Songwriting And Music Software Bits And Bytes Blog

Dec 7, Music Writing Software.

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:21:08 GMT

Learn about music writing software from lead sheet based to composition oriented programs to help both songwriters and musicians learn how to write music.

Dec 7, Writing Lyrics or Composing Music: Which Comes First?

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:57:39 GMT

Writing lyrics and composing music can be done differently for each songwriter. If you want to be a songwriter, the first thing you may be asking is which came first the music or the lyrics.

Dec 7, Writing a Song for Piano

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:47:05 GMT

Writing a song for piano is not much more difficult than writing it for any other instrument. Here are some sample steps you can use to write a song for piano.

Dec 7, Software to Write Music- Why Use it for Song Writing ?

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:26:21 GMT

Why use software to write music? Are you a budding songwriter? Would you like to be if you are not? Song writing software is a great way to bring your creative efforts together and create real music.

Dec 7, Top Song Writing Software Options

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:24:18 GMT

Song writing software has really changed how we write songs. If you think that, the only way to write songs is with pen and paper you need to come around to the technological age.

Dec 7, Music Writing Programs

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 01:56:12 GMT

Lrarn how you can take your music writing to the next level with music writing programs.

Dec 6, Music Recording Program: Features You Want

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:42:08 GMT

Here are a few tips for choosing your first or even next music recording program.

Dec 6, How to Become a Songwriter

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:26:42 GMT

Have you always dreamed of how to become a songwriter? Here are some ways to get started.

Dec 6, Home Music Recording Tips

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:58:52 GMT

Can you really use home music recording tools to sound good? Sure, you can if you have the proper tools for recording music at home.

Dec 6, Writing Music Lyrics to Sell

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:38:46 GMT

If you like writing music lyrics, you have probably wondered where you could sell the finished product and make some much needed cash. Here is how you do it.

Dec 6, Choosing Beat Maker Software

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:21:38 GMT

If you have decided to choose beat maker software, here are tips for choosing the best programs.

Dec 6, Writing Rap Music

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:02:21 GMT

If you are thinking about writing rap music, you are going to need more than fresh style and skills. You will need to understand the fundamentals of rap if you really want to be successful.

Jun 13, Songwriting tips to avoid the top ten songwriting blunders.

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:16:41 GMT

Songwriting tips for avoiding the top ten blunders so you can make your good songs great.

Jun 13, Write Your Own Music

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:53:27 GMT

Do you want to write your own music? Are you afraid it will be too difficult or complicated? Here is help.

Jun 13, How to Write Songs on the Guitar

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:58:36 GMT

Ready to learn how to write songs on the guitar? Here are some simple songwriting tips and techniques to get you started.

Jun 13, Write Sheet Music with Notation Software

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:56:46 GMT

If you wanted to write sheet music, there was a time when you needed music theory and music composition classes, but now you can use notation software.

Jun 13, Song Writing Ideas: Where to Get Them

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:54:54 GMT

Are you in a rut and looking for new song writing ideas? Sometimes it is hard to break through the wall or know the best way to start writing lyrics for songs.

Jun 10, How to Write Song Lyrics - A Starter Guide

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 16:05:05 GMT

Many people would love to learn how to write song lyrics. If you have ever dreamed about sharing your life or opinions through song you have probably wondered about writing lyrics, too.

Jun 10, How to Write Music for a Song - A Starter Guide

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:39:40 GMT

Ready to learn how to write music for a song? Very few people are born with the innate ability to write music, for the majority of people this talent must be learned.

Jun 10, Top Ten Song Writing Tips

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:58:50 GMT

Looking for song writing tips jump start the creative process? Here are the top ten tips for songwriting.

Jun 10, Write Your Own Sheet Music: Easy Ways to Start

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:05:26 GMT

Think that you cannot write your own sheet music? It is not as hard as it seems even if you are new to song writing.

Jun 10, How to Write a Song: A Step By Step Guide

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:05:01 GMT

A sample guide for how to write a song that can help you do precisely that, beginning with the most basic ideas and leading up to a full blown, hopefully hit, song.

May 14, Top Songwriting Secrets to Success

Sat, 14 May 2011 02:55:22 GMT

Looking for some songwriting secrets? Learn how you get from desire and passion to the actual act of writing the great hits of the decade.

May 14, Songwriting Collaboration

Sat, 14 May 2011 02:44:53 GMT

Musicians and artists often come together for joint collaboration, and the results can be fantastic. Here are a few tips for a successful songwriting collaboration.

May 14, Entering Songwriting Contests

Sat, 14 May 2011 02:33:58 GMT

Are songwriting contests a good idea for your music career? There are some things that you should know before your enter your first one.

May 11, Songwriting Help Using Software

Wed, 11 May 2011 23:57:10 GMT

Most songwriters need songwriting help at some time in their life. You may churn out song after song without taking a breath and then all of a sudden it hits, the wall. Software can help.

May 4, Beginner Songwriting Tips

Wed, 04 May 2011 00:26:06 GMT

Looking for beginner songwriting tips to boost your creativity and to jump-start the creative process? Some of these tips could change the way you look at writing songs.

May 4, Songwriting Techniques Using Software

Wed, 04 May 2011 00:25:02 GMT

Thinking of trying some new songwriting techniques? Have you been considering songwriting software? These tools are great for the aspiring artist.

May 4, Songwriting Ideas

Wed, 04 May 2011 00:15:43 GMT

Songwriting ideas are unpredictable. Here are some simple, yet effective tips for finding the best song writing ideas every time.

Apr 27, Music Computers and Considerations for Music and Song Writing.

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:40:21 GMT

Looking for the best music computers? Here are some things to consider as you look to upgrade or buy computer systems for your music and song writing.

Apr 27, Play Music: Music Notation Made Easy.

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:37:17 GMT

Even with no music theory training, you can get professional level music notation at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the effort with Play Music.

Apr 27, Brainstorming Software for Your Songs

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:33:04 GMT

Need some new ideas and musical inspiration? Brainstorming software to help stimulate and expand your song ideas and even help with title ideas for your songs.

Apr 25, How to Write a Musical

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:06:57 GMT

Writing musicals can be very rewarding. Learn how to write a musical and get the tips on the basics of writing songs for musicals that show off your songwriting skills..

Apr 25, Music Recording Software for Songwriting.

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:30:59 GMT

Music recording software for your home recording studio. Featured songwriting software is simple to operate and includes reverb, compression, distortion, equalization, etc..

Apr 25, Learn to Play Guitar Geared for Songwriters.

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:29:10 GMT

Do you think that you need guitar lessons to help get started? Learn to play guitar with this easy to learn ebook written especially for songwriters.

Mar 15, Our #1 Lyric Writing Program, Lyricist, Working on Windows 7 - And Automatically Works With Vista Now Too

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 06:03:28 GMT

Our all time best selling lyric writing program, Lyricist, is working smoothly with Windows 7. Thankfully Microsoft has made a relatively smooth transition from Vista to Windows 7, at least for Lyricist :-) and it's cooking just fine it appears. Also, behind the scenes, a fix was put in to the installer program for Lyricist so the work-around was no longer necessary. In other words if you've got Vista as your operating system Lyricist now installs just fine and the previous extra steps that were needed have been addressed and eliminated. So if you're about to buy or take Lyricist for a free trial spin it should run like a charm on Microsoft's new Windows 7 and for you in the Mac crew Parallels is the ticket for Lyricist and all Windows programs you'd like to run. Check out the link for more on Lyricist.

Oct 31, Collaboration Agreement Update - Free Download

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 00:46:40 GMT

Per some key feedback on the free collaboration agreement form it has been updated. It now has clearer descriptions of the breakdown of expenses for demo production and the amount of writers' entries has been doubled from three to six (you can add more writer entries and even additional items as the form comes in a editable format as well as a fixed pdf). Having more writer slots of course is much more easily accomodating to band situations. Hopefully the form works sufficietly better now. Thanks for the input. Click on the link below to the co-writing page and about midway down the page you'll see the links to the form. Happy co-writing :-)

Oct 31, Thumb Through From Guitar Owner To Guitar Player

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 00:46:40 GMT

If you're wanting to learn or hone your guitar playing check out our ebook From Guitar Owner To Guitar Player by accomplished performing songwriter and Berklee College of Music graduate Evyn Charles. We've now got the entire book online for you to thumb through at your leisure to your heart's content. And if you decide to buy the book then you can have it tangibly in your hands without any ads :-) We figured you could see the entire book at a bookstore so why not online from the convenience of your easy-chair or your Starbucks' couch. Click the link below to go to the table of contents page and click on any and all the pages. Cheers to your guitar learning!

Jul 6, Barre chords (bar chords), movable chords for the 6th and 5th strings.

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 03:14:32 GMT

Learn barre chords (movable) for the 6th and 5th strings; maj, min, dom7th and min7th chord shapes.

Mar 7, Begin learning guitar with these basic tips, notation and strumming ideas.

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:57:41 GMT

Start learning guitar with these essential tips and suggested tools along with a basic description of essential notation, hand positioning and strumming ideas.

Jan 23, Enlist Your Fans To Help Fund Your Songwriting

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:17:57 GMT

The innovative artist oriented company ArtistShare has now developed a service focused on songwriters called ArtistShare for Songwriters. It is based on their fan-funded model for making music which has been working for six years and has even resulted in several Grammy nominations and awards. In exchange for supporting your songwriting process ArtistShare allows your fans to closely follow you as you take a song from concept to completed recording. The idea is to give you an appreciative and strong relationship with your fans and let them in on some of your songwriting world. Here is how it works. You choose to write a new song or record a song, and share the creative experience with fans through audio files, videos, and blogs. To start - you set up your project on ArtistShare for Songwriters' website and then use their software to reach out to your fans directly from your own website and through social networking sites like FaceBook and MySpace. In turn, your fans "buy in" at different levels and depending on what level that is, they share more or less of the creation process through your periodic updates. Depending on what level the fans buy in at, they may be eligible for limited edition recordings, possible access to recording sessions, and sometimes even producer credit listing on the final CD. When the recording project is complete, your fans are given the first chance to download it, and the proceeds are paid out to you, minus a 15% commission. ArtistShare has been around since 2003, letting fans show their appreciation for their favorite musicians by actually funding the projects the artist is working on. And hey, even if you're just starting out you've got at least some friends and family as your initial fans, right? At least one? :-) That's all you need. Overall a pretty simple and pretty cool way to financially support and share your muse I thought. Check it out at the link below.

Apr 28, Can You Run Digital Performer 6 or Logic Studio On The New Mac mini?

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:26:06 GMT

In a word, yes. However, it depends on how much you want to do recording-wise as to what kind of performance you'll get. In other words, if you're the typical songwriter who is going to do a basic demo - bass, guitar and or keyboard, drums and vocals you'll do just fine. If however you want to do a lot - like let's say 87 tracks of which several are audio tracks (recordings of live instruments or vocals) then the result might suffer. In any event bear in mind you're going to need an external audio interface fire-wired and or usb-ed into the Mac mini to process your sounds effectively and efficiently so you have to figure that in to your set up if you're going to go with a Mac mini or even an iMac for that matter. Click here to see a blog discussion from mid last year that goes over several choices for audio interfaces you could consider - courtesy of the Logic Studio Blog - as worked into a Mac mini. Also, bear in mind that there are two Mac mini models, both of which are 2.0 GHz but differ in RAM - 1G vs. 2G and 120GB vs. 320 GB hard drives at $599(US) and $799(US) respectively - with the ability of either to go to 4GBs of RAM. You'll get by with the basic set up but should expect better performance with more RAM and you can store a lot more of your songs of course with the 320GB hard drive. If you're going bare-bones budget note that Digital Performer 6 for example will work with the Mac mini basic configuration as DP6's mininmum specs are a 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM and OSX 10.4.7. There can be many more angles to this, especially if you tend or want to do more sophisticated recording - so to see more sides to this issue I suggest checking out a couple of threads on this subject by clicking here to Apple's discussion blog and clicking here to macjams.com's forum discussion on the topic. Click the link below to see the two new Mac minis side by side.

Feb 27, Virtual Co-writer ParaMind Now Runs On Vista - And Macs Too

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:13:51 GMT

I have gotten a few questions lately about the virtual co-writer program ParaMind and whether or not it runs on Vista. And as noted in the headline - the answer is yes. The Windows version of ParaMind runs on Windows in general - including XP and Vista. Mas users of course would want the Mac version and each choice is clearly marked on the ParaMind page. Click the link below for more on ParaMind and Windows (Vista too) and Mac versions.

Feb 19, Psystar Mac Clone Maker Goes To Court With Apple November 9, 2009 As German Mac Clone Maker Jumps Into The Ring

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:19:10 GMT

Well, we probably will not know the outcome of the Mac clone maker Psystar's fate perhaps until November 9, 2009 at the earliest unless a settlement is reached beforehand. (See the previous post on Psystar's production of a Mac clone that is much cheaper than Mac's own line of computers.) Psystar did lose out on its bid to sue Apple with an anti-trust claim last November but the judge has ruled that Psystar can proceed with a claim against Apple based on copyright grounds. As it stands now little may change until each party meets again in court in November. And to add another twist to this ongoing saga - a German company has now jumped in with an effort to make and market Mac Clones. Stay tuned.

Jul 19, Free Video - Dramatically Improve Your Songwriting

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:36:28 GMT

Dramatically improve your songwriting in seven days with this simple yet powerful technique developed by a leading researcher in creativity. Get all the details in this 18 minute clip. Check it out - click the link below.

Jul 19, Newsletter To Be Back Soon

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:29:07 GMT

Sorry if you've missed the last couple of issues of our newsletter. Due to technical difficulties the mailings have been curtailed - but all should be up and running again soon - fingers crossed. Thanks.

Apr 10, Lyricist Now Works On Vista

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:31:51 GMT

Our number one selling lyric and lead sheet writing program Lyricist now works on the new Microsoft operating system Vista. All new Microsoft based PCs now ship with Vista and of course currently in use PCs can be upgraded to Vista. One cautionary note though; if you're considering buying a new computer and or upgrading check with your software vendors about whether all the programs you use will work in the Vista environment. For a look at the Lyricist Vista instructional click on the link below.

Nov 8, Acoustica's Mixcraft Compared To Garage Band

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:57:55 GMT

More kudos for the Window's based Acoustica's Mixcraft music recording software - it was recently featured on the Windows to Apples blog as, in short, having the look, feel and much of the functionality of GarageBand. See more of the write up in the following quote. "The primary application that I would find difficult to do without is GarageBand. Much to my relief, I have recently discovered an excellent Windows program with the look, feel and much of the functionality of GarageBand - it's Mixcraft. Mixcraft, produced by Acoustica, ships with an impressive library of sounds, effects, loops as well as the ability to import and play my favorite import GarageBand AIF files. The user interface and program design make it easy to transition from GarageBand. I am impressed. Microsoft claims it is on an a mission to acquire technologies and companies. If they have not begun development of a competitor for GarageBand perhaps they should take a peek at Mixcraft. Buy and bundle Mixcraft with Vista and throw in a dozen or so impressive effects and transitions to Windows Movie Maker." Check out more about music recording software choices and further reference to Mixcraft on our Music Recording Software page linked below.

Jul 16, Band-in-a-Box 2007 Upgrade Now Here - It's So Big It's Been Renamed Band-in-a-Box 2007.5

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 06:30:00 GMT

Numerous upgrades have been made to the most recent version of Band-in-a-Box, the chord based program great for songwriters. If you're not familiar, this program is great in creating full band arrangements from just the entering of the chords to your song - you simply just pick the style and it creates essentially a demo arrangement for you - just add your vocal. To review all the main and new features I advise simply clicking to PG Music's main page (see link) and if you can take the time to watch the one hour demonstration video that walks you through the nuts and bolts of the program's primary features. The biggest enhancement to the program is definitely the Real Drums feature. It utilizes actual recordings of pro players in all the styles of Band-in-a-Box and it's tempo sensitive too - to the tempo you set initially or may change it too - as you edit and fine-tune your song. The Real Drums sound very impressive to my ears and I was taken right away on a quick listen, just through my laptop, from their online demo video. You can elaborate on a Band-in-a-Box arrangement too by simply dumping the tracks into its sister sequencing program Power Tracks or your own sequencer. Get all the nitty gritty details by clicking on the link.

May 31, Music Writing Program Workable On Macs And Windows For Under $100 US.

Thu, 31 May 2007 05:17:06 GMT

Our best selling music writing program is Play Music but it does not as yet work on Macs. For those of you looking for a very good music writing program that's on the easier end of user operating and can work on a Mac as well as in Windows check out Ars Nova's Songworks II. Also for a decent music writing program it's relatively cheap at under $100 - find a good buy on this at midiguy.com (see the link).