I'm wondering how many people purchase and make use of Song Construction Kits, like those found at Big Fish Audio.
These kits can contain anything from drum or piano parts, to fully realized songs that provide individual tracks for each instrument, along with sections of the song broken down into verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, etc.  In these kits you can use all of the instruments and just add vocals, or pick and choose certain tracks and parts.

I've done combinations running from just one individual bass line, to using all the instruments (and perhaps adding an organ part)
Out of about 80 songs I've written, maybe 1/4 makes use of some percentage of a construction kit, or piano parts provided by EZKeys.

My question is, Do you consider this cheating?  Or more like a collaboration with an anonymous writer who contributed to these construction kits?  Many people use pre-written drum tracks or beats (broken into verse, chorus, etc.) provided by many virtual drum plugins like EZDrummer, Superior Drummer, or Addictive Drums.  However these song construction kits take it several steps further by providing other instrument tracks.  You can use as much or as little in your song.   I find this a great way to get a song started when I'm having trouble with writer's block.  But no matter how much I use of one of these kits, I'll always add at least one instrument part of my own, along with my own vocal (melody) track.  That way I can at least take some credit in writing the song.

But if I use too many tracks from these kits, I feel a bit guilty by putting my name as the songwriter of that particular song.
I almost wish they provided the names of the people who write these kits, so I can give them co-writing credits.

Any thoughts about the use of these Construction Kits?

Here's one of the Construction Kits I own and have made use of:
http://www.bigfishaudio.c...08;I512872;B60::530904

There was a similar thread a few months back. You may want to search for it.
 
IMS, and to paraphrase, the purists will think it is cheating whereas the amateurs (for lack of a better word) will think it is perfectly normal.
 
When I first got Acid and was piling up loops to make songs I would not claim them as my own. Some I think were pretty good but I just didn't feel right about claiming them. A kid DJ would probably jump at the chance to claim them (not mine necessarily but their own compilations). I'm not making any judgement call for those that do. To each their own. I thought of it really more as arranging than composing.
 
I found that I could use the acid compilations for ideas but would not use the actual loops - except for the drum loops. This would tend to get me out of the mechanical and wrote process and allowed me to make them more "mine".
 
Just my $.02
 
PS: As an anecdotal example.
 
Back when the family got an organ for the house, there was this function that Kimball called Magic Chords. With one finger it would have a drum track, rhythmed chords, arpeggios and such with 1 finger. One could them play the melody (usually with one finger :) ). Yes, it was playing technically if albeit 2 keys at a time. I always felt that was cheating a bit too and taught myself the chords and rhythms to avoid using Magic Chords. Not that using them sounded bad but not much "playing" was done.

If really whole verses, choruses, intros etc. are from a construction kit, that's a bit too much for me. Even if you add some original stuff.  Using just a bass-line, on the other hand, or a drum track, would be easy for me to swallow. Whether you call it cheating or something else, depends fully on how you use the finished music and how much credit is gathered to the "composer".
I can see many uses, where such a method (relying solely on construction kits) is quite acceptable to me and simply practical. Like in educational purposes, marketing ..you name it.
 
Then again, if we're talking about the kind of stuff that the person could without difficulty produce by him/herself, and kits are used just to save time...well...grey zone...

Leee

Any thoughts about the use of these Construction Kits?

It's the cheap version of paying someone to carry you up Mount Everest. If that's what you need and it makes you happy, then this is it for you.

The world is full of cheaters... Unless you stand out in a crowd, no one will notice you.
 
Am I cheating if I buy a ready made sandwich for lunch instead of making my own?! For it to be truely my own I would have to plant the seeds, grow the wheat, lettuce and tomatoes, make the bread, raise the pig and process it all myself before I could say "I made this". I just don't have the thyme so I cheat and buy one at Fred's. 
 
BTW, thanks for the link.

Yes, it's cheating.  Ha ha, I mean you did ask.  Does it matter if you're just a hobbyist?  I don't think so.  But it does matter to me when you're trying to produce and present something to be taken seriously, as your own. 

soens
Am I cheating if I buy a ready made sandwich for lunch instead of making my own?! For it to be truely my own I would have to plant the seeds, grow the wheat, lettuce and tomatoes, make the bread, raise the pig and process it all myself before I could say "I made this". I just don't have the thyme so I cheat and buy one at Fred's. 
 

 
First time I hear that a sandwich is a piece of art.
What is next? Nobel prize for the best sandwich?

Music has no rules.  Do what makes you happy and credit those who contribute (that part might have rules.)

dwardzala
Music has no rules.  Do what makes you happy and credit those who contribute (that part might have rules.)

+1  If it feels good do it as long as you don't violate the laws and licensing!
 

I've been using EzKeys extensively recently to write a number of songs and without much modification to the canned tracks so anyone familiar with EzKeys would recognise them fairly quickly. I always declare the fact and I'm not trying to kid anyone that they're my piano chops.

Now why is using EzDrummer or AD considered acceptable but using EzKeys somehow less so? Probably because many consider the accompaniment and the melody to be the heart of an original song. Well EzKeys doesn't give you a melody that's down to you (although it gives you some pretty big cues - I accept that). It also does not give you lyrics.

For me the lyrics are the heart of a song and that's where I have been trying to focus my efforts of late. EzKeys has helped me improve the structures of my songs and to focus on becoming a better lyricist and for that reason alone I love it. Without EzKeys these songs would have probably remained unwritten. As I become a better lyricist, I can aspire to become a better all-round songwriter and musician, to the point that I'm either not using canned tracks at all or I'm mixing, matching and modifying them to the extent that they almost become original compositions.

So I don't think it's cheating, it's all part of a musical journey of learning and discovery
- however I do think you should declare it on your 'sleeve notes'.

That's my 2c anyway.

Andy