Trailer
22 min

Part 1

Inspiration, vulnerability, collaboration, breaking patterns, taking notes, repetition, phrasing
16 min

Part 2

Building on a premise, storytelling, listener interpretation, wordplay, creativity levels, triggers
12 min

Part 3

Altering lyrical delivery & mood, introspection, modulation, key changes, discarding ideas
15 min

Part 4

Arrangement, chord progressions, setting parameters, minimalism, idioms, metaphors, clichés
11 min

Part 5

Ableton Live composition workflow, leaving the computer, new directions, top-line melody, phrases
09 min

Part 6

Layering loops, melodic ideas & development, colour-coding, dismissal, rejecting external stimuli

Production

Franz Ferdinand

Alex Kapranos

Song :

Duration:16 min / 1h28 Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese

Description

We're thrilled to release our first ever series with Alex Kapranos, frontman of the Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand! We joined the acclaimed musician at Motorbass Studio to explore his diversity of influences and unconventional approaches to songwriting. Alex reveals his most notable inspirations, sourced from music, literature, and visual arts. Referencing original compositions and the work of others, he discusses pertinent elements of effective songs – vocal performance, phrase repetition, wordplay, vulnerability, and more. With his own voice and guitar, he demonstrates how chord progressions, melodies, song key, and arrangement can be altered to evoke certain reactions in the listener. He shares alternative methods of triggering creativity that involve setting restrictions and encouraging non-literal interpretation of lyrics delivered in a certain way. Using Ableton Live and a Novation Launchkey, Alex shows his process of building track foundations, developing melodic ideas, and many other aspects of his songwriting workflow!

Show more

Trailer
22 min

Part 1

Inspiration, vulnerability, collaboration, breaking patterns, taking notes, repetition, phrasing
16 min

Part 2

Building on a premise, storytelling, listener interpretation, wordplay, creativity levels, triggers
12 min

Part 3

Altering lyrical delivery & mood, introspection, modulation, key changes, discarding ideas
15 min

Part 4

Arrangement, chord progressions, setting parameters, minimalism, idioms, metaphors, clichés
11 min

Part 5

Ableton Live composition workflow, leaving the computer, new directions, top-line melody, phrases
09 min

Part 6

Layering loops, melodic ideas & development, colour-coding, dismissal, rejecting external stimuli

Comments

(19)

User Deleted August 9, 2024 at 6:14 PM

Part 5 was astounding, tempo and groove had that feel I like and sitting down trying to create one of my own is not easily forthcoming. I know some people who have abandoned themselves as artists to pursue mixing only for example, don’t adbandon yourself as an artist and since songwriting is such an overlooked area a lot of times I find the ones on it effective at my stage of learning personally thank you.
SUP June 30, 2024 at 2:56 AM

A time when all the questions I had wondering if I could do it, even though I wasn't sure, were answered.
Blathnaid Turley June 8, 2022 at 2:32 PM

Love this - so insightful. Love the bit about breaking songs apart rather than being super precious with them.
Sonny Miles May 10, 2022 at 4:20 AM

probably my favorite lecture
Santiago Ospina April 3, 2021 at 12:20 AM

Great!
Andrés Burgoa January 30, 2021 at 10:19 PM

yes! more Ableton!
Keith Mulligan December 1, 2020 at 10:13 AM

Very inspiring. Thanks for giving us a look inside your methods. Gonna put it into practice tomorrow. Good man,
Facundo Masino November 26, 2020 at 11:48 PM

Yes! Ableton! Thanks you
Felix Eder November 26, 2020 at 2:21 AM

Loved it! He is very charismatic and knowledgeable!
Christian Ceballos November 21, 2020 at 10:02 PM

Please we need Spanish subtitles!
alberto roveroni November 19, 2020 at 12:31 PM

the audio coming from Ableton is with one channel phase flipped
Jonathan Feurich November 25, 2020 at 11:15 AM

yeah. can't believe how often that stuff happens. flip with the masters please.

Taylor Bradshaw May 11, 2021 at 2:41 AM

Ahaha I'm glad others noticed. One would imagine they might catch that here of all places :)
Liam Rutherford November 19, 2020 at 12:08 AM

Absolutely fantastic. Really inspiring listening to him talk about songwriting.
Denís Fernandez November 18, 2020 at 2:33 PM

I already admired Alex before but this has been a true valuable content and I admire him now even more
Sebastian Gimm November 16, 2020 at 11:40 AM

This is really good stuff. Given that mixing starts with a the quality of the song, this kind of content slots perfectly in with the technical stuff.
Nicho T. November 16, 2020 at 1:07 AM

Yes!!!

About Alex Kapranos

Alex Kapranos is an English musician, singer, and songwriter known for being the frontman of rock band Franz Ferdinand. He moved to Scotland at the age of seven, and played in a number of Glasgow bands throughout the 1990s while undertaking a variety of jobs that included bartending, cheffing, IT lecturing, and music promotion. Kapranos formed Franz Ferdinand in 2002, and the band received critical acclaim for their debut self-titled album. Their most famous single, 'Take Me Out', was certified...

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