Recording April 2022 - 72

FadeOut
When not to co-write
Share the Creativity
Getting Into
Co-writing
Guest Editorial by Aaron J. Trumm
Are you feeling cooped up? Strapped for creative energy? Is
the well of songs running dry? It may be time for a co-write, an
exhilarating time-honored tradition!
For those lone wolf writers out there, co-writing can be a
challenge-you have to know when to not keep an idea to
yourself, but the pluses may outweigh your reticence. Co-writing
can often yield faster results and lead to new creative directions
not yet explored. These past two years may have put a damper
on in-person face-to-face sessions for the co-writing enthusiast,
but there's always the virtual option.
Keep it simple
Creativity aside, the mechanics of writing a song together
can be as simple as grabbing two chairs, a notebook and a
pen, but if you want to record while you're at it, that needn't
be complicated either. You can gather around one or two
mics (even dynamic mics are fine), your trusty two-channel (or
more) USB interface, and a modest computer, smartphone or
tablet. Some USB mics offer two-sided capture, and acoustic
guitars and keyboards can be recorded direct... the point is,
an in-person co-writing session doesn't have to be a full-fledged
recording session to be productive. Plus, you can build on and
replace tracks later (recording to a click can be helpful).
Virtual sessions
Even pre-COVID, remote co-writing sessions were common.
Again, don't let the tech get in the way of creativity. Zoom,
Google and Skype are fine for sitting virtually face-to-face and
kicking ideas back and forth. Share a Google Doc to make
notes, and one or both of you can record the session and share
the files later. Don't worry about a complicated real-time audio
sharing setup or cutting-edge online jamming technology at this
stage-keep it simple!
72 RECORDING April 2022
Co-writing can lead to some fantastic tunes, but it isn't for
everyone or every song. For example, if you've got a piece
that you're super attached to that's just not quite done, it
might be helpful to solicit some outside feedback but finish
it yourself.
Similarly, co-writing may be more stressful than fruitful
if you tend not to play well with others creatively-sometimes
a vision is singular, and that's OK. It's worth it to
try co-writing for a while before you outright decide you
should never do it.
Write with the right partner
A big part of successfully co-writing a song is writing with
the right partner. Maybe you decided co-writing isn't for you
after you tried it with the wrong people. Like any relationship,
it's all about chemistry-finding the perfect writing partner may
take time. You may have a great rapport with somebody, but
that doesn't mean your writing styles will mesh. Even a great
production collaborator may not fare well with you on lyrics
and melody-there needs to be a fit.
More than one way
Traditionally, co-writing meant writing the lyrics and/or
melody together, and then recording the song later. Today,
the lines are blurred. Lyric writers, beatmakers, sound designers,
singers, guitar players, keyboard players and producers
all come together to write a track on which two or more parties
bring what they're great at and share songwriter credit at
the end. It never hurts to have a wide range of collaborative
writing options.
Everybody's equal in the writing room
Finally, make sure you agree upon splits ahead of time.
For the most part, successful writing teams share everything
equally, regardless of who suggested what in the room. In
addition, make sure everyone gets heard and no one dominates;
don't approach a session with a singular vision that
can't be compromised.
No matter how you do it or who you do it with, it's worth
it to try some co-writes. If you haven't, or if you've been on
co-writing hiatus, now's a great time to get back on the collaborative
horse!
Aaron J. Trumm co-writes everything with his evil twin and almost
always has other actual humans involved too. Check him and his
friends out at aarontrumm.com
http://www.aarontrumm.com
Recording April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording April 2022
