Writing Tools - Messenger Bag

I've had a lot of people compliment me on my leather laptop bag. I've found it to be the best bag I've ever used to accommodate the writing lifestyle, and it feels like it's going to last for quite some time. Check it out!

Writing Tools - Springpad

One of my favorite and most used tools over the past few months has been a program called Springpad. I could try to explain how it works, but this video says it all:

Writing Tools - Hard Drive

I was going to do a post about my favorite hard drives, and which I'd recommend for recording audio, but I've changed my mind.

The reason is, my most "dependable" drive decided to play hard to get last week and stopped mounting when I'd connect it to my laptop.

So I will share with you the best advice I've ever received when it comes to data maintenance:  

The best hard drive is a backed up hard drive. 


Keep writing (and backing up files),

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Writing Tools - Yerba Maté

Those who have written with me know that it's a given that I will be drinking Yerba Maté (a South American green tea that arguably tastes like wet hay) when we write. This may sound silly to include this as a writing tool, but I believe it is essential. When writing every day in a different environment with a different person, there has to be some constant involved. For some people it's having their laptop open in front of them. For others it's their favorite guitar in their hand or having a beautiful, inspiring view out the window.

Maybe it's the same reason a little kid carries his blankie to a slumber party - a comfort of home in a foreign place. So I guess I'm saying that my Thermos of hot tea is my grown-up blankie, and I'm OK with that. It keeps me just as warm.

Writing Tools - SoundHound

Here's a little phone app that I've found incredibly helpful. Whether I'm trying to identify a song on the radio or the melody that's stuck in my head, this the place I turn. Check it out.



Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Writing Tools - Diamond on the 1

I talked a couple months ago about the recording process and how studio musicians have a way of notating chord and melody changes using the Nashville Number System. I’ve always been fascinated by how quickly they are able to learn and make changes to one song after another in a three-hour session. 

The system has somewhat been passed down from player to player over the years, leaving few textbook explanations outside the studio. To learn the language, you’d most likely have to get to know one of these professionals—until now.

My friend and fellow songwriter Jonathan Riggs has just made it much easier to communicate with session players during the recording process. In his new booklet, Diamond on the 1, Riggs gives a simple yet thorough overview of the Nashville Number System. As a professional, I’ve found my copy to be very helpful, even in the writing process. This is a booklet worth keeping in your gig bag.

A “diamond on the one” would mean that you play a chord on the first beat of the measure, for the entirety of the measure. The intro to The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” would be a diamond on the one (even though the song’s first measure begins with a strange number of beats). There’s plenty more to explain, but I’ll leave that to Riggs and his booklet.

Keep writing (and learning),

Ben

PS - Here is an example from my most recent session:

Writing Tools - Microsoft Word

For the last 7-8 years I've been in Nashville, Microsoft Word has been my go-to for typing and organizing my lyrics.

Here's an example of how I structure a lyric:




SONG TITLE                                                                                      DATE OF CREATION
(CO-WRITERS)

VERSE 1

       CHORUS

VERSE 2

              BRIDGE


I use all-caps because it's cleaner and less confusing than trying to figure out which letters should be capitalized. During my college internship at EMI and when I did some temp-work for Universal Music I learned that this practice is pretty standard.

In order to keep the song on one page, I use the tab function to set the chorus apart and only type it once (some people put the chorus in bold instead). The bridge (if there is one) is offset twice as far.

Of course, this style of typing only works for songs that fit this common song structure, so however you type your lyric should be determined by how the song should be written first.

Here's the lyric Melinda Schneider and myself wrote that Olivia Newton-John ended up singing:



Once you have written songs with multiple people, it's important to keep things organized. I have an overall folder entitled "lyrics" with sub-folders labeled with co-writers' names. Within each co-writer's folder, I have every song we've written.

One thing I'm interested in is the potential for Google Documents. It boasts many of the features of Word, but allows you to access your documents anywhere you can get Internet access.



Keep writing (and typing),

Ben

Writing Tools - Dropbox

I am awful at remembering lyrics on the spot. Thankfully, there is Dropbox. Using this program, I am able to save all of my song lyrics in a folder that my phone can access at any time. Here's a helpful video about how to take advantage of this free service:

Writing Tools - Audacity

Audacity is the basic recording program that I use on a daily basis. These are the things I love about it:

1. It's free
2. It's fast (you open the program and hit record, as opposed to setting up a Pro-Tools-like session in GarageBand)
3. You can compress and normalize any selected area
4. You can bounce (turn a portion of the recording into a stand-alone mp3 or wav file to import into iTunes) any area

There are plenty of recording programs out there, but in my experience nothing has been as easy and helpful as Audacity.

Download it here for free.

Keep writing (and recording),

Ben

Writing Tools - a Writer's Friend

There are two sides of the writing process - the actual art being created, and the way we capture and portray that art. Both sides of this coin are necessary. For example, the most beautifully written concerto suffers greatly if it isn't given a proper performance and recording. And what good is a great recording if the song is only mediocre?

Though tools are important in the writing process, it is essential to remember where new art actually comes from: inspiration. I am confident this inspiration is not found in digital 1s and 0s as much as it is found in nature's leaves and raindrops. As wonderful as the newest and shiniest recording program or studio compressor is, it will never provide the fuel for a fresh new song in the same way that organic life does.

Photo by Ton Rulkens. Used with permission.

I believe our tendency is to look to these tools for salvation when we create, rather than to be on the lookout for true inspiration. The result can often (but not always) be heard on the radio - a sonic masterpiece that wouldn't stand up on its own when performed solo on guitar or piano. Our challenge when it comes to writing songs is to always remember that the inspiration and the tools with which we capture this inspiration are separate, yet connected. The metaphor that comes to mind is this:

Songwriter = conductor
Song = train
Writing tools = tracks
Inspiration = coal/fuel

In the coming weeks and months I am going to talk in more detail about the specific tools that I have found helpful in my own writing process. And please feel free to clue me in on the tools you find useful!

Keep writing,

Ben