How A Song Is Created

In the beginning...

Have you ever wondered what goes into the making of a song? Have you tried to really get down to the "how" of this activity. How does it actually happen? What do the creators do? What are the stages involved? What are the pitfalls? How does the process begin? How does the final song take shape? Let us take a closer look at these issues - and get some insights into the underlying creative process.

Some artistes like Elton John and Paul McCartney are known to write songs quite effortlessly, as did the late John Lennon. However, their individual techniques vary dramatically. Elton John writes a kind of first draft, and then sits down at his piano and starts working on the composition. Guided by the metre and structure of the composition, he then chops and changes the lyrics as he goes along. It is a bit like the twin-track editing method used by filmmakers during post-production... at any point in time, Elton is making changes in both the lyrics as well as the melody.

Paul McCartney is known to adopt an approach that is more like a poet at work. He gets the precise words down on paper in a metre so perfect that you can actually recite the lyrics like a poem. Try reciting the words of Yesterday and you will see what exactly what I mean. Most of his best songs can be recited like poetry. Ebony and Ivory. Wanderlust. So Bad. Try it. Sheer poetry.

John Lennon had a very strange method for writing songs, as reported in an article that appeared in The Guardian sometime in 2005. You see, Lennon found it difficult to write lyrics in isolation; he needed a melody to peg the lyrics on to. So he would take the tune of an existing song (a song composed by someone else) and write new lyrics for it. When the lyrics were finally done, he would change the song, coming up with a new melody that was close to the 'base song' in terms of metre and structure. Like I said - a very strange style!

Personally, I never had much exposure (in the hands-on sense) to the song-writing and composing process till I met Sanjo and Chandrani, whose debut album Barson Huey has been released by my company. As a producer, the first artiste I worked with, Sabu, was a tribal singer who recorded six folk songs that had been passed down the generations to him. No song-writing needed there. Then along came my second artist, Ashmita. She reinterpreted Carnatic ragas in a modern style tinged with overtones of jazz and blues. Once again, no song-writing requirements. The lyrics were minimal and they came from ragas that were centuries old.

Working with Sanjo and Chandrani was an all-new experience. They have a very structured approach to the process of creating a song. I suspect it comes from their background - both of them are ex-advertising professionals. Here's how they go about making a song. First, they come up with a concept: what is the song going to be about? What is the core message? How will the message be expressed? Based on the answers to these questions, Chandrani starts the writing process. Sanjo lies low. His Hindi is very rusty, and so his participation in this part of the creative process is understandably zilch.

When the lyrics are ready, it is time for Sanjo to get started. He begins by playing around with the lyrics, experimenting with different styles and tempos in line with the mood that the song must create. Gradually, the melody emerges. Like a typical advertising guy, he comes up with "options" - old habits die hard, you see! The choice of the option to go ahead with is invariably a joint decision between Sanjo and Chandrani.

The next stage. After Sanjo has finished putting the tune in place, there are usually some zones of discomfiture where some of the words do not fall easily into place. Sometimes Sanjo tries to work around it. However, if the problem persists, Chandrani re-jigs the lyrics a bit so that they flow smoothly when the song is sung.

The major part of the creative process is over. The song is now ready, and Sanjo starts working on the instrumentation for the intro, the interludes and the ending. It is very exciting to be a part of this process because of the richness of the instrumentation Sanjo creates. The body of the music is largely guitar-based after which Sanjo adds plenty of embellishments in the form of highly complex arrangements.

To get a clearer idea of what I am trying to describe, you must listen to a song called Sapno Ka Ek Shahar, on the debut album. It is a fascinating duet with exquisite guitar-work and a number of intricate guitar solos, not to mention an enormous range of variations throughout the song. In terms of maturity of composition, this is probably an example of the best work done by Sanjo so far.

Once the song is ready, Sanjo and Chandrani start singing it over and over again... they practise and practise and practise. It is very tiring. At the same time, it is also an integral part of the creative process, because as they sing the song time and time again, the finer details start to emerge: a warble here, a harmonised chorus there, an arpeggio chord on the twelve-string guitar... and so on.

Finally, the process is over - and a new song is ready for studio production.