Limit yourself during songwriting

By andy On October 10, 2012 · 13 Comments

One of the hard parts about being a solo artist is all the different roles you have to fill. Instead of just being the guitar player or vocalist, you’re covering all the instruments, engineering, producing and promoting the whole thing. It can get overwhelming pretty fast. I find that when it comes to songwriting, I have to put limits on myself in order to keep from getting overwhelmed with the endless possibilities of a song. Here are a few examples of things I do limit myself.

Pretend you’ve got a certain number of clones to form a band. Each one of you gets to play a certain instrument. Decide before you dive into the song how many players or instruments will be in the song. This will keep you from cluttering up the song with too many instruments or parts.
Limit the number of tracks you allow yourself to use in your DAW. Again, this forces you to think more carefully about the parts that you do add.
Take away everything but your main instrument. Focus on writing a song entirely on that instrument that stays interesting. This will keep you from depending on gimmicks or mixing/editing tricks to keep the song interesting. You’ll have to focus on the basics (chord progression, melody, etc). Once that’s done you can go back and add more of the fun stuff.
Make an instrument you’re not familiar with the centerpiece of a song. Sometimes being forced to figure out something new will break you out of ruts and surprise you with something interesting.
Limit your time. Say you’re going to have a song done by the end of the day, or tell a friend that you’ll have a new song to show them by the end of the week.

These are all things that have worked great for me in the past.

Question: what are some limits you’ve put on yourself that kept you from getting overwhelmed with a song?

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Alex

I think the biggest limit I have used, is writing a song without any effects at all. Just a guitar, and a tiny tiny amount of reverb to spruce it up a little.
- http://twitter.com/niclake Nic Lake
  
  Agreed; I was going to mention limiting effects, toys/gadgets, or other things that many musicians now use as a crutch. This lets your playing shine through.
- http://www.andyothling.com/ Andy Othling
  
  Yes! I’ve done this many times. Us guitar players need to keep our effects in check!
- http://www.andyothling.com/ Andy Othling
  
  Yes! I’ve done this many times. Us guitar players need to keep our effects in check!
http://stanmanx.com Matt Smyczynski

One year, I made a big deal about having something new up every week. I didn’t stick to it too well, but I was really proud of what I came up with, and a few of my friends would give me grief when I missed a deadline.

An extension of pretending I only have a certain number of clones is to remind myself that I hate being bored while playing songs. Would I enjoy playing a single 4-measure riff in a 6-minute piece? Or, how about this part that I decided to copy/paste through the whole thing — is it an interesting thing to play, or would it get boring after 4 repetitions? Always remember to treat your clones with respect!
- http://www.andyothling.com/ Andy Othling
  
  Haha yes, I love this!
WRTallman

Very good advice here Andy. I’ve played and recorded drums for a band I played with for about eight years. Played clarinet in high school band and been learning guitar for the past six years. I am currently recording older songs for my parents on a Boss BR-600. The urgency is to get them done before they pass away. Is going well BUT it “limits” me to how “perfect” they need to be so they can all sing along with their familiar tunes.
http://www.facebook.com/foodfornick Nick Robinson

Write the song on an acoustic/classical guitar. My favorite tracks I’ve made, albiet completely electronic, started out with a simple guitar. Down to the core idea…also pertains to those with piano skills (would be nice). Additionally, I think its good to NOT limit yourself on time. Its sometimes useful to let a song sit for a while, and come back to it with a fresh mindset. But I totally understand the point made in #5. Deadlines are realistic.
http://www.facebook.com/george.fierro.75 George Fierro

Hey Andy,

You mentioned you get your music licensed by using the Music Bed website. I’m very interested in getting my music available for licensing, but it seems registering for the website is only for people SEARCHING for music to license. How do you get on the other end?
- Joe Meland
  
  I also have this question.. I’ve been looking around and can’t seem to find a way to upload my music.
That1GuitrGuy

In my band, one of the four of us will come to practice with a chord progression or melody (or both) and we’ll all work around it. Sometimes, we’ll even make the additional parts more central (for a recent song, the chord progression we started with is a backing track, and the song is riff-centered). I tend to think the same way about effects: lay down a dry guitar part first, then listen back and say “that could use some more echo” or “try that with a phaser”.
http://www.facebook.com/phintze Phillip Hintze

I studied composition as a music major in school, and my assignments were almost never without restrictions. One of my assignments was to write a duet for flute and clarinet in 7/8 (2+2+3) using only m2/M7 melodic and harmonic intervals. After several of those assignments, we were given more freedom. After some time, I started imposing my own limitations on writing projects. Writing without any kind of limitations can be extremely intimidating.
Glenn Thompson

Great advice,,,limiting oneself. Whether it be the number of tracks or players(love the idea of clones). Also when writing, sometimes the hardest thing to do is sit and stare at a blank sheet of manuscript. Like a blank canvas it can be overwhelming with possibilities of colour, form etc. Putting parameters on your song form or ideas can get the ball rolling in the right direction. For example, stick with a predetermined key center, number of bars, or a simple groove. The point is to get started, get the ball rolling. Nothing’s written (or recorded) in stone, you can always try a change to see what you prefer…. but even limit these decisions, you don’t want to be second guessing yourself all the time. I often ask for someones opinion i trust, and who knows my musical self enough to have constructive criticism if any.