Artisan Surf Designs by David Falkenau

I just finished a 5'11" Swallow Tail Shorty for my brother-in-law Myles Pallasch! Pics soon! Here are the design dimensions...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:03:00 +0000

Here's my Myles Pallasch Model:

5'11" x 18 x 2 3/8" Deck to bottom rail before concaves (or 2 1/8" with calipers deck to bottom concave) at widepoint

Here's how you can lay out your template if you want to try to shape one yourself...

N1 = 11 1/8" Wide

N2 = 16 1/8" Wide

Center at 35.5" = 17 7/8" - 17 15/16" Wide

Wide Point is 18" and runs from the Nose back 37 3/4" to 40 1/8"

T2 = 17.5"

T1 = 14"

The Swallow Tail is 4.5" across, pin to pin, or corner to corner before you cut the swallow in. The swallow can be 1 1/8" to 2 1/8" deep... or traditionally, it would be half the width of the tail (2 1/4" deep).

The board thickness before concaves are shaped in is 2 3/8" @ the center through wide point area, from Deck to bottom... after concaves are shaped in, a caliper reading will read 2 1/8" (because you are essentially putting 1/4" of single concave in the center portion of the board.

Rocker: using a straight edge with the fulcrum point in the center of the board (35.5" from the nose), measure the distance from the bottom edge of the nose to the straight edge. Do the same for the tail....

Nose rocker: 4.5"

Tail rocker: 2 1/4"

Bottom Contours: Single Concave with Double Barrel Concave running throughout...

N1 has 1/16" of Single Concave (the Double Barrel doesn't start until 1/3rd back from the nose)

N2 has 1/8" of Single Concave and 1/16" of Double Barrel Concave

Center (35/5") through the Widepoint (from the nose back 37 3/4" to 40 1/8") has 3/16"-1/4" of Single Concave and 1/16" of Double Barrel Concave

T2 has 3/16" - 1/4" of Single Concave and 1/8" of Double Barrel Concave

T1 has 3/16" - 1/4" of Single Concave and 3/16" - 1/4" of Double Barrel Concave

The tail 1/3rd keeps a hard edge, going sharp from the tail up to blending with the rail tuck at the 1/3rd up from the tail mark...
(The Board length is 71", so 1/3rd of that is 23.666666666666666666666666666667")

The board works well as a Tri-fin or a Quad...

HAVE FUN!

Thank you Captain Eric Bertotti, Crew, and Oceanside Fire Department for the excellent opportunity to do a ride-along with you guys last evening.... and see how it's REALLY done!

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:25:00 +0000

ANOTHER PILOT WHALE MASSACRE IN DENMARK.... WTF?????????????????

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:50:00 +0000

Fight the Slaughter!

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WORLD???????? HUH??? HOW CAN THIS BE ALOUD TO GO ON??????

These DENMARK fishermen are A SHAME!

In the following pictures, the sea has been dyed red with the blood of a pod of thousands of Pilot Whales, herded into into a Denmark bay for an annual tradition of mammalian slaughter .

This happens EVERY YEAR in the FEROE ISLANDS in DENMARK!

This traditional massacre represents a "right of passage" into adulthood for these young and very misled Denmark youth….

The Pilot Whales do not die right away... their bodies are penetrated with flensing hooks & knives, as they shriek with cries! They suffer a slow and agonizing death.

The Danes have no compassion as the docile marine mammals bleed slowly and suffer from their tremendous wounds as they fight, dying in a bay full of the blood of thousands of Pilot Whales from the same pod.

The cowards committing the mass slaughter are celebrated (as if this were a sporting event) by onlookers and fellow islanders as heroes of the island, having demonstrated their maturity... to the inhabitants of the island.

I wonder how those Cowardly Danes would take to flensing hooks impaled into their their skulls and bodies as their bones are shattered by the blunt trauma and their skin is flensed off the bone while they writhe in agonizing pain, fighting for their lives and eventually wishing for a quick death to end it all?

In my opinion, the Danish youth are misinformed and are not educated on the ecological effects of how the their actions negatively affect the entire marine ecosystem on a global scale. Someone needs to put together a program which goes to countries where mass slaughters like this are performed and accepted as part of the culture or tradition of the people of that area, so they can be educated and their cultural traditions hopefully reformed to stop these mass slaughterings of our fragile marine life.

STOP THE SENSELESS KILLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN HELP BY GETTING INVOLVED!!!!!!!!!!!!

SUPPORT THE SEA SHEPPARD SOCIETY! A HUMANITARIAN WAR SHOULD BE WAGED ON THE COUNTRY OF DENMARK IN PROTEST TO THIS UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Academy TV SHOW - Orange County Fire Authority - Episode 1

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:56:00 +0000

Paul Gross on the basics of designing a hull

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:57:00 +0000

"Some general hull building info:

Typical outline dimensions, depending on how much drive versus manueverability you want, range from 16" x 21.5"(+5) x 15" (manueverable) to 18.75" x 22.5" (+10) x 15" (drive). Bascially, the more drive, the more nose area and further up the wide point. The further up the wide point, the wider it needs to be in the center to keep the tail wide enough as the outline curve tapers in. 15" is a safe tail width a foot up. Build forward from that number for most mainland small wave conditions. That's a good constant for a hull with no tail V.

If you want to use V, go up to 15.5" or even 16". Keep the V ahead of the fin. V behind the fin adds too much rocker to the rail line in the back. No drive. V in front of the fin flattens the middle rail rocker line, making the board fly out of turns. However, V kills the forward trim capability of hulls. Turns the board into more of a tail rider. Personal taste determines which is better.

6'8" to 7'8" is a comfortable length range, but not limited to that. 3" is a safe thickness, but you have to use a triplane or domed deck to keep the rails thin enough. Resist the temptation to go thinner with a flat deck. The bouyancy of the center area is what get these boards rolling in smaller conditions. If you want thinness, put it in the rails and tail. And keep the rails at least 60/40 or higher until the last 24" to 18". Rocker low...4-5" in the nose. 1-2" in the tail. A slight straight spot running through the middle. Avoid evenly curved rocker schemes.

Tail shape can range from anything from hard square to squash to arc to full roundtail to round pin. Swallows and pins don't seem to work on hulls for surf under 8'.

Use a fin box. Fin shape and placement are pretty important, and every board is different...so give yourself a chance to fool around and see what works for you in your surf. Most hulls like a 9" Greenough/Liddle/Frye fin between 8" and 14" up. Stick with the rear measurement in the beginning. The hulls with fins all the way up are used on proven shapes ridden in good point surf. Put the box 7" up, that will give you plenty of lattitude. Glass over the fin box if you want it to last.

Single 6oz. top and bottom, with either a 4 or 6 deck patch in the middle 3' of the board. Weight isn't super critical with flat rocker and a hull bottom. Use a sanded 320 W/D finish. It helps to water flow stay wetted out. Volan cloth is more durable, especially on boards that bend and twist a little bit. S-Cloth stiffens the structure, so use it sparingly.

The classic S-deck displacement hull, like this circa 1998 7'2" Paul Gross Designed Hull, has a 9" Greenough Stage IV fin, set 14" up from the tail at the trailing edge of the fin. The extreme forward placement is NOT intended to "loosen it up," but to allow the forward rail line to bury into a turn. The entire board (rocker, rails, and hull) is designed around this concept. It appears radical, but in fact it's carefully balanced. The thickness flow on this 7'2" Paul Gross Designed Hull is 1.625" one foot back from the nose, 3" in the center, 1.75" one foot up from the tail.

The tight, parallel track is unique to these boards. They are very fast down the line, but weak in vertical performance." -- Paul Gross (Swaylocks Resources)

My personally hand-shaped home quiver for my son and me, when we surf out front of our house...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:09:00 +0000

1) The orange and blue one is a model I came up with for Gavin, called The Tadpole. He loves orange, so I had Afranio Albuquerque do a fire resin deck and a blue bottom wrapping around the rails with black pinlines. It's 4'11". He's almost growing out of it, so it'll get passed down to Bella and then Eden.

2) The next one is an exact, and I mean exact replica of my favorite 5'6" MEZ fish. The board I replicated was originally purchased from Raymond Turnipseed for $200. It looked exactly like this one, only the El Pescado I hand-shaped in this picture is 5'7". That is the only difference. I matched the opaque white up with the same blue and purple resin. I love to ride my fish with fins set more forward because I ride with my front foot way up and usually have my back foot right behind it, so I immediately fell in love with the original Mez fish, and in fact, used the same tail and fin placement on a blue fish that I hand-shaped for Delco Hagen in one of my older posts. This board was my toughest fish yet, because I had to get everything exact.

3) The third board from the left is a cross between the 5'7" fish (modified from my 5'6" Mez Fish) and the 6'0" Newshape Quad (to the left and right of it). I took the 5'7" fish template and and 6'0" Newshape template (Bill Thrailkill), and merged them together to get the 5'10" Destroyer Twin in this picture. I like my personal boards logo free, with hand signatures... keep it simple... build 'em... ride 'em.... pass 'em on.... build more of 'em!

4) The fourth board from the left, and my latest project in the "fishy" realm of boards is this 6'0" Bill Thrailkill Newshape Template with quad futues and optional FCS twins. This is my favorite of the 3 shown here that I ride. It is simply MAGIC!

5) I templated, and foiled this lime green flex fin too...

6) Not that you really care, but you probably wouldn't even notice the cap and shoes if I didn't tell you to check them out. The hand stitched patch cap is from Donegal, Ireland, purchased down the street from my shop at "O' Ireland" on Grand Avenue, Carlsbad. I spent quite a bit of time in Ireland back in 1995, so this cap reminds me of that trip whenever I put it on. I found it appropriate for these shots. The shoes are Etnies with matching patchwork courtesy of Etnies shoes and my brother-in-law Aaron Pallasch.

Daddy & Eden at the beach

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:28:00 +0000

Team Rider Christian Rodriguez.....

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:54:00 +0000

These photos are Christian Rodriguez at N.S. Huntington Beach
E-mail John Lyman Photos at lymanphoto@aol.com

Here's Christian's 5'6" Fish that I shaped. Luiz Masuzzo glassed it. The pic is from his phone, so I'll put some better pics up when he comes down here to surf.

The 5'10" x 21 3/8" x 2 1/2" x 9" tail (tip to tip) Bill Thrailkill "Destroyer Twin" is up for sale after being satisfyingly yet gently test ridden..

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:14:00 +0000

The 5'10" x 21 3/8" x 2 1/2" x 9" tail (tip to tip) Bill Thrailkill "Destroyer Twin" is up for sale after being satisfyingly yet gently test ridden... $500 FIRM

The 7'0" Freak of Laminar Flow has been SOLD...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:52:00 +0000

The proud new owner of this unique board is Dan Salimone of San Jose, California. He purchased it for $600 including shipping and a brand new Legends board bag! What a deal! I'm very glad that he is the new owner... he lives in "Hull" territory and will be able to help me prove its theoretical design as one that is functional among the hull tribe of Central and Northern California.

The Freak of Laminar Flow

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:37:00 +0000

Here's my buddy Brad Whann holding The Freak after Rusty Whitlock glassed it and I foiled a fin for it. I threw a 15" Bahne box in there from the old Aipa Stinger days (7" from tail) and placed the base of trailing edge of my flex fin at 14" from the tail (for now).

The Freak of Laminar Flow

-Kawika (David Falkenau)
Artisan Surf Designs: Falkenau Surfboards & Fins
http://www.artisansurfdesigns.blogspot.com

Well, I've been pretty busy lately... shaping almost a board a day in my shop...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:58:00 +0000

Soon I'll be posting pics of several boards I've shaped over the last few weeks....

6'2" Aaron Pallasch Shorty

6'0" New Shape Quad with BT Twin optional plugs... a personal board to demo (I have to foil the twins to custom fit the plug configuration)

6'9" New Shape Quad with BT Twin Surf Systems Slots... for Kenny Ball

7'0" Freak of Laminar Flow (Simmons, Greenough, Liddle, Gross, Krajewski, Noll, Velzy, Bernoulli, Lord, Hall inspired) Hull with 15" box glassed in 7" up from tail, allowing trailing edge of fin base to sit 11-14" up front tail block... plus hand foiled a 9.5" egg flex fin for it... a personal board to demo

7'6" Marathon Board (beginner board / wave catcher) for Steve Pullum

6'0" New Shape Quad with BT Twin Surf Systems Slots for Legends Surf Shop

5'6" Gomez/Johnson style hybrid Fish with custom art lams for Christian at Christian Surfers Huntington Beach

5'1" Custom Siglo 21 Magic Carpet Paipo/BellyBoard Stubby Hull (Emerald Green w/Beta Theta Pi logo) for Stan Stockdale

I also foiled several sets of glass on fins and made one skateboard

I'll be meeting every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with my business team for a new run of boards, clothing art, and fins for the NEW Adonai label.

Daddy, we love Wahoo's Fish Tacos!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 03:26:00 +0000

One Volcano Bowl please! Me tooooooo! Yes! Extra black beans, please!

Did I mention I design tattoos, make custom fins, and skate decks too???

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:27:00 +0000

I shaped the 6'2" Aaron Pallasch Model seen below for Aaron Pallasch on August 4th, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:45:00 +0000

This is a 6'2" Single to Double Barrel Concave Tri that I designed and hand-shaped on Tuesday of last week... custom for my brother-in-law Aaron Pallash of Adonai Clothing Co. (www.adoniclothing.com)... he's a freak of nature when it comes to his aireal assault in the water... and he destroys boards. He will go through a polyester board in a week to a month (6'+, 190, size 11 shoes)... stomps through a deck laminated with carbon fiber... impact cloth... We were trying to figure out a glassing combination that he can't destroy on his landings, and found an amazing product from my friend Raul Espinosa over at Keahana. We are going to be making some of Aaron's boards using Keahana's blanks and Triaxial EPS Epoxy System. It's more expensive ($340 just to make each board) but they will outlast any other board out there.

Need Glass-ons?

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:36:00 +0000

I just made a fresh batch of Glass-On Fins. My Inventory is constantly changing because I mainly do this as a hobby, so I take my time, and make sure my fins are very high quality. For my fiberglass fins, I pay to have the fin panels oriented and laid up for me. Then I take the fin panels back to my shop, trace my templates onto them, cut the fin blanks from the templates on my band saw or with my jig saw (depending on the material), foil them with my Makita sander / grinder, fine tune them by hand-sanding and hand-polishing them, and once they are quality enough to be glassed on a board, I sign them. Check with me on sizes and colors. I also make Wood Baltic Birch Ply Fins and Carbon fiber reinforced fins (which are slightly more expensive due to the carbon fiber material that is used).

Side Bites / Side Runners / Bonzer Runners (1 pair)... $30;

Twin-Fin Set (1 pair)... $35;

Keel Fins / Fish Fins (1 pair)... $40;

Tri-Fin Set (Set of 3 fins)... $45;

Quads / Twinzers (Set of 4 fins)... $50;

Give me a call at 619-757-0100, and I will meet you over at my shop (2658 State Street, Carlsbad, CA 92008) to show you the fins I have.

Thanks,

Dave

Here's the fin I made for Eric Holt's 8' Balsa Gun

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 04:33:00 +0000

I grabbed some scrap from my stock, glued this up, traced out my template on it, cut it out on the band saw, foiled the fin blank, went over to my buddies, and glassed it with a tint made to look like amber. The strips are Redwood, but I'm not quite sure what wood I grabbed for the light shade... too much wood just mixed and matched in my stock pile.

I roughly foiled the amber glassed fin and hit it with some fine paper and diamond shine wax polish. It still needs a precision foiling and a high grit automotive polish (but I'll leave that up to Eric, since I haven't actually seen the board).

I left a tab in case he wants to use it in a box, but most likely, that will just get cut off on the band saw and glassed onto the 8' balsa gun.

This was a fun project for an old friend, and a great surfer of the "freshwater" tribe!

The fin will finally make its home with the 8' Balsa gun in Holland Michigan.

I'll post the final pics when I get them from Eric.

Here's my 13'5" Yellow Single Fin Pintail that I'm trading to Paul Jensen for his 24' Maas Unlimited Class Open Ocean Paddle Board

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 03:46:00 +0000

More shots of the 5'10" Thrailkill Twin that I shaped... it's down in Sandy Eggroll, with Josh Hall right now.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:13:00 +0000

This is the Thrailkill Twin / "Destroyer Twin" / BT Arc Fish / Broom Fish / Grouper Fish. It goes like a scorched ape!

I can make it 5'4" 5'6" 5'7" 5'8" 5'9" 5'10" 5'11" 6'0" 6'1" 6'2" 6'3" 6'4" 6'5" 6'6" 6'7" 6'8" 6'9" 6'10" 6'11" 7'0" 7'4" 7'10" 8'0" 8'6" 8'10" 9'0" 9'2".. pretty much just about any length. I just reuse my nose and tail template, and re-bend the rail curve with my wood fare-curve baton, and make a new template.

This board was designed with the help of Bill Thrailkill of the "Surf Systems" fame. What many people don't realize is that Bill is the originator of the "twin fin", the use of the "D" and reverse "D" fin, the "widow-maker", stabilizers, and corner fins. He was riding his "twin-symmetrically-foiled-fin" set-ups 2" off center back at Pipeline before anyone else ever thought about anything but the single fin. He designed big wave boards that looked like large short boards, which could out-surf anything out there. His theory was that you can always slow a board down, but you can't get a slow board to go fast! This board was built for speed. His boards are arguably the fastest in the water, even today. Typically, the tails are 10" - 10.5" and set-up with the "twin" or "widow-maker" set up.

The actual board in the photos is the 5'10" with a 9" square-tail from tip to tip, 21 3/8" wide, and 2 1/2" Thick.

I wanted to take it out on this small crappy beach break day to see how it compares to a traditional fish of the same dimensions. Steve Lis' fish was originally designed for these Southern San Diego summer-like conditions, and my square-back-Thrailkill-twin version proved itself on every wave!

Above is Noah Houde's dad testing it out

Well... as of today, I'm officially an EMT!!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 24 May 2009 04:31:00 +0000

After about a year of school, scenarios, testing, performing skills, etc... I finally made it!

Next up... EMT-I and EMT-Paramedic through Hill College, Texas! It'll take me about another year, but I'll make a pretty good candidate for just about any fire department around with my Paramedic.

My Skil 190, 5.5A Serial #A-730889 (approx. 55 years old) after Pete Casica's overhaul

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:58:00 +0000

Following Josh Hall's advice that my Clark Foam Hitachi planer # CF 4353 was 99% of my problem when I'd run into shaping problems like dips in the rails of one of my longer boards, I decided to sell it (got $250 for it) and invested the money into overhauling my Skil 190 planer circa 1954/1955. This will be my sole planer from here on out.

Note: The knob is from Phil Edwards' own personal planer, from the box of Skil 100 parts he gave to Pete C... so it has some cool history! Terry Martin looked my planer over as well, and commented on what a classic tool it is, and told Pete to find him one! Pete said he's only seen two -- mine, and another one that was in really bad shape.

Here's what I have into my Skil 190, 5.5A
Serial #A-730889 as of today's invoice from Pete C...

$256.09 (price I paid for it on E-bay)

$25.00 (shipping)

$62.00 (what I dropped on the carbide tipped planner blades that I destroyed with my hammer)

$34.00 (NEW ANK HSS Planer Knives to replace the originals and the ones I destroyed with my hammer)

$2.38 (CA sales Tax)

$6.00 (Priority shipping)

$135.00 (Pete C making it like brand new again)

______________________________________

$520.47 (grand Total).....

Not bad for a classic tool that will last longer than I will on this planet.

Here's exactly what Pete did to my planer up in Dana Point and at his Riverside location...

ITEM DESCRIPTION AMOUNT:
1) Bead-blast all housings and cutter drum, paint steel covers (No charge)
2) Disassemble, clean, check mechanical and electrical; Clean motor communtator;
Modify/adjust depth lever for free operation; Resurface and remove sharp edges on
baseplate and shoe; Reassemble, test. ($ 50.00)
3) Install new bearing set (4 bearings) ($ 45.00)
4) Straighten cutter drum and motor shafts. ($ 25.00)
5) Install and align new blade set. ($ 10.00)
6) Remove knob stud and install Skil 100 front knob. ($ 5.00)

SUBTOTAL ($135.00)
TAX .00
SHIPPING & HANDLING .00

TOTAL $ 135.00

-Kawika (David Falkenau)
Artisan Surf Designs: Falkenau Surfboards & Fins
http://www.artisansurfdesigns.blogspot.com

For those of you who still think that we don't get good waves on Lake Michigan...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:38:00 +0000

If you really want to get a good feel for the musical talent in the midwest, check out these bands.... Leatherheads...and.... The Deal With 44....

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:27:00 +0000

I originally wanted to move to California so I could have my shot at trying to bust into the music scene. I had always thought that the music scene was weak where I grew up in the Midwest. What I quickly realized after moving here, was that the quality of musicians I was working with in the Midwest was far superior to the musicians I was working with in California... and I don't mean that in a bad way... I just know that the people I worked with in the Midwest were more seasoned, well practiced, disciplined, and had a deep soul for the music they were playing, and I realized that it's not the musicians in the Midwest that are lacking, it's the small crowd factor and the inconsistent pool of fans that have always kept us behind in the race to the top.

So before you make any kind of assumption or comment about the music scene in the Midwest, remember, Wilco lives and records in Chicago... go buy Yankee Hotel Foxtrot... and watch "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart," a film about Wilco by Sam Jones. Also, keep in mind that Umphrey's McGee started up at Notre Dame, and those guys all started out playing in other outfits, mostly made up of our circle of friends and fellow musicians. furthermore, Chris Robinson from the Black Crowes holds jams in Chicago and often resides there as well.

The bands/musicians that were really good, that stand out in my memory are/were (in no particular order)The Mushroom Head Experience; Umphrey's McGee; Ali Babba's Tahini; Little Frank; Sixteen Tons; X-ray Roger Jimmy; Matt Kovatch (the John Popper of the Midwest); The Deal with 44; Jake Sandock; Aaron "ABE" Sandock; Steve Krojo; Brian Pierce; Steve Pierce; Kieth Paraska; Eric Norris; Derron Hess; Joe Griesenger; Jeff Harrison; Nate Rowe; Dry Rain; The Happy Campers; Kyle Pulk; Chris Lutz; Scott Burkhart; Andy Wincek; Captain Smoothie; John Hicks; Dave Fisher; Jack Wilkinson; Doug Lambert; Aaron Hatton; George Anagnos; The Why Store; Chris Shaffer; Strawberry Larry; Governor Davis; John Mellencamp; Tofer; Jason Michael Thomas; Wilco; Jeff Tweedy; Uncle Tupelo; Jay Bennett; my old drummer "Vinny"; Leatherheads; and gosh, I could go on with this list all day long.

My point is, there is a hub of musicians in the Midwest that need to be placed in the lime light... it's their time to shine!

Here are two of those bands....

Yesterday morning out front of my house... not too big, but fun and uncrowded! I was riding a 5'6" Keel Fish that I shaped for this particular wave.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:16:00 +0000

A Failsafe Formula for a Chart Topping Pop Song By David Falkenau

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:56:00 +0000

A Failsafe Formula for a Chart Topping Pop Song

By David Falkenau

Tell your version of the story.

Your song’s story should have a beginning, middle and an end – or like an essay, an intro, body, and conclusion. Split your song up into three parts.

Use the recipe… only add to it after you’ve mastered the original! Then you can spice it up!

Two chart topper “pop” formats are:

Intro/Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Instrumental/Outro

(I/V/C/V/C/B/i/O)

Intro/Verse/Pre-Chorus/Chorus/Verse/Pre-Chorus/Chorus/Instrumental/Pre Chorus/Chorus

(I/V/PC/C/V/PC/C/i/PC/C)

Don’t make it too long… and don’t make it too short!

Four minutes to four minutes and thirty seconds is the ideal length (4:00 – 4:30).
Thirteen seconds (:13) is the ideal length for an intro, and no more than fifteen to twenty seconds (:15 - :20) at the longest.

You need a well balanced beat / tempo / time-signature.

Chart toppers are usually mid-tempo grooves or up-tempo dance tunes.
4/4 time is ideal (4 whole beats per measure… one, two, three, four…).

If you’re fishing for listeners, set that hook!

Your song must have a “catchy” melody in the introduction or in the chorus that will “hook” your listeners, and make them want to sing or hum that melody over and over in their heads.
Your melody should build-up, or rise in action (like a plot diagram in a novel) through the verse and pre-chorus on its way up to the chorus.
Your melody should climax, or reach its “peak” at a point in the chorus where it all seems to come together.
Let your hook stand out or be known as set apart from the rest of the song.
Give it a different rhythm that clearly “hooks” your listener’s curiosity or attention.