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66-473: Bruce Springsteen recorded the demos for the album on a 4-track cassette recorder at his home in a time frame of 1981-1982. Unlike the later Electric Nebraska recordings, the demos were sparse, using only acoustic guitar, electric guitar (on "Open All Night"), harmonica, mandolin, glockenspiel, tambourine, organ, synthesizer (on "My Father's House") and Springsteen's voice. The songs also have sparse composition , and many are simple three-chord songs . Following

132-403: A recording studio that oversees the production and recording of the final product. However, record producers can be involved in co-writing songs as the composer wearing two hats as the producer and songwriter as they may write and compose the original music such as the beat and then oversee the production that takes control of the recording sessions with the artist and engineer all the way down to

198-410: A string section , wind and brass sections used in a standard orchestras to electronic instruments such as synthesizers . Some common group settings include music for full orchestra (consisting of strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion), concert band (which consists of larger sections and greater diversity of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments than are usually found in the orchestra), or

264-584: A chamber group (a small number of instruments, but at least two). The composer may also choose to write for only one instrument, in which case this is called a solo . Solos may be unaccompanied, as with works for solo piano or solo cello, or solos may be accompanied by another instrument or by an ensemble. Composers are not limited to writing only for instruments, they may also decide to write for voice (including choral works, some symphonies, operas , and musicals ). Composers can also write for percussion instruments or electronic instruments . Alternatively, as

330-507: A circular issued by the United States Copyright Office on Copyright Registration of Musical Compositions and Sound Recordings, a musical composition is defined as "A musical composition consists of music, including any accompanying words, and is normally registered as a work of the performing arts. The author of a musical composition is generally the composer, and the lyricists if any. A musical composition may be in

396-629: A combination of both methods. For example, the principal cello player in an orchestra may read most of the accompaniment parts in a symphony, where she is playing tutti parts, but then memorize an exposed solo, in order to be able to watch the conductor . Compositions comprise a huge variety of musical elements, which vary widely from between genres and cultures. Popular music genres after about 1960 make extensive use of electric and electronic instruments, such as electric guitar and electric bass . Electric and electronic instruments are used in contemporary classical music compositions and concerts, albeit to

462-518: A composer and a lyricist ( Andrew Lloyd Webber with Tim Rice , or Elton John with Bernie Taupin ), a performer and a producer ( Madonna with Patrick Leonard or Mariah Carey with Walter Afanasieff ), or between bandmates ( Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones or Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA ). According to Billboard , the songwriting partnership between John Lennon and Paul McCartney remains

528-434: A composition for different musical ensembles is called arranging or orchestration , may be undertaken by the composer or separately by an arranger based on the composer's core composition. Based on such factors, composers, orchestrators, and arrangers must decide upon the instrumentation of the original work. In the 2010s, the contemporary composer can virtually write for almost any combination of instruments, ranging from

594-486: A lesser degree than in popular music. Music from the Baroque music era (1600–1750), for example, used only acoustic and mechanical instruments such as strings, brass, woodwinds, timpani and keyboard instruments such as harpsichord and pipe organ . A 2000s-era pop band may use an electric guitar played with electronic effects through a guitar amplifier , a digital synthesizer keyboard and electronic drums . Piece

660-402: A number of elements for a song, including an introduction, various verses and a chorus. At minimum, a songwriter must prepare a lead sheet for a song, which consists of one or more pieces of sheet music with the melody notes and chord progression indicated on it. The songwriter may expand upon the melody and chord progression by adding an instrumental melody (which may occur before or after

726-416: A performer. Copyright is a government-granted monopoly which, for a limited time, gives a composition's owner—such as a composer or a composer's employer, in the case of work for hire —a set of exclusive rights to the composition, such as the exclusive right to publish sheet music describing the composition and how it should be performed. Copyright requires anyone else wanting to use the composition in

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792-516: A publisher can be the first step for any professional songwriting career, with some writers with a desire for greater independence outgrowing this set-up once they achieve a degree of success. Songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company so that he could "keep as much [publishing income] as possible and say how it's going to be done." A beatmaker

858-408: A rock producer that may rarely contribute as a co-writer of a song. A top-line writer or top-liner is a songwriter who writes a song over a pre-made beat. In top-lining, the writer is not creating a song from scratch, but rather creating lyrics and melodies over an existing music genre , tonality , harmony , rhythm , and form of a song. In modern commercial writing, it is a common practice for

924-458: A single author, this is not always the case. A work of music can have multiple composers, which often occurs in popular music when all members of a band collaborate to write a song or in musical theatre, when one person writes the melodies, a second person writes the lyrics and a third person orchestrates the songs. A piece of music can also be composed with words, images or, since the 20th century, with computer programs that explain or notate how

990-536: A song becomes a hit record ; legally, in the US, songs written after 1934 may be copied only by the authors. The legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law . Songwriters can be employed in a variety of different ways. They may exclusively write lyrics or compose music alongside another artist, present songs to A&R , publishers, agents and managers for consideration. Song pitching can be done on

1056-473: A song created under an employment contract cannot be "recaptured" by the writer after 35 years. In Nashville, young writers are often strongly encouraged to avoid these types of contracts. Staff writers are common across the whole industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favoured in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract. Obtaining a staff writer contract with

1122-472: A songwriter's behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax , the MusicRow publication and SongQuarters . Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and creativity. Staff writers do not necessarily get printed credit for their contributions to the song. Songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called staff writers . Being

1188-657: A specific mode ( maqam ) often within improvisational contexts , as does Indian classical music in both the Hindustani and the Carnatic system. As technology has developed in the 20th and 21st century, new methods of music composition have come about. EEG headsets have also been used to create music by interpreting the brainwaves of musicians. This method has been used for Project Mindtunes, which involved collaborating disabled musicians with DJ Fresh, and also by artists Lisa Park and Masaki Batoh. The task of adapting

1254-430: A staff writer effectively means that, during the term of the songwriter's contract with the publisher, all their songs are automatically published by that company and cannot be published elsewhere. In the Nashville country music scene, there is a strong staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal "9-to-5" hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary, says staff writer Gary Growden. This salary

1320-542: Is "compulsory" because the copyright owner cannot refuse or set terms for the license. Copyright collectives also typically manage the licensing of public performances of compositions, whether by live musicians or by transmitting sound recordings over radio or the Internet. Even though the first US copyright laws did not include musical compositions, they were added as part of the Copyright Act of 1831 . According to

1386-403: Is a "general, non-technical term [that began to be] applied mainly to instrumental compositions from the 17th century onwards....other than when they are taken individually 'piece' and its equivalents are rarely used of movements in sonatas or symphonies....composers have used all these terms [in their different languages] frequently in compound forms [e.g. Klavierstück]....In vocal music...the term

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1452-444: Is a songwriter who creates and composes music or beats for a song, often laying the groundwork or 'musical bed'. Then a composer who specializes in melody will create the top line for the track. Tools typically used are keyboards, drum machines, softsynths and digital audio workstations . Beat makers or composers are not necessarily record producers by definition or acting role since they generally do not work directly with an artist in

1518-422: Is because the process of "working out" a song or arrangement requires a songwriter to play an instrument, typically the guitar or the piano , to hear how the chord progression sounds and to hear how well a given set of chords supports a melody. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to sing, some songwriter-musicians create songs to perform themselves. Songwriters need to create

1584-446: Is being supplemented by university degrees , college diplomas and "rock schools". Knowledge of modern music technology (sequencers, synthesizers, computer sound editing), songwriting elements and business skills are significant for modern songwriters. Several music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules. Since songwriting and publishing royalties can be substantial sources of income, particularly if

1650-400: Is co-written, written jointly or written in collaboration with other authors. Co-writers may use the "stream of consciousness" approach, referring to having ideas flow rather than being discussed. The first step in co-writing is to establish the division of the contribution between co-writers. In copyright law, there is no distinction of importance between the lyrics of the song or the melody of

1716-493: Is debatable who may or may not have appeared on these sessions besides Bruce Springsteen: The E Street Band Musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music , either vocal or instrumental , the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called composers . Composers of primarily songs are usually called songwriters ; with songs,

1782-432: Is in effect the writer's "draw", an advance on future earnings, which is paid monthly and enables them to live within a fixed budget. The publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright. In an interview with HitQuarters , songwriter Dave Berg extolled the benefits of the set-up: "I was able to concentrate on writing

1848-428: Is most frequently used for operatic ensembles..." Composition techniques draw parallels from visual art's formal elements . Sometimes, the entire form of a piece is through-composed , meaning that each part is different, with no repetition of sections; other forms include strophic , rondo , verse-chorus , and others. Some pieces are composed around a set scale , where the compositional technique might be considered

1914-515: Is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed among a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with the task of creating original melodies. Pop songs may be composed by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers . Some songwriters serve as their own music publishers, while others have external publishers. The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs

1980-550: Is responsible in creating the entire music and lyrics of a song. According to Billboard , 44% of the songs that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the 1970s were written by just one songwriter. The percentage declined to 42% in the 1980s, 24% in the 1990s, 6% in the 2000s, and 4% in the 2010s. Lionel Richie and Diane Warren are the only songwriters with at least 8 number-one singles written solely by themselves. Songs written by more than one person

2046-421: Is the case with musique concrète , the composer can work with many sounds often not associated with the creation of music, such as typewriters , sirens , and so forth. In Elizabeth Swados ' Listening Out Loud , she explains how a composer must know the full capabilities of each instrument and how they must complement each other, not compete. She gives an example of how in an earlier composition of hers, she had

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2112-618: Is the rendering audible of two or more simultaneous sounds in such a manner that their combination is pleasant. This is what we call harmony and it alone merits the name of composition. Since the invention of sound recording , a classical piece or popular song may exist as a recording. If music is composed before being performed, music can be performed from memory (the norm for instrumental soloists in concerto performances and singers in opera shows and art song recitals), by reading written musical notation (the norm in large ensembles, such as orchestras, concert bands and choirs ), or through

2178-544: The Electric Nebraska album was scrapped, eight tracks would later find their way to the Born in the U.S.A. album, released in 1984, a few as stand-alone singles, and a few remaining unreleased in any form to this day. Tracks from these sessions that were included on Born in the U.S.A. include: "Born in the U.S.A.", which was completed on May 3, 1982; "Downbound Train", recorded April 28, 1982; "Cover Me", recorded at

2244-483: The K-pop music industry. Sampling is the reuse of a portion (or sample) of a sound recording in another recording. The original songwriter(s) of a song usually receive co-writing credit when their work is sampled on another song, although they did not literally involve in making the latter. For example, Sting is credited as a co-writer alongside Todd Gaither and Faith Evans for " I'll Be Missing You " (1997) due to

2310-486: The Nebraska album, Born in the U.S.A. album, or as a stand-alone single or part of a compilation album. In a 2006 interview Jon Landau said that Electric Nebraska ' s release was unlikely stating that "the right version of Nebraska came out". Alternately, drummer Max Weinberg praised the band recordings as "killing". The following are purported to have taken part in the Electric Nebraska sessions, although it

2376-434: The lead sheet , which sets out the melody , lyrics and chord progression. In classical music, orchestration (choosing the instruments of a large music ensemble such as an orchestra which will play the different parts of music, such as the melody, accompaniment , countermelody , bassline and so on) is typically done by the composer, but in musical theatre and in pop music , songwriters may hire an arranger to do

2442-422: The 1750s onwards, there are many decisions that a performer or conductor has to make, because notation does not specify all of the elements of musical performance. The process of deciding how to perform music that has been previously composed and notated is termed "interpretation". Different performers' or conductor's interpretations of the same work of music can vary widely, in terms of the tempos that are chosen and

2508-470: The 2000s, composition is considered to consist of the manipulation of each aspect of music ( harmony , melody, form, rhythm and timbre ), according to Jean-Benjamin de Laborde (1780 , 2:12): Composition consists in two things only. The first is the ordering and disposing of several sounds...in such a manner that their succession pleases the ear. This is what the Ancients called melody . The second

2574-612: The 20th century, such as John Cage , Morton Feldman and Witold Lutosławski . A more commonly known example of chance-based, or indeterminate, music is the sound of wind chimes jingling in a breeze. The study of composition has traditionally been dominated by examination of methods and practice of Western classical music, but the definition of composition is broad enough to include the creation of popular music and traditional music songs and instrumental pieces, and to include spontaneously improvised works like those of free jazz performers and African percussionists such as Ewe drummers . In

2640-692: The Hill", " Johnny 99 ", " Highway Patrolman ", "State Trooper", "Used Cars", "Wanda" (" Open All Night "), "Reason to Believe", "Born in the U.S.A.", "Downbound Train", "Child Bride", "Losin' Kind", "My Father's House" (May 25, 1982), and " Pink Cadillac ", a total of 15 songs; 10 of these tracks would make the Nebraska album while the "Born in the U.S.A." demo would later appear on the Tracks compilation album. The remaining four demos have circulated amongst Springsteen fans with two of these, "Downbound Train" ( Born in

2706-654: The Hit Factory, New York on January 25, 1982; "I'm on Fire", recorded at the Power Station on May 11, 1982; "Glory Days", recorded at the Power Station on May 5, 1982; "Darlington County", recorded at the Power Station on May 13, 1982; "Working on the Highway", recorded April 30 and May 6, 1982, and "I'm Going Down", recorded on May 12 or 13, 1982. Fifteen tracks were recorded on January 3, 1982. These were: "Starkweather" (" Nebraska "), " Atlantic City ", "Mansion on

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2772-404: The U.S.A. ) and "Pink Cadillac" ( Tracks ) being officially released in a band format leaving "Child Bride" and "Losin' Kind" as unreleased outside of their demo versions. There was also another demo, "The Big Payback" recorded later in spring 1982, and "Johnny Bye-Bye", which Springsteen confused with a live version recorded July 1981, that was actually never recorded during this period, that brings

2838-403: The completion of the demos, Springsteen brought the demos down to the studio with the intention of turning them into proper E Street Band recordings, commonly referred to as Electric Nebraska to differentiate them from the demos, however, Springsteen and Jon Landau felt the E Street Band recordings could not duplicate the raw, deeply personal, and haunting folk essence of the home tapes. While

2904-531: The composer's work. Contract law, not copyright law, governs these composer–publisher contracts, which ordinarily involve an agreement on how profits from the publisher's activities related to the work will be shared with the composer in the form of royalties . The scope of copyright in general is defined by various international treaties and their implementations, which take the form of national statutes , and in common law jurisdictions, case law . These agreements and corresponding body of law distinguish between

2970-455: The form of a notated copy (for example sheet music) or in the form of a phonorecord (for example cassette tape, LP, or CD). Sending a musical composition in the form of a phonorecord does not necessarily mean that there is a claim to copyright in the sound recording." Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 defines a musical work to mean "a work consisting of music, exclusive of any words or action intended to be sung, spoken or performed with

3036-418: The melodies or lyrics. There is a way to prevent such legal battles. A songwriter can commit their "intent to make a song", which prevents any of the parties ripping the song apart. Some artists send out a legal disclaimer making clear that if their melody is not used after doing a topline, it reverts to them, and the track back to the track writer. Songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In part, this

3102-435: The mix stage. They are referred to as Record Producer / Songwriters as they generally receive songwriting and production credits for both roles. This is especially true for R&B, hip-hop producers in urban hip hop production , when composing the original music as the co-writer is integrated into their traditional role as a Record Producer, such as Rodney Jerkins , Dr. Dre , Timbaland or Pharrell Williams , as opposed to

3168-600: The most successful one of all time, resulting over 180 songs and a record 20 number ones for the Beatles on the Billboard Hot 100. Songwriting camp is a gathering of multiple producers and topliners in a pre-selected location for the purpose of writing songs for a specific artist. As one of the most successful artists in releasing many hit songs , Rihanna has been known for holding various writing camps to make her albums. Writing camps are also very popular in

3234-464: The music." Songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs , or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer , although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. A songwriter who mainly writes the lyrics for a song is referred to as a lyricist . The pressure from the music industry to produce popular hits means that song writing

3300-509: The music." In India The Copy Right Act, 1957 prevailed for original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work until the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1984 was introduced. Under the amended act, a new definition has been provided for musical work which states "musical works means a work consisting of music and included any graphical notation of such work but does not included any words or any action intended to be sung, spoken or performed with

3366-417: The musical track to be produced first without any vocal melody or lyrics. This is partially due to the rise of portable music production equipment and digital audio workstations that are designed for the swift arrangement of electronic music, such as Cubase and Ableton Live . The top-liner usually is also a singer, and will sing over the track as the demo singer. If the song is for a particular artist,

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3432-406: The non-lyrical elements. Many jurisdictions allow for compulsory licensing of certain uses of compositions. For example, copyright law may allow a record company to pay a modest fee to a copyright collective to which the composer or publisher belongs, in exchange for the right to make and distribute CDs containing a cover band 's performance of the composer or publisher's compositions. The license

3498-420: The orchestration. In some cases, a pop or traditional songwriter may not use written notation at all and instead compose the song in their mind and then play, sing or record it from memory. In jazz and popular music, notable sound recordings by influential performers are given the weight that written or printed scores play in classical music . Although a musical composition often uses musical notation and has

3564-405: The person who writes lyrics for a song is the lyricist . In many cultures, including Western classical music , the act of composing typically includes the creation of music notation , such as a sheet music "score" , which is then performed by the composer or by other musicians. In popular music and traditional music , songwriting may involve the creation of a basic outline of the song, called

3630-414: The playing or singing style or phrasing of the melodies. Composers and songwriters who present their own music in a concert are interpreting their songs, just as much as those who perform the music of others. The standard body of choices and techniques present at a given time and a given place is referred to as performance practice , whereas interpretation is generally used to mean the individual choices of

3696-428: The rights applicable to sound recordings and the rights applicable to compositions. For example, Beethoven 's 9th Symphony is in the public domain , but in most of the world, recordings of particular performances of that composition usually are not. For copyright purposes, song lyrics and other performed words are considered part of the composition, even though they may have different authors and copyright owners than

3762-688: The role of producer is not generally understood by the public, the average listener does not know when an artist also takes on the role of producer. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys is one of the earliest and most widely known examples of a songwriter turned music producer. Within two years of the band's commercial breakthrough, Wilson had taken over from his father Murry, and he was the sole producer of all their recordings between 1963 and 1967. Many singers also write songs for themselves, and as such, they are usually referred to as singer-songwriters. In solitary songwriting or sole writing, only one person

3828-408: The same ways to obtain a license (permission) from the owner. In some jurisdictions, the composer can assign copyright , in part, to another party. Often, composers who are not doing business as publishing companies themselves will temporarily assign their copyright interests to formal publishing companies, granting those companies a license to control both the publication and the further licensing of

3894-414: The singer or musician should create musical sounds. Examples range from 20th century avant-garde music that uses graphic notation , to text compositions such as Karlheinz Stockhausen 's Aus den sieben Tagen , to computer programs that select sounds for musical pieces. Music that makes heavy use of randomness and chance is called aleatoric music and is associated with contemporary composers active in

3960-526: The song, therefore each writer is given equal ownership over the song, unless another agreement is arranged. "Phantom" songwriters provide small contributions to songs. The songwriter suggests a line for a verse or a session musician who informally proposes a chord progression for a coda. "Phantom" songwriters are usually not given credit. Songwriting partnership or songwriting duo is a prolific collaboration which consists of two songwriters, usually sharing 50% royalty each. Songwriting partnership can be between

4026-531: The top-liner may sing the demo in that artist's style. Top-liners often work in groups to co-write. Sometimes producers send out tracks to more than one top-line writer so that the producer or singer could choose the best option. Since the track is the same, melodies by different writers can sometimes be very similar. Occasionally, the producer might choose a few lines of melodic or lyrical ideas from one top-liner without properly crediting or paying them. These situations sometimes result in legal battles over ownership of

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4092-441: The total to the often-cited 17. Due to the realization that the folk recordings of Nebraska worked better than the band recordings, Electric Nebraska (and its briefly floated double-album plan featuring both the folk and electric recordings) was shelved. Springsteen fans have speculated on whether the album would eventually be released, however, most of the tracks, save for nine that remain unreleased, have been released either on

4158-507: The tuba playing with the piccolo. This would clearly drown the piccolo out. Each instrument chosen to be in a piece must have a reason for being there that adds to what the composer is trying to convey within the work. Arranging is composition which employs prior material so as to comment upon it such as in mash-ups and various contemporary classical works. Even when music is notated relatively precisely, as in Western classical music from

4224-468: The usage of a particular scale. Others are composed during performance (see improvisation ), where a variety of techniques are also sometimes used. Some are used from particular songs which are familiar. The scale for the notes used, including the mode and tonic note, is important in tonal musical composition. Similarly, music of the Middle East employs compositions that are rigidly based on

4290-401: The vocal melody, or alongside the vocal melody) and creating a more complex song structure (e.g., verse, chorus, bridge, instrumental solo section, etc.). With recent technological improvements, a songwriter can now create commercially viable music almost entirely on their laptop. This technological advancement has made the producer/songwriter role a much more popular occurrence. Perhaps because

4356-489: The whole time and have always had enough money to live on." Unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of these work for hire agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. Because the recapture provision of the United States Copyright Act of 1976 does not apply to "works made for hire", the rights to

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