On the Underappreciated Achievements of Otis Blackwell
The tragic story of hit songwriter Otis Blackwell’s talent is a cautionary tale, but his legacy of songs lives on today in the Hall of Fame.
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Why Joker’s Score Makes It a Prequel
An analysis of how Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score for Joker helps anchor the narrative and characters in both their story and their timeline.
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Why Making Playlists Can Help You Write New Songs
A unique and underrated way to jog yourself out of a creative rut and open up new possibilities in your songwriting (plus, it’s tons of fun).
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Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming a Professional Songwriter
Notes from a professional songwriter and Soundfly mentor, lessons learned throughout a career of fortunes and misfortunes.
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“Enemy” Creates Desire — “Bruno” Fulfills It
What’s the difference between Imagine Dragons’ “Enemy” and Encanto’s “Bruno”? Not much! But music theory holds the answer…
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Quality and Quantity — in Songwriting, They’re Intertwined…
An OpEd on how to balance learning to write songs from both a quantity- and a quality-forward mindset, and why they should be intertwined.
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How to Write a Character Leitmotif
A quick and easy guide to the art of the leitmotif — how to write, amend, and understand the role it plays in musical character development.
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Thundercat Chord Theory
In this post, courtesy of Reverb Machine’s Dan Carr, we break down the chord progressions of Thundercat’s most beloved jazz-inspired songs.
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On Chord Fragments and Nuanced Embellishments in Talking Heads’ “Slippery People”
A quick and fun breakdown of one of David Byrne’s most slippery songs from the Talking Heads catalog, and why it works so well…
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3 Things Son Lux Does to Make Their Songs So Unique
We take apart Son Lux’s incredibly unique sound, and breakdown three main tools of expression composer Ryan Lott uses to achieve it.
