The Catfish Catalyst
A random starting point for songwriting.
1. Base Tempo
First calculate the base tempo for the song. Roll two dice and total them:
-
2
70 BPM
-
3
80 BPM
-
4
90 BPM
-
5
100 BPM
-
6
110 BPM
-
7
120 BPM
-
8
130 BPM
-
9
140 BPM
-
10
150 BPM
-
11
160 BPM
-
12
170 BPM
2. Refine Tempo
Now refine the tempo by rolling a single die and adjusting like so:
-
1
leave base tempo unchanged
-
2
add 2 to base tempo
-
3
add 8 to base tempo
-
4
add 4 to base tempo
-
5
add 5 to base tempo
-
6
add 6 to base tempo
This will leave us with a BPM somewhere between 70 and 178.
3. Key Signature
For the key signature, again roll two dice and total them:
-
2
Ab major (F minor)
-
3
C# major (Bb minor)
-
4
F major (D minor)
-
5
D major (B minor)
-
6
G major (E minor)
-
7
C major (A minor)
-
8
A major (F# minor)
-
9
E major (C# minor)
-
10
B major (Ab minor)
-
11
F# major (D# minor)
-
12
Bb major (G minor)
4. Song Title
You can either assign a title straight away or wait until you are ready to start writing lyrics.
Pick 10 or so tiles from a standard Scrabble tile set. Make a word from the drawn tiles which will form the song title (or part of the song title).