Jamming

Song writing ideas… getting (into) the moment

Posted on by Bernie Landry

How do I capture that nugget of a moment for song writing

Studio mic set up you might use for song writing

When I get together to jam with anyone these days, I try to record everything that happens (if I can) to use in my song writing.

Then when I struggle through the playback I find a few nuggets/moments that I can use.

  • A groove
  • A few bars of a cool hook
  • A chord progression

This comes in handy for:

  • Songwriting
  • An idea,  progression to jam on
  • A starting point for an improvisational jam

The equipment I use

I have been using an old Sony Mini Disc Deck, and running a few mics through a 4 channel Boss mixer to the deck.

The mics I use are:

  • Shure SM
  • Realistic PZM
  • Audio Technica AT811

It takes about an extra 15 minutes to set up, do a run through and then I let it record until the disc is full or we are finished. (Which ever comes first).

Here is a clip of Jeff (Gauthier) and I doing some on the spot improvising.

How to make something out of the recordings

I usually play back the recordings and make note of the times and titles of those wonderful moments.

Then I put them in a loop so I can play along and improvise to get something more concrete to work with.

Now that’s just me and it gives me lots of ideas for new music to create.

Any ideas or thoughts on how you come up with new music?

 

Where Do You Get The Inspiration?

Posted on by Bernie Landry

Sometimes it’s hard to move forward and I find myself relying on old licks and grooves.

But pushing when you don’t feel like it, can be frustrating.

I was thinking about Jack Bruce who passed away last October Cream  Bassist Jack Bruce Dies

A very unique bass sound in ’67 when I first heard Sunshine of Your Love.

And the bass melodies and grooves he created were more than the boring Tonic and 5th licks that seemed to dominate the air waves of rock in the day.

One journalist referred to hios bass sound as “elastic”, but it was much more…

So uninspired, I listened to Disraeli Gears and jammed away on “Tales of Brave Ulysses”. (On the stick the bass is cool and I put the WahWah on the treble)

Jamming with the best is always inspiring.