#1 Thing To Do After Your Song Is Written
January 16, 2020
Happy New Year! What a year 2019 has been at Sync Songwriter. We had community members get their music into:
ABC
NBC
Fox
Hulu
Netflix
FX
and the list goes on…
Here is to an even greater 2020!!
In this video, I wanted to tell you about the very first thing you should do when you finish writing your songs. Two SIMPLE things that will make them even better… sometimes much better.
In my 20 plus years as an award-winning music producer, I have used these 2 basic tricks in the studio every time. They have turned otherwise dull songs into radio hits.
Sometimes the basic things have a big impact!
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Hey! Give us a shout about anything really.
contact Sync Songwriter
Our goal is for you to start getting your music into TV & film.
Great food for thought, thanks. Curious to see more of what you have in your arsenal!
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Awesome advice. Great to see you in the warmth and sunshine, it has been a while. You know what it’s like up here.
Regards,
H
I try to "work" on the beach when I can. Hard to beat having an office there. 🙂
Never ever done that before Chris…I have taken a fast song and made a slow version deliberately (after the original was done). Now rethinking the initial approach to tempos and keys;-) Well worth experimenting more!
Absolutely. It can change everything about your production.
The Guru has spoken… from a white sandy beach. Dang. Thanks and Happy 2020!
Haha a little too cold on top of a mountain for this "guru". 🙂
Love this! Simple tips that are easy to remember and apply … and so very thoughtfully delivered! Thank you for sharing. Happy New Year to you, too, and congratulations to all your students for their wins in 2019. Very inspiring.
Great to hear Manisha!
Thank you for generously sharing your knowledge, it says a lot about you. Be blessed, Stella
You are very welcome Stella.
Great stuff – Adam adamgilchrest.com
I really want to make a good living getting my music placed in TV. And I am working hard and doing the best I can
If you are in our class The Art Of The Song Pitch then you are more than on your way to that!
Great to hear Adam! Glad you got something valuable from that.
Thanks so much for your input. It is very much appreciated.
No worries!
Thanks for the tips, Chris – Beach looks nice…. get out there on a boat… I’m busy writing so I can’t make it with ya – but thanks for the thought…ha!
Thanks Mark! Best of luck with the writing.
Solid tip!! I’ll be using it.
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Hi Chris. Thanks for that. A few days ago I recorded 2 songs that (at the time) felt awesome and powerful. Yesterday I fired up my studio and listened to them and they were just wimpy… they actually sounded slower. Could they sound faster in a different key even though their in the same tempo? – Cheers, Travis
Yes, they can sometimes. A higher key sometimes makes songs sound lighter and faster and lower keys can make them sound heavier and more serious. Glad you are thinking about this.
I was just doing this this morning, good to know i’m doing the right thing already. It’s amazing the difference.
Great production trick and so simple too!
I love this because it’s a good musicianship exercise to change keys manually and be able to transpose the same song on your instrument in different keys (and tempos) on the fly. Thanks Chris! 🙂
Great to hear Kristin!
I will have to try it. Thanks Chris.
Paul ( Franman)
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Thanks a lot. If I’m not mistaken, I believe I’ve watched this on your YouTube channel before I joined the course. Either way, great info.
Yes, I released it a few weeks ago, but thought it was perfect for the recent new folks in the Sync Songwriter community.
I know this is a little off topic. But as a guitar player I have seen that when I change the capo to different positions up and down the neck, but play in the same key (Using different chords) the sweetness or richness for example of the chords changes the way I phrase the words and the notes I spontaneously sing as well as the tempo. As a guitar player I have seen that when I change the capo to different positions up and down the neck I can take say a basic 1 4 5 and it’s feels fresh. This can often take a song from kind of ho-hum, predictable sound to Energized and appealing. And course that ultimately informs the final recording of the tune.😌
Laura
I would say, bang on topic, Laura. 🙂 A lot of musicians don’t play with re-keying or re-harmonizing songs and it can have a huge impact as you already discovered.
Great advice! Looking forward to playing around with both of these things. 🙌
Great to hear, Yanay!
great tips cant wait to try them. cheers
Awesome!
I’ve found these very helpful even in the studios!!!
I’ve actually specifically used these techniques for studio productions.
Awesome! Thanks for advice.
You are very welcome Bruce!
I’ve actually been playing around with this recently, but for a different reason. I’m a baritone but write with a tenor in mind, only because most popular music if sung by a man, it’s usually a tenor. The problem is, my voice gets very thin in those registers so I’m seeing if my songs sound better if performed in a more natural key for me.
Exactly. You want to be where your voice sounds best.
excellent. Just wrote and recorded a piano vocal for a custom song client and this information was helpful. I’m glad to know I am mostly already doing what you have said but you have made it more important now to make sure that I really do my best work before I decide I am finished with the song. Thanks
Totally agree. It’s one way you can actually make yourself feel super comfortable with your performance. Very early in my career, in around 2020, I was lucky enough to work on my first album with Clive Gregson & veteran engineer John Wood (Nick Drake, John Martyn, Sandy Denny etc). These two people taught me exactly this lesson as well as to spend time prior to the studio ‘becoming metronomic’, working tirelessly on guitar parts with a metronome. This helps not only you but also your band, you will not need a click track & your engineer will love you as (s)he can cut between takes. Every album I have produced has had its own ‘studio book’ containing this information with lyrics & my notes on the song. This means I can easily look up tempo & key & will never have to waste time On these details in the studio. ‘Studio hygiene’ if you like…
2000, not 2020…damn you, autocorrect
Hi Chris.. Nice tips. I have instrumental pieces that have potential TV. MOVIE . THEME SONGS..How do I get them to listen to ? How do I go about it ? They are serious music arrangements..Please let me know. Thank-You Biagio Farina my e-mail is ( remix@videotron.ca )
Just show up at my webinar tomorrow and Ill be talking all about that!