Category: Academy

One of the things you will be doing as a songwriter at the Wisseloord Academy is toplining. Toplining is a way of writing in which the songwriter devises the vocal lines on a pre-made demo production. This is most done in the EDM scene.

Many DJs produce their new tracks before there is a hook or melody. When the basis of such a production is in place, they send it out to songwriters for them to come up with a top line. This is often accompanied by a briefing.

It is extremely important to do research before writing. For example, first listen to the reference tracks and the latest releases of the relevant DJ. There are several important points to consider when making the topline.

Lyrics

When you listen to the examples, take a good look at how the text is put together. Is it many words or very few? Does the story remain a bit on the surface, or does it really go in depth? Are there many ‘easy’ words used, or do you regularly hear ‘unknown’ and ‘more difficult’ words? Are many clich�s used or does the artist try to avoid them as much as possible?

Melodies

Also try to find out what kind of melodies are commonly used in his or her music. Are the intervals used small or large? Is the rhythm fast or slow? Do the notes continue for a long time, or do they end quickly?

Vocals and production

The songwriting of the topline can be very good in itself, but if the choice in the vocals and the production thereof is not the right one, it is possible that the topline is still rejected. So be very careful about that too. Does the artist almost always use female vocals? Then there is little chance that a male vocalist will make the cut, unless of course specifically requested. Also look at what kind of ‘range’ the vocalist uses a lot, so does the vocalist sing very high or very low?

The production of the vocals is the last important point. Topliners are supposed to produce the vocals themselves. So, it’s important to check whether the artist likes ‘clean’ vocals or wants them heavily edited. Spend a lot of time on this production, your topline can be so good, if your production is not top level, it will not work.

If you are asked to create a topline, make sure you submit your topline quickly. The credo “better yesterday than today” is often heard. Topline briefings are sent to multiple topliners at the same time. If you don’t act fast enough, there’s a good chance this opportunity will pass you by. So, work efficiently and quickly! Train your toplining and your production regularly; so that when you can finally get started, you are immediately ready!

To read more about Songwriting and how to improve the process of developing, creating and refining recorded music visit our knowledge base page about Songwriting Education.

Lyrics don’t necessarily have to rhyme, but in most cases, rhyme is used. We’re going to look at a few different options.

Full rhyme

In a full rhyme, the sounds of both the vowels and the consonants match. There is no more ‘complete’ rhyme than full rhyme.

For example: hope � rope, think � blink, cows � browse

As you can see, the sounds of the words completely match.

Half rhyme

Half rhyme is a kind of slimmed down version of full rhyme. Where with full rhyme both the vowels and consonants correspond in sound, with half rhyme this is the case with only one of the two.

For example: bug � bun (only the vowels), bug � bag (only the consonants)

Alliteration is also a form of half rhyme, in which the same initial letters are used for each word. Such as: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

Placemet of the rhyme

You can rhyme in different places in a sentence. Often the rhyming words are at the end of the sentence, a so-called ‘final rhyme’. But there are also alternatives, such as an ‘initial rhyme’. The words at the beginning of the sentence rhyme with each other. With an ‘inner rhyme’, words are somewhere in the middle of the sentence that rhyme with each other.

Rhyme schemes

You now know a few types of rhyme, but how do you process them in a text and where do you place the rhyming words in relation to each other? There are different types of rhyme schemes, a few examples:

Striking rhyme: ����������������� A � A � A � A

Crossed rhyme: ����������������� A � B � A � B

Embracing rhyme: A � B � B � A

Staggered rhyme: ������������� A � B � C � A � B � C

See the letters as words that rhyme with each other; A rhymes with A, B with B, etc.

It is good if you get to know all kinds of rhymes, so you can continue to vary in your songwriting. This creates surprising twists and turns and keeps the listener interested.

To read more about Songwriting and how to improve the process of developing, creating and refining recorded music visit our knowledge base page about Songwriting Education.

The first thing that gets stuck in your head is often the melody. A real earworm can haunt your mind for days. But coming up with a new melody that is also catchy can be difficult. Many songwriters return after a few songs to a melody that they have used before. Here are some tips!

Put your instrument away

If you almost always play your instrument while writing, you may get stuck in certain patterns or chord progressions. As a result, you will also stay in the same range more often with your vocal melodies. So, leave your instrument alone and try to write a cappella melodies. In that case you are freer to sing and try what you want, after all you are no longer tied to your instrument.

Repetition

The power of repetition should not be underestimated. Once you’ve found a catchy melody, you must put it to good use. But be careful not to irritate with all these the repetitions. For example, use the AABA principle, in which A is your catchy main melody that you briefly alternate with an alternative B melody. This way you step away from the repetition for a while, you keep the melody fresh and as soon as your main melody returns, the listener immediately recognizes it again.

Intervals

A melody consists of two components. One of these is ‘intervals’. An interval is the musical distance between two notes. For a melody with a small range, the intervals are logically small, with a large range they are larger. You can alternate nicely with this throughout a song. To really make the chorus stand out, for example, you can choose to keep the intervals in the verses small and make them larger in the chorus. This way you create a nice contrast and it ‘opens up’ the chorus, as it were.

Rhythm

The second component of a melody is the rhythm. You can essentially play around with this the same way you do with the intervals. For example, choose a fast rhythm in the verses and a somewhat lower rhythm in the chorus. You can combine and vary endlessly. Short notes, long notes. If you vary enough you keep it interesting.

Listen to your idols

If you have read the above carefully, I advise you to listen to the music of your idols. Pick a song you like and analyze the melody of the vocals. Pay attention to repetitions, intervals and rhythm and write them down. Do this with several songs and possibly different styles. This gives you a very nice idea of ??how these melodies vary with all components. Take this in and take advantage of it!

To read more about Songwriting and how to improve the process of developing, creating and refining recorded music visit our knowledge base page about Songwriting Education.

Whether a song is good depends a lot on the lyrics. Songs with a good and catchy story often stick with the listener the longest. It is because of this that someone can start to attach an emotional value to such a song. But how do you write lyrics that really tell a story and remain interesting throughout the song?

Basically, you can roughly divide a lyric into two parts: the verses and the chorus. Of course, we also have the pre-chorus and a bridge, but we’ll leave those out for now.
To give a lyric depth and to keep it interesting, it is necessary to create contrast between the texts of the verses themselves, but also between the verses and the chorus. If you constantly say the same thing in all parts of the song, there is no surprise anymore and it quickly becomes boring. So, make sure that you think carefully about the contrast and how you are going to apply it. This can be done in several ways.
For example, you could see the chorus as ‘effect’ and the verses as ’cause’. Of course, this can also be done the other way around. Let�s say our song is about ending a relationship. In the verses you could explain what you think is going wrong or has gone wrong during your relationship, with the result that in the chorus you say that you are ending this relationship.
But there are even more ways, for example: ‘answer’ and ‘question’.

Once you have devised such a structure, the next step is to create contrast between the verses. You don’t want to continue in the second verse on what has already been said in the first verse. The best thing is if you can sketch a new situation in the second verse or look at the situation from a new point of view.
For example, you can use �past� in the first verse and �present� in the second. If you apply that to our break-up song, you get the story in the first verse about what went wrong in the past. Then you tell in the chorus that you break up and in the second verse you tell how you are feeling after you broke up. In this way the lyrics continue to develop throughout the song and the listener remains fascinated because you keep coming up with new situations.

In addition, this gives the chorus a new emotional charge after each verse. After the first verse, in which everything is still doom and gloom, the message that you are ending the relationship is still quite emotional because of the situation described earlier.

To read more about Songwriting and how to improve the process of developing, creating and refining recorded music visit our knowledge base page about Songwriting Education.

It can sometimes be extremely difficult to come up with a new concept for a song from scratch. Of course, you want a good story and preferably something you have not heard before. Often songwriters already get stuck there. Fortunately, there are several ways to awaken your creative mind. You will do many of these exercises at the Wisseloord Academy. Probably not every exercise will help you equally, songwriting is of course very personal. That is why it is important to try out all the exercises and tips; you will eventually find the way that suits you perfectly to come up with new ideas, even if you are stuck in a writer’s block. Here are a few tips to practice with:

Object writing

If you’re not quite sure what you want to write about, this exercise is perfect. Choose a random object, for example your shoe and set a timer for ten minutes. In these ten minutes you will write down as many things as possible that have to do with your shoe. Describe what it looks like, where you bought it, where you’ve been with it and what you experienced with it. It doesn’t matter as long as your pen doesn’t leave the paper. You must keep writing constantly. If you can’t think of a nice sentence, just literally write down the individual words that come to mind.

When the ten minutes are over, you can read the result. You are most likely not going to write a song about your shoe, but chances are that there is a certain phrase or word in your text that suddenly appeals to you. For example, replace the word ‘shoe’ with a word that you do like and continue writing from that point. Eventually you’ll probably come up with a new song or idea that has nothing to do with your shoe, but those ten minutes of writing will give you new inspiration!

Unusual combinations

Songwriting is all about telling a story. Unusual combinations of words can be helpful in telling or portraying a story or feeling. For example, think of combinations such as ‘the dry water’ or ‘the silent sound’. A good exercise to come up with these kinds of combinations is to make two columns on paper. In the left column you put 20 adjectives and in the right column 20 nouns. Do this with the paper folded in the middle so that you can only see the column you are writing in. When you have completed both columns, unfold the paper again and you will see the random word combinations you just created. There is almost always something that works very well and that you can use in your songwriting!

Extra tips

If you’re multilingual, you might want to consider starting writing in a different language than what you’re used to. When you have finally written a nice draft, you translate it back into your preferred language. In this way you often end up with new word choices.

The last tip is to use your notepad! Many people use this in their phone, but a real physical notepad is of course also useful. In everyday life you will come across many words, phrases and quotes that are beautiful to use in your songwriting. Think of texts in films or series, but also conversations that you overhear in everyday life. Write them down! If you get stuck writing later, you’ll have a nice reference book full of ideas that you can use.

To read more about Songwriting and how to improve the process of developing, creating and refining recorded music visit our knowledge base page about Songwriting Education.

Most songwriters have written their first song just by themselves. But nowadays almost all the songs you listen to are written by at least two or three writers. For some people it is hard to make that transition to do co-writes. But doing so can result in huge improvements in your songwriting. At the Wisseloord Academy you will do a lot of co-writing sessions. But why should you try co-writing and what are the tips and tricks to keep in mind?

If you give co-writing a try, you will work with a lot of people. Some of them you already know and some you meet for the first time right there and then in the writing room. If you just met, don�t rush into it, and don�t start writing right away. Take your time, grab a cup of coffee together, talk about life and maybe listen to some of each other�s songs. Songwriting is a very delicate thing, getting to know the writers in the room a little bit won�t hurt. You will have to be able to open up to each other to get to the best result. When you feel comfortable with someone, it will be easier.

What makes co-writing so interesting is that you will encounter new ways of writing every single time. Every songwriter has his own way to approach a lyric or a way to come up with melodies. It gives you new insights and ideas. Next to that it is a way to mix-up genres and styles that you would normally never come up with on your own. Your songwriting skills can benefit from this enormously. You can use the different techniques and styles to implement them into your own songwriting and built your own unique selling point.

Writing on your own can be peaceful and gives you the freedom to write whatever you want. But what if you suddenly suffer from a so-called writer�s block or get stuck on that one sentence you still don�t like? In co-writing sessions there�s always at least one more person in the room which may help in such a situation. During a session with a couple of writers chances are bigger that ideas, concepts, lyrics, melodies etc. keep on coming. So, the writer�s block is less likely to appear.

These sessions are not only good for your songwriting, but also makes you meet new people and grow your network. Which can be quite useful in the future. If a session goes well, chances are the artist or songwriter will ask you to do more sessions together. In this way you can work on your �brand� and make a name for yourself. If people like to work with you, other people will start to notice resulting in more sessions and briefings. So, have you scheduled your first co-write session already?

To read more about Songwriting and how to improve the process of developing, creating and refining recorded music visit our knowledge base page about Songwriting Education.

At the Wisseloord Academy you will be prepared for the real thing. You will regularly work on assignments and briefings out of the work field. It gives you a double chance: you can gain experience while making the assignment and if you carry out the briefing well, it may just be that your work makes the ‘cut’. But how do such briefings work and what should you pay attention to when you start working on them?

Briefings can come from all corners of the work field. You’re going to get them from artists, ad agencies, labels, movie producers, and much more. It is important to know what kind of party you are working with to achieve the right result.

Several things are stated in a briefing. Take, for example, a briefing for film music.

This often involves a search for the title song or for music for a specific scene. The client often provides a short summary of the content of the film and states what he is looking for. That question is sometimes supported, sometimes not by ‘reference tracks’. These are pre-existing songs that they give as an example for the type of track they are looking for. Note that you do not copy these tracks 1 on 1, but simply take them as an example. For example, you can get inspiration from the rhythm, the production style, or the way of using instrument or vocals.

Many briefings, also called pitches, are also issued by artists and labels. These artists are looking for their new hit and you can work on it! In the briefing they indicate what they are looking for and what kind of music they have already made and released recently. Keep in mind that such an artist needs something new, so don’t copy past their previous songs.

A deadline is almost always indicated in the briefing, so stick to it. Please submit your work as soon as possible. Briefings are often sent to multiple parties, so competition is fierce. The sooner you submit your work, the better. It would be a shame that you don�t get the assignment because they have already chosen another work.

It will happen more often that your work will eventually not be used than that it will. Be prepared for this. The competition is high, so the chance that you ‘win’ is smaller. Don’t give up but move on to the next briefing.

To read more about Songwriting and how to improve the process of developing, creating and refining recorded music visit our knowledge base page about Songwriting Education.

�If you’ve been writing for a while and have delivered a lot of songs, you might develop a writer�s block. Haven’t I used this chord progression before? Isn’t this guitar rhythm from my previous song? I wrote this melody last week, didn’t I?�

These are questions that regularly pop into the mind of even the most successful and seasoned songwriters and that’s not surprising. If you write songs five days a week, you will eventually come across things that you already know. That is not a problem, as long as you know the tricks to get out of it. If you study music at the Wisseloord Academy, you will certainly come across this in the long run. The teachers have plenty of ways for you to solve this, such as the following examples.�

Leave your guitar�

If you always write songs using your guitar, you will eventually fall back into certain patterns. Every guitarist has beats, chord progressions and melodies that he or she likes to play. It is therefore not surprising that they quickly fall back on this, after all, it is ‘your sound’. But you will eventually hear the same sounds again and again. Try it without the guitar or play another instrument like the piano. For the pianists among us, of course, the opposite is adviced.�

Change the song structure�

Most songs all have the same standard structure: verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus. Possibly with a bridge and extra chorus at the end. But what if we do it completely differently? Mix up the elements, leave one out, add one. Who knows, you may come up with whole new ideas.�

Write on a boat�

Songwriters often have a fixed place where they write their songs. It may sound crazy, but that too can cause writer’s block in the long run. It can be very inspiring to take a trip and organize a session in a place that is unusual for you. That is also one of the reasons that you often see artists hold writing camps in special places, often also abroad. So, go and write on a boat in the middle of�

the lake, or rent a house somewhere in Norway. Who knows, you might write the next Norwegian hit!�

Try a different genre�

If you always write in the same genre, it’s a good idea to take a trip to something completely different. Find an artist or songwriter who makes completely different songs than you and see what comes out of the session! New influences can never hurt your songwriting and you always pick up something from them. For the song itself it can also be very interesting to bring two genres together, for example.�

To read more about Songwriting and how to improve the process of developing, creating and refining recorded music visit our knowledge base page about Songwriting Education.

To become a better songwriter and/or producer you simply must practice a lot. But to find out where you need to improve your skills, you need feedback. Therefore, regularly ask for the opinion of someone you respect in the music field about the songs you are making. You don’t have to take everything lightly but take a critical look at yourself and your own work. But it can also be very educational the other way around; listen to some of your favorite artists and analyze their songs. Why are they so good? If you analyze them well, you can extract a lot of information that you can use to get better at songwriting yourself. That is why we regularly analyze songs at the Wisseloord Academy. So, what can you pay attention to?

Song structure

First the structure. What does the song look like (in general)? How long are the verses relative to the chorus? Is a pre-chorus used? And if so, in what way? Is there a bridge in the song? Is there an instrumental bridging or a post-chorus? Put this on paper in as much detail as possible in a chronological order.

Lyrics

Once you have determined the structure, you can start analyzing the lyrics. What is the story and how is it told? What is the function of the verses; is there a situation that is described or a question asked? And is the chorus to this perhaps the answer or consequence? Try to determine the function of the lyrics per part of the structure. Also look at what language is used. For example, is it straightforward or very cryptically written?

Melody

Again, distinguish between the different parts of the song and determine what the differences are per part. The melody roughly consists of three parts; intervals (the musical distance between two notes), the rhythm and note lengths. These will probably vary per part of the structure, just take a look.

Package

Last but not least; the arrangement, or the music. Often there are noticeable differences between, for example, the verses and the chorus. For example, the arrangement is ‘smaller’ and ‘calmer’ in the verses and ‘fuller’ and ‘more exuberant’ in the chorus. At least, in most cases, there are always exceptions. Also analyze this for the selected song.

In the end, this is how you analyzed a song. Do this with several more and see if there are any similarities. Draw your conclusions from this and see what you can possibly apply in your own music.

To read more about Songwriting and how to improve the process of developing, creating and refining recorded music visit our knowledge base page about Songwriting.