Re: Do you aim to please (in composing?)

On Feb 21, 3:04 am, DeeAa <de...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Just for discussion's sake.

I made a song a little while back, and a friend remarked it 'was good
but too much of a hit song'.

I stopped composing it further. Begun thinking once again how funny it
is that it is so strange how, as a composer, I like most people I
know, kind of strive for that elusive goal of making music that would
be appealing to many people - I mean, what's the point of making stuff
nobody likes - but at the same time viciously shunning the idea of
making a 'hit' song.

It just feels like it'd be selling out to make songs that would have
that 'instant appeal.'

You know what I mean. All you need to do a great poprock hit for
instance is lock into a nice groove with D, C, G etc. and play a happy
catchy melody on top, and thrown in some nice vox and then it's just a
matter of getting a pretty and marketable presenter for it, and voila.

So where does the border lie therein? It's very hard to define, isn't
it? Sometimes you just make a song that has that great catchy
progression, and you just have to throw in some dim chords and maybe
add an obtrusive or aggressive passage, so it won't be too 'sellout'.

It's like this band I know, they got a recording contract with this
great demo, which had like 8 songs and 4 of those were really catchy.
I saw them live a year after that, and shouted for one of those songs
from the audience and the singer said into the mike: 'sorry we sold
those songs to other bands, they were too fucking commercial'. And the
crowd went wild with YEAAAHHH! Keep it real guys! etc. And now they
have this fanatic following, but remain very obscure to the great
public. I'd prefer that to fame, would you?

On the other hand, it's often somehow OK to make hit songs too as long
as they're not completely 'hit' and include decidedly non-hit parts
etc...making 'em sort of mockery of the whole idea of a 'hit'.

Like that BYOB song by System of Down - a really great tune bordering
of being too 'hit'. But just saved by having those aggre parts that
are basically saying : this ain't no hit crap tune, man! to the
listener. I can dig that. or 'Artschool Girl' by Stone
temple...excellent hit, but saved by that throat-destroying punk part
from becoming a hit.

Anyway, maybe this is an interesting issue for people here? (too much
spare time @ work here...:-)

Cheers,

Dee

Hi ya Dee...

I think you're really overanalyzing this. To begin with, most of us
desire the approval of our peers... that's pretty much a given. But
for you to put the kibosh on something you obviously had an affinity
for just to appease this guy kinda compromises your integrity a bit,
right? Ideas... good, interesting ideas, come along so seldom that
trashing them to please anyone other than yourself is sorta self
defeating. I'm not saying that the opinions of others don't matter,
but writing is way too personal to allow outside influences to
contradict your ideals. Either you're capable of writing a "hit" or
you're not. And if you're not, who really cares? Writing is magic....
the process of creating something out of nothing is damn near
impossible to define.

Besides all that, all "hits" are not created equal. Gazillion sellers
in this day and age are, for the most part, crafted (to say nothing of
subjective). On the other hand there is room in the musical indie
world for thousands of great songwriters. People like Ryan Adams, Jack
Johnson, Greg Brown, Tom Waits... the list is endless, write
remarkable songs that probably don't have much in the way of mass
appeal. Then again, that's a function of our present socio/musical
landscape. Does that make the music any less important? I don't think
so.

What pleases you musically? That's first and foremost. Otherwise
you're just crafting.

Does this idea have a potential audience? Maybe, maybe not... it's up
to you to decide how far you want to go in tailoring your creations
into a viable, consumable product. If you even want to at all.

Now that this magical piece of an idea has been married to a spectrum
of potential consumers, what do I do with it? Well, you do what all
writers do... you find buyers.

And that's the toughest part I guess. But the fact that there are so
many independent labels out there, and places on the internet to
accomodate songwriters, makes the practice a lot easier than it was
even 10 years ago.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, if I were you I wouldn't waste
much effort thinking about how to tailor my songs for mass
consumption. Your songs say exactly what you intend them to say.
Unless you have a gigantic jones to write the next zillion seller you
should play the hand you've got. There's a definable market for
talent, period. I just can't recommend compromising your musical
integrity to acheive some pie in the sky ideal based on the
perceptions of others.

Please keep in mind that what I've written here is based on my knowing
your music very well. I'm a big fan Dee. I wish you all the luck in
the world. I'd just hate to see you flame out without getting at least
a piece of the action. Don't think about it so much. I get a headache
just thinking about you thinking about it.

Good luck....

Lewis
.