Distant Music
An autoethnographic study of global songwriting in the digital age.
SHEILA SIMMENES SUPERVISOR
Michael Rauhut
University of Agder, 2020
Faculty of Fine Arts Department of Popular music
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Abstract
This thesis aims to explore the path to music creation and shed a light on how we may maneuver songwriting and music production in the digital age. As a songwriter in 2020, my work varies from being in the same physical room using digital communication with collaborators from different cultures and sometimes even without ever meeting face to face with the person I'm making music with. In this thesis I explore some of the opportunities and challenges of this process and shine a light on tendencies and trends in the field. As an autoethnographic research project, this thesis offers an insight into the songwriting process and continuous development of techniques by myself as a songwriter in the digital age, working both commercially and artistically with international partners across the world.
The thesis will aim to supplement knowledge on current working methods in songwriting and will hopefully shine a light on how one may improve as a songwriter and topliner in the international market. We will explore the tools and possibilities available to us, while also reflecting upon what challenges and complications one may encounter as a songwriter in the digital age.
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Acknowledgements
I wish to express my gratitude to my supervisor Michael Rauhut for his insight, expertise and continued support during this work; associate professor Per Elias Drabløs for his kind advice and feedback; and to my artistic supervisor Bjørn Ole Rasch for his enthusiasm and knowledge in the field of world music and international collaborations.
I would also like to thank the University of Agder, for allowing me to do this work and research while being guided and supported by this institution.
My daughter has kept me grounded and set her own time restraints on my work, thus inspiring me to be diligent and to work effectively in the hours available to me. She has also been my greatest inspiration to keep going, as I hope to someday be an inspiration to her.
It would not have been possible for me to do this work without the collaboration and help from my partners in music creation and international composition. For lending me your music, your time and feedback. I am a better songwriter and servant to music today because of you.
My fellow students at the University have been excellent company and companions during this work, and have offered feedback, ideas and the occasional high-five whenever needed.
To all my friends, family and to my partner Michael for all the cups of coffee, support, encouragement and time.
Thank you.
Sheila Simmenes
Kristiansand, May 2020
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Table of contents
- 1. Introduction
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10 12 13 14
1.1 Background For Choosing This Theme 1.2 Why is this study relevant? 1.3 Research Interest 1.4 Covid-19: Perspectives From A Global Pandemic
2. Framework and Literature
2.1 Perspective
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- 2.2 Limitations and Structure
3. Method and Research Design
3.1 Autoethnographic Research 3.2 Research Dilemmas and Obstacles
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4. The Unintended Fade Out
4.1 Out of Sight – Out of (My Head) Mind?
4.1.1 Experience I
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- 4.2 Why we fade out (and how to avoid it)
- 5. In The Same Room
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29 29 30 30 31 31 31 31
5.1 Building Relationships 5.2 Writing for an Artist 5.3 Maneuvering Social Dynamics
5.3.1 Experience I
5.4 Broadening Your Palette 5.5 Flexibility 5.6 Immersive Experience 5.7 The Room vs. Distant Music
6. Lost In Translation – Decoding Cultural Context
6.1 Brazil: Accidental Rudeness and a Cheesy Guitar
6.1.1 Experience I
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33 33 35 36 39 39 40 41
6.2 Japan: Too Much Black Magic
6.2.1 Experience II Wolf – EXO What Is Love – TWICE I Do – Taeyeon
6.3 When Music is Forbidden
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- 6.4 When Yes Means No
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7. The Songwriters Digital Toolbox
7.1 Writing The Song
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43 44 44 45 45 46 46 46 47 47 48 48 48 49
7.1.1 Experience I
7.2 Artificial Intelligence and Songwriting
7.2.1 Amadeus Code 7.2.2 Evoke 7.2.3 Boomy
7.3 Finding Collaborators
7.3.2 The Rise and Fall of Social Music Networks 7.3.3 Vampr – Tinder for Musicians
7.4 Vocal Production
7.4.1 Communicating Ideas 7.4.2 Retaining Vocal Signature 7.4.3 Workflow
7.5 The Next Step
- 8. Final Reflections
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8.1 Interpretation of Results 8.2 Further Directions
- References
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- Attachments
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1. Introduction
Through the process of songwriting across several platforms and cultural barriers, this thesis seeks to better understand myself and my work while explaining to the reader the details, thoughts and theory that occurs through a dialogue with myself in the form of an autoethnographic1 layered account (Adams, Jones, Ellis 2015, p.85). This practice of relating theory with practical application in the creation of music, intertwined with digital communication and cross-cultural collaborations, will aim to shine a unique light on a songwriter’s process in the new era of music creation.
In the title of this thesis, Distant Music, I seek to describe the somewhat elusive process of songwriting in 2020, which I have found to be a web of collaborations both in the same room2 and over a distance, applying digital means of communication. The title also hints to the globalization of songwriting, where we today write music both for and with artists and songwriters from all over the globe - sometimes without ever meeting in a physical space. Furthermore, in this thesis I may use the term distant music when referring to making music with partners over a distance.
In the age of digital communication and the connectedness provided by global social media, there are now endless possibilities to engage in creative practices with anyone, anywhere on the planet. In this thesis I will present the outline of a roadmap depicting how this process might occur in practical work internationally, combining the creative art of music making with the hands-on methods of writing, recording and editing music – while composing with musical partners situated in other countries. Exploring the intimacy of music making, without ever meeting face to face.
During the last few years of my work, there has been four elements of the songwriting process in the digital age that has stood out to me, and that I will attempt to research further and present to the reader;
1 For details on autoethnography, see Chapter 3.1. 2 Whenever mentioning the room in this thesis, I refer to being in the same physical space; the studio, rehearsal space, etc.
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1. The potential fragileness of commitment when all communication is digital. A tendency
that I have called the unintended fade out3.
2. How I may experience it to be an extra value added to being in the same room as my partners, and how it affects our communication, workflow and future collaborations4.
3. The importance of understanding and decoding cultural context when working with international collaborations - as the digital age allows us to connect with and work with partners from all over the globe5.
4. The influx of digital tools and technological development and how it impacts the way we create music6.
As I am working with this thesis and putting this situated knowledge into words, I harbor a hope and intention that it will prove useful for other composers and lyricists aiming to improve their work, and provide a basis for future research.
1.1 Background For Choosing This Theme
I wrote my first song when I was thirteen years old. Melody and lyrics came instantly. I wrote the words down and could remember the melody every time I read them. (This is still the way I write music, as I have yet to master musical notation). It was a simple melody and I never really understood how it appeared. It was like listening to the radio, but in my own mind.
As I grew older, I found a creative outlet in the company of other composers and improvisers in the underground jazz and hip-hop scene in Bergen. We were a diverse group of musicians, poets, rappers, producers and singers who gathered at jam sessions and house parties where we jammed and improvised. Not like jazz musicians who often improvise over a set scale or certain jazz tune, but we would get up on stage in front of the audience and start completely from scratch. One person would start with an idea, and the others would follow. It could start with a drumbeat, a bassline or a guitar lick – and ended with a brand new song, complete with lyrics, never heard before - and never to be heard again (as we rarely recorded the sessions).
3 For more information, see Chapter 4. 4 For more information, see Chapter 5. 5 For more information, see Chapter 6. 6 For more information, see Chapter 7.
10 Since then, I have composed music applying a plentitude of different techniques, and also exploring a vast multitude of genres. I have worked with musicians and composers building new songs from scratch, starting with a single element as a lyric, chord progression or rhythm; to beat-based music production and conceptualized projects. Working with different musicians and composers, I often found myself amazed and intrigued by the different methods other creators implemented while making music. In the beginning I assumed that music creation was a singular exercise, equal to all composers, but I soon learned that there are countless ways to make music – each one affected by the composers and collaborators, mood, habits, musical and cultural background, quirks and personality. I have participated in song camps, where songwriters and producers are placed in different groups and through intensive sessions create several radio ready demos over a short amount of time, and in one-to-one writing sessions with producers and songwriters. My work has resulted in a diverse collection of released songs with artists in Norway, Japan, Germany, Brazil and South Korea, accumulating millions of streams worldwide.
While many of my peers identified themselves within a certain genre and continued to specialize further within the confines of that field, I found myself unable to settle down in a specific area. For many years, I tried to find “my” genre and where in the musical plethora I would belong as a performing artist. But my music continued to bounce from reggae to rock, hip hop to jazz, country to electropop – and identifying myself as an artist in any of these genres became increasingly difficult. Discovering that I could write music for other artists instead of trying to fit in myself, was a great relief to me. The eclectic nature of my music and writing that had been such a challenge to maneuver as a performing artist, became one of my greatest strengths as a songwriter. With my chameleon-like approach to writing music, I was able to connect with and convincingly write for artists in a great variation of different genres, including country, soul, urban, house and K-pop.
The creation of music has continued to fascinate me. From the intuitive and sudden music that occurs in my mind, the collective improvisation and in-the-moment composition by my creative collective and friends in Bergen – to commercial songwriting where the goal is to produce a number of commercially viable hits or syncable7 songs in a short period of time.
I have been intrigued by the union of collaboration. How things can “click” into place or stagnate and be slow as mud while trying to sort out a particular chord progression. How some
7 A song with a high probability of being placed in TV, film, games and other media.
11 collaborations just work, and others will not. How to navigate a musical relationship with your collaborators, taking in your inherent differences, similarities and unique identities while finding a common expression and intimacy in music.
In 2019 I became a mother, and my ability to travel with the aim to work with people face-toface and to participate in song camp and sessions, suddenly became more restricted. Because of this, I grew curious as to how I could further explore music making as a songwriter without ever meeting my collaborators in person. I was also fascinated with the intricacies of international communication, collaboration and composition across languages and cultural backgrounds. I have worked with composers from Norway, Sweden, Albania, England, Germany, Nepal and Brazil, and each collaboration has demanded a certain cultural de-coding and adjustment to how I perform my role as songwriter and topliner.
I have had a longstanding artistic relationship with Brazil since moving there in 2007 to work as a volunteer at a children's centre in Pindamonhangaba, near Sao Paulo. Soon, I accidentally found myself a full-time member of a Brazilian reggae band, and from there I dived deeper into Brazilian music traditions such as bossa, samba and maracatu. Since then, I return to Brazil often and continue to collaborate with musicians and artists in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In 2015 I released the album “Wake Up Love”8 in Brazil with native composer and bass player Peter Mesquita, and in 2018 he joined me in Norway to record my debut album “Love Was Easy” at Kongshavn Studio with Bjørn Ole Rasch as producer.
Through my collaboration with Mesquita and other international producers and musicians in Germany, Austria, England and USA, I have been intrigued by the intricate and subtle act of balancing cultural differences and musical tendencies and aesthetics. How may we understand our differences and communicate fluently despite the distance – both culturally, linguistically and geographically? What are some of the potential benefits and challenges as we embrace the new tools available to us in the digital era of music making and communication?
1.2 Why is this study relevant?
Music is never just music. In every context both as an experience for the listener, and in the act of creation – the music conveys a communicative value as it paints with sound, vibe, emotion,
8 For more information, see Chapter 6.1. The title track from this release is also included as Attachment 1.
12 connection and the mind of the creator and recipient who ”also is connected to other people and their history, to language and learning, memory and association, habit, culturally constructed values, convention, physical interaction, occasions, situations, shared experience (...) and many other things that linguistically we deem to be ‘outside’ of individuals” (DeNora, 2013, p.6). Therefore, reflecting upon how we interact and create music together, also offers valuable insight into human interconnectedness and culture, as well as current trends in digital communication and songwriting.
Writing music with domestic or foreign collaborators is an important tool to not only grow as a songwriter, but also to increase your chances for commercial success. A study showed that on average it takes 4.64 songwriters to produce the biggest chart-topping hits, and numbers reaching the double digits are not uncommon. DJ Snake feat. Justin Bieber with “Let Me Love You” lists 11 different people on the writers’ credits. In 2016, only five songs of the Top 100 were credited to only one writer (Sutherland, 2017). Collaborating with other writers can be one of the key factors to songwriting success, and the tools available to us in the digital age continues to open new doors.
Making music in the same room, or digitally over the internet; I believe that understanding the tendencies, work methods, challenges and opportunities of songwriting in 2020 is an important key to ensure good working relationships, progress both for the music industry and for the individual songwriter.
1.3 Research Interest
In this thesis I will apply autoethnographic exploration 9 in order to investigate the following:
Global songwriting in the digital age – what are some of the tendencies, work methods, challenges and opportunities of songwriting in 2020?
Including:
● How has the digital age impacted communication and commitment in relation to musical collaborations?
● What may be lost when moving from a physical to an exclusively digital workspace, when we are no longer in the same room?
9 For details, see Chapter 3.1.
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● What are some of the challenges one may encounter when working internationally with partners of a different cultural, political and linguistic background?
● What does the digital toolbox of the songwriter look like in 2020, and what challenges and benefits may it contain?
These research questions stand as support beams to my underlying intentions as a student, researcher and musician, which is to give a fraction of the answer to: How may I become a better songwriter and collaborator to my international partners?
By analyzing and becoming more aware of my own artistic process and collaboration with others, I argue that this awareness itself as an autoethnographic layered account provides a valuable basis for further analysis and situated knowledge, which in turn may benefit any reader who themselves aim to grow as a songwriter or to conduct further research in this field.
1.4 Covid-19: Perspectives From A Global Pandemic
I would be remiss if I failed to comment on the current situation, as these extraordinary times come directly into play with the subject of my master thesis in regards to digital solutions and global connectedness.
As I am writing this, Norway is in lockdown due to the threat of the Covid-19 virus. Universities are closed, preschools are shut down and all cultural or sporting events are cancelled as we hold our breath awaiting the flood of the pandemic to wash over the world. The social and economic impact is overwhelming, and I cannot begin to count the lives lost so far.
The culture and music industry were hit hard, as all concerts, tours and travel had to be cancelled. People lost their income for the next 6-9 months in just a few minutes, as travel was banned and crowd restrictions were implemented. Everyone turned to the only world in which we could still gather and connect with each other; the internet. Concerts and even festivals were broadcasted online, and people donated what they could afford to support the artists. Digital connectedness became the new normal.
The very subject of my master thesis was brought into a new light, as the importance of having digital alternatives in order to keep making music became staggeringly clear. Up until this point, I had viewed distant music making as an alternative to making music in the room together, but now that it has become the only option, I have also become more aware of the loneliness of a purely digital process.
14 Though the digital solutions and possibilities that I will describe in this thesis is absolutely promising and has a lot of potential, I believe there is still a way to go in terms of quality software and satisfactory tools to ensure a music making process to continue through a worldwide crisis such as the one we find ourselves in with Covid-19. I do believe that in the aftermath of this situation, new technologies will be brought forth to support the industries that have been most vulnerable during this crisis, to ensure that we have viable alternatives in the future. As for right now, we continue to create. Perhaps a bit slower, perhaps with a few more challenges – but motivated and persistent.
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2. Framework and Literature
In this chapter, I will present examples of the existing theoretical background for this thesis, and draw from pre-existing literature to exemplify how my research may find its place in the overall plentiful and developing field of musical research.
Locating large quantities of specific literature on the new trends and challenges appearing to us in this age of global songwriting and digital communication, proved to be rather difficult. There is literature and theories available on digital communication, cross cultural context and songwriting, but there was little to be found on existing material where these elements were
woven together. “The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory” by John Seabrook (2016) invites
us into the realm of commercial song writing. It paints a detailed and interesting picture of the industry and some of the main players in it, but it does not focus on writing over a distance. Paul
Zollo explains in his book “Songwriters on Songwriting by Paul Zollo” (2003), the process of
songwriting and music making through a series of interviews with some of the world’s greatest songwriters. It is a wonderful contribution to the literature on the craft, and though it does not focus on digital communication and songwriting over a distance, it does provide valuable insight into the mind of songwriters of our time.
In this thesis I have turned my focus towards the digital sphere itself, and searched through online media outlets such as music industry blogs and magazines to find new and recently updated information about my topic. I have also looked at related fields such as cross-cultural communication and digital communication (Varner & Beamer, 2015).
For planning and deepening my understanding of the research process itself, I have explored theory and literature from social and gender studies (Harraway, 1988), as well as art – not limited to music, but including other disciplines such as for example visual arts (Daichendt, 2012).
