Probably 10 years ago I tried writing songs but got lost in the technicalities inside the box. This was a 2 fold problem ..... #1. Kid in the candy store syndrome ( so much available .... too many options)
#2. Within the daw....... bumping into bottlenecks in plugins. Getting a good start but quickly loosing my wrench hence loosing the feel, do to not having the right software or there wasn't software that allowed me near the freedom that having a guitar in my hands had.
So my question is what is your workflow and what software are you using and does it work well for you.
I used to be guitar player until carpel tunnel shut me down. I'm not unfamiliar with music as I was in a couple of bands in the 60's and 70's but it was all by ear. No theory at all. I see a lot has progressed in the time I was not paying attention the last 10 years. So I'm thinking there might some answers out there.

Thanks for reading.

 

Such a tool doesn't exist yet and the developers haven't yet decided to build it.

Paper and pencil are still the dominant tools.

 

Last edited: May 16, 2024

hello

i think there's a few softwares that could help you with that
try something like captain chords or scaler 2

 

Last edited: May 16, 2024

Unfortunately, these tools aren't good at all. Now, no matter how much I say, the diehard fans and hidebound reactionaries of these tools won't accept my words. But the reality is that the makers of these tools themselves don't know what their tools are really doing.

 

you sound very familiar. are you just telling the truth?

 

People don't want the truth, they seek confirmation of their words and whatever they do.

 

in case you're wondering, it's not what you said is how you said it. good to see you back

 

This?

 

This is a big FalseWare. A giant one.

 

Well, I actually tried BiaB 10 or 12 years ago and found some of it useful but chinsy sounding and looking, a real buzzkill.
Yeh, Maybe if you folks might share your workflow with me. That might help.
Thanks for your replies

 

i'm not sure what you wanna know about?

there's nothing special on my workflow usually i start with some basic drum beat i've made just get things going and start playing guitar over it or maybe something simple over the keyboard.

 

That is helpful. I'll have to give it a go. I've never started a song with drums.
Thanks

 

I used to use ChordPulse a lot about a decade ago, I would still use it now but I'm not fully engaged with making music right now. It's very simple to use and has a wide variety of built-in styles. I would use it as a starting point then export the midi and continue working within a DAW. It may be what you're looking for.

http://www.chordpulse.com/

 

So sorry to hear you needed to stop playing guitar because of Carpal Tunnel. My own playing is becoming compromised by Rheumatoid Arthritis and really need to play a 1 3/4 inch nut width. I begin cramping and experience pain when using just that 1/16 narrower of an 1 11/16. Although some days I can still play 2-3 hours I've been slowly graduating to proportionally having a keyboard in front of me. I've been playing keys for over three decades but was always primarily a guitarist. That paradigm has shifted.

I've never used song writing software and probably never would if I could. I'm a pad and pen (a Friction erasable has overtaken a #2 pencil as my tool of choice). I have a Zoom recorder to catch ideas on guitar and voice and/or just turn on the computer and DAW to capture them.

 

As a guitarist you'll be used to composing with chords and vocal melody. Just because you can't strum any more doesn't stop you using the same technique. Try out a few chord VSTs. My favourite is Scaler 2 but anything that will allow you to play back a bunch of chords with one finger will do. Noodle until you find a good chord sequence then hum/sing over the top until you find a good melody. Get that into the piano roll with drag and drop or by recording live and there is the basis of your song. If you wanted to apply some theory you could then feed the results back into Scaler 2 and it will give you a whole list of scales and modes that match or partially match your chords and melody. That will give you the notes that "fit best" when you are adding other instruments.

Whatever DAW you use will have come with loads of drum loops. Find one that fits the style of the song you want to write and drag it on. You can replace it later but you don't have to. Then work out a bass line. Use a generic bass sound for now. Start by just using the lowest note in each chord and find a nice rhythm. Then tweak some of the notes, probably to a nearby note in the chord but anything that sounds good, is good. You've just roughed out a verse or chorus (or possibly both). Repeat them up the timeline leaving space for a middle 8 or solo. Now you have a whole song sketched out. You can play with sounds, embellishments, that middle 8, different drums etc. This is the bit where I often get bored and don't finish the song!

One other tip. If you have an iPhone or iPad install one or two of the many chord apps on there. You can experiment with chord sequences wherever you are and bring them to you DAW later.

 

I'm in a similar position, I had a very bad wrist break (fretting hand) around 15 years ago and as a consequence I struggle to turn my wrist over. It's worse on the lowest frets. I'm also starting to experience arthritis in that wrist. Have you considered playing slide guitar? That may be the solution for me but I'm not quite there yet.

 

I've never been comfortable playing slide guitar, and although have always had a slide around for the past 40 years it never really clicked for me. I suppose that if it got really bad and it totally made fretting impossible I would undoubtedly go there as a last resort. I've recorded maybe one song (I'll PM you a link of it) using a slide and then never again. I envy those who can and wish I could.

The fellow below is an oddity...he's playing lefty on a righty guitar upside down. Talk about overcoming obstacles!

 

ai was made for folks like you

 

No matter what tool you use, you will not get the answer you want. The best tool is the one that takes you to the level of note. It means you know what you are doing note by note.
None of the digital instruments, guitars, keyboards or any other devices found in the market have been made for this purpose.
I mean these tools are only for performing pieces of music. The relationships between the notes are very complicated and the one who wants to make music without understanding these relationships and only by working with these tools will not get the desired result.
The recent 50-year history of the music world proves my point. Various software and hardware tools have been developed in these 50 years, but none of them have produced better music, and the situation has just gotten worse.

 

short of having ai, those same people used to use Band-In-A-Box, and more recently Rapid Composer.