no it works well, it’s fine 
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My guitar player just replaced the temp guitar track that we had in my original version of “Cosmic Wave.” I think it sounds really wicked. I am always amazed when someone far more talented and experienced than myself takes a couple of simple bass riffs that I have created and magically turns it in to something half way
decent.
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@lee_editorial The track isn’t showing.
@Lanny I read what you wrote on your website about why you played/mixed/chose the notes for that piece. I thought it worked out just like you said, sounding like a single instrument. Fine job sir.
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Here’s one that my old Navy buddy and I put together this past week. Kinda has a “Swamp” feel to it… I’m trying to upload a larger version to my website, but this 21mb file took me almost an hour to upload so I’ll just post a link directly to it below.
Again, no words to the short 90 or so second piece, just two old Diesel Submarine Sailors making the best of quarantine…
“Drainin’ da Swamp”
https://go-low.billlanahan.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Drainin-da-Swamp-Medium.mov
Once again, I’ll try to get back on later today or tomorrow if possible. Seems like the internet for me is a little easier to access over the weekend versus during the week - pretty much the opposite from before quarantine. Still pretty damn slow though…
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That was great, guys!
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Thanks @Jazzbass19, @JerryP, and @lee_editorial… Was able to finally upload the larger finished product to my website last night with a little more detail.
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All kinds of good and swampy! 
I’m thinking of composing a song for my DnD party (Drums, Bass, Guitar). Actually there is already a song in our party lore which I want to compose and record. All we have is simple vocals of the refrain.
How would I go about composing?
I’m thinking writing out the melody of the vocals to determine the scale it uses, then use that to compose from the “bottom” up. Percussion -> Bass -> Guitar -> Vocals.
Any tips or ideas?
Or did I take on too much for someone who recently finished module 7 and hasn’t much experience outside of this course?
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Sounds like a great idea. Nothing wrong with having your own side projects while you do the course. I will say that Josh gets more into how music is composed as you go along and that would help you put it all together.
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Cool, I like thoughts on composing original songs, I’m trying to get more into that myself! This is a very bass-centric answer, but, hey, what can I say? This is what I did for a song, and it worked out pretty okay - I had some vocals to a certain melody, and I started shaping the bassline to that. Sort of a combo between the rhythm and the melody.
I then made an awkward attempt to sort of sing the vocals and play the bass at the same time. It worked better when I kept the vocals in my head, and just concentrated on playing the bass. Later, I met up with a drummer and a guitar player. Told them to improvise to what I had, and gave the chord progression to the guitarist. It worked out pretty okay!
But it would be great to hear how other people go about doing this too - please post if you’ve created an original song, and your process for doing so!
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Hail @juli0r!
I’m so stoked you’re building out your DnD lore.
As for composition - I’ve been writing tons of different songs for all sorts of bands and purposes over the years (my own songs, band songs, podcast themes, small-time video games, etc) and… there’s no one answer, but I can share a few ideas.
My method with lyric based music was always play play play, then hum over it. If a lyric came first, I would chase down the lyrics and phrases as much as I could, then record it all into my phone before I forgot it. Same with any cool chord progression / musical bit.
When the lyrics were there (as it seems you have) - I would then just sing it to myself and try chord after chord after chord until I found something that I liked.
It’s an unfair over-simplification, because when you play a ton and write a ton, you end up with (like with anything: languages, cooking, etc) a bunch of vocabulary/recipes that you know work. You can try tweaking things that you’ve done before or you know work from other songs.
If you’re starting from scratch, I can try and offer some ideas or tips. I don’t know how much they’ll help, as - from talking with other songwriters - everyone has a different process.
TIPS/IDEAS:
If you know the melody, that’s gold.
I would record the melody into whatever I have that I can record on. I would loop it as many times as I could physically stand unless you can loop it in a digital recording program.
(bonus for a digital recording program - you can just loop it after recording one time through… but I started analog, so sometimes I still think of doing things the long way)
Then!
Is it happy? A funeral dirge? A drinking song?
Try and find if it has a major or minor tonality.
Try and find out what the first chord/last chord might be.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll have the key of the tune, or at least it’s musical home.
Try moving away and back again as you move through the piece.
If you can find out what key it’s in, work with the 1, 4, and 5 of the scale as the starting points for your chords.
You can make any melody note sound good with those chords alone.
Please oh please holler with any questions.
These are tough questions to answer in text, much easier when you’re tossing ideas and examples back and forth.
Best of luck.
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To add even more to this, I think a lot of it is trial and error. See what seems to sound good, and tweak it a bit, to make it better, until it’s what you like.
I was sitting around on my porch with my bass the other day, just goofing around, and a riff sort of started coming together - half in my head, half on the bass. Took some time to convert what I was hearing in my head to actual notes on the bass. Then, experimented with whether a couple of half notes sounded better in a bar, or maybe a bunch of eighth notes. And what tempo felt good. Then put bars together to repeat patterns, but changed a little something sometimes. I just did this by myself, but, if you have other people, you can do it with them.
No lyrics to that set of verses yet- but it’s now easier to make some up if I wanted to, as the bass is already laid out. This was sort of the reverse of the way I did it the last time. All of it is kind of a creative process for me, and I can only really do it if I feel inspired somehow, otherwise, nothing happens! Good luck and post your creation on this thread!
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Thanks for all the tips and encouragement @Vik and @Gio
I know it’s not easy to explain this process and I appreciate you taking the time for me.
After reading through your suggestions I’ll provide some more details of what I’m working with: One of our party members was fixing his shield in the smithy and somehow just started singing: “I’m fixing my shield! clang clang” and of course he sang it with a melody, but just what came to his mind and that’s all I’m working with. After reading through your comments I’m thinking about ditching the melody that was spontaneously created, starting from scratch and just keeping the lyrics.
Also that part is too short even for the chorus and I added: “I’m standing in the smithy and I’m fixing my shield clang clang” (the clang clang being hammer sounds of the smithy - also the lyrics are German, but for helping me it’s more important that you understand the context instead of the “original” lyrics I think. Also I only have this and have to write more lyrics for the verses. I hope I get a bit of help and inspiration from my party)
About the style that it should be is like a happy drinking song. So the vocal melody also shouldn’t be too hard. It should be that kind of song drunks can “sing” to. Sea chantie style would also fit into my character because he more or less was raised on a ship.
I had thoughts about looking up the scale for medieval melodies, but am torn between “keep it simple to get something done” and “take your time and make the best possible result”. Writing this question out it seems clearer that I should keep it simple and maybe modify it later when I am more experienced and knowledgable.
For the drumtrack I want something rather simple. Hits on 1 and 3 so my bard can realisticy tap the rythm on his lute when he plays in a single take.
Since it shall be a happy song I’m thinking about a major scale and maybe even a bit ska-like off-beat rythm (syncopation? think that was it). Unsure about the rythm in combination with “one should be able to sing it when drunk”. But major scale for sure and an easy chord progression like root, 4 and 5 sounds like a good point to start. Any tips on how to chose the root note/scale?
Simple Arpeggios for the bass or even just the root note.
Again - thank you for taking your time to help me with this. Hope this post goes more in the direction of exchanging ideas as you mentioned.
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For no real reason at all this is totally reminding me of an early (second generation) MMO called Dark Age of Camelot. The reason is, it’s the one game that did Bards perfectly - you actually twist songs together in the game for different effects.
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I’ve read through my post again and now I’m thinking Pink Flody - Money intro, but instead of a cash register sounds of a smithy.
Like the hammering, cooling iron off in water and stoking the fire or something like that.
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I love this idea for the percussion! Make it something people could easily simulate sitting around a table (either gaming, or tavern…)!
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@Gio
Glad you like the idea, because the idea felt light a light bulb going on. Also got positive feedback on that from another party member.
So I had some time on my hands and went through this thread for inspiration and also wanted to appreciate the work everyone here did, because putting oneself out there alone is something worth praising. I’ll try to get to everyone, but if I miss someone It’s not because I didn’t like it. It’s because I missed writing about it. So if I miss feedback on anyone who posted here feel free to mention it, because I really want to appreciate everyone.
@terb
post-desert-rock: Sounds really fun. Kudos on putting all that together. Also the level you started with is more than high enough, because I wish to me that was low level or easy.
Lizy’s Lamb - Moustache: Nice! I especially like the build up around 3:50 and the drop in volume afterwards. Also the riffs in the end.
@joergkutter
So what: groovy! Couldn’t stop myself from bobbing my head with the beat and it kept being interesting so I wanted to keep on listening. Theory question: The outro - does it end on the root note? Because I kind of wanted to hear that last higher note that was played after the pause before.
Sidenote: I was 2 years old at the time.
Sketches New Jk: It’s still groovy! Found myself more actively listening to that song what is played while the other one I just went with the groove and enjoyed it. Both very good!
@lee_editorial
Cosmic Wave: Very nice. I like that you are willing to publish unfinished things for feedback and also how it got better each iteration.
New Reason: Yep. It’s punk. Sounds nice and the spanish lyrics are a nice touch although I don’t understand a word.My 2 years spanish in school were just as successful as 2 years music in school. So not at all.
And spanish lyrics always make me think of Ska-P, but that’s not punk anymore 
@JT
Bestill: I think there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on there, but my ears aren’t trained enough as well as my knowledge/vocabulary isn’t deep enough to point out what it is. A lot of moments where I was like “huh? what’s happening here?” - not at all in a bad way.
Inner Workings of Madness: Nice! I like it. I don’t know what standard you are talking about. Daft Punk have a recognizable style, but yours is a fully fledged digital dance track in my book.
@DonOnyx
Urban: Really no need to hide yourself Sounds good.
@infra
The Crow Tree - gathering: May be the image, may be the name, but somehow I made a connection to Hitchcock before listening. Anyway - nice atmosphere and the Hitchcock association I had didn’t really disturb the mood of the song.
@TK-421
That’s really cool! Thanks for offering!
Jay Groove: Was already said but it sounds like a nice foundation one can build on. I like it!
continue in next post, because of the 10 user mention limit
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