I will be recording some original tunes. (a gift from my daughter). What is the recomended time length?
I may drop a few extra verses, example, 3 instead of 4 or 5. Or I made add an extra instrumental break, or not. Give me your oppinions ---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
Well according to the great James "Icepick" Harman - "A song should be as long as a woman's dress. Long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep you interested."
No right or wrong answer here IMO. i've heard stuff that was 6 - 7 minutes long and I dug evey second of it. I've heard stuff that was 2:00 long and 1:55 too long at the same time.
Kinda depoends on what yer playin' and what ya got to say.
Last Edited by on Jan 28, 2011 11:40 AM
I've been to numerous music conferences and attended countless song writing panels, and every single industry person I've asked says a "radio friendly" song it should be around 3 minutes long. If you aren't trying to be radio friendly then there are no rules. FYI I got a few complaints that my BYBO song was too long at 5 minutes.
According to Alfred Hitchcock, a film should be as long as the human bladder can hold out. Does that help? ---------- Andrew, gentleman of leisure, noodler extraordinaire.
"When the Levee Breaks" as done by Led Zepilin drives on and on for several minutes with the same chords, the same beat, but I could listen to it for a few more minutes.
"Hallelujah" is a beautiful song, but isn't the full version with 6 verses a bit too much, while Amanda Jenssen's Swedish Idol version is a bit too short?
Conclusion: Refer to Kingley's post--"A song should be as long as a woman's dress. Long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep you interested."
Or, if it's interesting enough, why not keep it going a little bit longer?
When you get it done, ask friends & family if it's too long/too short. Then ask yourself.
Last Edited by on Jan 28, 2011 1:25 PM
I just keep playing 'til they clap or leave!!! I would use what ever time you need to get the message across without letting your ego start to drag it out to long. (That is not meant as a slam, I am thinking of some guitar solos)
---------- If it ain't got harp - it ain't really blues!!!!
i agree with all the posts cuz i'm more pragmatic than obama; he used to live down the street.
sometimes a slow blues with long blues/rock guitar solos can kill a man at a hundred and fifty yards. use with caution. ---------- MP doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
From 8:35 on Zander explains what a complete song should sound like. I know this is classical music, but thinks it's kind of universal. Nice video, worth to watch.
Queen originally had a problem getting airplay for Bohemian Rhapsody. They'd tell people how long it was and no one would even listen. Once they played it people got it. It changes so much during the course of the song that it keeps your attention.
For radio play I'd 2-4 minutes, but it depends a lot on the song. Take a look at the running time of a few songs in your CD collection and see how long they run. Songs on the radio can run longer too if you've got a long play-out section at the end the DJ can clip if he needs extra time.
Lyrically, you want the song to sound like it's covered what needs to be covered. If it's telling a story the story should wrap up and the hook should be repeated enough to get stuck in peoples' heads but not so stuck they want to kill you.
I tend to skip YouTube videos that show running times over five minutes unless I am specifically into the topic, but I feel unsatisfied by anything much shorter than 2 minutes.
I agree with everything said above, but I have made my decision. I will shoot for that 2 to 4 minute range. I ran a "test layout" via Band in a Box for one tune. It was 4:05. I felt it was at the edge of comfortable listening. I too remember some BYBO entries that I felt were longer than needed.
Seeing how I am an amatuer, I'll will not go for quanity. ---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
Our culture is programed for each genere of music. Jazz and classical can go long but if you are concerned with rattling peoples data bases make it less than 3 minutes and have all the hooks and whatnots on it. I end the song when it tells me to end it. I delete a bunch off most to post on the net because soundclick, which I use as a host, limits the size of the mp3 file. I keep the original lenght of the songs on my wave files. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
Only today I was in the car almost home when on the wireless was Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler playing Sultans of Swing. I really love this tune and was hoping that it was not going to be the shortened version that cuts out a lot of the guitar magic. Even though I could have come inside and listened on my Ipod I sat outside for ca10 mins and absorbed the magic of the full version.
How long is a piece of string? As long as it needs to be to do the job.
@joch230 Ina Goda Davida is what hooked me into rock music. We are BOTH dated, and apparently still playing.
I'm surprised we don't hear Ina Goda Davida played more on harp in 3rd position, (yes, I've played it) but that's a topic for another thread. :) ---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
No matter what the length of the tune, the tune has to have a good, solid groove right out of the gate to the very end, and if the groove is weak, it'll make any tune with long solos sound like total crap and you don't want solos that just meander with no focus or dynamics.
Besides the groove being strong, right behind it and FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR more important than any great solo are the vocals and great groove and great vocals will make or break ANY tune more than great solos ever will.
Long tunes with a crappy groove is gonna suck no matter how good any of the solos are. Make damned sure you work on getting that groove REAL TIGHT and I have had so many people had me listen to recordings that sounded real rank amateurish because they spent WAY too much time on the solos and damned close to nothing on the groove and the vocals and those two FAR outweigh the importance of a solo, especially if you're trying to get airplay (unless the only audience you're striving for are harp nerds, and that's a tiny, niche auidience by comparison) and having those two things as your strongest elements gets you the widest possible audience and airplay and rambling, overindulgent solos with a weak groove is just trash that will seldom get much airplay. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
The first time I remember some controversy about the length of a song ( being Toooo long ) was MacArthur Park...the original Richard Harris version. Despite being widely panned, it topped charts in Europe and Australia, and hit #2 in America. Amazingly, the song has been covered more than 50 times; most successfully a disco version by Donna Summer. Can't seem to find a Blues rendition. Leaving a cake out in the rain sounds like something a blues musician might do.
Another tune like MacArthur Park is American Pie by Don Mclean. Loony lyrics and released in both a very long version and a shorter one that gets radio play. I like the long version but I don't know why?
