The songwriting process...

i wonder how other people deal with this scenario... i feel the writing process, figuring out what instrument to put where and what melody to add here and there, getting the lyrics finalized, the drums, bass lines etc..very exciting and rewarding. However because during this stage i leave things a little sloppy as I know things will change along the way as i cut, copy and paste already recorded audio as needed, for me once the song is written, most instruments needs to be re-performed to absolutely nail it. It is this part that becomes draining and sometimes becomes a chore, rather than enjoyment. What was a breeze to play when initially figuring stuff out, now feels like a burden, plenty of errors whilst trying to obtain the quality one is looking for (delete take and start again over and over...) What actions to do you take to keep it fresh and enjoyable?

Good post, Barksy, recognize a lot from my own work. It has gotten to the point where I believe I must cooperate with others, like a producer and good, dedicated players, to actually get things done and make a finished product... I'm a singer/songwriter, not much of an arranger/producer... demo producer, maybe, but that's it.

songwriting is difficult...but exciting I'm agree!!!! 

I'm French so U can excuse my English!! I don't write lyrics I just help/collaborate for writing them but not more. For the rest of the process I can arrange, write the melodies, the main melodies and all the other parts (background/dubbing vocals too....). So I know what U feel (but I may misunderstand too...) I know that it's hard to get a good idea (refrain that stick in mind or a good riff...) but I tend to think that if U got A GOOD IDEA, it may be a starting melody with a particular instrumnt so U have to write it immediately or print it somehow to make a suite for it later but the stuffs that have to come along with this primary idea can change so U don't have to worry about it, as U said, this will be re-record later but it's not so important, because U have the Main Idea and that's the point I think. But, in this case U keep Ur Good Idea!! It's hard to explain but tell me if U understand something from that (lol)!! In my experience sometimes a good idea is a voice with particular melody, it can be lil' bluesy arpeggio with a side chained reverb....

Well, if you're doing everything yourself, getting everything from ideas/sketches to pro sounding instrumentalist takes, and then pro mixing, is quite a step. At least for me ;)

I know exactly what you're talking about. I have tons of unfinished songs that "i'm going to get back to at some point" because of the exact thing you're describing. I think a major part of the problem is composing in the DAW. We write and "rough" record the parts as we go along, thinking that we will fix things later, but when we "finish" we feel a sense of completeness with the writing side of things and never get back to re-recording the parts (or have anxiety about doing it). We usually move on to the next idea/song and repeat the bad habits. The possible solution for those of us with this problem is to try writing the song outside of the DAW. Get it as finished as you can, writing-wise, then go into the DAW and record with the intention of getting the parts down right. You should also have a good sense of where you're going arrangement-wise, but you can always muck around with that in the mixing stage. If it's tough to go about writing outside of the DAW (if you're doing EDM type stuff, etc) another option is to not be afraid to commit to things. I've been reading a couple of books on Todd Rundgren lately and all the artists he's produced and been in bands with(Utopia) marvel at how prolific he was/is in the studio. He would almost always commit and print EQ, effects, etc. to tape. He would visualize/"hear" how he wanted the parts to sound before recording them, get the sound he wanted, then commit it to tape and never look back. It made the mixing process much faster for him, too. He could still add things if needed at the mixing stage, but he was already that much closer to where he wanted to be. The bottom line: we have too many freakin' options these days in the audio software world and it drives some of us nuts.

Perfection - or the messed up perception of perfection being just out of your reach - that is the enemy.

This may seem a bit weird to you. I used to have your problem. I soon realised that by constructing each stage carefully and getting it as right as I could before moving on to the next bit --- for me at least, really solved this problem. It became fun trying to "perfect" each segment, so that I ended up with a virtually finished product with very little tinkering. This may not work for you --- for me ---big improvement.

I recall a story about the recording of a Burt Bacharach song featuring Cilla Black on vocals and produced by Sir George Martin at Abbey Road Studios. I believe the single was 'Anyone who had a heart'. So, all highly talented folk. The session went on and on throughout the day in the pursuit of perfection largely on the part of Mr Bacharach who felt he hadn't quite got the perfect take. Everyone was starting to wilt and they adjourned for a fag break. Meanwhile, Sir George, then just plain George in those days, went through some of the takes and after due reflection, suggested the best take was number 2 or number 3. Forget which one. It was used for the final cut. The trick is knowing went to let go.

I consider myself to be a tech more so than a musician, although my mother did blow four years of conservatory tuition on me in my teenage years. I do get the urge to write music every now and then for my own personal sanity, but I have to do it in a way where the mixing aspect doesn't get in the way, because once I start down that rabbit hole I can burn up what little time I have farting about. I have a template that includes my drum sequencer, a bass guitar input and four guitar inputs. The mix is set up just so I can hear everything and I don't mess around trying to get a sound that suits what I am trying to get out of my head - I select a drum beat that is in the ballpark, lay down a simplified bass line, and then I plug in a guitar and lay down a few very simplified tracks - just enough so that when I listen back to it I can remember what was in my head. I then let it sit, could be a few days or it could be months. When I get time I'll listen to a few of the ideas that I have 'jotted down' and either laugh at myself or add a new part or perspective. If I'm happy with it, I'll start producing it so it doesn't sound like 90's wang guitar music like it does in its raw form. - it's simple, and it's down. I'm not on any schedule to finish it and I may also never even listen to it again. What's important to me is that I got it out. So for me, the initial structure is very basic and unpolished. I find that coming back to something at a different time and when I'm in a different head space to be a little like collaborating with someone else, so I like the ideas to be somewhat vague.