[Friedemann]

The Best Songwriting Tip For Beginning Professionals

Phew, you ready? This is a good one…

Today we’re talking about one of those “secrets” that will help you transition from good to great songs.

This one is all about flow…

You already know what flow is of course: When there’s no distractions in the music and one line takes you smoothly to the next, when everything grooves, when there’s no clutter or lack of elements, when it feels “right” - that’s when you have flow.

Today we will take a look at a technique that can actually help you create this flow, and it is called…

*Drumroll*

Trading Space.

This is one of those techniques every professional instinctively knows, but it’s a hard one to get your head around if you haven’t been writing songs for decades.

Trading Space is all about focussing your audience. Our brain can really only focus on one thing at a time, so whenever we hear a song that splits our attention, we get confused.

For example, a mistake often made is to have a singer sing over a intricate drum fill. This doesn’t work because it splits your audience’s attention.

“Should I listen to the drums or the vocals? I’m confused”

What you want to do instead is to trade space: Imagine your song like a stage in a nice old theater. Every sound, every instrument in your song is standing on that stage.

Now all of them are waiting for their turn to enter center stage. Here is where the magic happens.

Whatever is center stage you focus on. If your singer sings, he becomes the center of attention. All the other instruments accompany him in the background.

If the guitarist has a solo, the singer moves back and the guitarist enters center stage (yeah I know it’s not the 90s anymore, stop asking me that). Now he is the focus of the audience and the singer is not important.

This much shouldn’t come as a big surprise to you. It’s clear that you don’t let the piano and guitar solo at the same time.

What is not so obvious is that this rule applies to many other situations as well.

For example, if you’re mixing a call & response section in your song, don’t put too much delay on the “call”, because it will clash with the response.

As I stated earlier, if you want to use a drum fill while your singer is still singing, make it dead simple. Don’t let that drum fill steal the show of your singer. It should be felt, and nothing more.

Don’t write a drum fill and have the bass play a pick-up phrase at the same time unless they fit together perfectly.

And here’s a biggie I hear all the time: For god’s sake, if you’re using synth leads, don’t play them at the same time as your vocals. They are both competing for center stage. For some reason songwriters still put distracting synths in their verses and choruses.

Why is this mental image of trading space so important? Why should you be seeing your song as a stage?

Because it prevents you from overwriting, from getting yet another idea for a part that could also fit this section. Being a great songwriter is NOT writing a lot of good things. It’s trying out a lot of things, finding one that’s great and then ONLY using that one.

It also helps you focus on what’s important. In your arrangement and your mix you will have less problems because you will know what to mix around.

And lastly, when you envision all the instruments playing your song, you will get new ideas for “trades”. In other words, you will notice if your vocalist has taken up all the space the entire time.

If this is the case, then maybe it’s time to let another instrument take over for a short while. Let the guitar play a short riff or interesting rhythm into the gaps of the vocals. Start your next song with just the bass instead of the piano.

Think “fair”. Let every instrument have their little moment. This becomes especially important over the course of an album or live gig.

Even if it’s just a second, make sure you let each instrument remind your listener that it’s there. This excludes soft pads and other very subtle instruments that are used to double or fill the mix, of course.

And one more thing: Trading space quickly can be used as an effect. Remember Sum41’s Fatlip? Listen to the first verse and see how it creates excitement and speed by letting different vocalists quickly trade center stage.

[Lyrical]

Interesting post, but to me this is a production / arrangement tip as opposed to songwriting tip.

What you've described comes waayyyyyy after the song has been written. You're talking about how the song is produced, arranged and mixed. not to mention performed.

[Friedemann]

Hey Lyrical!

If this was the 80s, I would whole-heartedly agree with you. But today,
many songwriters are also producers and songwriting has changed
quite a bit because of that.

Listen to "Get Lucky" for example. Is that a great song in itself? Meaning,
if you were to play it on just guitar, would it still be good? It would be
alright, but would very quickly get boring. What makes this a great song
(and a commercial success) is the arrangement and production.

We live in an age where production and songwriting are overlapping
more and more - what I call "Creative Production" (My next workshop
will be all about that - see facebook.com/holisticsongwriting). To me,
it's one of the most next-gen and interesting worlds to explore,
PRECISELY because so many "old school" songwriters don't even
consider it as a songwriting tool.

(As always, there are exceptions and this is an opinion - albeit one
I have formed after talking to dozens of professional songwriters)

I really don't mean to slag you off - I actually get where you're coming
from - but maybe it gives you some new ideas for songs!

[Lyrical]

Hey Friedemann,

No worries I don't feel slagged off at all. I like the chat :-)

I think it's a perspective thing. In terms of dealing with publishers, they will look at a song the way I do. It's almost like when you're a model. You should be a blank canvas for the designer. If you're a publisher looking for songs, you want to hear what I call "the song". There might be a beautiful piano ballad hidden in a song, but if a publisher hears "your" version of that song, which may be electronic dance, or highly produced pop - it could pass them by.

Back to the perspective thing. If you write pop songs and want a pop band to cut your track, then yes, it is probably advise able to produce a pop demo, but there is no doubt you're limiting your market. That pop song might make a real good country number.

I'm not saying for a minute don't make a highly produced demo. BUT the fact remains that producing and arranging is a wholly different thing to songwriting. Producing a song is by its very nature, painting your opinion of what that song should be, onto it. A different producer might make the song sound entirely different. That's why you need to be clear with your language. If you produced a song and I produced a song they would likely sound wildly different, but "the song" would be the same. I would likely have a mandolin solo and produce the song in a country style. You might go full pop with no instrumental solos at all (for example).

The song, however, remains the same.

[Boydie]

I agree (and disagree) with you both

The days of submitting just "the song" (eg a piano and vocal) and expecting the publisher, label, A&R, artist to "imagine" what the "produced" version would sound like are long gone

The music industry is now run by accountants and marketeers - not musicians or producers 

I am not saying it would "never" happen but I strongly believe that the songwriter nowadays has to submit the "finished product"

The competition is fierce and you are competing with the best in the world, who have already had previous hits, have access to top studios, producers, session artists etc. etc.

I therefore think that the songwriter DOES need to commit to a specific arrangement and production to suit the pitch / opportunity

This may mean pitching the same song with different arrangements and productions to suit different opportunities

In fact taking one song and merging it with a different genre could be a good approach to get something that stands out - eg "Hick Hop" (country mixed with hip hop beats) is quite hot in the US at the moment

HOWEVER - where I completely agree with LYRICAL is that it is ALL about the song

The song needs to be outstanding

I think an outstanding song with a good production would stand more chance commercially than a good song with an outstanding production - the problem is that the professional competition is submitting outstanding songs with outstanding production!!!!!!

[Lyrical]

Hello again both.

I have to respectfully disagree on this one point:

The days of submitting just "the song" (eg a piano and vocal) and expecting the publisher, label, A&R, artist to "imagine" what the "produced" version would sound like are long gone

Firstly, it's not about imagining. Publishers generally know what they're looking for - quite specifically. So if someone is (for example because it's my area right now) looking for a song for a country / americana artist then the minute they hear a synth, they are out.

Secondly, I am dealing at this very minute with publishers in Nashville, and straight from the horses mouth they prefer stripped down demos. This was also my experience when I was writing professionally (2006 - 2011)

I think it comes down to (for the publisher, anyway) hearing the song. I think someone referenced it above, but you can make an average song sound great with production and tricks. However only a GREAT song sounds great when it's stripped right back.

[Boydie]

So if someone is (for example because it's my area right now) looking for a song for a country / americana artist then the minute they hear a synth, they are out.

You have kinda proved my point - the production is important for the pitch

If a stripped down demo is requested then that is completely different

However, if you submit a piano & vocal for a pitch but another writer submits an equally good demo with slide, pedal steel, lush backing vocals, violin recorded in a great studio with a session singer and a polished production I am not convinced that both "songs" would be seen as equal

There is no "amateur league" when it comes to pitching - we are all up against the top pros in the world, even for the smaller pitches

[Friedemann]

So if someone is (for example because it's my area right now) looking for a song for a country / americana artist then the minute they hear a synth, they are out.

You have kinda proved my point - the production is important for the pitch

If a stripped down demo is requested then that is completely different

However, if you submit a piano & vocal for a pitch but another writing submits an equally good demo with slide, pedal steel, lunch backing vocals, violin recorded in a great studio with a session singer and a polished production I am not convinced that both "songs" would be seen as equal

There is no "amateur league" when it comes to pitching - we are all up against the top pros in the world, even for the smaller pitches

Agree whole-heartedly. Wish it was different but with hundreds of songs being sent to publishers every day, don't expect them to listen through a crappy production if there's another song that's equally good and produced well.

But, if your publishers are asking for stripped down demos - awesome Sounds like a sweet deal!

Btw, just checked out Hick Hop - wow that's bad The ones that I heard are VERY white (i.e. they don't groove well). Seems like a good chance to stand out with some good stuff!