Are you a lyricist?

Dean wrote: I initially got others to sing the songs (my original concept for the album was for five different vocalists including myself). The first two sessions went rather well, the singers adapted their vocal style to fit my kind of music and managed to interpret the lyrics as I had envisioned them. When I then tried singing my parts I discovered I didn't like the sound of my own voice very much - I suspect that was due mainly to my not having sung anything since my voice broke some 33 years earlier, but I was singing on-key and the results weren't too embarrassing, thou I would have preferred to rerecord them with someone else singing. The session with the third singer was a disaster and I never could manage to arrange a suitable date for the fourth singer.

It sounds like your vocal ability didn't hold you back in terms of writing lyrics. And that's nice. I suppose I could just write to my voice. Glyn Havard (from my much adored Jade Warrior) always had/has a very limited range not unlike my own. He nevertheless manages to do justice to the fairly eloquent lyrics he's written over the years.

Dean wrote: More than that, I found the whole thing frustrating - I generally work very quickly because as a one-man band I'm in full control of my time and energy and in a very short time span had written all the lyrics and composed 55 minutes of music to accompany them...

I definitely relate to this, being a one-man band of sorts myself too, and very concerned about my time and energy. "Daunting" was the word you used in your blog. I'd likely find some parts of the process of hiring others frustrating too.

Dean wrote: ...but by August I had only recorded half the vocals and in September of 2002, following the disastrous session with the third singer, I put the project on indefinite hold.

mmm...yes, the last thing I would need is another unfinished project.

Dean wrote: Now some 13 years later I'm no longer enthused by the thematic concept of the album so if I were to finish the album I'd re-write most of the lyrics, including those of the two songs that came out okay.

Alas. It sounds like you might have more satisfaction with the instrumental side of that project. I do like what I've heard of your music, incidentally.

Option number two should read instrument(s) for those of us who do it all

HackettFan wrote: It sounds like your vocal ability didn't hold you back in terms of writing lyrics. And that's nice. I suppose I could just write to my voice.

And what the hell.  I'll be a singer in this poll. 

I play an instrument, sing, and write lyrics.

Epignosis wrote: I had always been uncomfortable writing lyrics. Not anymore.  Age gives you experience, which gives you perspective, which colors your voice. What I'm writing now feels more genuine than anything I've written before- that's not to imply that previous things were not genuine, far from it.  It's just that now I don't have to try so hard.

This has a real ring of truth to it. I don't write lyrics, but I do come up with topics for lyrics quite readily and quite unlike when I was younger.

Epignosis wrote: And what the hell. I'll be a singer in this poll.

That's two now.

Edited by HackettFan - August 31 2015 at 22:37

I used to write words and music, but I can't sing for  . But in all honesty, I've never written one decent song, mostly because I did not have a grasp on the songwriting basics (lyrical theme, melody, refrain, chord progressions, etc.).

Edited by Dayvenkirq - August 31 2015 at 23:52

progaardvark wrote: HackettFan wrote: progaardvark wrote: HackettFan wrote: I play an instrument, but I've only written one lyric: I found myself gazing at a hippopotamus He was a whole lot larger than a lot of us But he seemed rather tame So I asked him his name He preferred to remain anonymous   Funny you should write about a hippopotamus. I've also tackled the hippopotamus... https://superluminalpachyderm.bandcamp.com/track/hippopotamus   I write lyrics, sing, and compose music on computer using a combination of samples and software synths. I can't play an instrument per se, but I have used them to produce soundscapes relevant to what I was composing. My guitar soloing is atrocious, but with sound editing software I can turn it into something slightly more interesting.   The above track is one of those rare ones where I had a guest guitarist and vocalist. Both guests dramatically improved the track. My music is strictly a hobby. Super Luminal Pachyderm genetic poo I enjoyed this truly. The vocal sounded like a mixture of Amon Düül II and Frank Zappa. You had what seems to represent the sound of a rhino at the beginning. Do they really sound something like that, or is it how you imagine it? I'm reminded now of Adrian Belew's song, Sexy Rhino. He made up a rhino sound on the guitar and later found out they sound nothing like what he thought.   Not having ever heard what a rhino sounds like, I'd have to say maybe not. Miles Walsh did the guitar work, so I'd have ask him what he was thinking of at the time. The two of us never discussed the idea of the song, though we did spend much time talking about poop craters. I had a basic track in place with a rough guide vocal and sent it to him and he came up with all the guitar parts in about a week. We mostly discussed the positioning of them and the mix.   I would describe my lyrics as a helicopter without rotors operated by a large lasagna.

Absurd and surreal, you have a way with words that entertains the hell out of me.

HackettFan wrote: Absurd and surreal, you have a way with words that entertains the hell out of me.

I play some instruments and I don't write lyrics nor sing, but I don't care much about lyrics