We’re a songwriting group after all. And what’s a songwriting group if you don’t discuss about the Art of Songwriting?
Hence, it brings me great pleasure to present 3 recent posts written by Firdaus, Ivan and myself which deal with the art of songwriting in one way or another. Glad to see so much thought being put into these 3 posts.
They’re really worth a read, if songwriting’s your thing.
1st Post – “Evolution of a Songwriter” (by Firdaus)
This is Firdaus’s account of how he has developed as a songwriter.
At first, he used to compose songs just for the fun of it. Then, it became a form of conscious self-expression. Now, he’s taking the whole songwriting thing as a serious artform. He’s analysing his songs much more deeply now, asking himself pertinent questions from an artistic point of view, such as how the song could be enhanced via different instrumentation or arrangements, what the tempo should be, what the hook is, whether the chorus is strong enough, and so on.
I think it’s great to know that Firdaus is now treating songwriting as a serious artform, and that he is consciously thinking analytically about all the various aspects of his songwriting. Personally I have witnessed a bit of his musical evolution, from simple melodies sung with simple guitar strumming, to an impressive self-made recording of a song named “Baby” (see this recap) which is both complex and resembles Jamiroquai’s kind of music. Great stuff.
2nd Post – “Interpreting ‘Flowing With The Waves v1.2′” (by Ivan)
This is Ivan’s very interesting attempt at drawing an analogy between his appreciation of two versions of the same song, and his appreciation of a Starbucks drink vs. Chinese Tea. The song in question is Adrian’s “Flowing with the Waves v1.2″ from the SeaStars 2007 blog.
Both versions of the song can be heard in the post by Ivan mentioned above.
It is fascinating to see how Ivan manages to rationalise his “Starbucks vs. Chinese Tea” comparison!
3rd Post – “How I Write Songs” (by Jeremy)
This is a rather long-drawn account of my personal philosophy towards songwriting, at this particular stage in my songwriting life. I know everyone has their own approach and philosophy when it comes to writing songs. This just happens to be mine. Enjoy!
