BrainStampMusic

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(via Why You Should Name Your Playlists (A True Story))

I recently started writing for HER Magazine, and I’ve enjoyed my projects with them so far. I was finishing up an article that will be released in a couple of months about using music to boost your productivity. In it, I spoke briefly about an embarrassing story from high school. I thought it might be interesting here and I could elaborate more, so here we go!

I got a job at a clothes store at the mall. A friend worked there and got me the job. We would be working after the store closed, folding shirts and setting everything up for the next day. It took a surprising amount of people to do this. We had up to 30 people in the store on my first day.

My manager showed me around, gave me my assignment (fold three piles of shirts) and then announced a “fun game” they played. They would take employee’s iPods and play them over the loud speakers, as a fun “get-to-know-you” kind of game. My heart beat a little faster. I listen to a very wide variety of music. While I had “cool” artists on my iPod, I had an equal amount of opera, big band jazz, and any number of genres that would not be considered cool. My manager smiled expectantly at me, then snatched my iPod right out of my purse (I know, not cool).

My heart was pounding and I tried to work, but I had no idea what they would play. I was terrible at naming my playlists. Every one of them had names like “Playlist_1A.2.22.05.” I knew what they were, but the manager would not.

The first song that played was Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” Okay, not bad. I saw several of my coworkers dancing. I hadn’t been introduced to most of them, so I knew they would be judging me based on my songs. What happened next was an absolute nightmare, something I would not wish on my greatest enemy.

Years ago, I was an over-emotional wannabe songwriter who wrote every thought down as if it was pure gold. I would write the song, then sing it into my laptop. I kept all of my songs on a playlist so I could review them and make edits later. You see where this is going.

Whitney’s song ended, and suddenly my heart stops as I hear MY OWN VOICE blaring over the speakers. It starts with me humming what the piano part would sound like, then I start in with sappy lyrics and a poorly-constructed melody. There is no music, just me and my thoughts. My coworkers unanimously stopped what they were doing and tilted their heads toward the speakers, like confused dogs.

I jumped over the table I was working on and ran into the room. My manager and several other employees stood laughing.

“What is this?” they asked, already well aware of what it was. I couldn’t lie and say it was a friend. I had over 30 songs of this “friend” and her terrible song ideas. It could only be me.

To make things worse, I had just gone through a terrible breakup. My lyrics all revolved around the inner details of how much I hated my ex, and how much I wished we would reunite.

They began playing a game of keep-away with my iPod. In the other room, I heard several co-workers laughing and discussing my lyrics.  I hadn’t been introduced to these people, and they already knew I was a terrible songwriter and an even worse girlfriend.

I KNOW, right? If this doesn’t make you cringe your spine right out of your back, I don’t know what will. So the lesson I have for you here is twofold:

1). I know iPods are extinct, but playlists aren’t. When you make playlists, keep in mind that they may fall into someone else’s hands at some point. Make your playlist private (if possible) if it’s not something you want to share.

2). If you’re a budding songwriter, maaaybe leave those off of the playlist until they’re 100% ready. Or just leave anything off that you don’t want people to hear (a separate lesson could be “don’t let people grab things out of your purse,” but I was too shy back then to stand up for myself until it was too late).

In case you’re wondering, I didn’t stay at that job long. Today I have songs all over iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and every inch of the internet, so I’m definitely used to people laughing at and talking about my music. Still, nothing has ever topped the embarrassment of that day. I hope nothing ever will.

[brainstampmusic-blog]

(via New Single - The One Percent)

I have been terribly sick the last few weeks, so I haven’t done much besides sit/lay around and feel miserable. I tried to write a post about working while sick, but I want to re-read it when I’m not doped up on cold medicine before releasing it to the wild.

Anyway Bendik Glomnes has released a single he wrote called “The One Percent,” which I sang on a while back.

It’s available on the following sites:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/2NAmkGUhLLgrwbAV2ltN5n

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06W5LBFS7

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-one-percent-feat-mella-single/id1208335423?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Thanks so much to Bendik for using me on your track, and best of luck with the song! Please show him some love and support!

[brainstampmusic-blog]

(via New Single)

R4nyte is a producer I’ve worked with before, and this is his latest single I wrote lyrics and melody for. It’s available on Spotify here: https://play.spotify.com/album/3pNBwe06XBlJJXXPMK0mvG?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

Or on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-with-You/dp/B01NCZXX8W/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1487007760&sr=8-12&keywords=r4nyte

We’re working on another right now, so I’ll have something new with him in a few months! Check it out and let me know what you think!

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I’m excited to share this with you! We made a cover of “Death of a Bachelor” by Panic! At The Disco. This is actually for a contest. The winners will receive tickets to see Panic live in Las Vegas, which sounds amazing. Even if we don’t win this was still a lot of fun to do. The original has very lush production, so we wanted to do something stripped down with kind of a jazz feel. We filmed it in this huge empty room which was a lot of fun. I did the video editing myself! I used the closeups in color, and the wide shots in black and white. This was to sort of illustrate the mental conflict in the song. In the end it fades into color to show the “death” is complete. I feel like I need to explain it because it might not make sense haha, but either way we hope you enjoy!

[brainstampmusic-blog]

(via How to Write a Post-Chorus)

In my last post, I talked about a Pre-Chorus and how to write one. Now I want to talk about writing a Post-Chorus.

What is a Post-Chorus?

Basically it’s what comes right after the chorus, before the second set of verses start. The example I used in my book is “Hit Me Baby, One More Time” by Britney Spears. The chorus is:

My loneliness is killing me

I must confess, I still believe

When I’m not with you I lose my mind

Give me a sign

Hit me baby, one more time

First, yes, I just typed that from memory. Second, don’t act like you didn’t sing it in your head. But here’s the question: When she repeats “Hit me baby, one more time,” do you consider that part of the chorus? Or is that a post-chorus?

Similarly, some people consider Rihanna’s “Umbrella” to have a post-chorus. They think the part where she sings “under my umbrella, ella, ella, ay, ay” etc is not part of the actual chorus.

So, who is right? The answer is: It doesn’t matter. It’s still part of the song, so what people choose to call it is unimportant. What DOES matter is what you call it in your own song. If you refer back to my Pre-Chorus post, I strongly recommended clearly labeling each part of the song for the studio musicians. If you have a post-chorus, please label that part too! A lot of songs don’t have them, and that’s totally fine, but if you do have one just label it. It will likely avoid a 10 minute conversation about where we are in the song and what that part is called. Whatever you want to call it is fine!

Post-choruses are usually pretty easy to write. They are generally just a repeating of the last line of the chorus, or of a focal point you want to highlight. You don’t want them to be too wordy, or introduce a whole new idea or set of words. This should happen in the verse. It’s just a little connector from your chorus to your next piece (verse, bridge, or outro) so it should be incredibly simple.

How do you know if you need one? Many songs don’t need them, and if you already have 2-4 verses, a pre-chorus and a bridge, you probably don’t want to add a post-chorus as well. You can make a song 12 minutes long, but the more information and words you have in it, the harder it will be for people to really process it.

Your producer might be the best person to ask if your specific song needs a post-chorus (or feel free to send it to us at BrainStamp and we’d be happy to provide feedback!) but another way to tell is to listen to your chorus. Does it hit all the points you wanted to say? Is there a more important phrase buried in the chorus that should be repeated? Does your tagline match your title? If your title is part of the chorus but it’s not the focal point, that would be a great time to use a post-chorus. Just repeat the title as you go into the verse.

The most important thing though, is please make sure you label it on your lyric sheet! I’m not kidding when I say it will save time and money and avoid confusion. A lot of songwriters are afraid to do this because they don’t want to label something “wrong,” but it really doesn’t matter.

Just imagine you’re a doctor going into surgery, and you draw up the human body and every part is labeled wrong. You’ve invented fake names for each body part, and the nurses stare at you like you’re insane. You walk in with confidence and tell them that for this surgery, you will be using these names. So when you ask the nurse to hand you the fuzterlubber to cut the quilkenfur, they will know what you mean because they have the drawing. The surgery will be fine as long as everyone knows clearly what is labeled.

*Note: I’m not a surgeon and definitely do not recommend doing this. Your surgery will probably not be fine if I did this because I was always terrible at the Operation game and I would cry and give up. Do not attempt or take as medical advice. Do, however, take my songwriting advice because it comes from years of studio experience.

[brainstampmusic-blog]

(via Writing a Pre-Chorus)

There are debates within the songwriting community about what a pre-chorus is, so let’s clear that up before we begin:

The pre-chorus is the musical bit between the verse and chorus. This seems simple enough, but I’ve had many occasions in the studio where no one can agree on what or where it is. If you’re the songwriter, you have the ultimate say in what to call your song’s pieces. Just make sure that you label them like this:

Note the giant, all-caps markers throughout the song. This is so you can ask the singer to go to Verse 2 and she will find it immediately. This is also to clear up confusion amongst everyone in the studio. I’m not kidding, I’ve seen five people standing around talking about “the chorus” and three of us meant one thing and two of us meant something else. Time is money! Save yourself the hassle and just call it whatever you want it to be.

So, the goal of the pre-chorus is to tie the verse into the chorus, but also build into it emotionally. The melody is different from both, and should start to shift from the story to the main point.

Because this is my blog and I can do shameless self-promotions here, I’m going to use my song The Wind, the Clouds and the Sea as my example. Here are the lyrics:

Notice that both of my pre-choruses are different. They are the same melodically, so the listener knows they are gearing up for the chorus. If I didn’t have that pre-chorus in there, it would jump right into the chorus without a sensical connection.

If you want a pop music reference (from a song you’ve actually heard), look at “Side to Side” by Ariana Grande: “These friends keep talking way too much, say I should give you up, can’t hear them, no, cause I…” this is a pre-chorus. It has the same melody and words each time and signals a transition from verse to chorus.

So how do you write one? If you’re a lyricist only, use it as a logical or emotional connector. How does your listener get from the story you’ve told in the verses, to the main idea of the chorus? Think of it as a bridge (not a song bridge, but an actual bridge). Its purpose is to link the two and transition smoothly. Keep in mind you can change the words each time or keep them the same, and the melody will tell listeners what it is (you’ll definitely want to make sure your producer knows that it’s a pre-chorus in that case). Melodically, think of where you want the listener to end up (your chorus). Are you winding down or winding up? This depends on the emotion of the song.

Not all songs have a pre-chorus, and you can certainly write a song without one if you think the verses and chorus are connected enough already. If you’ve never written one before, try it out and see how you like it!

Shameless plug part deux: You can hear The Wind, the Clouds and the Sea on my website here: http://www.mellamusic.com/mella-store

If you need help with your pre-chorus or any other part of your song, feel free to contact us at Brain Stamp! www.brainstampmusic.com

[brainstampmusic-blog]

Surviving Parties as an Introvert

My February article for Eydis Magazine is out today! This is about how to survive parties as an introvert (a topic I know very well). Check it out at the link below!

http://online.anyflip.com/ioez/fqyj/#p=60

[brainstampmusic-blog]

(via What are Pickup Notes?)

This is another term from my book that I felt needed to be mentioned, because when a songwriter gives me a song to sing I may need to clarify if a note is a pick-up note. Sometimes they look at me like, “huh?” so I thought it might be good to talk about here!

So what is a pickup note?

If you look at the picture above, you see three quarter notes leading to a whole note. This means that those notes will be played leading into the whole note, which is the actual start of the phrase.

For popular reference, let’s look at Maroon 5’s Payphone. The word “payphone” is the actual start of the phrase. “I’m at a” are the notes leading up to it. When Adam Levine gets to “payphone,” the music starts and the song begins. In the chorus, the actual chorus starts on “payphone” as well.

Another term for pickup note is “anacrusis” and can also be used in poetry. If you want to sound super fancy and impress (or annoy) everyone at a party, you can use this word instead.

So, why would I need to know if a note is a pickup note? Or why would you if you’re the songwriter?

The phrasing would be entirely different in “Payphone” if “I’m at a” were not pickup lines and instead started the song. The rhythm would be different, the emphasis would be different. In fact, I might even make a video to demonstrate the difference. But trust me that it’s important to label pickup notes so the feel of the song stays true to what you wanted.

If you are a lyric writer only and I’m creating a melody to your words, I may ask if I can make certain words into pickup notes. This is because I’m trying to establish a melodic flow to the lyrics and phrasing it a certain way might help. You’re free to tell me whether or not that’s okay, and I can create a melody to fit whatever words or lines you want to emphasize. But knowing this term will help us move forward and make sure  your song is correct right away!

If you want to learn more about this term or the process of using it, here is a great reference: https://popmusictheory.com/anacrusis/

I probably will make a video on this so I’ll either edit this post or link it to this one. In the meantime, see if you can find other songs with pickup notes or see if any of your own have them!

[brainstampmusic-blog]

(via What are Nashville Numbers?)

I was relatively new to Nashville Numbers when I started writing my book, but over time I’ve gotten a little more acquainted with them.

If you’ve never heard of this term, you might be wondering “what are Nashville Numbers and why would I need to know about them?” Short answer: You don’t if you aren’t a studio musician or a songwriter! If you’re mildly curious or plan on entering this world of music anytime soon, read on to learn more:

People often write songs in a particular key. For our purposes, we’ll use the key of C because it’s easy.

So, you’ve written a song and you wrote it in C. You find a band and a singer, but the singer tries the song and it is out of their range. What now? You have several options:

Transpose the song into the key the singer prefers

Find a different singer

Throw the whole song away

Use Nashville Numbers

Obviously you don’t want number 3, and of the remaining options, number 4 is by far the easiest! With Nashville Numbers, we use the numbers that refer to the chords of the song. For the key of C, your I chord would be C. IV would be F, V would be G. So when you hand the musicians their sheet music, they have I, IV, V instead of chords or notes.

Now let’s say the singer feels far more comfortable singing in G. You’re okay with this, and the musicians all know this key as well. You don’t have to do any further work in changing the song, thanks to Nashville Numbers. I becomes G, IV becomes C, and V becomes D.

This is also helpful in live situations. Sometimes singers like to sing in a different key live, to preserve their voice or if they are sick. Nashville numbers allow the players to simply adjust to any key (provided they know that key, and most do!)

Singers don’t really need to use Nashville Numbers (in my experience), it just helps them find the best key and helps the band accommodate them.

You may be asking, “why should I care what key the singer wants? It’s my song!” This is very true and you can certainly keep searching until you find someone who can sing in that key. However, if a singer can’t physically hit those notes, you’re stuck either searching for someone else (which can take a while) or changing the key to fit their needs. I have run into this situation with male songwriters who write melodies for me. It’s difficult to write a song for a female to sing when you don’t have the same range, and vice versa. I’ve written songs for males that ended up being way too high, simply because it’s hard to gauge where someone else’s voice falls. Being flexible with your key will ensure that the best version of your song is created!

Please note: This was only a brief overview of Nashville Numbers. There are many other components to it including other chord types, rhythms and so on. If you don’t intend on using it there is no need to study it further, but you can read more about it here if you’re interested!

[brainstampmusic-blog]

(via New Podcast - Right Brain Business Model)

Here is my podcast with Laura Pennington! We had a lot of fun and talked about running a business creatively. You can see the whole page (along with Laura’s takeaways) here: http://sixfigurewritingsecrets.com/right-brain-business-model-mella-barnes-talks-music-entrepreneurship-creatives-ep005/ or listen below!

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(via Podcast)

I had a great time talking with Bruce at Now Hear This for a podcast. We discussed the music industry, my many hobbies and tips for musicians on how to run a blog. Check it out here! http://now-hear-this.net/content/nhte-152-mella-barnes

[brainstampmusic-blog]

(via A Day's Work As a Session Singer)

Several people have asked what my “typical day” is like as a session singer. While there really is no guaranteed daily schedule, I can tell you about yesterday which will give you a general idea.

Here is a Common Day for a Session Singer:

1). I generally wake up around 9am. No one tells me to do this, it’s just my natural waking time and I feel like having a schedule helps my day.

2). I review my To Do list I made the night before, which includes my song lineup for the day.

3). I base the rest of my day on how many songs I have lined up. Usually I have between two to five songs a day, but occasionally I’ll have more or less, or none. If I have a larger number of songs to record, I will cut back on everything else or cut a task out.

4). I comp and edit vocals recorded the night before. I go over each stem with a fine-toothed comb to make sure there are no background noises, everything sounds good, and the track is ready to be exported and sent.

5). Stems from each project are exported, batched, and submitted to clients.

6). I check my email and check in with clients I sent tracks to the day before, to see if any edits or changes are needed. If so, I add those to my list of songs for today.

7). Any business, marketing, or social media work is done during this space if my day allows for it. I also take online music classes and will fit them into this part if I can.

8). The fun begins! I compile all songs to be recorded today, print the lyric sheets, and prepare for recording. I begin my ritual to help me get into the mindset of recording: make tea, shower or breathe steam, clean my session area. (Note: I do have a booth at my home, but occasionally I do on-set sessions or book a separate studio. I skip the shower in this case).

9). Songs are recorded in the order I received the job. I do this for no other reason than it helps me stay organized. Last night, I had a 16th-century Gregorian choral piece (with sheet music), two country songs for which I provided background vocals, a symphonic rock song with lots of screaming, and an edit for a song from the night before, to change a few harmonies here and there. I opted to save the screaming one for last so as not to blow my voice out right away, and did the choral piece first because I knew I’d need all of my strength for it.

10). I am done for the day! By now it’s usually 10 or 11pm, and tomorrow I will edit the songs I just recorded. I prepare my To Do list for tomorrow, read or watch TV and relax my voice with tea, wine or whiskey (or whatever I’m feeling in that moment).

So, you may notice that only about a third of the day is actually spent singing. Some session singers might not do their own editing and comping so they might have that part of the day open. You may also notice that I do most of my recording in the evening. There’s no particular reason for this, other than I don’t like to sing early in the morning, and I like to make the most of the daylight.

Every singer’s schedule is probably different, and I allow room for mine to vary as needed so this could change, but this is my typical day as a session singer!

[brainstampmusic-blog]

(via New Single - Way to Nowhere)

I have a new single with producer Varun Marwah. We collaborated on this several months ago, so it’s always exciting to hear a song come to life! This is an energetic EDM track, check it out and let us know what you think! Thanks so much to Varun for choosing me to work on this track. I can’t wait to see what you create in the future!

https://soundcloud.com/momentumrecords/waytonowwhere

[brainstampmusic-blog]

(via How to Convey a Melody When You Can't Sing)

First, let’s discuss what a melody is:

The dictionary defines melody as “a sequence of single notes that is musically satisfying.” We can all agree that ‘musically satisfying’ is relative to the listener, because I’m sure we’ve all heard some melodies that were anything but satisfying. Essentially, the melody is what turns poetry into music. The words are lyrics, the singing is melody. A guitar solo can also be the melody, or whatever instrument is taking the lead.

As a session singer, I’m often contacted by songwriters who have incredible writing talent, but are not singers themselves (hence the need to hire one). These gifted creators feel self-conscious about singing their songs and ask me how they can convey a melody so that I can sing it.

If you happen to fall into this category, I can give you a few tips here to make it easier and stress-free:

1. Play the melody on an instrument

If you’re an instrumentalist, feel free to play a solo track on your guitar/piano/sitar/whatever and label it as “melody.” When I import the tracks, I’ll be able to line them up and figure out the melody from there. As long as you can play along to the lyrics, I can figure it out easily.

2.  Write sheet music

If you know how to do this, feel free! I can read music so this isn’t a problem. It’s certainly not for everyone, but if you feel more comfortable doing this than singing the melody, be my guest.

3. Hire a demo singer

If you’re hiring me to sing the demo, this may seem like an extra step. However, if you really aren’t comfortable singing and need me to hear how you’d like it sung, this may be a good option. Just keep in mind that you may have to pay the other singer as well. If you have a relative or friend who will do it for free, cool. If this is the method you choose, please let me know if you would like me to imitate the style and tone of the demo singer!

Lastly, although you probably won’t like this option:

4. Just go ahead and sing it yourself

Trust me, I’ve heard it all. I won’t judge you or make fun of you. As long as I can sort of determine where the melody is headed and how it lines up with the lyrics, that’s pretty much all I need. This method is probably easiest and fastest, and perhaps least expensive. Generally the writers who send me these are a little more lenient and open to my interpretation of the melody, so I will say that if you’re completely tone deaf and have a very specific melody you’d like, it may be better to use the other options. I guarantee you aren’t so bad that I can’t at least figure out part of it though, so please be kind to yourself!

The creative process should always be rewarding and fulfilling, so please choose the option that is the most fun for you. I’ve used all of these methods with different clients and they’ve all worked out completely fine. If you have a different way you like, that’s cool too! Please feel free to contact me if you’re curious about the process or have an idea, and you can also watch my video about the process if you have any questions!

[brainstampmusic-blog]

(via Measures of Music)

This is a terrible graphic (made by yours truly), but it really does help me to think of a measure as sort of a ruler. In sheet music, one bar of the staff is called a measure. If the tempo is 4/4, that means there are four counts in the measure. It gets extremely detailed and people spend years learning things like this, so I don’t expect to teach you everything in one blog post.

So, when do you need to know about measures?

Generally, only when reading sheet music. I just sang an Italian aria for a client (my first as a session singer!) and that was one of maybe two times I’ve had to read sheet music professionally. However, I was glad for my training while working on it and had I not known how to read, it would have been difficult if not impossible.

I’ve had years of training, but I haven’t used it regularly so I’m a little rusty at it. If you’re like me, or you haven’t had any training, there are many great websites to learn. https://www.musictheory.net/lessons has some great ones, as does Rick Beato on his YouTube channel.

Okay, I don’t ever plan on reading sheet music. That means I don’t need to know about measures, right?

Eh, I guess, but having a feel for music in general will help you as a performer, composer or musician, and learning these things will help. It will also help you get more jobs and work with different genres, people and ideas.

[brainstampmusic-blog]

Visit Original Link

Dan has another song that I worked on, a cover of John Cale’s “Burned Out Affair.” I enjoyed working on it and it opened me up to more of his work (you can here his original here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF9gyPC6z6g ) and hopefully I did the song justice. Dan produced it with more of an ambient, dreamy style which I think works well with the lyrics.

This song was one of those tricky keys where the low notes were juuuuust slightly out of my range, so I sang it in both octaves. I wasn’t sure how Dan would use the pieces but I think it’s interesting how he chose to bring the lower octave in on certain parts! 

So I hope you enjoy, and thanks again to Dan for working with me again! Always a pleasure.

[brainstampmusic-blog]

(via Hiring A Lyricist)

First things first: What is a lyricist?

A lyricist is someone who, quite simply, writes lyrics.

They may write other parts as well, but if they’re writing the words to a song, they’re a lyricist! So, let’s say you are a producer, instrumentalist, or singer, but you know that writing lyrics is not your strong suit. That’s totally okay. There are enough talented lyricists out there that you can easily find someone to take your story and song to the next level.

But what, exactly, does a lyricist do in regards to a project?

The answer depends entirely on what you’re looking for. I have contributed lyrics to songs in the following ways:

Written full lyrics to a song with a melody

Written full lyrics and a melody to a music bed

Edited lyrics for clarity and emotional storytelling

Consulted on lyrical projects for a second opinion

Written ad content lyrics for commercials

Edited commercial lyrics to retain the most info in the shortest time

The list continues, but hopefully this shows that there is no standard way to hire a lyricist. You may already be a lyricist but be stuck on a verse. You may have a story to tell, but are not sure how to put it into lyrical form. Any of these are great reasons to find a lyricist to tell your story!

How much does a lyricist cost?

Sorry, there’s no set answer to that! I know you were hoping for a number, but it depends on several things including who you ask, what you need, and what the end result will be. If it’s a song about how much you love your grandma, and she’s the only one who will ever hear it, that will be less expensive than a song you’re going to try to pitch to a major company for a commercial. If the lyricist retains some of the rights to the song, that will be less expensive than giving you full rights and ownership over it (because if the song ever becomes famous, the lyricist typically receives no residual income if they give up their rights). Also, I’ve had clients contact me to write lyrics, and fail to mention that I am also responsible for creating the melody. Typically those are separate fees so it’s important to mention that up front for an accurate quote!

How does the process work?

Everyone works a little differently, but for me, we start by gathering what you already have. If it’s just the music bed or instrumental, that’s perfect. If you’ve also got a melody, great! From there I determine what you’re looking for in terms of the story. After I get a feel for what you’re looking for, I start writing (by hand – I’m old school like that). I send you a draft and let you look/listen and make any changes. I go back, edit and resend to you. Once you’re completely happy with the draft, I go to my booth and record the vocals professionally (unless I’m only writing and not performing, in which case after you’re happy with it we’re good to go!)

Each lyricist has a method and work style, so I can’t speak for everyone. It’s important to find someone whose work style compliments your own and someone you trust to tell your story.

In case you’re curious, here’s a link to my reel of songs I’ve written for clients. I may have written lyrics only or contributed in other ways to each of these samples, but hopefully it will show that there are few limits in songwriting. I love that each client has a unique story and try to convey that as best as possible!

https://www.reverbnation.com/mellamusic/song/27003035-writing-reel