Category Archives: Songwriting

Articles about songwriting

GarageBand + My iPad = AWESOME!

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A couple of days ago I downloaded the GarageBand app for my iPad and I’ve really fallen in love with it. I think I just found my songwriting idea creation tool of choice.

I’ve always thought that because it was so ahead of its time, the iPad was the tool that you acquired first and worked out how to use it later but now, after playing around with GarageBand, I can see how this will totally revolutionise how I use my iPad.

At the moment I am still at the “mucking around with it” stage but even so, I composed a short piece to celebrate my GarageBand app acquisition. I call this piece GB on the IP and you can find it below.

It’s only an 8 bar phrase repeated twice but hey, it’s a start.

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I can assure you that more songwriting ideas will be coming…

Peace,

Corey :)

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Never Again Will I Be Afraid Of Words

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One of my primary songwriting goals of 2011 is to never be afraid of words again.

Ideally, what this means for me is that by conquering my fear of words or, more accurately, the fear of my words (and therefore me, as a person) being judged by others, I will be able to increase my songwriting output by finishing all of my half completed songwriting ideas because at the moment a distinct lack of lyrical material is what is standing in the way of me completing my current batch of songwriting ideas.

I have no real idea how I came to the conclusion that writing lyrics is not one of my strong points but that is how I was seeing myself as a musician first and a lyricist (a very distant) second.

I know that the above statement is not true however, I have said it to myself so many times now that my subconscious believes it. It’s like I’m fulfilling some sort of prophesy about my (lack of) songwriting process.

The biggest problem I have with my with lyric writing process is that I self censor far too early in the piece. I need to give myself the permission to put down on paper whatever comes to me, to write what is inside of me no matter whether I consider it crap or not and no matter how bad it might look on paper.

For some reason I’ve succumbed to the belief that I have nothing of value to say to the world through my lyrics. What a way to sabotage my songwriting and my creativity as a whole.

Yes, I’m pretty good at that.

Even though words have the power to change things and therefore, need to be treated with the respect they deserve, they can’t hurt me and my so called fear of them should not silence me.

The best thing I can do is to roll up my sleeves and just write. I know that by doing this I will conquer my fear of words.

One song at a time…

Peace,

Corey :)

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Gig Alert: SCALA @ The Fringe – February 24th, 2011

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Hi everybody,

I’ll be playing a solo show at the newly created Fringe venue “Shimmering West” this Thursday, February 24th as part of SCALA @ The Fringe series of shows starting at 5pm and finishing at 7pm.

I’ll be performing with two other acts, singer/songwriter David Robinson plus the wonderful duo of Andy Armstrong and Marta Bayly.

The program is as follows:

David Robinson – 5:00pm
Corey Stewart – 5:40pm (the thorn between two roses)
Andy & Marta – 6:20pm

It’s going to be a great gig, I hope to see some familiar faces in the crowd so come along and say HI!

Peace,

Corey :)

FAWM 2011 Is Just Around The Corner

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Today is the last day of January which means tomorrow, being the first day of February is the start of FAWM 2011.

For those who don’t know, FAWM stands for February Album Writing Month and the deal is, to write an albums worth of material in the month of February, which is set at 14 songs in 28 days. You can find out more about this brilliant songwriting concept by going to www.fawm.org.

On the FAWM website it describes the concept in this way:

“This is the club. Each February, FAWM.ORG forges a collaborative community where thousands of musicians of all walks and skill levels write an album’s worth of material in the shortest month of the year. That’s roughly one tune every other day. “Fawmers” are a mix of music professionals, students, homemakers, and folks who work dayjobs but rock nightclubs.”

In theory, the idea of FAWM being the kick-up-the-arse to my songwriting process holds true but in reality it hasn’t been that way which is my fault totally but this year I’m hoping that my songwriting output for FAWM 2011 will be much better than in previous years.

Later on in the year the guys at FAWM also run something called 50/90 (50 Songs In 90 Days) which will run from July to October 2011 but I’ll cross that bridge when the time comes.

I must keep telling myself that FAWM is not a contest and no-one gets judged, it’s a concept which is designed to test my songwriting process.

Am I ready to tackle inspiration, the muse head-on?

I’m going to give it a go this year, are you? Let me know if you do too.

Peace,

Corey :)

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The SongCatcher Interview In Full

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Last night I was interviewed on Radio Adelaide 101.5FM by the team at SongCatcher, a radio show which focusses on songwriters, their inspirations and general songwriting news.

I had the pleasure of playing two of my songs live, the first being “Back Of My Mind” with the second song being “Seeing Stars.”

To hear the entire SongCatcher interview click on the play link below

SongCatcher Interview January 17th, 2011 (1hr)

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I have also isolated both songs from the interview and have featured them below.

Back Of My Mind (Live)

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Seeing Stars (Live)

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I’m really, really proud with how both songs turned out. Let me know what you think.

Peace,

Corey :)

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Radio: SongCatcher On Radio Adelaide (101.5FM) Tonight

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I’ll be appearing tonight on the SongCatcher songwriting program on Radio Adelaide (101.5 on the FM dial) with Clayton Werner and Claire Thackeray.

Wooo Hooo!

I’ll be playing a couple of tunes live, talking about my song “Billboard Angel” which appears on the latest SCALA CD “A Guided Tour” plus, the SongCatcher crew will be playing a couple of songs from other artists that have influenced me over the years.

So tune into Radio Adelaide between 9 and 10pm to hear the program or, you can listen to the SongCatcher program online.

You’ll be glad you did…

Peace,

Corey :)

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Video: Night Voices – December 7th, 2010

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Late last year I had the pleasure of being the featured act for the Night Voices Open Mic which is held at The Garage Bar on Waymouth Street in Adelaide. The video below (taken by my good mate BT Cassidy) are the edited highlights from my performance.

In this video you’ll hear three songs, two of my own songs “Girl Like You” and “Back Of My Mind” which will be available on my upcoming CD release plus, a version of Spandau Ballet’s 1983 hit “Gold”

Enjoy…

I’m really quite proud of this video considering I was sick as a dog at the time. In fact, I detuned the guitar half a semitone to give my voice a bit of a rest.

Hmmm, the things we do for our art sometimes.

Peace,

Corey :)

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Gig Alert: “SCALA – A Guided Tour” CD Launch

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I have the pleasure of playing at the “SCALA – A Guided Tour” CD Launch this Thursday night, December 16th at the Higher Ground Arts Cafe starting at 8pm.

I’m going to be in fine company too, playing with the likes of Andy and Marta, Kenny Green, Adrian Miller, David Robinson and Mick Kidd.

I’ll be playing my SCALA exclusive song “Billboard Angel” on the night plus other tunes that will be on my upcoming CD “Out With The Old, In With The New” set for release in the first quarter of 2011.

Hope to see some familiar faces there, it’s going to be a fantastic night.

Peace,

Corey :)

CD Project Update #13 – More Vocals Please!

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Last week Darren and I completed the electric guitar overdubs for “Girl Like You” and today I’m hopeful that I finish the vocal tracks for the rest of the songs:

  • Don’t Turn To Me Now
  • Don’t Want To Let You Go
  • Jigsaw
  • Just One Kiss
  • Nothing Stands In Your Way
  • Seeing Stars
  • We Can’t Be Together Anymore
  • What Have We Got To Lose?

Another thing that I’ve started to do now is to keep track of what parts and/or what songs have been completed in the recording process.

At the moment I’m using a crudely drawn graph (as shown below) but I know that the neatness monster inside will force me to create a graph in Open Office or something like that.

After today I’m going to need to start thinking about getting Victor, the keyboard player in to do his tracks but first I’ll need to work out what songs need keys recorded before electric guitar.

An example of a song needing this process would be “Missing You Already” as my vision for the song dictates that it’s to be primarily a piano piece, similar to something that The Whitlams would do.

I’ve had a little bit of a head cold for the last few days so I’m hoping that my voice is ready for today. It feels good but getting the voice recorded can be a different beast altogether.

A few hours after I finish in the studio I’ll be doing a 20-30 minute guest spot at the Night Voices Open Mic at The Garage which starts at 7pm. If anything my voice will be nicely warmed up for that.

Now I’m off to get ready for the day ahead, wish me luck.

Peace,

Corey :)

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A New Addition To Corey Stewart Online – Articles

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In an attempt to streamline my blogging activities and consolidate my online footprint, I’ve decided to add an articles page to Corey Stewart Online.

I’ll be doing this by phasing out my earlier blogs Songwriting Zen, Orangutang Music and Corey Stewart Songwriting Tips and amalgamating all of my content into the Corey Stewart Online articles page.

This is something I have outlined in a previous post.

As well as my own content I’ll also be putting up what I would consider, really informative songwriting, music business and home recording articles that I find through my continuous online research into such topics but don’t worry, I’ll make sure I get the appropriate permissions from the original authors before putting them online.

Creating an articles page on this site and filling it with my past content is just another way that I can simplify my online activity, therefore allowing me to focus on my goals more effectively.

I’ve always been curious about article marketing and how it could help me as an online musician. Now I have my chance to put some theories to the test but I’ll tell you more about that in a later post.

BTW, If you have written or, you know of any content dealing with songwriting, music business or home recording that you want to recommend me put up on Corey Stewart Online, then please contact me.

I’d love to hear from you.

Peace,

Corey :)

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