I tend to record these things the day I come up with them, and am not such a good player that I am flawless on something I haven’t played much. But this way I don’t forget them when I do come back. Time signatures are something I need to dive into more, they confuse me. Lol.
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Nice slapping and poppin @kerushlow,
Cheers Brian
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Kinda nice as well @kerushlow,
The last 30 seconds were the nicest section to my ears, a bit more space in your playing 
Cheers Brian
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Hello everyone!
I was fiddling around on my keyboard today and came up with a nice little lick and decided to try to flesh it out into a song! So it’s still very much a work in progress but this is what I’ve got so far. I used a generic drum beat, but recorded myself playing piano, bass, and trombone using Garage Band and my computer speakers so it’s not very polished haha but it’s enough for my purposes of just messing around. I will admit that I cheated and used loops! Also I haven’t seriously played trombone in years so the trombone part is not the best!
Anyway, I’d love to hear what people think and any feedback! I want to come up with something different so it’s not just the same thing over and over but I like what it sounds like so far. This is my first time every trying to write a song and record myself so don’t expect a masterpiece haha and I am open to any advice!
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@dmp Interesting. So funny enough it has a quality to it that can actually be eerie with the right application. Watch the movie Ravenous and listen to the tracks compared to what’s happening. It adds a ton to the movie! Advice? Decide what instrument you want to steal the show. At this point it is the horn (or simulation of one on keyboard) but it takes more than halfway through the song to get there. You built a good canvas with the bass, drums and keys, and it’s asking for a lead melody to take us somewhere. You start to get there late in the song. Bring that in sooner and focus the song around it.
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Ok another one. I come up with several things a week so have a ton. This one is an old one that keeps coming back, finally added a piece and it’s coming out nice! Wonder what guitars and vocals could go to it…
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Nice funk vibe - keys could sound really cool with this
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That’s a good start, @dmp! I think what you need to look into is how to get away from the 2 chords that you go back and forth in between. Nothing per se wrong with that, but you need to bring in some variety. So, let’s say what you have is the “verse” part of the song. Now, you need at least a “chorus” part, and ideally also a “bridge” part to break the mold, and easily extend this to 3-4 minutes without sounding repetitive (and thus potentially a bit boring) 
@kerushlow: you are a fountain of ideas 
I dig the first riff especially - funky cool! The whole thing (for me) has a bit of a Red Hot Chili Peppers vibe about it… so, for the guitar and vocals you might want to get some inspiration there. E.g., a bit like the song “Walkabout”, if you know that!?!
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Yeah, I was thinking Chili Peppers for sure (Flea and Claypool we’re why I chose bass), but I wonder if there would be a way to fuse it with some overdriven guitar and gritty vocals. Maybe no way to make that work, but would be cool to make a different sound. I have about 300 or so recorded riffs and counting.
This one I’ll probably never use or be able to replicate. 8 layers on my looper and six string.
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Thank you for the advice! Yes exactly I have to mix it up a little more, I was so excited to have come up with something at all that I was like “let me just loop this 30 times and share it out” haha but yeah I’ve gotta come up with a chorus and bridge.
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Thanks for the advice! I agree, it takes a little too long to get to the main melody so I could probably just start with the keys and bass together and then bring in the horn much earlier.
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Check out this book The Addiction Formula. Not great for if you are just making art for yourself, but if you want to understand why you love the songs you do love he explains a good formula that can help in constructing your songs
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It’s pretty varied. Bring bass riffs to band, jam it, see if it jives. But my band members come up with stuff too, and I have to find the bass parts to it. I highly recommend getting a Zoom B3n multi effect pedal. Has 90 different “effects” has maybe 40 drum beats on a drum machine and a built in looper with unlimited layers. The combination of different drum beats (can adjust tempo too) and effects really opens up creating. Then throw in putting it on a loop and you learn to make melodies/leads over an existing track. This helps playing with others too!
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Yeah, the B3n is great. And its 3-pedal UI fixes the minor clunkiness issue of using the smaller units. I just ignored all the preset patches on mine and made my own pedal chains out of the effects. The individual effects are great.
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Yeah it’s great for the money…I want to get the boss RC300 loop station, but it is pricey. For practice purposes though the B3n is like $150 and is great. Built in pedal tuner too.
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Yeah it’s really not that much more than the B1four and it is much nicer to use.
My only gripe was they got rid of the audio interface and DI out when upgrading the B3. Should have kept those, it would be the only thing anyone needed for entry level recording if they had.
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You wouldn’t happen to have a link by any chance?? 
I have it on Audible (which is cool to have audio examples)
I’m listening to The Addiction Formula by Friedemann Findeisen, narrated by Friedemann Findeisen on my Audible app. Try Audible and get it here: https://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B076X388MP&source_code=ASSORAP0511160006
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@joergkutter
The easy way : https://holistic-songwriting.com/
Get Friedemanns free stuf as well. Just click through and you’ll find all the info.
Highly recommented 
been using it, have besides his book done several small courses and bought the deck.
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Interesting, thanks! There truly IS a webpage for everything
However, my eyes glaze over when I read blurbs like this: " Now a bestseller! Captivate any audience with these 317 psychological songwriting techniques."
317??!?! 
But… will check it out some more for sure!
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