Creation and Presentation of a Song
Creation and Presentation of a Song Since the beginning of modern human existence, songwriting has been an art. All cultures around the world are known to have music history and songwriting abilities. Music is one of the best ways to show emotion. When we hear certain songs, they can stir various emotions within us as listeners. Creating a great song requires many aspects and can be an emotional and exhausting process for the writer. The presentation of a newly written song can be just as exhausting.
This paper will introduce the process of songwriting and how to effectively write a song to convey emotion that an audience can relate to. It will also talk about the process a song goes through from the time it is written until it’s heard on the radio. Process Songwriting proves challenging even for the most seasoned entertainer or songwriter. Few people realize just how much work goes into their favorite song that they like to listen to. The first step to writing a song is to pick a story or message that an audience can relate to.
Many songwriters choose to write about their own feelings and personal experiences. It’s important to choose creative words that flow well together and describe every aspect of the story or message. Being in a quiet spot where a songwriter’s thoughts are free from interruption is also imperative. Next, as strange as it sounds to some, everybody has a certain time of day when creativity peaks. This is the best time for a songwriter to be as productive as possible on a song. Writing a rough draft is the best way to start organizing thoughts for any writing piece.
It’s important to freestyle write any thoughts or ideas down in the rough draft and not think too much about it. It all comes together in the final piece and some of the best expressive words come out during a brainstorming session for a rough draft. To get the best work for a song, it’s crucial for the songwriter to put heart into their writing. Lastly, songwriters begin putting their words to instrumentals. Most successful songwriters know how to play their own instruments and that makes their songwriting sessions much easier.
However, a lot of songwriters utilize the assistance of others to put their words to instrumentals. When choosing instrumentals, it’s important to any songwriter to choose tone and rhythm that match the message they are trying to convey to the listener. For example, an up tempo song may have a lot of electric guitar and percussion whereas a slow, sad song may have more piano and strings in it. Conveying Emotion Music triggers emotion more than any other form of art. A great song is memorable and triggers emotion within the listener.
The best songwriters take this into consideration with every piece that they produce. The first part to conveying emotion to the listener is to write about an event that a lot of others can relate to. For example: graduation, heartbreak, birth of a new baby, a wedding, or a night out on the town with a group of friends. The word choice a songwriter chooses to put in their song has the ability to make the song memorable or forgettable. The more descriptive the word use, the better. It’s also important for a songwriter to write from the heart.
Most of the best songs ever written are full of the songwriter’s heart and soul. It gives the listener a chance to get to know a little bit about that person for three to four minutes. A successful example of this theory is Taylor Swift. Taylor writes her own songs and has a gift for expressing exactly how she was feeling at the time she wrote every song. One of the biggest reasons Taylor has had the success she has is because she is a very talented songwriter and she has a way of bringing out strong emotions in her songs. Her fans feel connected with her as a result. Presenting
It takes a long time for a song to make it to the radio. The biggest majority of record companies won’t even listen to unsolicited music from a songwriter. Unsolicited music in the record industry is defined as any original piece of music that has yet to be copyrighted. Copyrighting is a crucial step in the process of getting any songwriter’s music heard. Most songwriters will get their songs copyrighted before ever presenting their music to an audience even during an open music night. This is to protect them from having their songs stolen. Copyrighting a song is a long, drawn out process.
It is also an expensive one. Once a songwriter has their words put to music, it must be put on paper and audio and mailed with a copyright fee to the Federal Music Guild. Once it reaches the Guild it takes anywhere from three to six months to usually get the certificate of copyright back. Once a song has been copyrighted, the next step to presentation is to record the vocals and instrumentals in a recording studio and send it out to record producers to pitch to their list of music artists. This step only occurs in the songwriter themselves do not want to record their own music professionally.
Once a song has been picked up and recorded by the songwriter or another artist, it goes on that music artist’s album. The record company then may or may not release the song to radio stations as an artist’s single. Only after all of these steps are taken can a song be played on the radio. Songwriters that want to sing their own music and become artists will most likely spend a lot of late hours singing in bars, coffee houses, and open microphone nights for years just hoping to get their big break. Conclusion Songwriting and presenting original works of music are very challenging but rewarding talents to possess.
While it has been an art that has been around since the beginning of modern human existence, it continually evolves with every generation. Every song crafted by a songwriter has a story to tell and the ability to stir up emotion within the listener. Just about every songwriter’s dream is to write a hit song that will be heard all over the world. Some get lucky enough to see that happen. As the world keeps changing and transitioning, it’s good to know that there will always be songwriters to capture important events and emotions through music.
