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Adam Patrick Bell's blogpost

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Updated June 10, 2016. Note: Prezi format is at the end of this post.

From John Seabrook's The Song Machine (2015):

By the mid-2000s the track-and-hook approach to songwriting-in which a track maker/producer, who is responsible for the beats, the chord progression, and the instrumentation, collaborates with a hook writer/topliner, who writes the melodies-had become the standard method by which popular songs are written. The method was invented by reggae producers in Jamaica, who made one "riddim" (rhythm) track and invited ten or more aspiring singers to record a song over it. From Jamaica the technique spread to New York and was employed in early hip-hop. The Swedes at Cheiron industrialized it. Today, track-and-hook has become the pillar and post of popular song. (p. 200)
In track-and-hook, the production comes first, and then melody and words are added. Often producers are not looking for a single melody to carry the song, but rather just enough melody to flesh out the production. That's why producers generally speak of a song's "melodies" rather than its melody.
In a track-and-hook song, the hook comes as soon as possible. Then the song "vamps"-progresses in three- or four-chord patterns with little or no variation. Because it is repetitive, the vamp requires more hooks: intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, and outro hooks. (p. 201)

John Schaefer interviewed Seabrook about his book on WNYC's Soundcheck and listening to it might be helpful in making the concepts from the book more concrete:

Tangent: Easy (like Sunday morning)? ​

My only big qualm with The Song Machine is that there are times when Seabrook discounts the musicianship of the producer. For example, he writes:
CHR (Contemporary Hits Radio) hit makers can make all the sounds they need with musical software and samples-no instruments required. This is democratizing, but it also feels a little like cheating. By employing technologically advanced equipment and digital-compression techniques, these hit makers create sounds that are more sonically engaging and powerful than even the most skilled instrumentalists can produce. And it's so easy! [...] Whole subcultures of musical professionals-engineers, arrangers, session musicians-are disappearing, unable to compete with the software that automates their work.
First, producers are musicians and instrumentalists. The "technology" they use (i.e., the studio broadly defined) is their instrument. Second, what they do is not easy. If that were the case, wouldn't more people be successful at it? In my view, this approach to making music owes much its existence to the hip-hop producer. In Rhymin' and Stealin' (2013), Justin Williams writes that the "overt use of preexisting material to new ends" is fundamental to hip-hop culture and aesthetics. Failure to grasp this precept of hip-hop culture precludes the ability to discern the musicianship of the hip-hop DJ and its predecessors like the CHR producers profiled in The Song Machine. I can understand someone saying that CHR is not hip-hop, but that's not the point. The point is that CHR producers use a hip-hop approach to making music. Let's leave the last word to Joseph Schloss who argued in Making Beats (2004/2014): "if you believe that musicians should make their own sounds, then hip-hop is not music, but, by the same token, if you believe that artists should make their own paint, then painting is not art. The conclusion, in both cases, is based on a preexisting and arbitrary assumption."

​Song Machine Example: Where Are Ü Now
​What might The Song Machine process look like? I think the New York Times did an excellent job with their profile on Jack Ü's collaboration with Justin Bieber.

Note: I edited this video down somewhat to limit Bieber's screen time. For the purposes of this assignment I wanted my students to focus more on what the producers (Diplo and Skrillex) did (no offense Biebs). The article by Jon Pareles is also worth checking out.

The Song Machine Assignment ​

Skills Called Upon: Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) skills, most notably creating and manipulating MIDI and Audio tracks. I could write an entire post alone on what that entails (and maybe I will...). To date, this is the best way I've come up with to facilitate the learning of DAW skills.

Instruction to Students: This assignment will be done collaboratively in small groups of 2 or 3 people. Using the track-and-hook method of music creation, your group will create a hit song, or at least go through the process of trying to make one. This process requires a lot of trial and error and works in sequential stages.

Start:
1. Form production teams of 2 or 3
2. Give yourselves producer names and/or your team a name
3. Discuss your musical strengths. What can you do? Do you play an instrument? Do you sing? Do you write poetry? Can you press buttons (figuratively and literally :)? What do you want to be able to do? (Note: There's no sense it discussing what you can't do).
4. Do you own any musical stuff? (computer, phone, guitar, a voice, etc.)
5. Musically, what are you into, and what are you most interested in making?
Stage 1: Track
make: beat + vamp (simple chord progression/bass line)

What comes first the beat or the vamp? This tends to depend on the strengths of the producers and what they play.

As a starting point, consider trying the following beat-first strategies:

1. ​play the circle with groove pizza (free & easy)...

​​2. play the grid with ableton push (expensive, more difficult, but lots of room for complexity)

or loop a time-honored breakbeat and vamp over it.

After the beat(s) is/are made, add the vamp(s):

go for short and simple

repetitive is good

you can even copy a chord progression verbatim from another song. Look it up on a guitar tab page

Don't Write a Melody! (Yet)
Repeat this process X number of times for variety's sake. I typically require production teams to create as many Stage 1 tracks as there are people in the group. Making more tracks in this stage really helps with the next stage.

Stage 2: Hook

Note: for this "machine" to work, everyone needs to complete the stages at the same time.

In the second stage, each group must "shop-out" their tracks created in Stage 1 to the other groups to find hook-writers, AND they must in turn audition other groups' tracks and select ONE that they will write hooks for. In short, production teams swap their tracks with each other.

We now morph into hook-writers/top-liners. We write/record hooks on top of each others' tracks

Strategies for writing hooks:

1. record everything. Don't miss a happy accident!
2. engage in sound doodling with voices or instruments
3. pay no mind to lyrics at this point, they're just placeholders (e.g. da doo run run)
4. the more hooks, the better

Other considerations:

struggling to improvise? try constrain-to-create strategies:

specify and limit pitches, durations, rhythms, range, etc. for a hook

make improvising hooks into a game of back-and-forth, one or two notes at at time, etc.

make a sound-alike hook, that is, something that sounds similar to an existing melody and then alter it to make it different

feeling awkward about singing random ideas amongst a group of peers? if we all do this together, like a workout class, it doesn't seem so bad.
after the hooks have been recorded, they should be cleaned up enough such that they're presentable to another team. this simply means that upon listening to the combined track + hook, the hook-writer's ideas are presented as intended. no explanation should be required; another party receiving the tracks should be able to play them and get the musical gist immediately.

once this is done, the newly recorded hook ideas are given to the original producers of the backing track
Stage 3: Produce
i. after receiving their tracks back with the new hooks added, the first job of the production teams is to listen through the hooks given to them and decide which ones they will further produce.

Questions to consider:
which hooks 'grab' your ears? is there an earworm to be found (an instantly catchy hook that stands out from the rest)?

after this initial listening, the production teams need to settle on a few hooks and get rid of the rest

Further Questions to consider:
Can the hooks be improved by editing? Remember, shorter is often better (long hooks aren't a thing!)

ii. timbre tinkering - the fun part!

keep in mind that pop songs often feature predictable structures, but unpredictable timbres. prepare to spend a lot of time tinkering with the timbre of a hook.

not sure how to go about messing around with effects? try playing FX Roulette

iii. structure

there are no set rules here, but a standard intro-verse-pre-chorus-chorus- or even a more stripped down verse-chorus structure makes for a solid start. Seabrook writes that if there is a bridge in a song it is often written later once the producers are confident they've got a hit on their hands.

iv. lyrics

once the structure of the song is set, the lyrics can be slotted into the appropriate places. Seabrook writes that Max Martin is less concerned about the meaning of the lyrics than how they flow and sound.

v. finished?

at this point, there' still much that could be done, such as more recording, editing, and mixing, but how deep one delves into these processes depends on how much time can be dedicated to this assignment.

Assessment

In the real world of contemporary radio hits production, assessment comes down to answering the question, is this song a hit? true = success; false = failure.

This is likely to be a problematic system for a lot of learners! A few things to consider:

For starters, be aware that the whole process is rich with formative assessment, and this is very much in keeping with with authentic real-world practice. All of those side conversations about the qualities of production from stage-to-stage are representative of what professional producers do. Although we have a crude formula to emulate the song machine, the reality is that there is no rubric for a hit. There is much art to this science.

What I do: I have my students keep a learning (b)log and make song exploder episodes to break down their processes (see my blog for posts on both).

bottom line:
I want to know what they know they know!

​Oh, and one last thought from Seabrook: " In both volume of hits and longevity, Max Martin eclipses all previous hit makers, including the Beatles, Phil Spector, and Michael Jackson."

​Genius?

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Updated June 10, 2016. Note: Prezi format is at the end of this post. From John Seabrook's The Song Machine (2015): By the mid-2000s the track-and-hook approach to songwriting-in which a track maker/producer, who is responsible for the beats, the chord progression, and the instrumentation, collaborates with a hook writer/topliner, who writes the melodies-had become the standard method by which popular songs are written.

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Mark Ronson

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Mark Ronson: How sampling transformed music

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Sampling isn't about "hijacking nostalgia wholesale," says Mark Ronson. It's about inserting yourself into the narrative of a song while also pushing that story forward. In this mind-blowingly original talk, watch the DJ scramble 15 TED Talks into an audio-visual omelette, and trace the evolution of "La Di Da Di," Doug E.

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Crash Course

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.mp3, .wav, .mp4, .m4a, .ogg and .aac files

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You can use this to make beats

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Groove Pizza is a playful tool for creating grooves using math concepts like shapes, angles, and patterns. Start working with one of the special pizza presets and add/remove toppings to adjust the groove, or click on the Shape Pizza tab and drag various shapes onto the big circle to play and explore math-inspired grooves.

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poster

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Your questions about the music industry keep pushing us to learn more - so keep them coming and we'll do our best to try to answer them.

This week's question comes from Scott Blackman:
"i have heard the term 'hook' so often in reference to music...i have discussed this with friends and no one i know can agree on just what a hook is...have you covered this before?....if not i would really like to hear an explanation."
The term "hook" likely goes back to the earliest days of songwriting because it refers to the part of the song intended to "hook" the listener: a catchy combination of melody, lyrics and rhythm that stays in the listener's head - something that songwriters from the dawn of time have wanted to achieve.

Paul Cunningham - "Bender" to his listeners - is Assistant Program Director and morning host at 106.1 KISS-FM in Seattle. He's been a Top 40 jock for more than 20 years and he says the best hooks instantly strike a chord, so to speak.

"At this very moment, a brand new song from Nelly that we're now playing called 'Just A Dream' has a fantastic hook. It's just something that, when you hear a song, you know the hook is really good when you hear it for the very first time and it's instantly familiar."

It's often the chorus of a song, which can include the title or theme of the song. Think of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" - after several verses, that phrase is repeated; followed by "bah bah bah bah bah bah;" followed by the refrain, "Love is all you need." The chorus and refrain become the hook - the thing you remember.

But one of the hottest songwriters today points out that the hook is not always the chorus. Ryan Tedder has written hits for Leona Lewis, Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson and his own band, OneRepublic.

"The hook can be the track itself. Like in Coldplay, 'Clocks,' the hook was [hums the opening piano riffs] - that was the hook. In [ Black Eyed Peas'] 'Boom Boom Pow,' there is no hook. It is just one section after another of really catchy, infectious club music without any one section over-riding the next.

In [OneRepublic's] upcoming single, 'Good Life,' the real hook is the post hook - it's what comes after it. We have this really super simple whistle. I hadn't heard a whistle in a song in forever [ at least since 2006 when Peter Bjorn and John whistled ubiquitously in 'Young Folks' -ed.] and that's all I kept hearing on the song so I just whistled this melody into the mic and it really is the hook - it's the catchiest part of the song."

Tedder says the instrumental hooks have always been a part of rock.

"Going back into the '60s and '70s, there've been a lot of songs where the musical part of the song was the hook: [The Beatles'] 'Across the Universe' the hook is (hums the opening acoustic guitar riff) it's that guitar part." [ The Record would argue here that it's the repeated chorus/phrase: 'Nothin's gonna change my world.' -ed.] Of The Verve, 'Bittersweet Symphony,' the hook is obviously (hums the string orchestra intro that comes back as a bridge) - that's the hook."

This raises an interesting question: what's the difference between a hook and a riff?

Tedder says a riff is often a signature instrumental phrase or intro to a song.

"I think a riff can be complementary but when you ... go from complimentary to primary, then it becomes the hook to me. And a lot of times it's completely inadvertent. [ Aerosmith and Run DMC's] 'Walk This Way' [hums the opening guitar riff that repeats later in the song] - I mean that is just the riff but it's just as strong as the hook [the chorus/phrase, 'Walk this way; talk this way'].

The introduction of [ Guns N' Roses'] 'Sweet Child o' Mine' - Slash's guitar arpeggio - it's a riff but you take that out of the song and you don't have 'Sweet Child o' Mine.' I think often times if a guitar riff is centered around the chorus or if it follows the chorus, then it often times turns into the actual hook ... like [Coldplay's] 'Clocks' - clearly the piano riff is the chorus."

It's simple, catchy - or annoying, depending on your point of view - but it worms its way in and won't go away. It sometimes uses a different musical structure from the verses to set it apart. The hook is often the key to a hit song - sometimes, says Seattle jock Bender, to the detriment of the rest of the song.

"One of the biggest songs of the year still is 'Empire State of Mind' from Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. And the biggest part of that song isn't Jay-Z. The biggest part of that song is Alicia Keys doin' the hook - when she screams 'New York' and 'Concrete jungle where dreams are made of.' That's the part of the song that everybody from Mom and Dad to the kids know. That's the part everybody knows and that's the hook. It's so unmistakable that Jay-Z's lyrics are obviously genius. But again the hook of the song is what everybody remembers."

Remembering is key. And the key to remembering is repetition. Last week we learned from a host of experienced studio engineers that one of the reasons pop songs often fade at the end is to leave the listener with the chorus repeated over and over as the song fades out. You can think back to centuries old folk songs, where the refrain is repeated after every verse - to establish the theme or moral of the song in the minds of listeners.

Ryan Tedder says nursery rhymes are another good example - where a repeated melody embeds the message.

"The human brain retains melody easier than it retains words. It's that simple. You can go back through the '80s and '70s and when people start singing a chorus that you might know ... You might remember the first three words but you can hum the entire chorus. And you might even be able to hum the verse because something about melody sticks to the head. I think it starts with nursery rhymes when you're a kid and it just kind of embeds - we're trained to remember that stuff. In elementary school and growing up in Sunday school, half my lessons were taught using simple little songs, like the Presidents of the U.S.A. and the fifty states. And that stuff sticks with you."

Tedder learned songwriting in Nashville and producing by doing dance remixes for Timbaland. He firmly believes that melody is the single most important aspect of a hook - and of a song. But just as the pendulum swung from what's called the Great American Songbook to rock 'n' roll in the 1950s, Tedder thinks its swinging again.

"Definitely these days, with dance music being the single biggest thing in the world, the hook often times is the track itself ... Music has been so throttled by dance that I'm seeing song after song - some of the biggest songs in the world - that literally have no pattern, no format. Where you think the chorus is going to happen, there's literally nothing, just a musical bed. It's turning into like a house DJ kind of rave but it's on the radio. Like you look at [Black Eyed Peas'] 'Boom Boom Pow' or you look at Akon's new single, 'Angel' - it sounds like you're in Ibiza and it's 3:30 in the morning and everybody's wearing glow sticks and jumping up and down. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm just saying it's reality."

So is the hook a thing of the past. Probably not. But it's certainly not the catchy phrase, repeated over and over that we associate with pop song hooks, says Bender.

"You'll hear the hook two, three times - in the first quarter; at the half; and then the last quarter - and they'll end on whatever note they happen to be playing. But back (in the '60s, '70s, and '80s), you'd have a three and a half minute record and then they would just kind of do the hook over and over and over again; then fade it out."

And that may not be an entirely bad thing either. Hooks can be catchy but they can also be REALLY annoying - think of that whistling in "Young Folks." Finding that balance is the mark of a good songwriter. We give the final word to an under-recognized master, Marshall Crenshaw. When asked in an email exchange what makes a good hook, he simply replied:

"For me it's one that engages me but doesn't cross the line and irritate me."

What are your favorites - the hooks that achieve that balance for you? What are the most annoying? Let us know at therecord@npr.org.

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Your questions about the music industry keep pushing us to learn more - so keep them coming and we'll do our best to try to answer them.

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"I'm not afraid to fail" @skrillex (Warning - includes a few bleeped out swear words)

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"I'm not afraid to fail" @skrillex (Warning - includes a few bleeped out swear words)

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"I'm Not Afraid to FAIL!" - Skrillex (@Skrillex) Top 10 Rules

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✎ Skrillex's Top 10 Rules For Success: In this video we're going to learn how to improve our lives by analyzing our take on Skrillex's rules for success. ❤ HELP TRANSLATE THIS VIDEO ❤ If you loved this video, help people in other countries enjoy it too by making captions for it.

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Podcast where musicians talk about making their music

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Out now! Volume 2 coming December 15

Volume 1 is out now, featuring Alicia Keys, Lin-Manuel Miranda, R.E.M., and Ty Dolla $ign. Volume 2 coming December 15! featuring Dua Lipa, Nine Inch Nails, The Killers, and Natalia Lafourcade.
Watch at netflix.com/songexploder.

Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Stitcher · Google Podcasts · RadioPublic

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Song Exploder | Song Exploder: A Netflix Documentary Series

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Out now! Volume 2 coming December 15 ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ Volume 1 is out now, featuring Alicia Keys, Lin-Manuel Miranda, R.E.M., and Ty Dolla $ign. Volume 2 coming December 15! featuring Dua Lipa, Nine Inch Nails, The Killers, and Natalia Lafourcade. Watch at netflix.com/songexploder. listen and subscribe to the podcast Apple Podcasts · Spotify · Stitcher · [...]

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Like these Rap Lessons !!! Check out the official app http://apple.co/1QQmwX4 Watch more How to Rap videos: http://www.howcast.com/videos/512471-How-to-Write-Rap-Hooks-Rap-Music So, when you write a hook for a rap song, the key is to make it very conversational, meaning that this is how people express themselves in your social circle.

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How To Write a Song #4 - How To Write Hooks

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Learn more at http://www.HowToWriteaSong.net - Learn how to write amazing hooks, how to implement them into your songs, and instantly improve your songs making them 100% more memorable!