June 2015
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 20, No. 6
Next Meeting Sunday June 7th 5:00pm
The International Songwriter’s Guild meets at 5 PM on the first Sunday of every month at the Central Florida Musician’s Union building, 3020 East Robinson (at the extreme east end of Robinson, near Orlando Executive Airport) in Orlando.
Songwriters, composers, performers, publishers, and the curious are encouraged to join us. Non-members are invited to attend a meeting or two to get a feel for our group and what we do. For more information, visit our website at www.tinyurl.com/isgsongs or myspace page at
The meetings will be structured as follows: 5:00 to 5:30, business and introductions. 5:30 to 6:00, presentation by a guest speaker (when scheduled), 5:30 or 6:00 to 8:00, song critiques. Please bring a CD or I-phone or mp3 player or perform your song live, and bring 10 or more lyric sheets. If we have at least 5 songs by members who wish to be scored, and 6 members scoring, then we will have them entered in the Monthly competition. Everyone is encouraged to write constructive comments on the lyric sheets.
Any Details not in this newsletter are at:
Web Chatter
by SusieCool
I would like to let you know about a guy who has a blog about recording techniques.
"My name is Graham Cochrane and I'm the founder of The Recording Revolution,
one of the world's most loved audio recording and mixing blogs with over 200,000
readers each month."
Here is an almost 9 minute video about creating a home studio on a $300 budget
(assuming you already have the computer)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=120&v=5uEfqnWKLLQ
Lizard Brain
by Jeff Mason
The definition of lizard brain, according to the Urban Dictionary, is as follows: “that part of the brain that senses danger, where instincts and gut feelings originate; primal thoughts; subconscious or involuntary processes; the amygdala.” I came across this term in relationship to songwriting. The simple act of writing random words on a piece of paper triggers an emotional response. It can break writer’s block. Shouting words into a recording device often gives us useful, colorful phrases and words. Copy and paste some random text into the create box of http://www.wordle.net/create and you’ll come up with a lovely word cloud which you can shape and color to your liking. See what jumps out at you. It will generate title ideas. For further exploration of these ideas I would advise looking at Speed Songwriting by Graham English https://speedsongwriting.com/ It’s comparable to any of the current crop of books on the subject of songwriting.
Elvis Costello is an admitted practitioner of the dark art of “lizard braining” and trolling for creative inspiration. Interviewed by Bill Flanagan in the excellent book “Written In My Soul,” Costello talks about his process, inspiration and influences, “The first time I came to America I got a notebook and half the “Armed Forces” album came from just jotting down things that went by the bus window.” He continues,”You could drive down Santa Monica Boulevard and five shop names could turn into a song.” Later in the interview he sheds further light on his process, “Usually I collect fragments of songs-verses, title, lines-over a period of time. I might write a song in ten minutes, I might write it over two weeks. It’s like a water tank filling up; enough time goes by collecting phrases and fragments and at some point songs start coming out.
http://www.amazon.com/Written-My-Soul-Conversations-Songwriters/dp/0809246503
Showtime is currently airing a documentary “Elvis Costello: Mystery Dance.” It further explores his career, musical collaborations and ideas.You may read a review here:
His childhood in Liverpool and London was “drenched in music.” His father Ross (a jazz singer in the Joe Loss band) influenced his musical tastes and his rebellious attitude. I enjoyed Paul McCartney’s view on their short musical collaboration. In Paul’s view, it was a return to his partnership with John Lennon. Sitting face to face with a pen and a pad of paper. They wrote twelve songs together and I wouldn’t be surprised if they collaborated again. Listen to their painful song about dementia “Veronica” or the powerful “The Lovers That Never Were” featuring McCartney on vocals and Costello on piano. You may read and hear more at this web site:
http://connorratliff.tumblr.com/post/59000233911/day-fifteen-the-mccartney-macmanus-demos-the I do have a criticism of the movie. I would have liked to learn more about Costello’s work with Burt Bacharach. I had to go digging for that; “Because It’s A Lonely World.”
Have fun listening to these songs by this brilliant and often misunderstood artist.
ISG Bulletin Board
Meeting space graciously provided by Central Florida Musicians Association, Local 389. You are invited to join the largest union in the world, representing the interests of the professional musician. Visit their website at www.afm389.org for more information. You may reach them by phone at: 407-894-8666.
Why isn't your gig announced here? Members in good standing
call SusieCool with your appearance schedule! 407-760-2153
Current members please send us your website info if you would like your site to be listed in the ISG members page. Also if you have any songs that have placed first in the monthly critiques, please send the mp3's to isgorlando@gmail.com if you would like to have them featured in the ISG MySpace page. https://myspace.com/21075001
May 2015 Critique Results
1. "Woman is Water" by Bill Frank
2. "Good Enough" by Pamela Belitch
3. "Love Grows, Lord Knows" by Matt Griffin
New members always welcome!
© 2015 ISG