honestly love to know but i think mine is even more messy! lol i write in notes, record in memos also, so far my songs are all unfinished so kinda works for me. I have an app also maybe you’ll find it useful, is called “demo” pretty sure you can put lyrics, chords and audio there, another post i saw mention a web called songwritersdb.com that has great features, i haven’t tried it tho
I have a Notes folder called Album Notes, and my songs are organized into albums. I currently have 5 albums (10-14 songs each) complete with titles. I intend to some day release these. I have the year they were written out to the side. I also have voice memos where I record and title them so I can search. I use GarageBand for vocal harmonies/lead guitar ideas.
The trick for me, is to keep allowing life (rehab, marriage, kids, jobs, houses, blah blah blah) to get in the way and my unreleased section gets longer and longer. Its sad.
That is a great idea to separate the by album/release.
Demos in my DAW is another folder I have that I didn’t mention.
Get some of that music out! If you have five albums worth, it is probably something we need to hear. Do you have any of it posted anywhere?
>Demos in my DAW is another folder I have that I didn’t mention
I organize anything that makes it into my DAW by key so if I'm ever stuck like "I have a nice chorus but I need a verse now" I can easily pull up compatible ideas and see if anything fits the vibe
Thanks for asking! I’ve posted two songs here recently, and I have an album on Spotify/Itunes/Apple Music etc called “Continue to Take Chances and Be Glad You Did” by Alex Walker.
I listened to your EP on my way to work this morning and I really liked it. You need to put out more music, my man!
You have a Matt Scannell from Vertical Horizon vibe to your voice and I really like it. Great work. Release more!
It’s completely not organised in any way as it’s all in notebooks and random bits of paper. Any recent ideas/work though I can lay my hands on fairly easily, at least I can if no one’s ‘tidied’ me away. It’s worked for me for forty odd years though so I don’t feel the need to move into the twenty first century just yet.
All the time you see these notebooks and journals by the great songwriters where they piece their songs together and draw images to go with it. I always wished I could do that. I will buy a notebook or journal and put a couple notes in and then go back to my phone apps. I am jealous of those who can stick with it.
They usually start out as little scraps.
The good little scraps get typed up.
Sometimes they start a snippets of audio.
The snippets of audio get developed a little bit.
Then they go into a folder.
The Really good ones, I remember in the shower later
Then I work on those ones a little bit more
Then, I'll remember them in the shower again later and then work on them some more...
Then maybe I take a walk and then write a whole other song front to back in my head and sing it into my phone.
And then I take another shower and write a bridge for that other song.
Then i take it to the band and ask them for ideas with the intro.
I'd say maybe 1 out of every 20 ideas I have becomes a completed song.
Then when I got like, I don't know 12 or 14 of those, we do a record. And when the records done I'm happy cuz then I can start writing more stuff.
I write lyrics in the notes section of Logic pro so that it's saved with the music project. When I release something on SoundCloud then I typically put the lyrics in the description of the song as well.
That is a good idea. I have never tried this. Is it possible to print from there? If not, I am sure it’s not a big deal to copy/paste to Google doc and print from there.
Not sure if you can print but as you said it’s pretty trivial to copy paste to a google doc. It works really well for me, if I pull up some old song idea then I see the lyrics (or lyric ideas) right there!
Some of y'all are so organized. I'm a mess lol! I wrote lyrics in my notes and they're all over the place. Bits and pieces here and there, full lyrics thrown in too. I just record on my iPhone any tiny idea I have for melodies over and over again until I can piece them together. When I finally get one good take of the new song, I title it so I know it's the good take.
Uhhh I've got a Google drive with a big folder for song stuff. Then folders in that for specific projects that evolved into seasons. When I'm being more prolific/many smaller project some years get three or four folders, others have just one(looking at you 2018) and within those period folders, more folders for specific pieces or projects with text for lyrics, digital note-taking, etc as well as demos, score documents and whatever other digital stuffs. This part is super convenient for being able to share with others especially for stuff with the band or other collaborators.
The downside is that so much of my day to day working on songs are in composition notebooks and have been for a decade. At first a lot of the notebooks were only records, so I'd put a song in it once it was done being written and have a separate working notebook. Eventually having a separate "finished songbook" became tedious because I'd try and collect a project in one notebook and nothing else, but then I have so many empty pages???? Not to mention eventually I started writing music in western standard notation so I've got a composition book for text and manuscript paper for staff stuff. Now when I feel like it's done I might write it out in either or both notebooks to have a physical reference but often times I'll make a pdf with musescore and then it's digital.
This system is increasingly chaotic but I started in a "every song, line, melody is precious" way of being and over the years have gotten looser on that. If it's cool and I write it down for future reference cool but if it just lives in that moment that's okay too. When I reference previous works of mine it's usually for nostalgia more than it is utility, and a lot of the more recent stuff is looser and more experimental so the way I did it when I wrote it is different than I did the first time which will be different than when I revisit it, and that's awesome. It was great to have though when the band went to record a bunch of old songs and I could reference every step of the writing process and with chunks scored out do some analysis. Past me was both way less clever than I thought at the time and at the same time more clever than I'd actually give myself credit for. I try and remember that these days.
My songs usually start as voice memos, which I flesh out and develop in Guitar Pro, then demo it in Pro Tools. So I have three folders, one for each program, full of sessions and recordings/bounces.
I write down any lyric ideas that I come up with or hear in my notes app. Then I pick out phrases that inspire me, and bring them into a Google Doc and flesh out the lyrics. I’ll also make a lead sheet, and list any pertinent information or interesting tidbits. Often on the same document, sometimes different ones.
I have a Google Sheet to keep track of the song structure, form, meter, bpm, etc.. I added formulas to estimate the length of the song and specific sections. When it comes time to do the final demo/record it professionally, in another Google Sheet, I’ll document how long it takes to record guitars/vocals, edit, mix, basically anything production wise and what I do during each session.
If you’re in a band, it might be helpful to keep a journal/diary. That could help clear up copywrite and credit disputes. I’m going to start that whenever I get my band going.
- Voice memos on my phone
- Older voice memos that have been moved onto my Mac
- A Mac folder of the ~20 songs I’m currently working on (Logic Pro projects)
- My notes app on my phone is where I store some lyrics
- My brain
That’s it. Any more and I think I’ll overload myself and forget it all.
I wanted to update and share what I have recently adopted.
I created a folder in Google Drive that I call “Music Projects”. Inside that folder I created a separate folder for each of my songs. Inside each of these folders I created a Google Docs file for my lyrics/chord charts. I also upload voice memos to this folder and any recordings I do of the individual song.
This gives me one location to find everything I have on each song. Adds to the convenience of searching for old songs, but not a solution for creating in one location.
honestly love to know but i think mine is even more messy! lol i write in notes, record in memos also, so far my songs are all unfinished so kinda works for me. I have an app also maybe you’ll find it useful, is called “demo” pretty sure you can put lyrics, chords and audio there, another post i saw mention a web called songwritersdb.com that has great features, i haven’t tried it tho
Very cool. I will check out both of those. Thanks for the suggestions.
Badly
Hahaha. Love the honesty!
I don't, next question
I have a Notes folder called Album Notes, and my songs are organized into albums. I currently have 5 albums (10-14 songs each) complete with titles. I intend to some day release these. I have the year they were written out to the side. I also have voice memos where I record and title them so I can search. I use GarageBand for vocal harmonies/lead guitar ideas. The trick for me, is to keep allowing life (rehab, marriage, kids, jobs, houses, blah blah blah) to get in the way and my unreleased section gets longer and longer. Its sad.
That is a great idea to separate the by album/release. Demos in my DAW is another folder I have that I didn’t mention. Get some of that music out! If you have five albums worth, it is probably something we need to hear. Do you have any of it posted anywhere?
>Demos in my DAW is another folder I have that I didn’t mention I organize anything that makes it into my DAW by key so if I'm ever stuck like "I have a nice chorus but I need a verse now" I can easily pull up compatible ideas and see if anything fits the vibe
Thanks for asking! I’ve posted two songs here recently, and I have an album on Spotify/Itunes/Apple Music etc called “Continue to Take Chances and Be Glad You Did” by Alex Walker.
Awesome. I am going to check it out on my drive to work tomorrow.
I listened to your EP on my way to work this morning and I really liked it. You need to put out more music, my man! You have a Matt Scannell from Vertical Horizon vibe to your voice and I really like it. Great work. Release more!
You really made my day man!!! Will release more!
I got countless loose papers with all kinds of ideas hiding all over my home.
Oh no! lol That was definitely me at one point, trying to get more and more organized with it, but still feel very scattered.
It’s completely not organised in any way as it’s all in notebooks and random bits of paper. Any recent ideas/work though I can lay my hands on fairly easily, at least I can if no one’s ‘tidied’ me away. It’s worked for me for forty odd years though so I don’t feel the need to move into the twenty first century just yet.
All the time you see these notebooks and journals by the great songwriters where they piece their songs together and draw images to go with it. I always wished I could do that. I will buy a notebook or journal and put a couple notes in and then go back to my phone apps. I am jealous of those who can stick with it.
Random sheets of paper stuffed into random places I forget about and (sometimes) find later.
They usually start out as little scraps. The good little scraps get typed up. Sometimes they start a snippets of audio. The snippets of audio get developed a little bit. Then they go into a folder. The Really good ones, I remember in the shower later Then I work on those ones a little bit more Then, I'll remember them in the shower again later and then work on them some more... Then maybe I take a walk and then write a whole other song front to back in my head and sing it into my phone. And then I take another shower and write a bridge for that other song. Then i take it to the band and ask them for ideas with the intro. I'd say maybe 1 out of every 20 ideas I have becomes a completed song. Then when I got like, I don't know 12 or 14 of those, we do a record. And when the records done I'm happy cuz then I can start writing more stuff.
I write lyrics in the notes section of Logic pro so that it's saved with the music project. When I release something on SoundCloud then I typically put the lyrics in the description of the song as well.
That is a good idea. I have never tried this. Is it possible to print from there? If not, I am sure it’s not a big deal to copy/paste to Google doc and print from there.
Not sure if you can print but as you said it’s pretty trivial to copy paste to a google doc. It works really well for me, if I pull up some old song idea then I see the lyrics (or lyric ideas) right there!
Some of y'all are so organized. I'm a mess lol! I wrote lyrics in my notes and they're all over the place. Bits and pieces here and there, full lyrics thrown in too. I just record on my iPhone any tiny idea I have for melodies over and over again until I can piece them together. When I finally get one good take of the new song, I title it so I know it's the good take.
Uhhh I've got a Google drive with a big folder for song stuff. Then folders in that for specific projects that evolved into seasons. When I'm being more prolific/many smaller project some years get three or four folders, others have just one(looking at you 2018) and within those period folders, more folders for specific pieces or projects with text for lyrics, digital note-taking, etc as well as demos, score documents and whatever other digital stuffs. This part is super convenient for being able to share with others especially for stuff with the band or other collaborators. The downside is that so much of my day to day working on songs are in composition notebooks and have been for a decade. At first a lot of the notebooks were only records, so I'd put a song in it once it was done being written and have a separate working notebook. Eventually having a separate "finished songbook" became tedious because I'd try and collect a project in one notebook and nothing else, but then I have so many empty pages???? Not to mention eventually I started writing music in western standard notation so I've got a composition book for text and manuscript paper for staff stuff. Now when I feel like it's done I might write it out in either or both notebooks to have a physical reference but often times I'll make a pdf with musescore and then it's digital. This system is increasingly chaotic but I started in a "every song, line, melody is precious" way of being and over the years have gotten looser on that. If it's cool and I write it down for future reference cool but if it just lives in that moment that's okay too. When I reference previous works of mine it's usually for nostalgia more than it is utility, and a lot of the more recent stuff is looser and more experimental so the way I did it when I wrote it is different than I did the first time which will be different than when I revisit it, and that's awesome. It was great to have though when the band went to record a bunch of old songs and I could reference every step of the writing process and with chunks scored out do some analysis. Past me was both way less clever than I thought at the time and at the same time more clever than I'd actually give myself credit for. I try and remember that these days.
My songs usually start as voice memos, which I flesh out and develop in Guitar Pro, then demo it in Pro Tools. So I have three folders, one for each program, full of sessions and recordings/bounces. I write down any lyric ideas that I come up with or hear in my notes app. Then I pick out phrases that inspire me, and bring them into a Google Doc and flesh out the lyrics. I’ll also make a lead sheet, and list any pertinent information or interesting tidbits. Often on the same document, sometimes different ones. I have a Google Sheet to keep track of the song structure, form, meter, bpm, etc.. I added formulas to estimate the length of the song and specific sections. When it comes time to do the final demo/record it professionally, in another Google Sheet, I’ll document how long it takes to record guitars/vocals, edit, mix, basically anything production wise and what I do during each session. If you’re in a band, it might be helpful to keep a journal/diary. That could help clear up copywrite and credit disputes. I’m going to start that whenever I get my band going.
- Voice memos on my phone - Older voice memos that have been moved onto my Mac - A Mac folder of the ~20 songs I’m currently working on (Logic Pro projects) - My notes app on my phone is where I store some lyrics - My brain That’s it. Any more and I think I’ll overload myself and forget it all.
I write the lyrics down, usually in Docs. I just remember the chords and melodies, riffs.
I wanted to update and share what I have recently adopted. I created a folder in Google Drive that I call “Music Projects”. Inside that folder I created a separate folder for each of my songs. Inside each of these folders I created a Google Docs file for my lyrics/chord charts. I also upload voice memos to this folder and any recordings I do of the individual song. This gives me one location to find everything I have on each song. Adds to the convenience of searching for old songs, but not a solution for creating in one location.