Nick Drake, Ani DiFranco, Coldplay, heck, even Goo Goo Dolls use alternate tunings.
As to how I write? Usually melody lines come to me every hour. The only
problem is that I'm not a very skilled musician yet so by the time I
get into translating it from my head to the guitar, it's usually lost.
Most often it's lyrics. I carry around a handy Pocket PC that works
both as an idea jotter and as a quick tape recorder to record quick
clips. Half the time I forget I have it with me, though. [img]smileys/smiley36.gif[/img]
I also have a text file for brainstorming lyrics down, but I really
don't "brainstorm," per se. Inspiration hits at the oddest moments,
yanno. The text file's gettin' to be about 20 pages thus far, and
that's not including my box of napkins and receipts that I've jotted
notes on. It's great to be a pack rat when it comes to inspiration.
Just digging or reading can lead to a lot of things, and I've found
that if I go through recent work, say over the past week, I can always
see a certain theme or something that's been subconsciously on my mind
without ever knowing that it has been, so it's good therapy, too.
When I do work off of the lyrics alone, I try to remember the original
melody in my head. If that doesn't work, I sing it acapella because
that forces me to find a melody, then I work from there and try to
fine-tune everything and also write a guitar part to support it.
I don't know. So many different ways. Everyone's creative process is
different, as stated before, and it's wonderful to read how everyone
does it.
|