How NOT to Lose Your Next Great Song Idea

If you’re like me and you constantly have new song ideas floating around your head, I’m sure you’ve been in that situation where you suddenly have a great idea – but you are nowhere near your guitar, piano, etc., don’t have a notepad to write anything down, and you are worried you are going lose it forever – you know the drill. You sing the idea over and over in your head until you’re pretty sure that you’ve committed it to memory. Later on, when you are in a place where you can capture the idea more permanently, you sit down to do just that – but you can’t quite recall it the way it first came to you. You try a couple variations of the rhythm you had, or alter the melody just slightly, but it’s a foregone conclusion: It’s gone… and you won’t get it back.

Over the years, I’ve used a bunch of methods in an attempt to keep this from happening. I used to carry a handheld cassette recorder with me everywhere I went – then graduated to a digital handheld recorder (the MicroTrack II - which I still have and use for live rehearsal recording); and most recently, I’ve been using the Voice Memo app in my iPhone for a quick way to capture a melody or lyrical concept when I’m in the car or traveling for work. That works pretty well for a quick snapshot of ideas.

But last month, I got a tweet about a new iPhone app called Voice Band. It’s a $2.99 download and totally worth the 299 pennies. It’s a multi-track recorder that translates in real time any rhythm or melody you sing - into an instrument that you select within the app. What does that mean? Choose the drum kit and sing a rhythm into your phone… like “buba ba BA, buba ba BA” and at the very instant you sing, the phone plays back the drum sounds in real time. For drums, it analyzes how loud or soft you sing and places the bass drum on the softer sounds and the snare on the louder ones. Add another track for a hi-hat rhythm. Add another for crash cymbals. Then another to lay down a guitar track – you just sing the melody, and again, the phone plays back the same notes you are singing (as you sing them) but with a rock guitar sound. You can add a couple of different guitars, bass, horns, organ, keyboards, vocals – all on different tracks. You can pitch correct your work, add effects like reverb and delay – and even jam along with tunes in your Pod library. It’s really quite amazing.

The user interface could be more slick – it’s actually designed in a colorful sketch layout that looks “hand drawn” (see the image to the right) – although that look and feel supports the fact that this is really for capturing “scratch” ideas on the fly. It’s not a hardcore studio recording app.

But as a tool for capturing ideas in a more comprehensive way, it’s fantastic. Two tips if you decide to download and use it: you are going to want to use headphones if you really start laying down a bunch of tracks; and don’t be shy about you’re volume when you sing into it. If you don’t sing loud enough, the tracking isn’t great and it misses some of the notes you sing.

If you want to see Voice Band in action, check out the video demo below – and then think about the possibilities. You’ll never lose your next killer idea!

And the Next John Mayer Is...

Last week, I went to see John Mayer at the Boston Garden - it's been a long time since I've gone to a show that large... an "arena show" - in fact, I think the last one I saw was about 15 years ago. It was Dave Matthews, ironically, also at the Boston Garden. Most of the music I catch live these days is at much smaller venues, which I tend to enjoy much more.

But the Mayer show was great. He is a fanastic guitar player and song writer. I have a bunch of his CDs but it didn't really hit me until he was cranking through his set list that I realized just how many hit songs the guy has. The band was great - Steve Jordan on drums was a particular highlight - I love his drumming.

One of the special highlights of the evening, though, was a comment that Mayer made to the crowd. For all the trouble his mouth has gotten him into lately, he was very humble at this performance, repeatedly thanking fans for giving him the chance to make music for a living and how fortunate he believes he is to have that opportunity. Having spent some time in Boston while attending Berkeley, he talked about how Boston was a place of dreams. Looking out over the crowd of nearly 20,000, he said that there was one person out there in the crowd that would eventually replace him on the stage. One person who would take his spot in the music industry - it's just a matter of time. And the he pointed out how he was "ok with that."

It was actually a pretty accurate comment on two fronts: one, that only a very few people can actually break through the clutter and become as successful a musician as Mayer (it was interesting to gaze across the sold out area and to think that really only one person would emerge from this crowd and experience the same level of success - but it is true); and two, that no matter how successful a musician may be at any point in time, the moment in the spotlight only lasts for a finite amount of time until the next big star comes along.

So in addition to some great tunes, there was that single, poignant and thought-provoking moment in the middle of it all. For everyone in the crowd who hopes to be the one person to succeed Mayer, the best of luck...