What song writing tools can a bassist use for writing and recording original material

mettec

mettec

Aug 22, 2005
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Minneapolis
#1
Although this is not specifically about receording gear, i figured it is related when it comes to recording ideas for songs.
I have been playing bass for close to 35 years but that is all I have ever played. I don't have any experience playing guitar and know at best the 2 finger techneque on keyboards. I have tons of ideas for original songs stored in my head but not sure how to express them to other musicians since playing them on bass only gives a sample of what I am thinking. I have maybe thought of picking up an arranger keyboard since they have guitar, drums, vocal effects, and other misc instruments as well as performances and accompliments that will help with finding rhythm patterns.
Is there other hardware or software on the market that would help me write and record song ideas knowing only basslines. Suggestions for arranger keyboards might help as well.
 
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#2
Garage Band is a cool scratch pad where you can simulate guitar, drums, keys and more.

Strictly for working out drums and to some degree song structure EZDrummer is really very good. Probably the easiest and most productive way to create, find complete drum tracks. And it sounds great.

Also GuitarPro can be good if you learn how to work with it. It is the easiest of the transcription products.
 
#4
Probably a midi controller with soft synths on the computer would be another good idea.

I have tried many drum machines/pads etc. None really filled the role of drum writing aid.

BeatBuddy is probably the best out of all of them BUT it's not great for writing. Jamming along is very easy and versatile so you could use it to brainstorm ideas while playing along bit not a great writing tool.

EZDrummer is different. You tap in a beat and it matches a ton of related drum patterns that you tweak. Then it helps you construct a song out of it. It's entirely focused in song writing. It doesn't feel canned.
 
#5
a big +1 to learning to play guitar and keys. If you're alert to them, even the weird "mistakes" you make while searching for the conventional chords and intervals can often turn into interesting phrases.

In that sense (and even though an acoustic instrument's tone can be more complex and inspiring), a MIDI keyboard is a great tool for a songwriter who doesn't yet have much physical dexterity on the keyboard, because if you record the MIDI output when you're exploring ideas you will have a full record that you can play back, evaluate, and edit in your DAW.

In the meantime, the RealTracks versions of Band in a Box are good for trying out arrangements in a range of styles. GarageBand is also good for sketching song ideas, although not as fast or as flexible.
 
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#6
I'm gonna go all six-sigma outlier here and suggest Band-in-a-Box. Hellishly awful UI, but once you have a melody/bass line inputted, you can frig around with various drum patterns and feels as well as use various implementations of arpeggiation for keys, horns, guitars, etc. Would need to understand a bit of chord theory to make it work, though. Not unpossible.

Another tool that might be useful is the Vir2 software - eg. Acou6tics, etc. from within Garageband?
 
#7
mettec said:
Although this is not specifically about receording gear, i figured it is related when it comes to recording ideas for songs.
I have been playing bass for close to 35 years but that is all I have ever played. I don't have any experience playing guitar and know at best the 2 finger techneque on keyboards. I have tons of ideas for original songs stored in my head but not sure how to express them to other musicians since playing them on bass only gives a sample of what I am thinking. I have maybe thought of picking up an arranger keyboard since they have guitar, drums, vocal effects, and other misc instruments as well as performances and accompliments that will help with finding rhythm patterns.
Is there other hardware or software on the market that would help me write and record song ideas knowing only basslines. Suggestions for arranger keyboards might help as well.
Click to expand...
Try one of the simple stand alone multi track units available. This Boss unit is an older version but has never let me down.
I've been putting ideas down on one of these for years and have had tons of fun experimenting with and learning to play other instruments along the way.

image.jpeg
 
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#8
I mostly use PreSonus's Notion software.

Bit of a pain to get completely comfortable with it (or at least it was for me) but it does the job. I can even write things for instruments I don't have the knowledge or technical proficiency to play myself. At $149 it wont break the bank either.

If you're more guitar oriented, you can also try PreSonus Progression which is a less complex and more streamlined for a guitarist or bassist. That'll set you back a whopping $60. It's not designed for live as well as composition use like Notion is. It's more a straight ahead scoring and idea idea scratchpad for guitar/bass/keyboard/drums ensembles. I'll often start something in Progression and then export over to Notion if I need the extra capabilities. For what you want to do, I think Progression will get it for you.



Grab yourself a $50 copy of PreSonus's Progression notation software. Easiest tool around for getting your ideas out of you head and into usable form for others to work with.



Here's a real world example of it in use. IMO you can't go wrong with this little software gem:




I use it. Very cool tool. Check it out.
 
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#9
mettec said:
Although this is not specifically about receording gear, i figured it is related when it comes to recording ideas for songs.
I have been playing bass for close to 35 years but that is all I have ever played. I don't have any experience playing guitar and know at best the 2 finger techneque on keyboards. I have tons of ideas for original songs stored in my head but not sure how to express them to other musicians since playing them on bass only gives a sample of what I am thinking. I have maybe thought of picking up an arranger keyboard since they have guitar, drums, vocal effects, and other misc instruments as well as performances and accompliments that will help with finding rhythm patterns.
Is there other hardware or software on the market that would help me write and record song ideas knowing only basslines. Suggestions for arranger keyboards might help as well.
Click to expand...

Can you read music, as that opens up several options, especially if your keyboard skills are minimal.
 
#11
One thing I use is Finale Notepad, a completely free scoring program. It allows you to play back your parts, which is helpful. Often, I'll type in a bass line I've been messing with, and then start working out chords to go over it. Free Music Writing, Music Notation Software - Finale Notepad

Another thing I like using is a 6-string bass, which allows me the extra range I need to play chords and melodies myself. I've recorded demos for my band which literally consist of nothing but bass overdubbed on bass.
 
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