I know of people who say that they set aside a block of time every day to sit in their version of a studio and write songs. I know others who say "songs come to me any time". Do you have any specific time that you seem to prefer to write?
For me is seems to be early morning. Quite often this little PITA dog will wake me at anywhere from 4 to 6am to go outside, with NO regard that I went to sleep at 1 or so, and when her morning constitutional is done I go back to bed. Note I did not say back to sleep. I typically lay awake for an hour or two before I drift back off. IF I drift back off.
It seems like during that time though, I have a period of clarity where musical ideas, and especially lyrics, tend to come to me. It may be something subconscious from a dream I had overnight, or something conscious that I am aware of, or even something "superconscious" that I have been actively fighting with, trying to get it to coalesce. It's just something about those early morning hours that I seem to be extremely prolific.
Do YOU have a time when you write best?
PS When that PITA dog is NOT here to wake me anymore, I will miss it so much....
I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.
1. How much did you make in 2023? 2. Send it to us.
Eddie, what a beautiful and obviously loved little dog! So cute!!!
I don't have a certain time. The goal is to make the time I do work on it more productive because I'm spending a lot more time with my husband. I love making music and look forward to making lots more but it's number three on the priority list. It used to take me about two weeks to finish a song from write to mixed and that's when I was working on it most evenings and weekends. I also used to write every morning when I was the first one up and all was quiet. I might try that again with some timed writing. I'm seldom "in the zone" that way to finish or write a whole new song but the timed writing is still enjoyable and good practice.
I don't have any time of the day I'd say I'm more creative, but for me songwriting and production is a lone task. I am not a social writer, and need to be alone and in my own space. I guess my cat can accompany me Winston isn't too distracting. Just not other humans allowed.
Last edited by Deryk - PG Music; 05/09/1808:35 AM.
Everybody should have a Winston in their lives. With a companion and fan like him, I'm pretty sure that everyone would be musically creative all the time, regardless of the time of day.
My Dad used to make up songs and sing them just about every waking hour, mostly to keep us kids entertained. The lyrics were usually goofy but if the song had a good tune he would often work the lyrics to be more serious. I inherited that from him in that I’m always making up songs in my head no matter what I’m doing and singing them out loud if no one is around to make judgements about my sanity. My wife probably initially thought I was crazy but she has always been entertained by it. I remember one night we were out jogging and she was talking about how down in the dumps she was because of some things a coworker said to her so I started making up a song about the coworker and had her laughing. I’ve always been able to turn what I’m feeling or what someone else is feeling into a song. Most of my songs are too personal to be of strong interest to people outside my inner circle.
Since I’ve been retired, time is absolutely irrelevant. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I don’t fret about going back to sleep, I just get up and go to the studio, or the sun porch, or the gazebo and do my thing until I feel like going back to sleep. The studio is pretty soundproof so I can bang away without disturbing my wife or my mother-in-Law. I tend to get tunes into my head at very inopportune times, but if I can, I grab my iPhone and hum the tune into the recorder.
My muse is not the 4 legged variety, but a curvy, intellectual, brilliant red head that I married 34 years ago. There is no question that my life would be very different without her. She has provided all the creative fuel in my endeavors in music, science, and human service. Recently, when I found myself somewhat depressed over a comment someone made about me she said, “Keith, You are my best friend, and I am yours. You are all that I need and I’m all that you need”. She has always been able to transport me to where my best feelings live.
FWIW, waking up next to a beautiful, curvaceous, redhead does not generally make the early morning hours conducive to songwriting.
This almost always happens to me in 6 predictable stages.
1.) The basic idea. Whenever I am out walking around outdoors. I dictate into the phone. Or sing or hum.
2.) The coolest stuff. Right after I fall asleep and am in the Twilight Zone. That's when the really cool words and melodies come after the basic idea has had time to percolate. They wake me up. I have a tape recorder by the bed and a pad. It drives my wife crazy. I usually get up and creep into another other room and mumble into the tape recorder. Then I go back to bed.
3.) The hard work. This is in the early morning. Find that tape recorder. What was I doing!!??!! Never mind. Just ask audio chord wizard. Oh yeah....so that's what I was doing!
4.) Lay out the chord sheet.
5.) Easy part. Play and sing.
6.) Really hard part. Mix. I usually do this at night before I am too tired, but still pumped up from the rest of the day.
It always happens almost exactly that way every single time.
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
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Winston isn't too distracting. Just not other humans allowed.
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