Mistakes Were Made

A new song made really, really fast. And I'll tell you how to make a song really fast too.

Note: The song you hear above, Mistakes Were Made, is available to buy here for a buck if you like.

Last Friday I published and article that said I was going to release more music soon, and over the weekend I crafted one.

The entire song was recorded, mixed, mastered and published in under 2 hours. How was I able to get it done so fast? By purposely keeping the song simple.

Simple songwriting 101 for guitar

All you have to follow are 3 rules when you want to write a song really, really fast.

Rule #1: Simplify your songwriting

If your riffs get too complicated, you'll never complete the song.

With guitar, that basically means to chord a lot and make your chord structure simple. While Mistakes Were Made sounds complicated, it really isn't as it's just a fast delta style blues refrain.

Rule #2: Have your recording rig 100% ready-to-use

I use a Zoom R8 multitrack recorder that has a drum machine in it, a guitar and a bass guitar. I also have a microphone for singing but didn't use it for Mistakes Were Made because it's an instrumental.

In the way my recording rig is set up, I can power on and be ready to record very quickly.

Rule #3: Be willing to make mistakes

The reason the song is called Mistakes Were Made is because mistakes are present in the song, but I left them in anyway. I'd record a track where I would mess up but just powered through until the end, then laid down the next track, then the next one, mixed, mastered, publish, done.

I record this way because a) getting the song done is important, and b) sometimes what seems like a big mistake can actually be "fixed in the mix" once other instruments are added in. Besides which, I have punch in/out editing on the R8 as does any other multitrack recorder, so it's not like it's difficult to fix a screw-up these days.

Done

Getting a song finished, published and DONE is a very satisfying thing. I waited far too long to release something new, so it felt good to finally do it.

Does this mean more music will be coming soon on a more regular basis? Hopefully, yes. 🙂

Oh, one final note: The guitar used for this song was the Squier Jazzmaster.

Published 2016 May 30