Many people that know me know I put great emphasis on the quality of the songs that the artists chooses to record and perform. I still don’t understand why it takes 6 + people to write a good song. I’ve been fortunate to be around some great songwriters and composers over the last 50 years. Recording great songs with great artists has given me the opportunity to start from scratch and see the method and effort that many used to get to that point where you know you got something special.
I know how I work and how I get to that point where I feel inspired and I know I have the makings of something that really could work. I have been asked what is your method to writing and composing music. The answer I give is very simple. I sit down at the keyboard or piano and take a deep breath and hope an idea makes it to my fingers so I can find something special to build on. I recently heard Randy Brecker on a pod cast and he was asked about writing music and he said he basically sits down and prays an idea will appear.. in a way it’s pretty mystical but it all makes sense.
I‘ve been thinking lately about recoding new music in 2022. Starting to write an album from scratch is a daunting task. Everything comes from me..when I write with another person somebody has to come up with the first idea.. Where does that idea come from? IT COMES FROM MY CELL PHONE!! Many ideas don’t happen when you sit down to write..Ideas come in the middle of the night,driving,Walking,eating….You never know when a musical idea comes..And when it comes if you don’t grab it as Quincy Jones said.l”It goes to your neighbors house”
Years ago I’d have a cassette deck next to my bed and next to my piano..Many nights it would be 3 AM and I’d get up and hear a melody in my head..I never wanted to get out of bed to lay it down . I’d tell my wife “I’ll remember it and record it in the morning” she absolutely knew I’d never remember the melody So she always edged me out of the bed to get it on cassette...it also never comes out with the same feel..That’s for sure.. I have many cassette tapes at home still with lots of ideas and music on them…But now we have the smart phone that is right next to my bed ready for action in a moments notice… As I was thinking about how I would come up with 5+ new songs and compositions I looked at the voice recorder. To my surprise I had 62 snippets of music that I had recorded over the last 2 years
i really was excited,shocked and scared at the same time.. scared to hear whether what was there was any good especially the early ones..Well to cut to the chase there were a lot of good ideas there. Definitely a few to build on. The songs are in you. One has just got to know how to get it out of oneself And when you hear that spark in the middle of the night as Quincy said don’t let it go to your neighbors house. When I write with somebody it’s much easier if I’ve got the direction and a little idea where to go. We all have these cell phones and they do a lot more than just be a phone as we know. It’s almost like the voice recorder is the most important thing on the phone to me..I guess you should check back in a year and see how many of these I’ve actually had a chance to develop into something. That’s the only way to know if any of the last five paragraphs that I’ve written makes any sense. So far so good
Peace, Jason
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