How do YOU compose music?

[zuul-studios]

Serious question. . . I'm at a crossroad. . .

It's been 43 years since I graduated from music college. (I graduated in 1982, a year before MIDI was developed and implemented.) My degree was "Film Composition". During college, I studied music composition using a pencil and blank manuscript paper, and learned the art of writing music to movies using real film and audio tape. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate and enjoy the technology of the 21st century, especially the computer-based software programs that edit music and video (with all of the associated hardware)!! For the past 15+ years, I've even used software programs like Finale (and now Dorico) as my "pencil and blank manuscript paper"! (And, of course, I use MOTU's Digital Performer as my main DAW!) But I am finding myself "stuck" in writing similar sounding compositions that use similar melodic developments and chord progressions. Also, I am not a proficient keyboardist. My aging hands are becoming a handicap at in-putting "faster" melodic passages accurately via the MIDI-controlling keyboard. What I might hear in my head is sometimes difficult to accurately translate using these 21st century notation tools. This is fine when orchestrating and arranging the already "written" music composition using my DAW with associated virtual instruments. All I have to do is slow down the tempo and in-put those "fast" notes without being too worried about my poor playing technique. But, I don't want my poor playing technique to get in the way of actually composing the music. So, I am thinking about going back to putting pencil to blank manuscript paper. Again. I actually have reams of blank manuscript paper stored in my closet that I created YEARS ago (using Finale). I even have a box of number-2 pencils that have been stored in my closet for an equal amount of time. I am just wondering how other composers "write" their music. Do you use a program like Finale? Or, do you use that "old-fashioned", pre-MIDI method of writing those notes on paper?

Thank you for the thoughts that you might share.

[HCMarkus]

I am finding myself "stuck" in writing similar sounding compositions that use similar melodic developments and chord progressions.

No matter the tools used, co-writing is a fantastic way to break free from the quicksand of similarity.

[Michael Canavan]

Coming at it from a guitar players perspective I most often write from the point of a main part, then develop a song around that part. This is true whether I start on guitar or keyboard. I bought a drum machine a while ago, and one advantage of a dedicated percussion device is you then will start things from drums, which leads to far different results than bass, guitar or keyboards.

I think pen and paper also force a different perspective, you then can literally see your patterns without bias, and be more likely to maybe not follow the same paths. For instance I'm guilty of writing in D# minor on keyboard and F Phrygian on guitar more often than I want to etc.

[stubbsonic]

I often scribble things in notation while sitting at the piano. Then sequence them and refine from there. Sometimes it goes back & forth-- a notated idea, then a MIDI sequence, then back to the notation for a difference section, or to puzzle out some different chords or melody.

Sometimes I improvise to a click, thinking, "I'm only doing rhythm and dynamics, none of these notes matter." Then I set and start sculpting. That has yielded some results that break me out of ruts.

Changing up the order of operations can be useful, too.

[mikehalloran]

I would sometimes write songs from the guitar back in the day. Otherwise, I compose music in my head and write it down. Pencil and paper for the first 30 years or so. When MIDI and the Mac came along it was much easier.

Nowadays, I use a mouse in Finale or Encore. Problem with me and a MIDI keyboard is that, since 2009, I have only one working arm and composing on a keyboard really requires two, even for step entering—one to select the duration while the other enters the note. Obviously, the process is quite slow these days. I turn down a lot more work than I can accept.

[zuul-studios]

As mentioned in my initial post, I've been using a notation program to compose music. For me, the significantly good thing about Finale (and now Dorico), is that it offers a feature to modify a melodic pattern. For me, I usually create a 4 or 8 measure pattern then run it through a plug-in called, "Canonic Utility" which is found in Finale. Finale's Canonic Utility then provides an inversion, a retro-grade, a retro-grade inversion, etc., of that 4 or 8 measure phrase. This DOES help with creating an easy and quick way of developing different melodic patterns. Before Finale, I used to do this the old fashioned way, pencil to manuscript paper, which is a bitch (to be honest). What is also cool about this "Canonic Utility" is that it can help a composer create - well - a canon, or go a long way to develop a fugue-type segment of a larger composition. So, I've used this feature for my recent compositions and incorporated a canonic-like part to the music. Unfortunately, at least to my ears, it has become too familiar-sounding. . . too much of the "same-old, same-old".

Generally, I create a "condensed score" with the melody line on top with three to four Grand Staffs below it to help with the orchestration/arrangement. Of late, my compositions would start with a 4 measure intro, which I would use as an interlude, then develop what is usually an "A-A-B-B" formate. So, in the end, the general format of the piece would be:
"Intro - A - A - B - B - Interlude - A - A - B- B (or canonic structure of the main melody) - A - Ending". In an attempt to help get out of the "same-old, same-old", I'll "challenge" myself to compose using 5/4 or 7/4 time signatures. Once composed, I print out the music and in-put the orchestration/arrangement into a template that I created between Digital Performer and VSL's VePRO server (housing all of the virtual instruments). And finally. . . improvise the orchestration/arranging between all of the virtual instruments. My compositions tend to be progressive rock-jazz in genre with a band with orchestra sounding set-up. (I went to a music college which was known for its jazz and jazz/rock.)

And I feel to be in a rut. . . the "same-old, same-old".

Co-writing with someone seems like a really nice way to help get out of this routine. (Anyone interested in co-writing a piece???)

Also. . . abut 10 to 15 years ago, I was briefly involved with a Composers Forum. This forum would challenge its members to write music to a specific scenario. THIS was nice, and proved very helpful in getting out of a rut. Unfortunately, I let life get in the way of being involved with this forum and I stopped participating. Now, I can't find it. I don't even remember the exact name of this forum. But, I'm at the point in my life where I would like to be active in a similar "composers forum" again, if any exist.

For the record. . . I don't make $$$$ with my compositions. I compose purely for my own enjoyment, both in the process of composing, and then in listening to my music. Heck, I don't even know if my wife likes my music! LOL! Still, composing has been an important part of my life for over 60 years! (I started writing music when I was 5 years old.). I recently retired as an RN working in a hospital setting. Although I still work (I work from home), I now have extra time - and ENERGY - to write music. I just need to make it happen. I still haven't decided if I'm going to put "Pencil to Blank Manuscript Paper" yet! LOL!

Actually. . . reading your responses was very helpful! Thank you! I am sincerely grateful that you shared your process in writing your music. I wish you all Peace and Happy Music Making!

[stubbsonic]

For the record. . . I don't make $$$$ with my compositions. I compose purely for my own enjoyment, both in the process of composing, and then in listening to my music. Heck, I don't even know if my wife likes my music! LOL!

LOL!! I also mostly compose in the "non-profit" sector.

You may know that DP also has many compositional tools in the Region menu.
Transpose
Invert pitch
Scale Time
Reverse Time
Retrograde

And of course, Shift in the edit menu (but that can just be done by manually dragging).

Combining various manipulated copies of themes (some of which would be obvious to a listener-- some..., not so much)-- and using transpose to quickly raise something while constrained to a scale. Then listening and nudging things that seem clunky; those are all things I've tinkered with.

I really love working in piano-roll world because my eyes and brain are so used to it. Some people are more acclimated to seeing it in notation, which I fully understand. Sometimes that's better for me, but usually only when I know that the ultimate destination is to page.

Keep us posted on whatever communities you find and share your collaborations or at least give us an update on how it's going. I'm retroactively out on my front stoop banging some pots & pans in your honor & celebration of your amazing career as an RN.

[mikehalloran]

In the old days, I used the Band In A Box Auto Harmonizer plug-in with Finale if there was a time crunch. It was free and included from 1990–2014.5. Unfortunately, it was never upgraded to 64 bit.

https://usermanuals.finalemusic.com/Fin ... lug_in.htm

I discovered its usefulness when I had two days to write 20 minutes for a Good Feet Stores infomercial (1998 or 2000, I don't remember). Saved my butt! I still have Finale 2014.5 installed on a 2012 MBP in case I ever need it again.

[mhschmieder]

I don't allow myself to write from guitar or keyboard (regardless of genre) as I figure I'll do things that have been done before and/or will be limited by my playing abilities.

As it is, I have a backlog of hundreds of compositions that never got mocked up anyway, as I've been through so many iterations of not-quite-satisfied renderings and mixes of the 200 or so that I have primarily focused on for a number of years now (though they grow and extend and sometimes become more than just short pieces, and morph in exciting ways).

I make an exception with new instruments. But I rarely record the ideas I come up with on them, figuring I'll hit upon them again the next time I play the instrument.

The point being, that world instruments outside the western mainstream can trigger ideas that break through any repetition that might have entered your composition vocabulary. And I prefer this approach to applying odd tunings, breaking strings from inappropriate tension or constantly changing strings to accommodate custom tunings, when it comes to stringed instruments.

Exploring the sonority of unusual instruments and their idiomatic playing styles and techniques via sample libraries can also open up new ways of thinking, as well as listening to interviews with modern composers like John Adams with some of their interesting observations about instrument doubling strategies and voice handoff.

Collaboration can be a great thing as well. But outside of rock and hip hop, it can be hard to find willing partners just because there aren't many people doing other genres anymore compared to years ago.

Something else that can push you in unexpected ways is to take on projects for games, jingles, soundtracks, motif themes, etc. After all, necessity is the mother of invention. I don't miss doing that stuff (the people I worked with are dead and I haven't the energy to find new partners), but I sure learned a lot that I took to standard compositional targets.

[daniel.sneed]

First call, I hate composition dead lines, in any types of project, small to big ones.
But I found that dead lines do push me further, to places where I woud'nt go.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Improvise.
Refine.
Notate.
Repeat.

I’ve made a living doing it that way for 50 years.