If you want to start song writing you're going to need something to "write" on.
You may not necessarily need to write out it out on paper (though you can !),
you can also do it digitally in a DAW or in a score writing program like sibelius or musescore.
Since you can read music, you can always grab yourself a sheet of paper,
get a guitar/piano and then pluck away at the strings/hit the keys.
Though I would only recommend this if you know the basics, if you don't know them
then that's the FIRST thing you need to tackle.
Because writing to sheet music requires that you know the difference between
bass and treble cleff, what time signature you'll be using (most likely common time or 4/4)
and of course the key signature you'll be using which is related to scales (C will look different from Bb
for example).
The biggest problem after you know the basics of scales and how to create
chords is capturing the "sound" you wish to create.
I'll admit, I struggle with this but it's only because I haven't dedicated as much time to writing
songs as I have to learning theory. I've probably only written a dozen or so instrumentals in
mostly major scales and most aren't anything to write home about.
As
@jadillac mentioned you might want to initially copy your favorite
artist('s) to get an idea of how song writing works. One thing I'll say right
now is that what you DO NOT want to happen is to get stuck in imitating.
So many people that have uploaded music which sounds like their favorite
artists as if they have no identity to call their own. Which is something I
feel would be a great obstacle for someone looking to write songs though
you could probably make some pretty good cash writing songs for people who
have no problem sounding like a carbon of someone else.
Is there anyone in particular you like and wish to sound like ?
Have you tried reading any song writing books ?
Most pertain to lyric writing but we all know a song is much more than that.
Also do you have a DAW ? As in Reason, Fl studio, Protools etc.
If you have one of these you can write your instrumentals and submit them
to the big thread in "The Tunnel" and maybe get some critique, that's a BIG maybe.
I forgot to add that "Musescore" is FREE and Reaper is a cheap DAW with a great
deal of functionality, it's price is $60 if I recall.
This could turn into a dope thread if we can get posters to chime in like :
@AsAboveSoBelow
@MichaelWhite
@smARTmouf
@Cole Cash
@spliz
@TEKBEATZ
@Todd McPiff
@KushSkywalker
I also recall the mod
@That Singer Guy... being a singer/songwriter
he might just be able to come in and drop some knowledge on his process.
There are some really talented guys on here who can really drop knowledge
on songwriting and how to approach it. Some of which I've personally interacted
with like spliz and tekbeatz.
Also even if they're just producers and not singers/rappers they can still offer valuable
input on constructing what will be rapped and sung over, which is of course the instrumental.
I'm looking to step my game up as well so any input from knowledgeable posters would
be cool.
Oh and I see you said you don't know any instruments.
That's fine, I recommend you learn one but if you don't that's cool too.
Your "daw" can basically be your instrument, one of my favorite rappers right now
(Oddisee) clicks in all of his beats using VST's,Sound packs and Samples then when he needs
that extra flair that he can't get on his own, he just sends it off to session musicians so they can
play over it.
Though either approach you take, you'll need to understand music theory to some extent.
You can also sing melodies into a recording device of some sort like your cell phone, computer
microphone or a personal recorder and this approach doesn't necessarily require any knowledge
what so ever. I do this whenever I'm at home and the inspiration hits me.
I've got a quite a few recorded melodies (some with lyrics and beat boxing) that I'd like to turn
into full on songs.
