Writing a custom song for someone's birthday can be an incredibly thoughtful and personal gift that can bring joy for years to come. Whether you have musical experience or not, creating a song can be a fun and rewarding process. In this blog post, I’ll walk you through some tips and steps to think about in order to help you create a memorable birthday gift for your loved one or friend.
1) Gather Information
The first step before you create a song is to gather information about the person you are writing the song for. What are their interests, hobbies, and favorite things? Do they have any inside jokes or personal stories that you could incorporate into the lyrics? What do they mean to you and what are you favorite things about them? This information can help you create a song that is specific and meaningful to the person you are writing it for.
2) Choose a Genre and Style
Next, choose a genre and style for your song. This will depend on the person's musical preferences, as well as your own musical preferences and abilities. If you are not musically inclined, consider writing a poem or spoken-word piece instead of a song. If you are comfortable with music, consider what genre the person enjoys and what style would best suit the message you want to convey.
3) Write the Lyrics
4) Compose the Music
If you are comfortable with composing music, start creating the melody that will accompany your lyrics. If you are not musically inclined, consider using a pre-existing backing track or enlisting the help of a friend who can create music for you or help you create it. Co-writing and co-creating is a common thing in the music industry and I personally think it’s a fun way to create a custom song so don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Remember that the melody should fit the mood and style of the lyrics. Even if your musical abilities are limited, at the end of they day, all you need to know are basically just 3 chords to create a music template for a song structure.
5) Record and Edit
Once you have the lyrics and music composed, record your song using a microphone and recording software. You can even find free software programs out there to help you complete this part of the process. You can use your phone or
computer to record, but investing in a USB microphone can greatly improve the quality of your recording. After recording, edit your song to remove any unwanted noise or mistakes. If this is out of your skill-set, consider using Youtube to do some research on how-to record, edit and mix your custom song. Make sure you only research beginner-friendly content. You’re not going for a Grammy award just yet! (Check out Guitarcenter.com for any audio equipment needs you might have.)
6) Present Your Gift
Finally, present your custom song to the person you wrote it for. This can be done in a number of ways, such as playing the song at a party, sending an mp3 file via email or text, delivering it on a CD, or playing it live on a sound system or using earbuds while playing it off of your phone. Seeing their reaction to your thoughtful and personal gift will undoubtedly be rewarding and memorable. You could also use something like Tunecore.com and it will post your song onto various media outlets, like Youtube.com and Spotify.com and you can unveil your gift that way! (Consider video recording their reaction as you reveal your custom song and they hear it for the first time!)
Take it from me, writing a custom song for someone's birthday can be a fun and meaningful way to show your love and appreciation. However, if you don’t have the time, feel up to the task or if you just want to make sure that you give an amazing song to your recipient, you can always hire CustomSongshop.com to craft the perfect song for you!
Either way, I hope you find these tips to be helpful in your process. Good luck, and happy writing!
Award-winning songwriter and co-founder of Custom Song Shop
Scotty D
