I'm going to get HELL from the Max Fans, I am one too, but an INTERESTING questi

[RoyFan]

I read the new interview that was posted here that Max gave, about his collab with Dr Luke - Now I GET that Max is a melodic genius, and most likely has contributed great melodies to
most of their collabs - BUT in that article Max mentioned that when they were all writing TEENAGE DREAM, that Luke got inspired all of a sudden and hummed/sang the melody to the entire song in like 1 pass - and Max saw how good it was and turned on his "dictaphone"

Now I know that the lyrics for the most part are Bonnie's / Katy's for that song, and the track I'm 99.9% sure is Luke's - so the fact that Max is credited as a writer for the song confirms 
something that another person brought up here once before - that even though he IS a genius, he's been listed as CO - WRITER on songs when apparently his contribution was of a
minimal nature - THAT's ALL I'm saying - NOT taking away from him - BUT this makes me rethink songs like "Wide Awake", "Who Knew"  - and others, I had always thought that since he was credited he came up with MAJOR melodic ideas, like pre choruses and choruses -  , now maybe thinking for some (we'll never know which) it might of been minimal

On "Part of Me" , I believe the entire top line tune was Max (I heard Luke say the story in an interview) -

NOT Saying this to doubt him, JUST wanna open up an interesting discussion

[RoyFan]

and the track I'm 99.9% sure is Luke's -

I was wrong on this, apparently Benny Blanco added a lot of the really beautiful Synthesizer moments on the track - which started as him and Luke jamming,
Luke on Guitar/Bass Benny on Synth

[Oroz]

Hi Royfan, where is this interview at? I read all that I can get my hands on but I don't recall this one. I'd be great to look at it.

Thanks in advance.

[RoyFan]

here you go man -hehe it was actually on this site - I'm always doing new searches - Yahoo is actually MUCH better than Google for this type of thing - so you should use that

http://www.swedishsongs.de/smf/index.php?topic=956.0


and here's a very good one with Benny Blanco , he discusses his process with Luke on 2 good songs
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun12/articles/benny-blanco.htm

[J_A24]

What is the question or discussion in all of this? lol

[Oroz]

here you go man -hehe it was actually on this site - I'm always doing new searches - Yahoo is actually MUCH better than Google for this type of thing - so you should use that

http://www.swedishsongs.de/smf/index.php?topic=956.0

Thanks, I actually searched this forum and not Google. I guess I've should looked better. And thanks for the Yahoo tip.

[j.fco.morales]

Well, it's not that bad.
It's like when I said that Max wasn't that impressive at music production, but great at toplining.

[RoyFan]

Well, it's not that bad.
It's like when I said that Max wasn't that impressive at music production, but great at toplining.

but does the new info on Teenage dream make you wonder about other of their collabs?  that perhaps Max's contribution was minimal?

[RoyFan]

What is the question or discussion in all of this? lol

just that you mentioned that they each had melodic tendencies, and it was very easy to distinguish their contributions to the songs, this seems to kinda go against those tendencies, so it was very interesting..

[J_A24]

Oh Ok,

Just clarifying, we discussed melodic tendencies, but it has nothing to do with what each of them actually brought to the song. Now what I can guarantee you, is that they do both have tendencies and "go to" references when it comes to toplining. I gave you some wild guesses on some songs that you asked about, but you can't really accurately guess who did what in each song only based on that because there are just way too many variables in music and I don't know any songwriter (except the bad ones) who exclusively writes songs based on tendencies and old references from their own repertoire. The only info that I had regarding who did what in specific was a couple of songs from Britney and "About You Now". I would say that based of their tendencies, "Teenage Dream" does sound like something that Luke would come up with melodically for the most part. I maybe thought Max was involved in the bridge since it's a bit more melodic, but while they both have tendencies, it doesn't mean that they wont come up with something different.

Also, writing credits don't stop at toplining and writing lyrics. Anything you compose in the song, from the chord progression to vocal harmonies to a 1/16 guitar repeated note will get you writing credits. So Max or Luke could be credited in a song when they barely did anything hands-on in the song itself. Take for example "Dare (La La La)" by Shakira.

I would say that most songs that Luke and Max do together in the present, Luke is the leader of the session. Meaning that he has the last word on everything. He will just pick what's best for the vision he has on the song and that's it.

If you wanna know who did what in specific songs, you should try to tweet Luke or something.

[J_A24]

And to answer the question of the thread, which I suppose is "How does the possibility of Max Martin having minimal input on your favourite songs in which he's been credited on make you feel?"

I answer: I already knew that, it doesn't lessen my view of him at all. Is he the perfect writer/producer? No. Every idea he has is not always amazing, but he has the ability, experience and work ethic to go beyond that once in a while. Which is already more than most writers in the business.

Him, Luke and Peter Svensson are the best topliners in the bussiness in my opinion.

[RoyFan]

Him, Luke and Peter Svensson are the best topliners in the bussiness in my opinion.

Good stuff!  Btw it may still be possible on the Bridge of "Teenage Dream" (that it was more Max) , because in the interview Max mentions
Luke's sorta "one take" melody moment -  I think as from the beginning and then "including the chorus" -   JUST in case you're curious :-)

Oh and also I've been reading about and listening to songs Claude Kelly was involved in, and from all that I'd guess that he actually (as opposed
to Katy Perry, Cathy Dennis , etc) DOES contribute important melodies to a large part of songs he's involved in , sometimes the whole melody
"Like I Never Left" - Whitney Houston, tremendous topline and lyric

[j.fco.morales]

I agree: Max is one of the best at toplining.
He does an amazing work building melodies and playing with unusual pitching.

In the Teenage Dream case, I think Katy and Bonnie especially deserves the credit on the lyrics and the melodies in the verses.
The chorus is SO Max Martin. Luke and Benny made an impressive work on the production.

I agree with J_A24: Luke and Max are the kind of people that think about the process: the way the song should reflect an important part of the artist itself, making it work as a whole.

And J_A24: when you talk about Peter Svensson, are you talking about the Cardigans amazing songs? Because he's good at pop, but he's AMAZING with The Cardigans.

[RoyFan]

I agree: Max is one of the best at toplining.
He does an amazing work building melodies and playing with unusual pitching.

In the Teenage Dream case, I think Katy and Bonnie especially deserves the credit on the lyrics and the melodies in the verses.
The chorus is SO Max Martin. Luke and Benny made an impressive work on the production.

I agree with J_A24: Luke and Max are the kind of people that think about the process: the way the song should reflect an important part of the artist itself, making it work as a whole.

And J_A24: when you talk about Peter Svensson, are you talking about the Cardigans amazing songs? Because he's good at pop, but he's AMAZING with The Cardigans.

J FCO : According to the interview wit Max, (posted here by someone) , it was actually Luke's melody for the verses (and seemingly the chorus as well) - It's in the first
part of the thread I started -

[J_A24]

And J_A24: when you talk about Peter Svensson, are you talking about the Cardigans amazing songs? Because he's good at pop, but he's AMAZING with The Cardigans.

I think he's amazing in general, I loved his work with the Cardigans, specially in the "Long Gone Before Daylight" album. His style is quite similar to Max's, I think he'll establish himself as one of the top songwriters soon.