So I am in my first band and we are writing our first song. Any advice about volume control (who should be the loudest?), lyrics, solos, etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Lol, two similar threads started at pretty much the same time... Well, my only advice would be: don't try to write something by just jamming.
Finish the whole thing in one sitting. If you stop and come back later you will hate something about it, and there's a good chance you'll toss it out. Trust me.
Why not? Some of the best sections that my band has written have come out of jams. They allow you to experiment with just about anything - granted that a lot of it turns out to be mediocre, but when you nail the right combination of melody and rhythm (and/or whatever else you're looking for in your music), you can keep jamming on it and improving it even more!
Me and our guitarist have often argued about me or him being too loud, but it's often me who's the sinner Of course in traditional rock setting the guitar should be loudest, but who says you can't try something new? Maybe just turn down your lows and come through on some high's or hi-mids, whatever. We're gonna experiment with this later in my band. I recommend that you choose one person to write lyrics, I hate to write lyrics with other band members. It's like too many chefs in a kitchen.
lay down a basis for it, and then expand by jamming. you're gonna start with something that will eventually sound boring, so don't hesistate to throw in licks and slides and anything else here and there, just don't try and over-do it. also, keep lyrics and music as closely written as possible. in my band we're having the problem of kick-ass-lyrics and good music, but no link between the two...