Ah, let me try to clarify. As far as 'writing' music (notation, tabs or reading same) I've never learned - never needed to. I've been playing guitar, bass & drums since about 15, been in the usual classic rock, country & Top40/wedding bands over the years, quitting about 14 years ago due to my back.
I wrote my first country song around 16 and have been writing songs off & on since then using whatever recording equipment I could find to record my tunes with. I've never been one to 'want to be a rock star' or really ever intended to seriously 'shop' my tunes. That's not what's important to me.
For me, music & songwriting is like an expensive hobby (or drug?). I have the songs or song ideas I create and my book collection (I have to read everynight before I fall asleep, another bad habit I suppose..;>)
There's no ulterior motive behind my music, i'm still learning how to take what I hear in my head and 'get it down' on tape (i'm old so I can still call it tape...;>)
Aquiring the synth has enabled me access to many other sound palettes and start moving away from the guitar as my main instrument (a good or bad decision that's still under investigation) and given me a desire to look closer at orchestration - the structure and meaning for the qty of all the instruments - probably not a good thing for a musically illiterate musician...;>)
I'm getting more concerned/interested about the individual instruments of an orchestra and how to fit those into my songs rather than just 'insert' a preset string ensemble in the background (i AM guilty of that to be sure) and even attempting to use piano, once anathema to my cellar band roots...;>)
For me it's not about getting a perfect recording. I've read many similar forum posts where an artist either asks for an opinion about the song but gets critiqued about the recording. They are two wholly different things (I'm not complaing here, just pointing out my own opinion...;>)
Whether the recording is a simple vox & guitar/piano or a full band - the 'song' should be there and be heard. I've heard many crummy recordings online with bad vox, thin mono coffee can recorded sounds and plenty of bad playing but i ignore that (as best I can - who says mine are any better?) and try to hear the song the artist is presenting.
If someone complains about a crappy recording of a pop or clip at a certain point in the song or how a mix could be better, to me their not listening to the song. It's like trying to compare a blues recording from the 50's to a Dream Theatre recording from today, yet no-one's complaining about the crappy sounding old stuff that is still being played on radio today on weekend blues programs. People still love the 'songs' and overlook the recording - recordings which sound like crap compared to what can be done today in a living room.
As far as me posting my own tunes here - I did warn you that my playing was sad, as in a sad attempt to play the keyboard. I never asked for opinions on the recording...;>)
As to why i write songs? Why does a painter paint? Why does a writer write? Why does a fisherman fish? Is there some secret desire to be acclaimed by others or perhaps just looking for advice on how to improve ones skill in a certain area of interest? Who knows...
We are communal creatures at heart (hmm, sounds like a song title...)
As for saying you can't write - I truly don't believe that. Everyone has some form of song ability inside - besides, your here so you have some form of 'musical interest/investment'. If by 'you can't write' that you mean you don't know how to read/write notation, don't let that stop you... look at me (probably NOT the best of examples!!!).
Here's another example using my sorry arse; I'm not a writer, yet i sat down one day back in 2005 and wrote a musical comedy stageplay that my kids high school drama teacher loved and the drama club performed. The story writing was easy (I wrote something I liked first, never worrying about whether anyone else would, the same as i do with my songs), then I spent almost 2 years learning about proper script formatting, rewriting it and condensing it, clarifying it, sharpening it, etc. as I researched and learned more 'about' a script. It was performed in 2007, now it seems that every 'new' song idea I have I can 'see' it as part of a story on stage.
Perhaps it's a new form of inspiration, or a curse. But the desire to create new music is there if for no other reason than needing to eat when I'm hungry. Sometimes i'll hear 2-3 notes from a tv commercial and be inspired and have to run into (limp really, I can't run anymore) the studio (it's really a small spare bedroom) and flesh out this almost fully formed chord progression i now have rolling endlessly around in my head. Hearing harmonies and companion riffs of other instruments. I've got tons of ideas, minutes long - recorded awaiting to be fully fleshed out on my recording deck and many more on cassettes from previous decades. Selfish jams with a drum machine or 4-8 bars of a simple riff that won't be denied...
it's a CURSE i tell ya!
-Jim
