Thanks a ton Lee!
I really appreciate the kind words.
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That is freakin’ amazing!!!
Love everything about it.
Also that bass line is as tasty as french pastry.
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In retrospect, this actually made me think of something that one of my favorite bands, Pinback created a few years ago. They were commissioned to come up with some opening theme music for a kids TV show. (which was very weird because their music is typically not very kid-like)
But after revisiting this Pinback song again, your creation has the same feel-good imagination inspiring result that this earlier piece had. (and probably cost several thousand dollars to produce, so what you achieved is even more amazing considering the lack of real budget!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXQogvF-8Cw
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Thanks tons!
I love this. Calling people back to kid-like-imagination-land is my mission in life. Glad it’s kind-a working!
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I guess I’ll post something since I keep telling other people to and haven’t myself…
I’ve been working on writing a song. Only second song I’ve written and the first was 20 years ago on top of a guitar part. This one is out of thin air. It’s very hard to come up with something without any other instrument involved. I also am trying to make it something that a guitarist can play over and not solo. I’ve done LOTS of variations of this… some slower or with less notes… different rhythm’s… etc. but the core is pretty similar. At the minute it is really just two riffs repeated and alternated, but I need to turn this into an actual song, which is what I’m trying to work through…
First time I’ve recorded myself on video like this and already see some things to improve on. For example, my fingers are angling a lot, which is because I’m not really sliding my hand. Plenty of other things to work on as well… I do look mega grumpy, but that’s just my concentrating face. 
BTW, this was just recorded with my phone… nothing else… but I think it sounds OK for this purpose. Looking to get some decent recording stuff in a month or two. Also, this is just the passive amp through a Rumble 40 straight. No pedals or anything.
Open to constructive criticism and any songwriting tips!
I also have no idea what key this is in, but the guitarist keeps asking me.
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I think you are on the right track! Potentially, you should think a about a C part (you’ve got A and B), like a bridge that breaks up the “monotony” of A-B-A-B-… Many rock and pop songs use bridges - here, you could even consider getting away from the eighth note chugging and have longer sustained notes for a break (where, e.g., the drums could provide some fills). This’ll make it all the more interesting once you pick up the chugging again for the next A part.
First guess would be “B”, but I guess you are well aware of the discussion we had here: What key is this in? and how “important” (or not) the tonality is for a rock song… 
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Thanks. Yeah, I’m trying to work on a third part. Will come to me soon I’m sure.
The main reason for the key is that the guitarist wants to know what it is so he can make his part easier. I don’t personally care what key it is in as it just sounds good together to my ears. 
Family keeps humming it, so that’s either a bad sign or a good one. 
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yeah, sounds like a very good start !
about your bridge or third part, I think some disco-octave-things would be great 
the idea being making some contrast with the current rock line. I think at something in the Electric Six or early Metric mood. just an idea 
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This is very interesting… I really like what you have so far @JT. The interesting part to me is that you are attempting to design a song around a bass line. I’ve never tried doing that before and have always used either my guitars or keyboard first for songs design/shell, drum machine for basic timing/color, and now (after B2B), bass for song structure/foundation. I’m really interested to hear what your guitarist comes up with. I do agree with @joergkutter and @terb on the bridge section, and the inclusion of another note would help flavor the riffs a bit.
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Thanks @Lanny and @terb. It’s definitely a good learning experience. That video is actually about two weeks old and was the first recording of this attempt at a song. Since then, I’ve done about 10 different versions of each riff and am just trying to see what fits together. I also jammed the song to death over two hours with a guitarist and drummer a few days ago, again trying out different things. The guitarist asked me to play the whole thing an octave higher for example so we tried that a bit. It’s quite a fun thing to try and I do recommend it. I think the final outcome will be pretty decent. And if not, it is still teaching me a lot of useful knowledge for the future.
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(apparently now a post must be at least 5 characters, so that is why I have all this extra noise here)
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Good for you, @JT . . . 
. . .
I really, really MUST get around to figuring out how to upload a video, etc. I suppose I’m either just too lazy or too cyber-challenged . . . 
Anyway, it is indeed a great start! You have good alternating, too.
Cheers, Joe
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Yesss! I can appreciate this post, and your video, because I’m trying to do the same thing. So what you’re describing is great, and the feedback here too. Keep posting iterations of your song, if possible, because it’s helpful to see how a song is constructed, and your unique process of doing so.
Yeah, I’m sort of realizing that maybe constructing a song around a bassline has it’s own nuances, as opposed to trying to do it around a guitar riff or something else. Since JT has a guitarist friend handy, it may be a good idea to coordinate with him, or a drummer too (or just a drum looper), while “designing” the song. Sometimes the guitarist wants to do a solo at some point to break the song up, or some other addition
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Protect your ears!
My band’s first ever song written a few months ago. It’s got some pop punk, hardcore and noise elements to it. And a classic sludge type breakdown.
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I love it!
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Playing your bass line an octave higher would put you into his zone which is where he would be much more familiar with - at least during the song design stage.
Agree. I guess this is why I’m interested in how this all progresses along the way, and see (hear) the final outcome. Such a challenge (at least to me) to design/create a song based solely on the bass line. I’m sure it’s been done many times before, but having been a guitarist first for so many years, it’s only natural for me to pick up one of my guitars (usually one of my acoustic’s) to start out with when an idea pops into my head.
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Thanks. 
I got some more, but only one we’ve edited properly on a computer (we can only record on a phone covered in three coats currently lol), a more bass driven track with we would say ‘nu metal’ influences:
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that’s pretty garage/punk indeed ! sounds good, it’s the kind of band I could go see playing live. if it happens one day, I would be the guy who will headbang mostly during the sludgy part. 
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Thanks a lot bro. If you’re ever around the center of the Netherlands (Brabant, Gelderland and esp. Utrecht) you can probably find us playing some small stages and we will get you some beers on us. 
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So, in the spirit of sharing “half-baked” stuff, and something that so far almost entirely exists on bass only, here is a sketch I stitched together (literally, and very noticeably) from a couple of ideas and a virtual drummer from Garageband. I put this together to show to our guitar player, such that he could a) think about some chords, b) ponder a vocal line for parts A and B (I have some idea myself, but let him come with some input as well), and c) get creative with “stuff” to fill the C part (bridge) - soundscapes or solo.
Oh, and yes, it has a less than exciting intro and a less than satisfying ending so far 
But, my main points being: you can start with a bassline and a melody perhaps, and you can fairly quickly stitch a A-B-A-B-C-A-B-C’-A-B kind of structure together to get a song skeleton.
In the end, little of how it is now in this “sketch” might survive by the time the song is finalized, but the original ideas should still be there!
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