Musings from Story Jam Land

7/15/10

Home Office



"I believe that writers are terribly sensitive to our environments. We need very much to have a desirable workspace in order to let our creativity unfold." Pamela Phillips Oland












I've been reading "The Art of Writing Great Lyrics" by Pamela Phillips Oland, from which the above quote comes. This idea-rich book, which is responsible for forcing me to whip my lyrics into shape these past two weeks, is loaded with great writing advice from an established industry lyricist. I've learned lots of tricks and tips, including how to make the song into a story and how to better choose words that get to the point rather than sound like lovely poetry (one of her major points is that lyrics are not poetry). Though some of the information is slightly dated and some of her examples of simile are a touch cheesy ("You are as tempting as an apple tree in Eden"), the book is helpful for anyone with or without formal songwriting training. In addition to all the surprising advice (it's okay to use a rhyming dictionary!), there is a chapter on the importance of one's working environment that has stuck with me these past few days.





I have always had a very personal relationship with my workplace. I cannot work until the house is clean and I require space and color, light and calm, before I can even so much as compose an email. I am in the midst of recording and finishing writing for a new cd and every song, word, idea and melody came out of my home "office." After writing songs for nearly two decades, I think I have finally gotten a workplace which both feeds my soul and functions well.


For what it's worth, my ideas tend to start at the piano. We purchased this piano at a small college sale; therefore this "writer's instrument," which I love so dearly, was formerly used by music majors. It is not a "pianist's piano" and as I am no concert classicist, it suits me well. I love its work-horse, academic-musician energy. It's something I pound on without worry of offending; a very easy, forgiving instrument. The swirly rug underneath is vintage and cost us about forty bucks. Small price to pay for so much happy.


I do most of my lyric writing and all of my editing in the adjacent room. This is my "lyric room," which is our office, bill paying dock, telephone conference room, comfy reading area, etc... It has three walls filled with windows and is very cozy.

I don't really know what most songwriters do, but I start with a song idea - usually at the grand above the swirls - and often with a recording device of some kind (lately it's been a recording app on the iphone). When I have culled the ideas on my recorder, I bring them into the lyric room for some work on the mac. Then I spend the next hours, days or maybe weeks, on and off, bouncing back and forth from computer to piano. When its ready, I load the song into my small protools setup on the mac with a keyboard and a microphone. I keep working on it until I finally bring it to the band to rehearse and possibly try out at a small gig. Quite often, the song just sits there, either as a just word file, or maybe as a protools file. 

I wonder if other people in other fields feel a kind of intimacy with their environment? Do accountants need great lighting in order to numbers-crunch? Does a chef relish in a clean floor? Would a lawyer prefer to be surrounded by books? 

I am scouring the internet for pictures of artist homes. Here are a few homes of interest...
rickie lee jones at her home in washington
tori amos in her home studio
sting at home in wiltshire
joni mitchell's home in laurel canyon, 1970's
(grand piano not visible)

posted by Hipchick @ July 15, 2010  2 Comments