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Write it down vs. I'll remember it if it's worth it


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This came up in another thread, and it's interesting to me, so I thought I'd start a new thread, rather than hijack his.

 

Do you bring a notepad with you/scribble on napkins/write lyrics on your hand?

 

Or do you think, "If I remember it, it's good. If I forget it, it wasn't worth it."

 

I'm firmly in the first camp. The central idea/chorus/lyrical hook I can usually remember, but I have lost so many perfect/quirky/complex wordings by not writing them down immediately.

 

What do you think?

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i usually don't carry writing utensils around with me just in case, but if i'm around paper/napkins/whatever and i have an idea for something I'll write it down and then later add it to my notebook full of songs in progress.

 

i always try to do the remember it thing, but 9/10 times i dont remember it the same. (which is why i try to a crappy recorded demo of it as soon as possible as well)

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I always, always. always have a pen and paper with me. And of course I always write down my ideas. That way I can just let it flow and not worry about remembering it.

The draw back is too many ideas. Too many partially finished songs. A couple of times a year I have to sort through the small mountain of unfinished stuff and decide if any of it is worth keeping. But I'd rather have too many things on the burner than only be working on a few. That's boring to me.

I think, from interviews I've read, that most of the writers I like are note takers.

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I'm in the "I'll remember it if it's worth it camp." Sometimes I'll try to approximate the lines that were in my head earlier, but then I think, "Is that really the line I was thinking of? I was sure it was something a lot better," so I'm sure I'm losing stuff using this method.

I used to carry a notebook, but it mostly resulted in a bunch of disjointed ideas that I didn't use.

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"We couldn't remember the greatest song in the world, no...this is just a tribute"

 

I am a complete moron. If I don't write it down, it's gone - end of story. I record a lot of ideas, and many of them I don't listen to again until much later down the road. Many times I've had an "I wrote this?" reaction and couldn't remember the chords...so not only do I write down or record my ideas, I usually have to do both.

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With lyrics, I always try to write stuff down. I have a notebook I carry around with me during school. Summertime I don't use it cause I just sit on my ass in front of the comp most of the time anyways, but definetely in the first camp when it comes to lyrics.

 

However, any music I come up with I just remember. I keep all my music in my head, partially cause it's a pain in the ass to write it down, even in tabs, and I'm just so used to memorizing things as a guitarist.

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I wish I had carried around pen and paper, but I don't. I should, though. I lose so many things. I mean, I'll write them down on a napkin/my hand/whatever if I can, sometimes, one in awhile, but not usually. Partially because I don't like carrying a lot of stuff around, partially because I forget/lose things all the time (physical objects... not ideas... though I lose ideas, too), partially because I don't like having to stop to write something down (I figure if something inspires me to come up with something great, then breaking that stream of thought/taking my attention away from whatever inspired me to write it down might be to my disadvantage).

 

I also have this weird thing that sometimes if I write something down then nothing else comes to me, whereas if I leave it up in the air, the ideas will keep coming. So a lot of time when I'm writing a song, I won't put anything on paper until I have a complete or nearly complete song. Of course, I'm not sure this is the best approach since I forget half of them.

 

*shrugs*

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i'll remember if it's worth it vs. record/write it down....hmm..

 

for me, i know for a fact that if i don't get it recorded immediately, it's lost (even when i don't think it is). huh? let me explain. usually when i come up with a tune idea/hook concept/lyrical phrase, i record a clip of me singing/playing it IMMEDIATELY and move on to the next thing [feed the dog, take out the garbage, etc.]

 

if it's an idea that makes a good enough impression on me, i'll catch myself singing it around the house/work/etc. and even when i remember it well enough to sit down with the guitar/piano and immediately sing it again without referencing my original idea concept, a lot of the time, the original idea concept has been unconsciously altered a bit. it could be a shuffled 16th feel turned into a straight, or a bent note in the vocal melody that was originally dead on, whatever the case may be. i've recorded songs without going back to the original idea and been so surprised at how much i like the original concept more than the recorded version i just dumped time and money on. the rawness of a fresh idea can and should be referenced to often in order to make its development all the more fruitful.

 

 

 

and recording the idea right away has another HUGE benefit. to put it one way: i don't really have the best judgement about what is good 100% of the time. it happens all the time with new music i hear. some new project by a favorite writer won't move me the same way a past one did, so i write it off a bit only to find myself loving it after a few more listens. (this happened to me with extroadinary machine by fiona apple - one of the most critically-acclaimed records to have been recorded in a long time) flip side: something i really dug on the first listen just has no staying power for me and i wind up hating it and finding it shallow. (maroon 5) lol

 

so, if it's an idea that didn't make such a good impression on me at first, it's still recorded and ready to be expounded on. i can honestly say that some of the tunes i'm most proud of were originally unimpressive to me when i first came up with them due to what mood i was in or whatever. if i had subscribed to the 'if it's worth remembering...' school of thought, they'd be gone.

 

i'd always record. old ideas not only bring up songs, but they help you relive alot of what made you record them in the first place; making you more in touch with the emotional side and, as a result, hopefully more effective

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i have a very good memory. so.. itworks for to remember things if they're quirky..and just forget them if they're not worth it.

 

i don't have photographic memory or anything..but i've got a few techniques that help me remember things. word associations..image associations..rhymes.. stuff like that. :)

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I use the voice memo on my cell phone and I have a small cassette recorder that I leave on my nightstand by my bed and take with me on long drives.

 

All my best ideas happen when I least expect it and if I don't jot it down or hum it into a recorder... it's gone.

 

Just last night I woke up at 3:00 in the morning with a really cool melody.... so I sang it into my recorder real quick and went back to sleep.

 

I got up and went to work today and completely forgot about it until I came back home from work. I listened to it and it was STILL really cool so I started up some basic tracks and I'll be working on the tune for the next week or so...and when I'm done.. it's gonna be great!!

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I was in the pub last week and 2 lines came into my head, I already had paper... but needed a pen got one wrote the 1st verse, very pleased with it. as I got more drunk the paper started to fill with crap. But there is definitely something there I can use.

 

I was on a very long bus ride the other day and had no iPod / Book anything to keep me amused i was just sitting there with my head against the window loads of great ideas floating through my head. I asked a random person for pen and paper, and wrote a song. But I think I left it too late, before writing it down.

 

I also have a tendency to lose the pieces of paper :(

 

I might start carrying a notebook. Sometimes someone will say something and I'll think wow! that's great I can use that, and write it down ASAP

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I like to write it down.

 

If I can't and there are some melodies that I want to remember I usually just make up whatever lyrics and that helps me remember them.

 

Sometimes it's nice to go back and look things anew with a fresh perspective, and you'll find some pretty nice things too that you'd forgotten if not.

 

But at the same time... I think creation should always be the priority. We shouldn't be dependants on our 'golden' notebook. I mean, it should be a tool to create and go into new directions, not the safe haven to go back and hide.

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I'm with the {censored} it camp. If it's genius, I'll remember it...or I'll come up with something just as good later. Also, I like to let things stew before I jump in and start trying to write a song down.

 

Plus, I can't remember that I wrote something down for 3/4's of the {censored} I took the time to write down.

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Write it down...I lost a damn good lyric and a couple of good riffs because I didn't do this. I now put everything on a minicassette recorder. No matter how bad you may think your idea is at the time, it could be useful later.

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Originally posted by bluesway

oh.....and by the way....most cell phones have a voicememo feature. that {censored} saves my life sometimes

 

 

 

 

 

thats my main tool for 'taking notes' i have probably 50+ voicememo clips in my phone ranging from guitar riffs, to lyrics sung, lyrics spoken, and guitar/lyrics together.....if a lyrical idea hits me, and i dont have the ability to write it down...i also use my phones' text message feature to write it down, then just save it as a draft.....only problem with that is remembering its there when i delete my messages.

 

As much as i try to write any idea down...i have a bad problem of coming up with a melody in my head, that sounds like a top 10 hit...but then when i try to speak/sing that same melody out loud...it sounds like crap.....anyone experience this??

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WRITE IT!!! Yeah, when I first started writing, I was duped into thinking that I would remember the 'worthy' melodies of my teenage mind. After many decent melodies were flushed into my brain never to return, this proved to be a fallacy for me at least and now I carry a dictaphone where ever I go.

 

There are countless ways to phrase and space notes. Don't feel like you are inadequate if you can't remember one particular set.

 

Love,

Blake.

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Originally posted by Christopher Kai

Great discussion. Even if you have a memory for lyrics and an ability to memorize words then I still think it's good to write it down. Better question: why not write it down?

 

 

 

 

good point.

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