# Can you write a Pop song?



## jononotbono (May 12, 2016)

Here's a song I wrote called "Yours Sincerely"...




Jono


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## streetster (May 12, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> Here's a song I wrote called "Yours Sincerely"...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thats really good man. Did you sing? Not the most poetic lyrics but entertaining


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## Saxer (May 12, 2016)

Great stuff! Love the voice! Big smile here while listening


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## jononotbono (May 13, 2016)

Yeah that's me singing (trying to anyway). Got tired of trying to find a singer (relying on people huh!) so one morning I decided to give it a go. I was (and still am) incredible angry and decided to write a song about a wretched person. Angry Music that sounds Happy! Haha!

Glad you like it. Not sure why I called it "Can you write a Pop song". It insinuates that I can! Although, I think being able to write something simple and catchy is important. Especially when one is trying to learn Orchestration! Back to the studies...


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## passsacaglia (May 13, 2016)

Haha this was really good!
Takes me back to the 90s when I listened to Brainpool and Suede ^^ 
Something familiar with the song, could be a good soundtrack song for the crazy movie Road trip haha!


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## Jetzer (May 13, 2016)

This is great!


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## jononotbono (May 13, 2016)

streetster said:


> Thats really good man. Did you sing? Not the most poetic lyrics but entertaining



Thankfully Lyrics don't always have to be Poetic. They do, however, have to be honest! Thanks for the kind words by the way! I have an album I am working on but not sure when it will be finished. Difficult finding the right players and Producer/Mixer!


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## dannymc (May 13, 2016)

you're actually a pretty good singer man, i enjoyed it, lots of fun. maybe you could make this a style of yours and get famous 

Danny


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## jononotbono (May 13, 2016)

dannymc said:


> you're actually a pretty good singer man, i enjoyed it, lots of fun. maybe you could make this a style of yours and get famous
> 
> Danny



Well, I do have a whole album of demos I need to record properly! Haha! Thanks man!


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## thesteelydane (May 13, 2016)

Hey, this is awesome! Hit me up if you need some strings on any of your stuff, would love to work with you!


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## jononotbono (May 13, 2016)

thesteelydane said:


> Hey, this is awesome! Hit me up if you need some strings on any of your stuff, would love to work with you!



Thanks! Glad you like it!  I shall definitely be in touch when the time is right!


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## streetster (May 13, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> Thanks! Glad you like it!  I shall definitely be in touch when the time is right!


Ok here is my attempt....written about 5 years ago...I shudder as I can hear all the imperfections now especially timing...but was fun to do.


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## Richard Wilkinson (May 14, 2016)

Nice work all!
Good work on the vocal Jono - it fits the vibe perfectly for me.

I did a few songs last year - some super-saccharine stuff, but it's always nice to do a bit of songwriting in between ukuleles and Taikos!




and a DnB crossover thing. Loads of fun.


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## jononotbono (May 14, 2016)

Oh great! I'll have to check these all out properly when I am in the Music Lab next!


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## Saxer (May 14, 2016)

Just heard your song again... for me it sounds like a Steely Dan song performed by Monty Python (or vice versa). Love it!


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## jononotbono (May 14, 2016)

Haha! Excellent! Well, I'm glad you like it! I really must get some other's fully recorded as soon as I can!


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## Richard Wilkinson (May 15, 2016)

That's great! Is it vocaloid? If so, it's definitely one of the best uses I've heard.


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## karelpsota (May 15, 2016)

Love your track Jono. The production & vocal performance really complement the lyrics 

I don't write lyrics but here's my latest experiment. I call the genre "*R'n'BeeDM*".

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15219925/KP_Torn_26_Instru.mp3


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## Baron Greuner (May 15, 2016)

Its got a good catch at 0:40 Jono. That works well.

Can I send it to David Cameron?


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## SymphonicSamples (May 15, 2016)

Great song Jono, I enjoyed your voice, I'd be interesting to hear more also. As for Vocaloid it's certainly a sound unto itself. Let's not forget about Realivox Blue , she's capable of singing a pop song


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## jononotbono (May 15, 2016)

Some very positive feedback in this thread! Thanks! I am going to listen to all the links everyone has provided in the next couple of days. Thanks for sharing your Music! I have just got home from running over 26.5 miles (I got lost due to bad sign posting) and I need to lay down. I'm walking like I'm wearing Forrest Gump's Magic Shoes.


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## thov72 (May 15, 2016)

guys I´m totally in awe, those tracks are really great....thanks jono-not-bono for starting this


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## jononotbono (May 19, 2016)

thov72 said:


> guys I´m totally in awe, those tracks are really great....thanks jono-not-bono for starting this



No worries man! It's interesting to hear what everyone's take on a Pop track is!


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## reddognoyz (May 19, 2016)

HREQ said:


> I've been wondering for a while, why choose film composition and production over pop song writing if pop songs are so simple to create?



I know so many musicians that look down on pop songs with derision, maybe as much with working composers. I don't know, I think writing a successful pop song is really really hard, and it's a gift, I think, to be able to do it earnestly and successfully. In general people could give a damn about music except if they like it or not, and as unsophisticated and disengaged the average listener is, they can smell bs a mile away.

Taylor Swift is a brilliant song writer imho, a statement that is sure to get me scoffed at by the next jazz bass player I mention that to. The yardstick of success is hard to ignore. There are many who are going to say that she is the face put on a product created by Doctor Luke or Max Martin etc. She, in particular, is not. I have heard her demo's, those are her songs. She created her own genre, the ex-boyfriend songs : ) funny, but it seems to have worked for her, judging by the number of people with whom those songs resonate.
The thing that I think that's most often overlooked is the amount of self determination and vision and consistent hard work it takes to complete a group of songs. With scoring work, you have a mandate, a mission.I have done a good deal of song writing and it is hard to keep the energy up once that moment of discovery has passed and you return to that "brilliant idea" and it has lost it's luster to you. You have to summon up the will and the magic again every time until it's done. And I was getting paid to do it, I had a deadline and a paycheck! I can't imagine doing it "on my own"


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## jononotbono (May 19, 2016)

jieff said:


> Vocaloid is a real beast on stage too !!




It's not something I would personally use (for my own stuff) but it certainly works!


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## David Donaldson (May 19, 2016)

Here's one of ours. If I remember rightly it went to number one all over the world.
Oh yeah and that's the Biscuit Tin Guitar before MODWHEEL immortalised it as a Kontakt Library.


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## owenave (May 20, 2016)

@jononotbono Loved it.... I will have to listen to everyone else songs.
Here is one of mine. I do everything, Play all music parts, sang all vocals Lead
and background vocals (all done the old fashion way... bunch of stacks on each harmony)
composed and produced. It gets played on a lot of Internet Stations and a couple FM's.


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## jononotbono (May 21, 2016)

David Donaldson said:


> Here's one of ours. If I remember rightly it went to number one all over the world.
> Oh yeah and that's the Biscuit Tin Guitar before MODWHEEL immortalised it as a Kontakt Library.


Great! I would love to make some Music Videos. I have a few ideas but I'm just waiting on a mate to get his Directing skills together. You have sample the Biscuit Tin Guitar? haha! Shit, I might buy that when I'm not so broke! It would suit me living down South on the Isle of Wight!


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## jononotbono (May 21, 2016)

owenave said:


> @jononotbono Loved it.... I will have to listen to everyone else songs.
> Here is one of mine. I do everything, Play all music parts, sang all vocals Lead
> and background vocals (all done the old fashion way... bunch of stacks on each harmony)
> composed and produced. It gets played on a lot of Internet Stations and a couple FM's.



Cheers for the kind words. Yeah, congratulations on getting Radio play with your song!


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## gdugan (May 22, 2016)

Here's one I did a few years back, using the poem "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee.


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## jononotbono (May 22, 2016)

owenave said:


> all done the old fashion way... bunch of stacks on each harmony



The only way! I couldn't think of anything worse than using Auto Tune. Unless I was getting paid. And even then I would say "Sing it again. And again. And again. And again".


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## gdugan (May 22, 2016)

SymphonicSamples said:


> Great song Jono, I enjoyed your voice, I'd be interesting to hear more also. As for Vocaloid it's certainly a sound unto itself. Let's not forget about Realivox Blue , she's capable of singing a pop song



This is really great! Very nice track,, and Blue *is* convincing!


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## dpasdernick (May 22, 2016)

Jono, I loved your track. I write pop songs too. Here's one of mine:



All the very best,

Darren


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## gdugan (May 22, 2016)

dpasdernick said:


> Jono, I loved your track. I write pop songs too. Here's one of mine:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Nice, Darren! Very skillful production and performance.


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## dpasdernick (May 22, 2016)

gdugan said:


> Nice, Darren! Very skillful production and performance.



Thank You GDugna. I really appreciate the kind words. 

Darren


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## rgarber (May 23, 2016)

gdugan said:


> This is really great! Very nice track,, and Blue *is* convincing!



Hey that's awesome to hear Blue used like this. I got Blue but haven't tried to figure a way to use her in something. I think next month is "Make Mike Proud Month", bet he'd like to hear this. - Rich


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## Hannes_F (May 23, 2016)

This is a great thread.


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## SymphonicSamples (May 24, 2016)

gdugan said:


> This is really great! Very nice track,, and Blue *is* convincing!


Thanks gdugan 



rgarber said:


> Hey that's awesome to hear Blue used like this. I got Blue but haven't tried to figure a way to use her in something. I think next month is "Make Mike Proud Month", bet he'd like to hear this. - Rich



Thanks Rich  It was the first time I used Realivox Blue and when I wrote the track it was more about having some fun, getting to know the library and seeing what it could do. Hats off to Mike, great programming. Looking forward to what he creates in the future.


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## novicecomposer (May 24, 2016)

Are there libraries for the electronic synthy sounds for writing pops? I certainly hear some violins but have no clue about other "instruments".


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## SymphonicSamples (May 25, 2016)

novicecomposer said:


> Are there libraries for the electronic synthy sounds for writing pops? I certainly hear some violins but have no clue about other "instruments".


Hey, I'm not sure which track your referring to in the thread , but if it's of any help in Falling I remember using Spire for some typical poly synth sounds, but mostly I used U-he's Bazille which at the time I'd just bought and was enjoying it's sonic capabilities and made a bunch of patches and got a little carried away with it  Apart from Bazille's string textures the string samples were 8dio's Agitato strings.


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## novicecomposer (May 25, 2016)

SymphonicSamples said:


> Hey, I'm not sure which track your referring to in the thread , but if it's of any help in Falling I remember using Spire for some typical poly synth sounds, but mostly I used U-he's Bazille which at the time I'd just bought and was enjoying it's sonic capabilities and made a bunch of patches and got a little carried away with it  Apart from Bazille's string textures the string samples were 8dio's Agitato strings.


Ha I see. Thanks Matt! Anyone else have recommendations?

Matt - I really like your track, btw. You'll be a little surprised if I say I have noticed that the ending of Falling kinda sounds similar to the pre-ending part of The Hours After.

So pop music composers don't need to produce sheet music on paper due to synths? Maybe they still do it leaving the synth part out?


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## Richard Wilkinson (May 25, 2016)

If you're writing current pop - Katy Perry, One Direction etc, then any of the current crop of softsynths will be fine. I use Zebra and Hive lots, but also Logic's built-in synths are very good at getting those sounds.

Real guitar and bass obviously helps, and lots of layering. There's a bit of a backlash against the big, layered sound now with the new stuff from Rihanna, Beyonce, Iggy etc, but for a good few years choruses were chock full of different pads and arpeggiated patterns which helped to give that big shiny pop sound.


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## Calazzus (Jun 5, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> Here's a song I wrote called "Yours Sincerely"...
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I enjoyed it.


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## Calazzus (Jun 5, 2016)

SymphonicSamples said:


> Great song Jono, I enjoyed your voice, I'd be interesting to hear more also. As for Vocaloid it's certainly a sound unto itself. Let's not forget about Realivox Blue , she's capable of singing a pop song



I like this. The melodies, the vox, excellent.


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## jononotbono (Jun 5, 2016)

Calazzus said:


> I enjoyed it.



Cool man! Thanks for listening!


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## Allen Constantine (Jun 5, 2016)

Yo, 
Here's a song I wrote for my ex-wife!
Feel free to comment upon!


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## SymphonicSamples (Jun 6, 2016)

Calazzus said:


> I like this. The melodies, the vox, excellent.



Cheers Calazzus .

Also great track Allen


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