Today's blog is from friend and collaborator Amanda West. Amanda is from Ireland and knows first hand about collaborating world wide. This is especially useful during a pandemic. Even as the pandemic winds down, these tips are great for collaborating around the world. At first glance these topics don’t appear to have much in common, but in fact all three are inextricably interlinked. Before any of us had heard of Covid-19, Coronavirus or a global pandemic, most songwriters and composers collaborated face to face in the same room, and almost looked down on those who co-wrote songs via an internet connection. But Covid hit fast and hard, and our world changed forever. A few of us folks already co-wrote remotely, and for us nothing changed. But for the majority a choice had to be made. They either had to write songs alone for the foreseeable future, or turn their co-writing practices upside down and inside out (pun quote intended). So to see how online collaboration can happen I’ll describe my own main co-writing models. I say models plural because I co-write with many different songwriters and almost every situation is unique. And also I mainly write for sync (although not always lately), as opposed to artist pitches hoping for a hit, so maybe the process differs a little because of that, I don’t know. 1. Facebook Messenger. I (as the lyricist) send a full lyric draft to my co-writer (the singer, musician and producer usually) via email as a Word doc. They then create the chords and melody, and we message each other back and forth via Facebook Messenger to fine tune the words and the melody. Often we also voice chat via the same platform. Then when we are happy with that, whoever is producing then produces the track fully. We then discuss that when it’s completed and any required tweaks are made before mastering it ready for pitching to sync libraries and music supervisors. 2. Google Drive. This is how I do it most often… I post a rough first draft lyric, usually with no editing done yet, into a Drive folder for a project, as a Google document, then share the link with my co-writer. We then discuss it via voice chat or a phone call, edit and rewrite live as Drive allows for live editing and viewing. The co-writer then goes away and writes a melody etc. They then post the draft song as an mp3 into the same Drive folder and we listen together. More editing of the lyric, and maybe the melody etc. It then gets produced as per #1. 3. Zoom. This is fairly similar in many ways to like in a room together. The production etc. is done as per #1 above. Multiple Zoom sessions can be used when you need them. This way is rather fun and I love it. 4 .Email. This is still used by some going endlessly back and forth, but it is fairly slow and clunky nowadays compared to all the other more face to face and instant messaging apps available to us. Personally Google Drive whilst on a live Zoom or similar voice call is the best for me, and my favorite way to do collaborative work online. It suits how I like working with others, and can be a lot of fun too if it isn’t all serious work! Maybe you use a different method to collaborate online? We’d love to hear from you in the comments about your experiences in this particular area of pandemic life. However you do it, the big secret is to find the way that suits you best (and hopefully your cowriter also). Try experimenting with different processes, you never know you might be pleasantly surprised that what appeared to be a mad idea, actually works rather well. And what will happen once the pandemic subsides? Will most folks go back to writing in a room together and not using the internet? I don’t think so. Of course some will because they are close to each other physically. But this online way of co-writing has opened up a whole new world to people who previously rarely co-wrote because they their remoteness to other songwriters and composers. Amanda West is a lyricist, songwriter and composer living on the west coast of Ireland. Her songs have been used on TV, in films and all the other media outlets we now have around the world. The latest releases are here on the home page, but the Music section has many more songs covering a wide selection of genres, emotions and moods. For more information about Amanda, and to view her music business services go to: https://www.sheeaunmusic.com/ ©Amanda West 2021
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AuthorMichelle Lockey is a multi-award winning singer-songwriter sharing the knowledge she has learned over the years writing for Film & TV. Like what you are reading? Please Sign up to receive a FREE Music Licensing checklist! 10 Steps to Sync Success
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