How do you guys write with your band?

[GuyaGuy]

band 1: i write the song, maybe add a 2nd guitar part, add drums and keys, maybe bass, and then vocals. yep it's all about me.


band 2: 2nd guitarist brings in some lovely chords, i add some lovely leads or textures, drummer adds, well, drums mostly. since the "songs" the other guitarist brings in are "just" chords we tweak them, rearrange 'em, cut or add repeats, etc.--either according to my part or just the general song dynamic.

[TeamoDave]

Originally posted by negative theory First and foremost, we wanted to have people that were all on the same page. That has happened, so songs tend to evolve out of jams. We record the riffs in a big mess and then play them back and figure out where to trim or expand.

That's what we do. I work on my things at home and take them to practice and we jam them out and rough mix them. Then I'll take that tape home and find what works or not.

PS. Love your avatar. That was my first car, a red 69 Mustang.

[protoge x]

Originally posted by KBN What happens when the "others" don't write, but think they are visionaries anyways? "Hey you guys should start writing stuff that is more fun for us."

 

 

well technically if they think they're visionaries but don't write anything they're just assholes. i've learned not to get involved with them.

[joncyberboy]

I write pretty much everything for my band. They say they'd like ot get involved but it rarely happens and now we have such a strong songwriting style (mine) it makes it even harder for things they bring in to fit the parts i wrote.

[EvilSoup]

I have a 3 piece band, guitar bass and drums. I sing and so does our bass player.

I've had problems with adding another member for this reason, we didn't write well with a 4th member.

Now we've been writing a lot lately. It works like this:

I write the guitar part for the song and write the form, lyrics, and melody over it. I take to the band and they write their parts over it, it usually works well. Sometimes I hint towards something they should play over the song, but generally I don't like to tell people what to play. It ruins the fun of it.

Our bass player writes songs on guitar too, he sometimes has problems with it being too simple though. So I add some things to the guitar part to spice it up.

After we play the new song, we find if it is all flowing, sometimes I have to change the form for it to flow a little more. After that we usually work on vocal harmonies.

Often times I'll write some of my songs with our bass player, and sometimes our bass player will point out things that are song worthy that I miss sometimes.

So far it's been working out. I'm more Radiohead influenced whereas our bassist and drummer are more Nirvana influenced. So what we end up with is grungey Radiohead with spacey guitar.

[mightysasquatch]

I play guitar & sing lead in a power trio, and I follow the Sasquatch Theory.

The theory goes, "I write the songs because the bass player is p*ssy-whipped & no one wants to hear songs written by a drummer."




I've been writing forever, so I bring in songs that are finished, and we rehearse them until they are tight.

[TIKILOCKEDOUT]

Originally posted by SASQUATCH I play guitar & sing lead in a power trio, and I follow the Sasquatch Theory. The theory goes, "I write the songs because the bass player is p*ssy-whipped & no one wants to hear songs written by a drummer." I've been writing forever, so I bring in songs that are finished, and we rehearse them until they are tight.

That's some {censored} right out of the Roman Senate ... I dig cause I'm exactly the same way.

[varialbender]

First: find musicians that make you crap your pants with happiness every time you hear them play.
Second: listen to MTV (in my case, Much Music) at 2am thinking "why can't I write anything new!??!?!! " and then steal a riff you hear on TV and change it until you can't even figure out how it came from the song you stole.
Third: put on a diaper and head to band practice to show the others your sweet new riffs.
Fourth: watch as your riffs are transformed into some of the greatest stuff you've ever heard, and thank god you defecated in a controled environment.
Lather
Rinse
Repeat

[ChitownTerror]

I hate bands that are run like democracies. I either get complete control over my part, or I write for everyone. Too many people meddling in the song tends to water it down a lot of times, especially if not everyone's on the same page.

I prefer either anarchy (everybody writing their parts and somehow fitting 'em in) or at most, focused collaboration by two people or solo.

Besides, {censored} drummers.

[the figurehead]

{censored}, I wouldnt be in a band with 90% of you. Every band I've ever formed has worked on the same principle... Anyone who has an idea, play it, and everyone comes up with their own parts... If it's good, we'll keep working on it, if it's bad, we wont. Maybe the author will play it again in a few weeks, and maybe the magic will be there that time, or maybe not. Either way, if all four of us are excited about it, it will eventually become a song. Maybe someone else will come up with another part, and we'll put them together, maybe the author will come up with another part... whatever happens, happens.

What I would not stand for is some dude telling me what to play. I do not exist to be a physical extention of some fellows ego. I play in my own style, and intend to keep doing so. If I wanted to play parts someone else wrote, I'd be in a cover band. Conversely, I could never, and would never tell someone else what to play. This isnt to say that we dont discuss and suggest things, as a group, but no one is telling anyone what to play verbatim.

Maybe it's that I've always formed bands, instead of joining them, but I could never see myself in that position. Why have creative people in your band, if you are going to dictate what and how they play?

[Alanfc]

Originally posted by the figurehead {censored}, I wouldnt be in a band with 90% of you. Every band I've ever formed has worked on the same principle... Anyone who has an idea, play it, and everyone comes up with their own parts... If it's good, we'll keep working on it, if it's bad, we wont. Maybe the author will play it again in a few weeks, and maybe the magic will be there that time, or maybe not. Either way, if all four of us are excited about it, it will eventually become a song. Maybe someone else will come up with another part, and we'll put them together, maybe the author will come up with another part... whatever happens, happens. What I would not stand for is some dude telling me what to play. I do not exist to be a physical extention of some fellows ego. I play in my own style, and intend to keep doing so. If I wanted to play parts someone else wrote, I'd be in a cover band. Conversely, I could never, and would never tell someone else what to play. This isnt to say that we dont discuss and suggest things, as a group, but no one is telling anyone what to play verbatim. Maybe it's that I've always formed bands, instead of joining them, but I could never see myself in that position. Why have creative people in your band, if you are going to dictate what and how they play?

the method I use as stated in my post is just chord changes and tonality & atmosphere, its wide open and it always changes