Archive for May, 2007

‘This Is My Now’ wins American Idol Songwriting Competition

By Don • May 23rd, 2007 • Category: Songwriting Contests

Seattle songwriters Scott Krippayne and Jeff Peabody earn a publishing deal with 19 Entertainment by beating out 25,000 other submissions in the American Idol Songwriting Contest with the tune, “This Is My Now”.
“This song clearly resonated with the American Idol fans and was the clear winner of the Songwriter competition,” said creator and executive producer […]



How to record a great bass track for your songwriting demos

By Don • May 17th, 2007 • Category: Songwriting Articles, Songwriting Resources

(Editor’s Note: Getting a nice bottom end with bass on your songwriting demos can add impressive dimensions to your music. Read on as guest author, studio owner, and working songwriter Bill Timpano offers his experience in successfully recording bass.)
Recording a great sounding bass track is not hard, nor is it a black science. By following […]



Songwriting Tip: Let the chords paint a picture.

By Don • May 17th, 2007 • Category: Songwriting Resources, Songwriting Tips

I was reading this article from Jeff’s Songwriting Blog on “Taking Your Listeners on a Journey” which reminded me of a recent co-writing session I experienced. In this session, I played a chord progression I discovered and really liked. My co-writer said when he heard it he pictured “a guy leaving the house in the […]



Kelly Clarkson does not want songwriting hand-me-downs

By Don • May 15th, 2007 • Category: Songwriting News

In a recent interview with MTV, Kelly Clarkson went on record with what was behind her choice to go her own way regarding songs on the record label:
“Everybody always wants me to go in different directions. Obviously they’re a record label so they need to sell records.They want the formula writers and the formula producers […]



Your Songwriting Links Here

By Don • May 15th, 2007 • Category: Songwriting Resources

In the interest of promoting the songwriting community, this page is dedicated to songwriters, songwriting sites, and anyone else who would like a free link on Blogging Muses.
The only stipulation is that you please link back to Blogging Muses somewhere on your website.
Send me the link on your page and I will place your link […]



The songwriter in the age of Web 2.0

By Don • May 14th, 2007 • Category: Inspiration

The NY Times Sunday magazine had a great article called Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog.
The article talks about the new work ethic of today’s independent musicians and the way they keep in touch with fans via blogs, MySpace, etc. - even answering emails directly.
The author spends much time speaking with Jonathan Coulton, whom we […]



Songwriting Tip Archive … some highlights

By Don • May 10th, 2007 • Category: Songwriting Tips

Familiar with the Songwriting Tips Group Project? If not head over and check it out. It’s a great way to promote your own work.
Here is an article detailing the project.
Here is the complete list of songwriting tips so far.
Here is the form to submit your own songwriting tip.
Listed below are some of the tips submitted […]



American Idol Songwriting Competition - The Top 20 Songs Reviewed

By Don • May 9th, 2007 • Category: Songwriting Contests

Joe Taylor over at SpinMe.com has been giving the competition way more attention than I have and has some great insights. (Judging by his post titles, I imagine he also found out how much traffic he can get from Google with that search phrase in his title.)
I listened through each of the songs and must […]



A Feist Reminder, Morrissey, guitar care, and other songwriting news

By Don • May 8th, 2007 • Category: Songwriting News

Home & Project Studio Digital Magazine Now Online. “…a new magazine for songwriters, performers, and producers who create music in their own home or project studios.” Visit the site
Take care of your axe! Electric Guitar Review has a great article titled “10 Guitar Maintenance Steps You Should Always Follow, But Probably Don’t”.
Political prescription. Chicago Sun-Times […]



Songwriters: Top 5 Ways to Cure Writer’s Block

By Don • May 8th, 2007 • Category: Songwriting Advice, Songwriting Articles, Songwriting Tips

Writer’s block is the nemesis of songwriters - and even non songwriters. There are tons of suggestions and songwriting tips out there for what might work, and various suggestions on overcoming. These are the top 5 that consistently work for me.

Mash random words togetherMany songwriters say that once they have a good song title the […]