Reverse Dictionary:
I have recently covered great online applications like rhyming dictionaries and thesaurus.com. But Jeff Caylor contacted me about this great OneLook Reverse Dictionary.
According to the site:
OneLook lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be a few words, a sentence, a […]
Not long ago I posted a review of the two main songwriting magazines. In that article I mentioned that I liked the look-and-feel of Performing Songwriter Magazine over American Songwriting Magazine. While I don’t know much print-speak I knew I just liked how it felt, and the squared binding.
It would appear I was not the […]
I wrote an earlier article Can great songs be written with only two chords, and I promised I would provide a summary of song examples suggested by BloggingMuses readers.
A big thank you to everyone who contributed songs to the list. There were many I never even realized before. Quite eye-opening.
I am a little late […]
Here are some responses by musicians about computers being used in the songwriting process.
“I think it’s methodically killing great songwriting and singing.”
“I do not write songs with software. I write songs (always have and continue to) with my guitar, a pad of paper and a pen.”
However, I tend to agree with Gina Fant Saez that […]
Many songwriters say that once they have a good song title the “song practically writes itself”. If you are one of these people, then this tip is for you. If you are not one of these people, perhaps this exercise will help spur on creativity.
This songwriting exercise is built off of an older, existing songwriting […]
Lots of songwriting contest news today. One about an upcoming contest in which “no one loses”, to the winners of another:
Songdoor 2006 International Songwriting Competition:
Nashville, TN, June 17, 2006 — The SongDoor 2006 International Songwriting Competition, in association with SongU.com, Jay’s Place, The Nashville Muse, Vision Productions, RealTime Productions, Musical Wonderland, Bella Vista Products, CoolSpringsRestaurants.com […]
Every Monday I will post some of my favorite live singer-songwriter MP3’s from around the web.
Glenn Philips (w/ Willy Porter) -Walk On The Ocean (flac)
5/10/2006 Live @ World Cafe
Convert FLAC files to MP3. Or listen to FLAC files with Winamp.
Michael Tolcher -Sooner or Later (mp3)
3/18/2005 Roseland Ballroom NYC
Martin Sexton -Faith On The Table (mp3)
Calvin Theatre […]
Songwriter Steven Bowers on growing as a songwriter:
“Eventually you have to get into that [storytelling] mode of writing. You can’t keep writing about what’s going on in your own head, internalizing everything, so that’s what I’ve started doing with this record.”
His take on co-writing:
“You just get a little bit of colour from somebody else. Everyone […]
Gina is the author of the remarkable book, Pro Tools for Musicians and Songwriters. In this article on O’Reilly.com, she provides some great insights into using the computer as a songwriting tool:
“Contrary to the tedious debate that computers make music sterile and stiff, the computer is simply a tape recorder. It’s not going to perfect […]
LargeHeartedBoy picked up on this interview with one of my favorite lyricists, Mike Skinner of The Streets. This comment on the songwriting process really resonated with me:
Outside of making music, he has a concentration span of about three seconds; but he can sit down, worrying at a lyric, for hours on end. “It’s very important […]
