Songwriting dilemma

[bagelsgirl]

Originally Posted by Chicago Sandy

When she got the Chick Singer Night booking (which amazes me now, since you need a good demo and they're pretty selective),

Sooooo .... maybe the demo CD she sent you wasn't her, maybe she accidently mailed you a recording of the chipmunks or something?

???

[TaylorGirl]

Sandy,

It's a decision you'll have to make for yourself.. I've been in this situation myself, being a teacher.. On the one hand, do you crush someone's dreams, and hopes? Or do you tell them the reality of what they're given (the voice, is one thing that even with good voice lessons will never sound beautiful if we weren't born with the right anatomy). I generally tend to fall with the latter.. I'm the one person who agrees with Simon Cowell when it comes to telling it how it is. I've been told many times in my life, that my voice wasn't what someone wanted - not that it was bad, just not what they wanted.. This was hard enough. But think of it this way, if she is in a professional college theatre progam chances are she is going to end up auditioning at some point in her "career"... I'm sure many of us have had experiences with some of the less "polite" casting directors.. Would you want her to find out that way?

Perhaps find a nice way to tell her, maybe try just letting her record herself and play it back. I'm always so surprised at how many people have *never* heard themselves recorded before! And don't do it with music, make her do it acoppella.

Otherwise, write something simple, without over powering chords. Light strum patterns, perhaps something picked (ala Michelle Branch) that won't over power a weak voice. And just HOPE she gets some tone sense.

Sharon

[lotech]

Originally Posted by bagelsgirl

Sooooo .... maybe the demo CD she sent you wasn't her, maybe she accidently mailed you a recording of the chipmunks or something?

???

I wondered something like that, myself.
The producer she was on the "outs" with apparently didn't put much of himself into the project, maybe the finished product reflects his apathy as much as her talent. Until you hear her yourself, you won't really know.
Whatever her aspirations are, she apparently loves music. There are a lot of us true no-talents around, who get a tremendous lot out of associating with those who actually can play and sing. You might say, that's why I'm here.
Unless the College has buildings named after one or more of this girls ancestors, I think the chances of her being as bad as you fear, are not so great.
In any event, if you have time to be mentoring this girl and wish to do so, I'd say, go at in good faith. You'll find a way to help her, even if it means pointing out her lack of clothing.

[sluggo]

You might consider having her with you during the writing prosess. She may have some ideas that can help you write within her limitations.

[Chicago Sandy]

All good suggestions. She definitely does not want me to write something with just a guitar--she paid to have these pop/hip-hop grooves laid down and wants songs written over them. At least for the first song about infatuation and obsession, I have had hooks and choruses running through my head all day (even though I can hear Fergie or Gwen Stefani singing them and not her, I'm keeping the tessitura tight and the melody simple but catchy). I am hoping that our mutual friend producer caught her voice on a bad day and that she sounds much better in reality.

I asked her whether she'd like to sit in on the writing, and she replied that she really is not a writer or musician and would rather I came up with something.

[wthurman]

Originally Posted by TaylorGirl

Or do you tell them the reality of what they're given (the voice, is one thing that even with good voice lessons will never sound beautiful if we weren't born with the right anatomy).

Shhh. Don't tell Tom Waits, Bob Dylan or Neil Young!

[HereIGoAgain]

Originally Posted by Wade Thurman

Shhh. Don't tell Tom Waits, Bob Dylan or Neil Young!

Or David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Don Henley, or Paul McCartney.

[lotech]

Originally Posted by HereIGoAgain

Or David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Don Henley, or Paul McCartney.

. . . or Kris Kristopherson, or anyone who sings their own stuff.

[lotech]

Originally Posted by Chicago Sandy

.

I asked her whether she'd like to sit in on the writing, and she replied that she really is not a writer or musician and would rather I came up with something.

Now that part, is outside my imagining.

[cafeguy]

Wow, the things we can get ourselves into by trying to help. I was thinking about this a while and two sayings kept coming to mind. The first is “No good deed goes unpunished” and the second was “Do the right thing”.

It seems that if you tell her the bad news you will be punished and if you end up as a backup singer you get punished. I guess I would opt to “Do the right thing” which would be to complete the songs and see them through to their conclusion. The reason is that she never asked you to critique her singing and the truth is that she sounded like she did before you agreed to write lyrics for her. Many of the problems I end up with are because I jumped into something before I asked all the right questions and I always swear that I won’t let that happen again, man I hate learning by experience.

It’s evident that she has heard herself recorded as she sent a sample disk (wish you had that before you said yes don’t you). It takes most folk a while to get use to their own recorded voice and it took me a long time to accept the recorded me. This young lady has not only heard her voice but accepts it and passes it on for public consumption. I don’t think you would be able to convince her that she is not good the only thing that will tell her that is not getting parts in theater, not selling tickets to her performances, and not selling recordings if she gets that far.

The only way that I see for bowing out gracefully is by telling her you are unable to complete the project because it will take up too much time at this time, you have a rare medical condition that has removed your songwriting skills for 6 months…..you get the picture. Good luck ….. Hey, maybe you can pair her up with that guy that sings “Oh Holy Night.” If you haven’t heard it I can send a link.

[lotech]

My curiosity is on the rise about what you will come up with (the writing, I mean) and how she will deliver when the time comes. If you ever get that far, I hope we'll have a chance to hear the finished product.
If I'm wanting to hear her, I guess this means she's developing a following. Ironic, ain't it?

[marvin gardens]

Real interesting situation, yes please let us know how this unfolds. All great advice. I had a situation a while back where I was asked to join a bluegrass group to sing back-up for "the boss", a women that, as far as I was concerned, couldn't sing. Oh, she could carry a tune, and could in her own way butcher otherwise good sounding country tunes. I worked for months with her, sang harmony,even sang lead so she could harmonize, nothing worked. The band eventually broke up, I suggested that she find a good voice teacher/vocal coach that could at least teach scales and technics. I think that the fellow that suggested having your girl rap the vocals might just be on to something. There's really no good way to let someone down easy...good luck!