Songwriting can be as much of a personal hobby & passion as a career. Meaningful songwriting is not a rigid, formulated act – but instead a fluid and ever-evolving process of articulating thoughts and emotions that pop in and out at any given moment. Thankfully there are smarphone apps for songwriters to help you along the way. Let’s take advantage of what technology has to offer us and never let another line disappear from our brains. Use these apps for songwriting — to organize, remember and develop your words:
1) Evernote
Photo Credit: @philcampbell
A life saver in so many ways. With a ton of intuitive features that can help you make sense of your daily life, such as task lists and tags, this app is a must-have for any songwriter on the go. It’s a note-taking app on steroids that automatically syncs to your Evernote web account so you can organize your lyrics (and life). You can even make audio recordings and post pictures on your account. Next time you’re waiting in line and come up with a brilliant line, whip out your iPhone and document it (no promise on that you’ll remember what you were thinking when you re-read it later though)
2) Soundhound
Similar to Shazaam – the music finder app. Ever listen to the radio and hear a great melody or lyric that you just need to revisit, but don’t know the artist & song name? No more worries. Just tap soundhound and hold it up to the speaker while the song is playing to find out all the information you need on that particular song. You can even view the lyrics (if available) through the app.
3) Tap That
This is a great tool for songwriting and music creation. Have you ever come up with a great melody or rhythm, but can’t figure out how to identify the tempo? Or maybe you’re hearing a song and want to create something with a similar mood – it starts with tempo right? Tap That is an app that lets you tap out a tempo using your iPhone screen. It’s a quite accurate and it will calculate the BPM based on your tap rhythm. Simple, but essential to a songwriter’s arsenal.
4) FreeStyle
Freestyle is a writing, recording and sharing tool for poets, emcees and songwriters. You can record vocals, write down song lyrics, share things and even find that perfect rhyme. The app contains Schimer’s Complete Rhyming Dictionary which is an industry standard that contains over 96,000 rhymes! For the rappers out there, the app also contains some stock beats you can use to well… freestyle over.
5) iMaschine
Great app for songwriters & music producers. iMaschine is described as a sketchpad for musicians. If you’ve seen the Native Instruments Maschine music production studio, you’re familiar with the set up. You can create your own beats, melodies and rhythm lines easily by tapping it out on your iPhone or iPad. You can record, edit, and share your beats. If you’re an emcee or singer, sketch out a beat idea before you get in the studio. If you’re a singer/songwriter, add some accompaniment while you’re writing that next song. Definitely a great aide for a songwriter’s creative process. If you’re a singer, songwriter, musician, emcee or producer, the above apps will become an essential part of your music creation arsenal. Download them now and try to implement them into your existing workflow. If you’ve got your own great songwriting apps not mentioned here, feel free to share them in the comments below. And now, go make some music!
About The Author: Omar Zulfi is a music artist, producer and songwriter with PhatBootyEnt.com. He often writes tutorials and blog posts about building a career in the music business. To download his new Free Guide called “How to Become a Rapper or Singer: The Ultimate Guide,” click here.
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