Hey ya’ll! Hope you are doing well and are staying safe š
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done a post on songwriting here on the blog. I’ve wanted to, but haven’t felt motivated to write about it due to me losing my voice for a bit. It’s been a rough couple of months for me as a musician, and so I wanted to talk about that experience, while also sharing what’s next for me as a songwriter. I have a really cool project I’m starting now that my voice is mostly back to normal. So I figured I would give you an update on the voice, my new project, and my songwriting and recording process. I hope you guys like it!
What Happened This Year
First, a recap of what happened. Over on my Instagram, I have a series titled “Music Mondays” where I post a new cover or an original song every Monday. It’s one of my favorite things about my job, since music is a big part of my life. Things were going well with it too, it got a lot of views and positive response. If you look on my page, you’ll see a huge gap within the time of the last two covers. In May, I recorded a cover of Delicate by Taylor Swift. That wasn’t my first song choice, and it ended up being a long day of recording several different songs, until finally picking one to post. I had spent HOURS singing, with no break and no vocal warm ups. Yeah, it wasn’t a great idea.
The next day, I had no voice. I couldn’t even speak. I knew that it was just because I had overdone it the day before, and it would go away in a couple days. It did not. I ended up learning that I had strained my vocal chords, which combined with acid reflux, led to my voice being damaged for a bit. I could talk fine, but singing was not my friend.
It’s now October 2021, and I’m just getting to where I can post a cover. I’m not a patient person, and so taking the time and letting my voice heal was not easy. Singing is more than something I do as a form of content, it’s a coping mechanism, and just part of who I am. I had to be patient, which was the hardest thing. I understood why, because when I would get overconfident and not do what I needed to do, it would end with me not being able to talk the next day again.
What’s funny about that is, by seeing what happened when I wasn’t patient, I was more patient. I also did my best to cut back on acidic foods, while still being balanced about it and not stressing, as well as doing vocal warm ups to strengthen my voice. I did my best to still play music, but it was hard. The reason I love music so much is because of the lyrics, and so when you can’t sing the lyrics, it can be hard to want to play music. This whole ordeal has drained a bit of my confidence in my vocal ability, because even when I got to where I could sing again, I was still incredibly flat and off key.
It took time, effort, and a lot of patience, not just with my voice, but with myself. But I learned a lot from it. I learned that patience is a good quality to have, and patient people should not be taken for granted. I learned that you can still enjoy something even if you can’t actively participate in that passion. And I learned that when I can’t pursue one creative avenue, lean back on the others I have. I couldn’t sing or do as much music, but I did a heck of a lot of writing and drawing during this time.
And you know what? All of that ending up paying off. My voice is doing much better. I’ve started writing music again, and am able to sing as long as I do my vocal warm ups beforehand. I’m still finding that I have to watch how much I sing, and that my voice isn’t where it used to be yet. I can’t sing in the higher register I used to, and I can’t hold the long sustained notes I once did. It’s a challenge, but I’m hoping that in time it’ll get back there!
So yeah, it’s been incredibly difficult as of late for my singing and songwriting, but I’m back to writing and singing. Which is a HUGE relief. I’m happy that it’s back because I’m also going to be starting a project that me and my amazing co-writer Matt started in early 2020, and have found a way to get back into it.
My Latest Endeavor As A Songwriter
I’ve written a bunch of songs over the years. Some of them are absolute garbage, some are just cringey, and then there are the ones that I’m super proud of. You may have heard a few of them on my Instagram- they’ll say “original song” in the tagline. I’ve always wanted to share these songs with others, because they tell stories. And at the end of the day, that’s what I am, a storyteller.
I actually have some of them recorded, but they aren’t exactly where they need to be yet. Some of them need to have updated vocals, need more production added, or need to be recorded altogether. We had started doing so prepandemic, and now that I’m back to where I can sing again, are starting up that project again. I’m so excited to get some of these songs at better quality, because in order for me to be able to sell a track, I’d like them to have an idea of how the song would sound. It’s always been something I’d love to do, because I don’t want to be in the spotlight as a musician. But I love to write, and if someone decided that they loved one of my tracks enough to record it, I’d love to have it ready for them to remix or do what they please with it.
It’s been interesting going back through my back catalogue of songs. Some of them date back to 2013, and hearing it eight years later, it’s clear that I’ve grown in more ways than one. I think that’s most evident on our original take of Invisible. I was fifteen at the time, and so I wasn’t as confident in myself. I remember not even wanting to record it, because of how insecure I was about my voice. And listening to it now, it’s amazing to see how much I’ve grown. It’s like a little mouse decided to record a song, but was too short to reach the mic. That girl was so shy and quiet, which is weird, because now you can’t get me to shut up.
So I’m excited to rerecord some of these tracks that obviously need a little love. If you want to have a closer look at the process, access to handwritten lyrics, audio and vocal takes, as well as behind the scenes extras, I’ll be sharing that to my patrons over on Patreon. If you’re unfamiliar with Patreon, it’s a platform where you can support your favorite content creators. It works as a monthly subscription, which allows you to receive exclusive content, perks, and interactions with me. I’d love to see you there so we can hang out!
A Little Bit On The Songwriting And Recording Process
Although I’ll be sharing the full scope with my patrons, I thought I’d share what the process entails, how I go about writing music, and a sneak peek of what I’ll be sharing with my patrons.
WRITING A SONG
I did a post on this a while back, but I wanted to give a bit of an updated perspective, because the process has changed a bit since 2017. I still use a lot of those points now as well, however.
So there are one of two things that happen when I start a song: either I get an idea for a specific lyric or story to tell, or I play around with chords and melodies until something clicks. It’s different every time, and each song has a different story of how it came to be. For example, Coffee Cups started as a line from a poem I had written. We had a great chord progression and chorus, but I was struggling with the verses. It took over six months before I finally finished it within an afternoon. Baby came from a session where we were working on a different song, but I wanted to write something more upbeat. Playing the key of G and messing with some melodies ended up leading to the whole chorus being written. And the verses and bridge came rather easily.
Even though there are factors that change each time, there are still some constants within the process for each song. It starts with an idea, which gets fleshed out. I then record that idea, and later share it with my amazing co-writer. The next steps vary depending on how much I have already done. Either I’ll play him the bit I’ve done and we will colab on the next part, I’ll come in with a lyric and he’ll help me flesh out the melodies and brainstorm the direction of the song, or we’ll start on a new project altogether. On occasion, I have written some songs on my own. At first that was extremely difficult, and it still is. Even when I have a song that I’ve written solo, I still like to play it for him so that if he has an idea that might help make it better, he can tell me and we can work on it together. I have a new song that I’ll be sharing for a Music Monday later this month, which I wrote solo, but still added the tips that he suggested. It’s one of my favorites because of the subject matter, which is the main reason it will be premiering later this month…
Anyways, that’s how the songwriting process works for the most part. Let’s talk a bit on recording.
RECORDING A SONG
The recording process tends to be the same almost every time. What differs is what we end up recording. However, it always starts with an audio track.
When I say that, I mean the instrumental behind any of the vocals. Since I play and write most of my songs on guitar, I like to use that as the stepping stone for the rest. That’s actually how I learned to play, and so building around that is a good place to start. Once we get the chords written out, Matt helps determine the tempo- I have yet to figure out how to tell what BPM something is (BPM- Beats per minute). Once we know the tempo, we can add in a drum kit. There are so many fun ways to find different drums to use, my favorite being the beat sequencer on the iPad version of GarageBand. Once we have a beat, then we get to start the actual recording. Which tends to happen in this order:
- Guitar- Rhythm
- Bass
- Additional Guitars- Lead Guitar, Solos, Secondary Rhythm, Picking, Etc.
- Other instrmentation- Piano, Synths, Strings, Etc.
- Main Vocal Track
- Background Vocals- Harmonies, Riffs, High Notes, Sustained Notes, Etc.
Once we get through the main takes of the instruments, we record the vocals. I’m looking forward to this part of the process again, because I haven’t done it in over five months! There are some songs that I can’t sing quite yet, and so it’s going to still be a process. But I’m super excited. I actually have some songs I’m more excited to record than others, and when I go to record them, it will be interesting thinking of how I want to approach it now.
For example, I do have a vocal track recorded on Baby, yet during an open mic night, I decided to change up some of the melodies. I ended up loving the changes, and now I need to edit the take. I also have more experience in life now, so when I’m recording a song like Invisible, I can do so while knowing how far I’ve come. And then there are some songs that will remain in my past. And that’s okay too. But I can’t wait to share the process with you, and hope you enjoy seeing it!
What you can expect to see on Patreon
On my Patreon page, I’m going to be sharing handwritten lyrics sheets, audio tracks, behind the scenes, and more. I wanted to give you guys a taste of what that will look like, so below I have an image of the handwritten lyrics for Coffee Cups, as well as the original audio track for you to download and listen to. There aren’t any vocals yet, but if you’d like to hear the full song you can go view the take I did for a previous Music Monday.
LINK TO COVER
A QUICK NOTE: Please remember to respects the right of the artist, and not take credit for their work or share it without crediting them. Thank you so much for taking a moment to listen and read my content, but please remember that this is my ORIGINAL song, so please give credit where it is due. Thank you for understanding. If you would like to tag either me or my amazing co writer, producer, and guitar teacher Matt, feel free to do so!
So first off, I wanted to share the handwritten lyric sheet with you guys. The song is about a girl who walks into a coffee shop and meets this really cute barista at the register, but gets tongue tied and acts super awkward, and wonders how things would be if she had acted differently. It’s still one of my favorites I’ve written, and it was the first original song to be featured for a Music Monday.
It’s a cool song. And so here is the original audio track that we had started recording. No vocals, but that’s what my patrons will get, the O.G. tracks. So here is the OG audio for Coffee Cups, enjoy!
Thanks so much for reading my post and for taking the time to check out my songs! I can’t wait to share even more with you, especially since the first song we are doing is going to be Baby. Again, all of that will be on my Patreon page! Which if you have any question about it, let me know in the comments or DM me on instagram.
Until next time š
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