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A Quick Look at Songwriting

This week in I300, our research assignment asked students to find three examples of mechanisms by which music is a part of the digital and physical worlds. These might include notions of sharing, learning, discovery, distribution, enterprise, commons, and other issues. They were asked to select three contrasting images or illustrations, with at least one of the choices connected to digital technologies in some way.

Songwriting
Songwriting uses technology to help the creative process

These assignments are intended to be ambiguous, to encourage some ownership of its interpretation. My initial inquiry focused on how music connects people as a social object. I identified three possible tensions to explore: Mobile vs. Fixed; Creating vs. Consuming; and, Public vs. Private. As I thought about how songs moved through the music ecosystem, I began to evolve this into a study of those who create the songs.

On Sunday night, I was able to interview Five Year Mission, an Indianapolis band with the goal of writing a new song for each of the 80 episodes (including pilots) of the original Star Trek television series. While the impetus for the interview was to support a forthcoming article in Wired‘s GeekDad blog, I devoted a little time asking them about their creative process as it relates to these three tensions.

The group divides up the season among 4 songwriters. The details of how they each approach the assignment vary, but in general they go through a process of watching the episode, re-watching it for notes, composing musical themes, and then writing lyrics. At some point, the result is a demo tape shared with others, for later collaboration.

Personal—Private composition is a product of available time. The band members talked about times when they write music just for their own pleasure, but that time to do so is limited by the number of other things they are doing. Between other jobs, families, and playing in multiple bands, time is scarce for personal projects. When such music is created, it eventually will find its way into a social sphere, such as transitioning from private to public music by uploading to Last.FM.

Creative—Listening is as vital to the creative process as performing. Every songwriter has a unique creative process, but more than one touted the value of iPhones. With voice recording applications, the iPhone allows for quick capture of music and lyrics for later playback and remixing. This is valuable both as a means of sharing (the recordings are used to create demo tapes or send as a raw example of work-in-progress) and for cognitive offloading to help remember ideas. Not everyone has an iPhone; some work with paper, which is as portable but less expensive. Though they work individually at first, the band continues to work through ideas by iterating on the initial demos, sometimes dramatically changing the song. New insights about the songs are learned through live performances and recording sessions as a group.

Mobile—Music making gravitates to familiar spaces. Retreats for working on new songs are constructed by convenience—this is where the equipment is housed—not necessarily for reasons of comfort or solitude. In some cases, due to a combination of time scarcity and pervasive thoughts about music, the songwriting takes place throughout the day in a variety of places. The instrumental work, however, is dependent on having the equipment at hand to perform. Keyboards, drum sets, and even guitars are not easily transferred from place to place. Even to transition from an interview to a practice session in the next room, the setup (equipment and soundproofing) took about 30-40 minutes. Controlled and predictable spaces also accommodate those not in the band, whether it is neighbors or family members, to allow them to anticipate noise levels and change behavior (e.g., leaving the vicinity).

Resources:

  1. Original photos by Kevin Makice, taken at a rehearsal (2-13-2011)
  2. Interview with Five Year Mission band members (Noah Butler, Andy Fark, Patrick O’Connor, Mike Rittenhouse, and Chris Spurgin), conducted during a rehearsal on February 13, 2011.
  3. Five Year Mission website banner (downloaded with permission at http://fiveyearmission.net/ on 2-13-2011)
  4. “002/365 Time,” photo by Venn Diagram (downloaded at http://www.flickr.com/photos/venndiagram/4238905532/ on 2-13-2011)

Students in my HCI Design class this semester at the School of Informatics & Computing HCI program are being asked to work up weekly components (research or a grounded concept) to gain experience in making and communicating good design choices. I’m going through the process with them, devoting the minimal amount of time (2-3 hours) that I expect of them each week.