Friday, December 02, 2011

Songwriting

I have been working with my Songpal this afternoon; I showed her how to use Garageband to record and guitar and vocal track. All computer programmes can be difficult, but Garageband can also be easy and I hope I showed her this.
I have worked out the mysterious chords to a song that she had recorded a while ago; because I'm not 100% sure what they are called but I know what shapes they are, she photographed my hand on the fretboard so that she can copy them.
Music-making is weird; it is often dominated by people who have names for sounds and shapes and rhythms. The thing is, it existed before these systems of naming did, and it is possible to write a lot of it while bypassing the labels.
Songpal's first song to send was recorded as a Voice Memo and texted to me. That worked fine for us, and didn't involve any leads, wires, manuals or stress. It feels a bit like slipping under the radar, and it's definitely quick!

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