• Should musicians write their own music?
    114 replies, posted
Talented composers often hire talented vocalists to sing their pieces (or the vocalist expresses interest in singing an unproduced song) Sometimes the vocalist writes the lyrics afterwords or they hire someone to do that for them/collaborate -- or the piece comes with lyrics already. Either way, I find it even more impressive when a vocalist can write decent music (while being a great singer/instrument performer) but it doesn't always come in pairs. edit: I just hate to see ultra-famous youtube hyped retards who get signed to a record label who cannot write or sing properly.
[QUOTE=Pal13;33026972]"Write" means "create" in the context of that sentence. Also songwriting is an art and skill.[/QUOTE] True.
Soulja Boi probably writes his own songs. I hope.
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33028022]Soulja Boi probably writes his own songs. I hope.[/QUOTE] Why would it make a difference? It's not like the songs would sound different based on your own knowledge of him writing the songs or not.
[QUOTE=LarparNar;33028913]Why would it make a difference? It's not like the songs would sound different based on your own knowledge of him writing the songs or not.[/QUOTE] Because you need to be either really lazy or really stupid to have someone write such lyrics for you.
Oh. I wouldn't know, haven't heard much of his music.
[QUOTE=LarparNar;33029031]Oh. I wouldn't know, haven't heard much of his music.[/QUOTE] One song is quite enough really.
Sometimes covers can be better than the original track, or maybe just a new musical perspective of said tune. Listen to The Bad Plus version of Aphex Twins - Flim. Really awesome stuff. On the other you have the horrid cover of ACDC's Back in Black by Anastacia and Celine Dion. I feel that with the original artists consent, a musician or a band should be allowed to cover tunes, although originals may be the best way to get yourself known(and to show your own musicality and composing).
Alestorm's you are a pirate cover is awesome.
[QUOTE=Pal13;33022571]You're doing it all wrong. The definition of "artist", and what you think an ideal artist is or should be, are separate things.[/QUOTE] I don't understand how you could have pulled that idea from what I wrote. I'm not talking about what an ideal artist should be, I'm talking about what an artist is at its foundations. You can't just leave the definition of artist as "a person who creates art" because that's a fuck off shallow definition that actually raises more questions than it answers. From there you have to question what art is, what creativity is, etc, before you can come to a real answer as to what an artist should be defined as. Also might note that if you want to use the wiki definition, the person who 'creates' the art is the person who writes it, not the person who performers it. There's a line between artist and performer. [QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33022614]Acting is art, it's been art since greek times and before. Actually often they are given a personality that they have to act out. Also musicians aren't given a personality either when they are given lyrics. You can sing the same lyrics either slow and sad or you can rock them. That in itself is expressing you/your stage character. Not all art has to be expression of yourself. Was Mona Lisa artist's expression about himself? Probably not.[/QUOTE] Actor's a performers, not artists. That's not to say there's no artistry in being an actor because obviously there is, and a lot of people have performing down to an artform, but its a different kind of art then the one being discussed in this thread. [QUOTE=Aljaud2;33024866]I think musicians should create their own music, but I'm not against the creation or arrangement of music for other musicians to perform. Hell, if you are a shitty musician, but have a great mind for composition, and you just want to sell your piece of music to a band, I have nothing against that. I don't even care if it's shitty music, people will listen to what they like.[/QUOTE] The shitty musician should get more credit for what he writes.
It's not nearly as cut-and-dry as that in my opinion - often it's easy to tell apart a song where the artist was either the songwriter [I]or heavily involved with the songwriting process[/I] - for instance, "Paradise" by Coldplay - and songs where the artist has just been told to sing a generic song [I]or wasn't bothered in the first place[/I] (I'm looking at you, Ke$ha - Tik Tok is a carbon copy of "Tthhee Ppaarrttyy" by Justice). The same could be said of rap music. Most rappers (if not all) write their lyrics. But often the music is a) created by someone else, b)stolen wholesale from another song, usually a classic one, or c) just a bassline. But take "Stay Awake" by Example, a song that was crafted both in words and music by the artist to produce an interesting fusion of song, rap, dubstep and dance - and you'll see how much of an improvement it makes. To conclude, it's not who writes the music, it's if the [I]soul[/I] is there.
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33027255]Did Beethoven even play his own pieces?[/QUOTE] yes he absolutely did. he was a very talented pianist.
It's not very often when fantastic musicians are also fantastic song writers. It would be good, but if we still want great music we'll have to settle for musicians getting their songs written for them. that doesn't matter though, I enjoy them all either way.
it's really sad how a lot of musicians try to portray themselves as all ~deep~ and **depressed** when their entire fucking image has been made up purposefully to market themselves as something they're not they're not even expressing their real feelings, they're just getting some sap to write some half baked, bitchy lyrics on a sheet of paper, then singing it as if they made it good example: [B]MR KNOW IT ALL[/B] by Kelly Clarkson [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C_oNMH0GTk[/media] really deep, right? i mean, the song, at least from the music video, is obviously about the pressure that the media has been placing on kelly! look at how deep and raw and - GENUINE it is, i bet she wrote it herself- [B]Writers [/B] Brian Seals, Ester Dean, Brett James, Dante Jones OH WELL WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT seriously, it's all a bunch of fucking noise just to sell us some soppy trash. the recording industry is taking some of the most genuine emotions a human being can experience and systematically turning them into mass produced commercial garbage, all for a quick goddamn buck. welcome to the fucking industry
but much of motown wasn't written by the singers and that was still deep and raw
[QUOTE=Mon;33035394]it's really sad how a lot of musicians try to portray themselves as all ~deep~ and **depressed** when their entire fucking image has been made up purposefully to market themselves as something they're not they're not even expressing their real feelings, they're just getting some sap to write some half baked, bitchy lyrics on a sheet of paper, then singing it as if they made it good example: [B]MR KNOW IT ALL[/B] by Kelly Clarkson really deep, right? i mean, the song, at least from the music video, is obviously about the pressure that the media has been placing on kelly! look at how deep and raw and - GENUINE it is, i bet she wrote it herself- [B]Writers [/B] Brian Seals, Ester Dean, Brett James, Dante Jones OH WELL WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT seriously, it's all a bunch of fucking noise just to sell us some soppy trash. the recording industry is taking some of the most genuine emotions a human being can experience and systematically turning them into mass produced commercial garbage, all for a quick goddamn buck. welcome to the fucking industry[/QUOTE] So what? Do you think all these countless artists who sing about love sing about themselves or their experiences? Even beatles probably don't do that. Music is like acting, you get into a role and then perform it, all your songs don't have to be expressions of yourself only, if it was music would become boring as shit. Music isn't about expressing yourself, it's about telling a story through a song. Be it a superhero or a pirate or a generic love story, but still a story. Sure it can be about yourself, but it doesn't have to be. I once read in the news where some writer(book, not song) wrote a sad story in first person and everyone later was outraged when they found out it wasn't about him. Jeez.
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33036519]So what? Do you think all these countless artists who sing about love sing about themselves or their experiences? Even beatles probably don't do that. Music is like acting, you get into a role and then perform it, all your songs don't have to be expressions of yourself only, if it was music would become boring as shit. [b]Music isn't about expressing yourself[/b], it's about telling a story through a song. Be it a superhero or a pirate or a generic love story, but still a story. Sure it can be about yourself, but it doesn't have to be. I once read in the news where some writer(book, not song) wrote a sad story in first person and everyone later was outraged when they found out it wasn't about him. Jeez.[/QUOTE] Are you fucking serious?
[QUOTE=killerteacup;33036601]Are you fucking serious?[/QUOTE] Let me fix that: Music isn't only about expressing yourself. There.
[QUOTE=KitAlexHarrison;33031187] To conclude, it's not who writes the music, it's if the [I][B]soul[/B][/I] is there.[/QUOTE] Very true, give this man a round of applause. [editline]30th October 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33036519] Music isn't only about expressing yourself, it's about telling a story through a song.[/QUOTE] Wouldn't that be expressing yourself about a story you want to tell? [editline]30th October 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33028948]write [B]such lyrics[/B] for you.[/QUOTE] What's the point of saying that? Is it just trying to insult hip hop music or pop music in general?
[QUOTE=AK'z;33038331] Wouldn't that be expressing yourself about a story you want to tell? [/QUOTE] If that story is not yours or about you, probably not, because you are not expressing yourself but the character. [QUOTE=AK'z;33038331] What's the point of saying that? Is it just trying to insult hip hop music or pop music in general?[/QUOTE] If hip hop or pop artists can't write "sum bitchin lyrics" then yeah.
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33038437] If hip hop or pop artists can't write "sum bitchin lyrics" then yeah.[/QUOTE] Fair enough with pop artists but you generalising hip hop just tells me you know nothing about hip hop at all. [editline]30th October 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33038437]If that story is not yours or about you, probably not, because you are not expressing yourself but the character. [/QUOTE] But what if the character was a symbol of something in the person's life? You can't just say that because it isn't saying "I" that it isn't a commentary about something in that someone's life. Neil Young and Bob Dylan have written many a lyric that isn't obviously personal, but there is no much to read into that they could be about themselves. Or it could be all lies who knows.
The performance and delivery of a song is just as creative as the writing of it
[QUOTE=DaveP;33038805]The performance and delivery of a song is just as creative as the writing of it[/QUOTE] handshake.
[QUOTE=AK'z;33038480]Fair enough with pop artists but you generalising hip hop just tells me you know nothing about hip hop at all. [/QUOTE] True, most hip hop artists are just puppets and are told to sing what they are handed to. Not their fault. If it's not like that, then why the hell do you need a writer to write some cuss words for you to sing? I'm pretty sure any performer could think at least on that level. [QUOTE=AK'z;33038480] But what if the character was a symbol of something in the person's life? You can't just say that because it isn't saying "I" that it isn't a commentary about something in that someone's life. Neil Young and Bob Dylan have written many a lyric that isn't obviously personal, but there is no much to read into that they could be about themselves. Or it could be all lies who knows.[/QUOTE] I never said it can never be artist's expression, but it not always is. Also DaveP wins the argument.
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33039297]some cuss words [/QUOTE] Again, I don't like your generalising of a genre of music. :( It's like saying Punk Rock is only about anarchy. But if we're talking about the generic things, then yes... it's pointless. [editline]30th October 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33039297] I never said it can never be artist's expression, but it not always is. [/QUOTE] In some way or another, it kind of is. Think about it.
[QUOTE=AK'z;33039354]Again, I don't like your generalising of a genre of music. :( It's like saying Punk Rock is only about anarchy. But if we're talking about the generic things, then yes... it's pointless. [/QUOTE] I am not talking about a genre of music, I am talking about current/past mainstream aka Soulja Boi. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I do not listen to hip pop or hop so I can't really judge the entire genre, but I can judge the mainstream because that's what I hear I want to or not. [QUOTE=AK'z;33039354] In some way or another, it kind of is. Think about it.[/QUOTE] But not writing your own script does not strip you of your expression.
[QUOTE=killerteacup;33031020]I don't understand how you could have pulled that idea from what I wrote. I'm not talking about what an ideal artist should be, I'm talking about what an artist is at its foundations. You can't just leave the definition of artist as "a person who creates art" because that's a fuck off shallow definition that actually raises more questions than it answers. From there you have to question what art is, what creativity is, etc, before you can come to a real answer as to what an artist should be defined as.[/QUOTE] That's all superfluous and irrelevant. You're confused. Defining is not actual philosophizing. (I must admit adding the definition of artist in my first post was a mistake.) The question is whether musicians and recording artists should create the music they perform or publish. To debate the question you have to define the terms "musician", "recording artist", and "music". Defining "artist", and debating "What constitutes art / music?" and "What is creativity?" is unnecessary. [QUOTE=killerteacup;33031020]Also might note that if you want to use the wiki definition, the person who 'creates' the art is the person who writes it, not the person who performers it. There's a line between artist and performer.[/QUOTE] [Says you can't use a definition. Proceeds to define it.]
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33039626] I can judge the mainstream because that's what I hear I want to or not. [/QUOTE] Not sure if I understand that. Are you forced to listen to the radio?
[QUOTE=AK'z;33043238]Not sure if I understand that. Are you forced to listen to the radio?[/QUOTE] Yes. Going to a shop it plays mainstream, going to school it plays mainstream, sitting in a bus, someone plays mainstream. So yes I am.
Music doesn't always need to tell a story. If you listen to jazz(without vocalists) it's about more or less pure expression. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkewiFES7vI[/media] A lot of expression and people playing out their souls. You can go even further and listen to free jazz, which is 95% expression.
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