I’ve written a lot of bad songs in my day. Some were just a bad idea to begin with. Some were half decent, but not my best work so I scrapped them. Others however have fallen in a tricky spot where they really are a good song, but they weren’t quite 100% ready. They weren’t what I call, well chiseled songs.
Via John Loo Flickr
Cut Out The Fat
The saying goes “Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.” Another one is, “Everything in moderation.” I certainly have found these to be true when it comes to songwriting. Too many of us write songs that have great moments, but just too much of them.
Whether it’s a super long intro, too many verses, or that last unnecessary repeat of the chorus at the end, we can easily fall into the trap of writing a good song but not cutting out the fat. Sure the fat on a good steak can contain flavor, but it’s still not meat. People want meat in a song, so give it to them.
How To Know What To Cut
“OK Mr. Smarty Pants,” you might be saying. “Who gets to determine what should stay in a song and what should go? Isn’t every song different?”
Fair questions, I assure you. For one, I’m not the greatest songwriter in the world. I’m just a guy who loves music, like you. The truth is, however, that it’s really simple to know what to cut out of your songs. Every moment of every song should be intentional; it should serve some function. If there’s a part that you can’t justify as being an intentional moment, then cut it.
Generally these parts tend to be extended intros, too many repeats of a chorus, or too many bars of an interlude. Just because a hook is amazing, doesn’t mean it should go on forever.
Get To The Good Stuff
Have you ever found yourself playing a song of yours for a friend? You’re sitting there sharing your latest masterpiece with her, when at some point in the song (during an intro or verse for example) you find yourself both thinking and saying, “Just wait till the bridge. It’s awesome!”
That’s a huge clue that your song isn’t well chiseled. If you’re hoping to get to the “good stuff” in your song so you can impress your friend or show them what the song is “really” all about, then you have too much fat. It’s only getting in the way of what you feel is the best element of your song.
If your chorus hook is the best part, then put it first! Make it the intro. Why wait??
How Songwriting And Mixing Intertwine
The best mixes I’ve ever done (of my songs or clients’ work) are the ones that have the most chiseled and intentional arrangements. There is no wasted moment or boring sections. Every part feels fresh and new. It makes mixing a breeze.
If you’ve ever heard me explain the concept of “sweetening” then you know what I’m talking about. I always set aside time to make sure every moment of a mix is captivating to the listener so they stay engaged. The hardest mixes to do are the ones with way too much fat in the arrangement. A better chiseled song would have led to a better mix. Guaranteed.
Get To Carving
Do you have any songs that you are really proud of? Are they well chiseled? Have you taken the time to go through and methodically strip away what doesn’t add to the song? If not, you’re doing yourself and your fans a disservice.
Don’t settle for an almost good song, go all the way and finish the job!
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My name is Graham Cochrane and I'm the founder of The Recording Revolution, one of the world's most loved audio recording and mixing blogs with over 200,000 readers each month. 
Graham, great advice! I am really liking your topics regarding songwriting, you are honestly helping me a lot and I hope others as well in being better musicians 🙂
Once again, great thinking material. Brings a quote from Barry Manilow to mind: “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus”.
Love it.
Take a look at some of those classic Beatles songs. To this day I’m amazed when I listen to Revolver and 12 of the 14 songs are UNDER 2 minutes long. A song like Taxman has a great intro, great verses, great chorus a great guitar solo and a great outro and clocks in at 2:43.
The Beatles mastered the art of fitting an alarming number of hooks and awesomeness into three minutes. It’s a lesson in arrangement. They say as much or more in 3 minutes than modern song does in 4 and a half.
Yep.
Hi Graham, since day 1 i started learning how to record and mix. You’ve played a big part in it. Thanks a million!!! And all of your tips and tricks are amazing and honest. Keep doing what youre doing!
Cool article Graham. We’re a punk band so we don’t really have a problem with excess in our song writing!
Great post Graham! This really makes me think about where to put hooks in a song. It seems to me that it’s good to space your great parts out in a song to keep the listener engaged. Some of my favorite songs have an amazing hook in the last 15 seconds.
Very nice article again, Graham. I can relate.
I agree most with the last thing you mention:”The hardest mixes to do are the ones with way too much fat in the arrangement.”
To me, there can’t be anything more true when it comes to mixing. I love mixing songs that just work with a minimum of elements. Too many people are drowning their sound with too many instruments at once. Sure, it’s fun to sculpt and mold things together, but I do like me the pure and clear sound of one or two instruments playing together at the same time.
That’s when I sometimes just decide to leave elements out – always in agreement with the client of course. But y’know, sometimes you just have to throw stuff away, even when it’s not your own music.
I agree that sometimes (I think almost all the time actually) the songs I’m writing have some parts here and there that is not doing much to the song, and I’m starting to listen more carefully to my songs to see which parts are great and which parts are just fat. But I kinda disagree with you on the “get to the good stuff” part. Sure, the song must tell something to you, every part should have a purpose, but sometimes it’s cool to have a chorus or a bridge that just stands out of the rest, and you can see it in a lot of artists. It doesn’t mean that the song doesn’t need to be well chiseled, of course it needs, but to me it’s cool to sometimes just make a part that is super awesome. It depends a lot on the type of song you’re making, genre and etc, but in the end of the day I think it’s all about making a song that grows nicely.
Hey, I have a closet space of about 6′ high, 2′ wide, and 8′ long. Do you think it would make a decent vocal booth? Or would it affect the sound too much being so small? (if i put some foam up)
Look into things like the accoustishield by CAD. They’re amazing effective if you don’t have ideal space. I made my own and it works great.
The same, unfortunately is true of the online reading
space. So, when a young man approached me about an article he was writing on psychics in business,
I agreed. Dr David Hawkins has conducted some interesting experiments and has some interesting ideas about energy attractor patterns.
and if a reviewer does NOT disclose that information to you, I think the buyer should BEWARE, and avoid or discount
the recommendation completely on the basis of bias. Some of the very biggest networks, or even individual intuitive’s will actually review themselves.
How come so many people seem to rate them so highly.