How to write awesome metal songs, v.3 Lyrics & Vocals

Working on lyrics and vocals for my upcoming record due this December, called "We Don't Know Why We're Here." I segmented this short video into the 5 different steps involved in producing vocals. The Oct. 20 entry at www.KillTheMusic.com is a blog post I wrote to go along with this video and gives a detailed look at this process.

How to write awesome metal songs, v.3 Lyric Writing and Vocals

Lyric Writing and Vocals

I’m new to this actually. I’m a guitarist, not a vocalist. But that has been changing a lot lately. During the past year, with a lot more focus on lyrics and vocals, what follows is a process that seems to work well for me. And as I develop my own techniques and explain them to you, the more I actually learn.

So far, my process is this:

1. Have an idea about what you want to say. You don’t necessarily have to have an entire philosophy or point fully fleshed-out that you want to explain, but at least have an idea or subject. Then when it comes time to actually put words on paper, you’re not shooting in the dark. But then again, from a purely experimental point of view, not knowing what you’ll start writing about before you write might lead to some really creative ideas and phrasing. So just use your best judgement and decide what works best for you. Besides, this process could change with every song.


2. Listen to the song and try to imagine what vocal patterns or phrases might sound good over the music. I find that just having even a basic idea of what should make the song sound right in terms of phrasing, vocal patterns and melody is really important before actually trying to force lyrics over music that may or may not even fit. At this point you may hear that perfect chorus melody and have the perfect rhythm and syllables even without the words yet. And sometimes you might find that those words just simply form out of thin air while listening to the song.


3. This step is really a combination of a couple of steps, depending on how you choose to work. You can do either of two things. You can start putting words on paper, or you can improvise something over the song. Or you can do both, writing some stuff down and improvising the beats and making it fit. What helps me sometimes is to just improvise noises somewhat akin to scat, and then incorporate humming melodies before I write the lyrics, I then have a good idea of how I write the vocal rhythms and such. Usually, I’ll have something written out on paper, and then I’ll attempt to work out the beats.


4. So, about writing those lyrics. No rules here. In fact, there aren’t any rules about any of this. You want your stuff to sound good, and if you prefer—your lyrics to make a point or at least make sense... or no sense. Whatever, man. There’s nothing from keeping you down here. You have free creative license to do what ever you please. I generally like to keep an idea in mind of what I’m thinking or feeling at the time, and I try and focus my lyrics on larger philosophies. Sometimes I write about the meaning of life, sometimes I write about nothing at all—like I just focus on the images and emotions the sounds of the words create, even if they don’t necessarily have the most obvious interpretation of what they mean. I’ve always enjoyed the lyrics of Chino Moreno of the Deftones and Team Sleep in this respect, because his lyrics sometimes can be entirely vague, yet offer lots of imagery and emotional context.


5. Lastly, continue tweaking your words and rhythms, and really analyze the melodies you chose. Make sure they say what you want musically, so you may try a couple different passages for your chorus and/or verse sections and pick the best versions. Sometimes tweaking even one note in a passage may change the entire song. The main thing is to just listen to what the music is trying to convey, and make sure you drive that point home with the right vocal strategy. The voice as a very dynamic instrument. Tons of potential as far as singing and melody goes, but also I like to emphasize the voice as percussive instrument. There is tremendous power in consonants, and depending on the song, carefully choosing what to emphasize in the voice can make a huge difference. But I also think that most of this decision making is made on a subconscious level by the artist, often times on the fly. But it doesn’t hurt to take a second look at what is and see if it can be improved.

Super fast heavy holy shit song

This one isn't entirely finished; it needs an ending. But here's one of the faster songs I've been working on for the upcoming KillTheMusic album (if that'll even be the name, I haven't yet decided). By the way, there will be vocals on all the tracks that will be released. So, it's not a instrumental record. But I might actually include some instrumentals for some artistic flair. You'll see what I've got in mind soon enough.

I'm working on the tabs right now. So check back in a couple days. Thanks!

How to write awesome metal songs, v.2 Riff Writing

This is the second video on how I write metal. This one focuses entirely on the process of writing a riff, and shows some different techniques and practices you can use to enhance your writing process.

How to write awesome metal songs, v.1

The first of a continuing series, the video gives an overview on my writing process, how to write a riff and set up a Pro Tools session. More to follow, soon we'll dive into the knitty-gritty on what makes good metal and how to accomplish it, from choosing the right notes and finding the perfect tone to developing drum parts and structuring the song.

Episode 15 - Advanced Metal Techniques: Progressive full-song arrangements

Episode 15 - Progressive full-song arrangements

Intro
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Episode 14 - Heavy song elements

Episode 13 - Hard, Fast, Heavy, Experimental

Piece of music (or something resembling it) written recently coming out of a strange part of my brain -- a part rushed and contrived, and needing tender love and care. What can I say? It's experimental...

Riff 1.1
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Riff 1.2
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Repeat R1.1
Riff 1.3
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Riff 2
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Riff 3
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Riff 4
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Riff 5
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Solo

Getting there!!!
Check back soon!!

Working on new material in free time

It's hard to say exactly what to call this blog and the material I post here. These are not really guitar lessons, but they do offer perspective. They are pieces of music written for a specific purpose generally to accent a certain style of playing, but don't directly instruct. They are examples. Examples of my approach to writing, to song structure and technique.

I initially set out with this podcast and blog with the intent to post quantity over quality. Though I have hours upon hours, thousands upon thousands of riffs backlogged, every note of music written thus far for the blog has all been new -- and of course always original. Currently I'm working on some new metal song a bit longer than previous posts, the drums taking the longest to perfect (as always).

But what do you think -- those that consistently follow this blog (you know who you are) -- should I post more frequent, short podcasts with only a riff or two? Or should I continue writing full pieces complete with drums and backing tracks? Not that there can't be quality in quantity, but you can damn well guarantee that the more complete stuff sounds way better.

Being back in school, taking more than a full load, I can only do so much; however, I do want to continue offering free and interesting hard rock material.

So, quality or quantity?

Episode 12 - A little shreddy thing

This lick has a Malmsteen-vibe to it, but lacks the neo-classic feel of the last podcast. Played entirely with fast alternate picking, it should help to build speed and act as an example of how to use multiple shredding patterns in scales.

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Episode 11 - A little neoclassicism, a little shred

A short lick with a few runs and some neo-classical style shredding.

Originally listed in iTunes. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel or the KillTheMusic Podcast, or both.

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