Sunday, March 31, 2013

No Problems - Just Solutions Not Yet Found!

She called me her little problem solver, but I said to her, "There are no problems, just solutions we have not yet found".
This situation is very typical when most people come across difficult situations in their lives. They immediately refer to it as a "problem." Life in general is difficult and we are often faced with challenges that we either have no experience in dealing with or have trouble coming to terms with. So, why do we immediately want to call everything difficult in life a problem?
An optimist would say that there are no problems, just solutions not yet found.
Most people that refer to difficult situations as problems have probably not thought about the solutions to their problems. They are in a panicked state (like my friend was) and their first reaction is to think negatively about it. I will give you an example. Imagine you are walking along a footpath and you come across a brick wall. What are your thoughts?
If you are like most people you will see this as the end of the journey. However, if, like me, you think in terms of what the solution may be then you will see that you can do one of many things.
Now I'm not saying any of these solutions are easy and it all depends on the tools and facilities you have available to you at the time. Each one (including turning back) requires additional effort - but then no one said life was easy, did they? However, by expending that little bit more effort you achieve your goal.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Creating An Original Instrumental On Guitar

When I first set out to create a guitar instrumental, I really wasn't quite sure about how to go about this. I've always been fascinated with Jeff Beck and I would always wonder how he came up with his music. Well, I think that its very hard to get inside someones head, so to speak, to figure out the way that they do in fact create an instrumental on the guitar.
I believe that this is something that happens naturally as I sit with my guitar, and begin to play what is within me. And the most awesome thing about an instrumental is that each person who listens to it comes to develop they're own interpretation as to what the piece is about and how it can relate to something in they're own life.
When I set out to record another song, with vocals, I had the basic 12 Bar blues structure in mind with a particular feel to it that I was very fond of. I started to write the lyrics and they were very simple ones. The funny thing about this is that the song lyrics were about having a relationship with my guitar.
As I started to ad in a bridge and then onto a section that was to become the chorus, I found that something wasn't quite right. I really liked the chord progression that led in to the chorus, but I couldn't fit any actual lyrics into that particular section. So, I had this song that was going to be cool, but I just couldn't come up with a suitable chorus.
I then began to play some lead lines over the basic chords that were the verses, and I loved what I was able to come up with. It fit really well and the song was coming together nicely. That's when at this point in the song that I decided to drop the lyrics and make it an instrumental. It just seemed to flow in that direction. So its kinda funny how this whole instrumental thing came together.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Things You Need To Look For When You Download Rap Beats

If you want to go far in the hip hop industry, you will need high quality rap instrumentals. I'm not trying to downplay the importance of lyrics, but without an instrumental, nobody will want to listen to your music. You could of course rap a capella only, but there are few people who listen to a capella only.
I mean, think what it would have been like if Tupac rapped only a capella. You probably wouldn't have even heard of him. Now think of what it would have been if he didn't get production from Shock G, Dr. Dre and Johnny J. Tupac wouldn't have been as widely known as he is now. I think you are now beginning to understand the importance of the instrumental in rap music. The instrumental usually sets the mood for the entire song. Without it, your lyrics probably won't have the same impact. And if you don't have an impact on your listeners you won't be remembered.
While Tupac is a very talented rapper, and some even regard him as the best ever, his success is also due to the high quality production that backed him up. Now, if you take some of the beats that Tupac rapped on, it would be really hard to make a bad song with them, even if you put a bad rapper on them. In Tupac's particular case, his lyrics and the beats usually were in perfect harmony.
You will need an instrumental that matches the subject of your lyrics, no matter what are you rapping about. As a matter of fact, this is the most important thing you should look for when you look for beats to rap to, whether your lyrics fit the beat, or the beat fits the lyrics. I mean, think of what would have been if Tupac rapped "Only God Can Judge Me" to an instrumental like Lil Wayne's "Lollipop". The instrumental just doesn't fit the subject of Tupac's lyrics.