Songwriting forum

I'm not a MOD but I wanted to chime in too. I have noticed the same thing because I am quick to post my song out there but I find myself saying "I'll get back to review that one tonight" and then it never happens.

Making mental note to make it happen more often.

Jim

We are all guilty of that Jim

I read a song there Monday and only got back to it today at work

I can't remember the last time I posted anything in there.....at one time I'd post maybe 2-3 songs a week, and try and critique other peoples songs as well.....with me, I think it's just one of those things, I can find time for the SSG or the Songwriter's Forum, but not both....

Teleplayer posted something along these lines a while ago - must have been at least a year or 18 months back....it is a neglected forum in some ways.....maybe if some of us SSG regulars dropped in there a bit more often, made sure every song got looked at and got some feedback?

:D :D :D

Vic

This is what I mean Vic ..

I've seen John , Paul and Pete { reincarnate } in there but only now and then if you know what I mean ..

I think everyone should try and make that forum work a bit better , once a week just pop in and critique a song that has no replies ...

Vic you know what its like to pour yur heart into a song and then wait for replies .... Well in that forum it happens every day almost songs posted no replies ...people will ignore it soon and not bother with song writing ..

I know I was a little put off when I joined SSG as you guys are very good , but people like me just want to write a song and get some sort of acknowledgement tht someone in this world took 5 minutes of their day to pop in and say something about it ..Such as hey you have the bones of very good song here just watch your meters ....blah blah ..

Its very reassuring that it wasn't a waste of time ...

I've had my say ...now climbs off soap box .... waves to angry crowd ...thens runs ....

My problem is that I don't have anything to say. If people would work out there songs and post them in the 'hear here' part I'd gladly give critique. But just the lyrics won't have me say anything usefull whatsoever. What about an actual songwriting forum, instead of lyrics-writing? It seems plenty of people wouldn't mind some help adding music to their lines...

My problem is that I don't have anything to say. If people would work out there songs and post them in the 'hear here' part I'd gladly give critique. But just the lyrics won't have me say anything usefull whatsoever. What about an actual songwriting forum, instead of lyrics-writing? It seems plenty of people wouldn't mind some help adding music to their lines...

+1 to that.

I spent some time checking the songwriting forum about a year ago and - to blunt - it was mostly half done rubbish. There were hardly any actually songs there, mostly a bunch of teenage angst 'poems' - and bad ones at that. It was like reading the same thing over and over in a different arrangement until your eyeballs rolled back in your head...

If people posted stuff that really were songs in progress, not just "my deep thoughts" in bogus lyric form, and then made some sort of effort to take them through the rest of the process, then I'm sure they'd get more interest.

How about a bit more direction? Pin a sticky with stuff like this in it:

Honestly, this place sometimes reminds me more of a grannies' knitting and gossip morning than a place to bring serious attempts at making music. :P And I have been a serial offender. I am going to join "Wafflers Anonymous" this year and try and change from playing "hot air guitar" on the net into playing real guitar.

But maybe the laid back amateur style and atmosphere is what's wanted here though? Maybe people prefer to potter about chatting and sort of half do stuff in a lazy sort of way? That's cool too if it's the preferred style. 8)

But if people are serious about getting decent results, perhaps we should get a bit more organised and professional about how we do it. Technology has moved on a lot in the last few years. There are huge opportunities for us to share and collaborate more effectively on line if we want to. Many people already do. :) I believe that it's simple to do, and would pay dividends, but what I think doesn't matter a darn if it's not what is wanted by others.

Cheers,

Chris

EDIT: In case I've offended any current posters in that forum I was referring to reading there a year ago. Maybe I hit bad patch, and the stuff is good there now.

Back then, there was pretty much nothing there that could have been called a song. I do recognise bad poetry from having written so much of it myself. :oops: I came across a book last week that I apparently won for The School Prize Poem for 1963 - I bet I wouldn't want that poem shown in public if I still had it now... :wink:

Honestly, this place sometimes reminds me more of a grannies' knitting and gossip morning than a place to bring serious attempts at making music.

True, but compared with other guitarsites GN is still amazingly much about actual music. We don't have weekly 'tube vs digital' flamewars, we rarely talk about our favourite Jimi Hendrix dress and we haven't even did a 'who has the most tubes in his amp' contest as far as I know.

GN is for everyone, including beginners like us. And everyone has different goals and expectations. But somtimes I somewhat fear the friendly and kind GN atmosphere might have people forget how far they can actually get themselves. It's cool if you're happy with knowing four chords, but it's even cooler if you're going to try the fifth as well. I think GN is unique in that basically every single member here seems to be into helping people and being kind to others instead of going on blunt ego trips. That's fantastic. But I think at times things could be a little bit more to the point and precise.

But then again, last I heared Nick and his gang don't enforce a non-serious policy so if we feel more should be to the point then we should start doing just that. And if others want to hang back and talk sidestuff then they can do that as well, there's enough webspace for both. :D

Anyway, sorry for the off-topicness.

I have to say I'm very guilty as I started out in the SSG a few years ago but have became a slug as far as song writing over the last year :oops: Maybe the Hear Here section is the best place to post your songs since now most song writers at GN tend to record their songs anyway :wink: Maybe we should include that section ( Hear Here) for songwriters also since that is already a big part of it anyway :wink:--ken

Problem with that Ken is and you said it

" Most " not all :cry: :cry:

Where would the writers who don't record post ?

I know I don't like to try and murder all my songs that I write , ,,,,,

"Sleutelbos " said it best with this statement

GN is for everyone, including beginners like us.

Trevor

True, but compared with other guitarsites GN is still amazingly much about actual music. We don't have weekly 'tube vs digital' flamewars, we rarely talk about our favourite Jimi Hendrix dress and we haven't even did a 'who has the most tubes in his amp' contest as far as I know.

Yes that's true. I'm sure I sound a bit cynical about some of this at times, but I'm really trying to galvanise myself into a bit more action and a bit less talk. I've been a prime offender at not following through far enough on my musical undertakings. :oops:

I think that there is an underlying philosophy at Guitarnoise to keep it fairly low key, and even a bit "old fashioned" if that's the word. And that's fair enough too. I think that there's probably a reluctance to change stuff too much in case it does end up like the places you mention - full of abusive airheads. A bit like modernising your favourite pub for apparently "good" reasons, but ruining the charm and attracting the wrong customers in the process... :cry:

Anyway, I've got a busy few days coming up so good luck with your quest to get a bit more interaction happening Hilch, I mean Trev... umm sorry Barnabus.. :wink:

Cheers,

Chris

I generally spend most of my time in SSG and only very occasionally go into the Songwriters Forum. And so I'm really unaware of most of the authors in that community. In SSG as a general rule I will critique any song that is posted in the same week as I have posted, unless that author never gives me feedback in which case I don't bother. It seems to me that I can't expect anybody to review my stuff if I'm not prepared to do the same for them. I've always believed that, that was an unwritten rule. So really I think its up to the participants of the Songwriting Forum to work at building that community by actively giving and taking feedback. Everyone regardless of their ability likes to be acknowledged, and everybody regardless of their ability is capable of having an opinion. In the last week there have been 10 contributions to that forum, there should be at least 9 replies to each one of them. I think in the long term a forum will only survive with active voluntary participation.

Paul

I read both 'Hear here' and the SSG often, but I only comment if something really jumps out at me. I'm not comfortable commenting on things that I'm indifferent about (or even don't like) unless I have a suggestion that might be useful, which is fairly rare :wink:
I think that there's probably a reluctance to change stuff too much in case it does end up like the places you mention - full of abusive airheads.
Probably, and probably a good move too. I know I wouldn't read if I had to filter out the kind of rubbish you get on YouTube comments, for instance.