Quote:
Originally posted by Diki:
Another great tune, Larry. Still very seventies, though, which is not a BAD thing, but if you are getting more rejections that you want, you might try maybe listening to a bunch of stuff by the Killers, or Puddle of Mud, or Kings of Leon, etc., and see if you can't write something like those guys. Are the publishers you are sending to specializing in older music for films and TV? Truth is, if not, they are looking for stuff that is basically NOW...

But don't let it get you down. Even successful songwriters have maybe 99% of what they write rejected, or not used. But that one hit will feed you for a year or two! There's only one way to win in this business, and that is to be persistent... for years, if necessary.

You've got talent and a steady output... the trick may be as simple as writing stuff that THEY like, rather than what YOU like...


Thanks to all three of you! To tell the truth, I have been getting a little discouraged, and I've pulled back from full throttle (which has probably saved my marriage anyway). Like many songwriters, I suffer from illusions of grandeur. I thought that one of my recent songs, Please Say Yes, sounded so incredible that no publisher in his right mind would reject it. It has been rejected by about 6 publishers so far.

In my reverbnation account, I can see that the average listener to "Please Say Yes" listens to 38% of the song. If that's the average listener, what do you think is the percentage for publishers? None of them probably listen up to the point where there are multi harmonies weaving in and out.

I will try to sound less '70's. The melody of the chorus of this new song, while super catchy IMO, is vintage sounding to put it mildly, but I thought that the melody and sound of the verse is more modern. I wanted to get a little bit of a Wallflowers feel, at least vocally, slurring my words a bit. Hopefully, the hook's catchiness can overcome it's old fashioned sound. I know that this decade's pop songwriters are much more tangential in their reference to love.

What I would like to ask a Yamaha user is, if I wanted to make this particular song sound more like a ballad by the Goo Goo Dolls or by the Fray or Matt Nathanson, what style would I use? Would I chuck the PSR altogether and use software? If so, what software?

To Nigel, thanks. Recording done with Yamaha USA2 in middle pickup position. Electric guitar has a capo on the first fret because I wanted to get an open chord sound on the solo. I am using Peavey Revalver sofware with one of the British settings along with a bit of Sonar 7 Studio Edition reverb.

My trying to learn the solo to Aerosmith's Dream On when I was younger, helped me in devising and performing the triplets going down during the solo.

Thanks again,

Beakybird


[This message has been edited by Beakybird (edited 08-05-2009).]