. Also want to have a loudness centre for the album

TED LOWE - re film/tv
-- pitch music with updated sounds & great mixes
-- tempo matters - groove is more important than melody a lot of the time
-- be quirky or distinctive

FILM & TV PITCH PANEL
-- uptempo gets used more; start with meat & potatoes
-- know what you are pitching for - what would the music be used for, where do you hear it
-- if pitching with vocals -- they must be great
-- whatever you're doing, strive to do it better

A&R LISTENING PANEL #1
-- the listener should feel / have a visual interpretation of the music
-- there is a move back to music with heart & soul
-- emotion in lyric & voice -- more natural, less midi
-- makes a difference to have even one or two organic tracks if using virtual instruments
-- songs must have a really big payoff in the chorus

As noted above, one of the panelists at the Road Rally said, "whatever you're doing, strive to do it better". I seldom reach the bar, but when I do, it feels good, man. My vocal coach was the same. Encouraging, supportive, exacting. When he said it was good, I knew it was great.

It reminds me of something I read about high school students going out in the world to get jobs. They may have made it through school with a C+, but C+ doesn't cut it in most jobs. I don't want to be a C+ singer or a C+ songwriter. I want the industry to demand more of me; make me work harder than I've ever worked before; make me become more than I am; make me strive for excellence in all I do. I want to earn my "A+'s" and be proud I rose to the challenge.