tips...30.
the SONG and SONG PICTURE and HOOKS are king.
(and some other aspects like money n fame etc.)
ive tried to cover a lot of basics with ptw in a short time via an example session.
(and there is lots more intricate ptw details to explain.)
but would like to digress a bit, and give you further ideas.
i covered in earlier posts the importance of haveing a good song with hooks
and a good sound picture.
lets talk about some added tools that might help you.
firstly u can get a chart showing the frequency ranges of different instruments ,
and post it on your studio wall.
this might help u a bit in the mixing process. and building sound picture.
if u have some instrument or sound not covered by the chart..ie...
something unusual, you could alwats record it to a trak
in ptw, then invoke ptw's RTA (real time analyser.via fx button in the ptw mixer.),
and look at a frequency plot of the sound or unusual instrument.
and mebe build over time an addendum to the frequency chart
to remind yourself.
another usefull tool, and something to help with writing lyrics would be a rhyming dictionary.
for people new to songwriting, its a good idea to get a huge 3 ring binder ,
and fill it full of paper, and just start writing song ideas down and snippets of lyrics.
as well as your thoughts on whats going on in the world around you.
thinking of a good title also is important.
over time as u write down lots of different lyric ideas youll find
u might be able to merge different ones into a song.
conversely , mebe a beat or a song idea will pop into your head.
when this happens to me....sometimes at 3am....lol...
i rush to the pc and get the germ of the idea down.
even in its roughest form...then i refine it later on.
if u have a lot of trouble thinking up lyrics,
and eg..youve done a couple
of music traks to quikly get the musical idea down....
dont laugh , but now..lol...do a vocal trak even if its just mumbling.
then play the mumbles back and often words might start forming in your mind.
this has happened to me on many occasions.
sometimes playback will create certain emotions in you
psychlogically .which in turn ..could lead to words asnd lyrics.
maybe also at the same time with just a music idea with no lyrics yet formed..
open up your big 3 ring binder with all the words n ideas you saved over time,
and then try fitting some of the words to the music.
this might get u started.
dont EVER give in to writers block.
cos if u tell yourself you cant do it....it becomes a psychological
burden.
instead just keep on writing and writing anything that comes into your head
in your lyric 3 ring binder. at any time of the day.
now another aspect is the TEMPO of your song.
say your working in midi traks trying ideas for example,
and a tempo isnt working. try another tempo.
heres a trik i do in writing songs.
i vary the tempo until i get a "feel" it is correct for the song
in conjunction with the music and style of the song, as well as the vocals and lyrics.
mebe the tempo is too fast for the lyrics or the tempo is too slow
for the particular song. in summary i use ptw to experiment a lot with the tempo
of the song before going into full blown recording of a song.
youll KNOW when a tempo is correct. it just "feels right".
is the only way i can explain it.

now to those memorable song HOOKS.
in summary dam tough.
let me give you some clues to help.
someone i respect said to me in the past , if u want to write
a big selling song...it should have at least a minimum of 3 or preferably 4 hooks.
as i said before...a song hook is something that a listener cant put out of their mind.
how do u go about creating hooks ?? ie..saveing that really grabs people ??
not easy. some hooks just come about by jamming.
for example a guitarist jamming over a rhythm section,
or mebe trying a different instrument completely.
OR...mebe the rhythm section is itself a hook.
a good example of a rhythm hook , would be for example..
george bensons loverly rendition of "On broadway".
everybody knows when that rhythm starts that its the broadway song.
another example of a rhythm hook intro might be the sharona hit by the knack for example.
some might disagree, but if u analyse sharona.
(if i remember it starts on G.) there is rather a lot of interesting stuff going on in it.
for example the main lead break hook.
this was a big selling record all over the world.
notice in the lead break...in my opinion anyway...
how well the notes are presented. and the sound picture ??
not a zillion notes a second , but cleverly starting rather slow.
when anyone hears that song, and that lead break its unmistakeable.
ie..hooks. some might disagree..but i feel a lot of clever
thinking went into that song.
another example of unmistakeable hooks might be the pounding rhythm
that starts off lyndleys version of crazy bout my mercury.
conversely in an older realm , how about the soaring intro
to gershwins rhapsody in blue. a signature intro hook imho.
do you notice a commonality between these songs ??
no i'm not nuts...there IS as commonality...what is it ??
answer .imho ..is that each song immediately through clever
techniques captures the listeners interest right off the bat.
well it does mine anyway. lol.
in summary each of the songs ive mentioned has a memorable start to the song.
(mebe u disagree cos your musical taste is different to mine...dunno.
i'm just trying to use examples.)
anyway i think ive belabored the hooks point enough for someone starting off new
in songwriting to get the gist of what i'm talking about.

IN SUMMARY..the CHALLENGE....and i often fail miserably as do many...
is how to create , record and mix and put out a song that not only
grabs the listener right off the bat but maintains the listeners interst right
through the song. that is if your interested in writing commercial songs.
not everyone is. i just write for fun.
and occasionally at various times in the past sold cassettes of my songs direct to the public.
which helped me buy more gear....lol.

but be carefull of fame.
ive not met many...just a few big names includeing one recently.
(no i cant say who..youll have to trust i tell the truth as i respect
peoples privacy.)...and it does seem to have some downsides from what ive been told.
particularly the fact of trying to lead a normal life.
just something to consider.
me..i decided years ago.i just wanted a peacefull quite life creating crazy songs...lol.

as i said..all the tools are in ptw to do a huge song.
its just a question of how the tools are used.

all i can say is paying attention to lots of little details all
the way through can make a big difference.
one option if u have a great song.....and u feel u cant bring it to its full
potential via your own skills is to export all the tracks
from ptw as wave audio . plus mebe a rough mix.
and take both to a large facility and use top session players to reinforce/add tracks
as well as top engineering talent for final mixing etc..
but this can get costly of course.
but sometimes u can strike a less costly deal with an up and coming studio mebe.
or try and find session plasyers that might help you.
for example...lets say you found some top session players to help you.
how i would possibly approach this is .for example.
an option.
you could start a brand new session of ptw.
import your ruff song mix as a stereo trak.eg tr 1.
then record the players over the top ....and following roughly the
CEFE approach i outlined..or your own modified approach.
and once u had them recorded mute your ruff mix.

(more ptw specific stuff/detailed feature useage to come.
where i get into lots of detailed ptw features haveing now covered basics.)

retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE !
"what is the black art of audio engineering ?"
my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning
see my tips in the tips section.