How do you write music?

[Tarantism]

if you have all of the insturments that you desire, just write the song on each insturment and record the different tracks. then you could just write the entire song on paper, showing when each insturment is supposed to solo and just solo with that insturment at the appropriate time.

 

or even better, just try to find some musicains to jam your stuff out with you.

[freeztar]

if you have all of the insturments that you desire, just write the song on each insturment and record the different tracks. then you could just write the entire song on paper, showing when each insturment is supposed to solo and just solo with that insturment at the appropriate time.

 

I suppose the problem is more an issue of structure.

Jazz is pretty structured, but prog rock can vary structure mid-melody. It's a bit daunting as I'm used to either working completely within structure, or with complete abandonment of structure. I need that middle road....

 

or even better, just try to find some musicains to jam your stuff out with you.

 

Anyone for a cell phone jam?

:shrug:

[Tormod]

Jazz is easy. Just write something like:

 

dm - F7 - am - G - C - em - F# - Eb - G - G# - A - A7 (and loop)

 

and sprinkle random amounts of this on each chord:

maj7

7b13

+

-

/D

13

sus9

add2

 

etc etc ad nauseum. :shrug:

 

But not the lonely one,

T

[maikeru]

It would be a pleasant thought if I could write music, or at least work it out and record it, but I hear snippets in my mind when I'm playing the piano. Most of my music time is spent playing music I have not composed...

[Monomer]

I would really love to write music, but I can't seem to come up with something original. Just as I begin to work out some chords, another song I know gets into my head and it's an effort to get it out. So like maikeru I end up mostly playing other people's songs.

[Tarantism]

its the improvized solos in jazz that makes it so good. not nessesarily the main tune or melody.

 

personally i see prog rock as being jazz but with a different, more rock-and-roll oriented style of beat to it and also odd time signitures. frequent key changes and extensive improvised soloing are jazz techniques. so is collective improvisation, which prog rock artists and "jam bands" use sometimes during "sessions".

 

just an opinion, i suppose.

[Tormod]

Well I wouldn't call prog rock "jazz" but for sure you can borrow elements from one to the other. I am a fan of both and also like to play both. :)

[Tarantism]

haha oops thats what i meant i guess that wansn't clear. sorry :)

[freeztar]

Well, I missed the deadline for the contest, so no prog-rock from me.

I had something started, but it seemed so contrived. I was placing meter changes and key shifts just to be adding them, which is not creative at all. In frustration, I gave up on it.

Mind you, I'm not giving up on prog-rock entirely as I love some prog, but it's just not working for me right now. I really need to get a better handle on shifting to and from different meters.

 

So I suppose this post is on-topic because it illustrates how I improperly wrote some "music". :eek_big:

 

 

 

TO Monomer and Maikeru:

One thing that helps me create original music is to start with something simple, a three chord progression for instance. This allows me to build upon this structure. Dismiss any notions of sounding like something else, or try to intentionally change a chord so that you don't sound like a song that is swimming in your head. Once you get past the hump, it will be a lot less intimidating.

Starting a new song is always my least favorite part.

[InfiniteNow]

It seems there are a few very cool ways to do this collaboratively and with a computer. Check it out.

 

 

Fresh Brainz: Bubblegum Sequencer

 

 

Bubblegum Sequencer

 

Move aside ABI and 454, here comes a new class of sequencers with more balls than your whimpering machines.

 

They will beat you, hands down.

 

YouTube - The Bubblegum Sequencer - Making Music With Candy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziIdjrR_MRs

 

 

 

Doesn't colour you impressed?

 

Then check out its latest incarnation made by a bunch of kids over the weekend using a desktop PC and an unlimited number of beer bottles.

 

YouTube - BeatMachine - Amateur http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GspBaVbhzkU

[Finrod]

When the mood comes to me (rarely!) I sit down and set my stall out with with manuscript paper, 4B pencil (much better than 2B), sharpener, eraser, set square (for bar lines) and Roland keyboard. The last time I felt inspired I started work on my own set of variations on the theme 'by Haydn' [it's doubtful that Haydn composed it] that Brahms used, and wrote down quite a number of bars that didn't get erased the next morning (as usually happens).

 

But like William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast when he got to Praise ye the god of gold I've run into a brick wall and don't know whether to go up or down or left or right.

 

I've tried using the computer to aid composition on numerous occasions but have never been successful. It just doesn't work for me.

[freeztar]

I've tried using the computer to aid composition on numerous occasions but have never been successful. It just doesn't work for me.

 

Well, definitely go with what works. For me, I'm the opposite. After using computers for composition, I couldn't imagine going back to pencil and paper.

[sharonk868]

When I write music, I am very disorganized. I find that I tend to use a stream-of-consciousness approach (whatever falls into my head might get developed or it may fail). Sometimes I try to plan a structure, but more often than not my main theme develops automatically into standard ABABCA formats or similar structures.

 

I write by trying chords and lines on my guitar or keyboard, and then I use my sequencer (Ableton Live) to record stuff. I rarey write any notation these days, although sometimes I write down a chord progression.

 

One problem I have is that I own too many virtual instruments (aka VST plugins), and I have lost count of all my "creative sessions" that have been spent previewing presents rather then write anything at all.

 

 

 

Thanks you for the post.

Hi guys, Im a newbie. Nice to join this forum.

__________________

[Don Blazys]

Back in the 60's, the music we wrote came from "out of the blue".

 

It was absolutely spontaneous, and no one knew, or even cared "where it came from".

 

They still don't.

 

The closest I can come to describing it is... it was magic !

 

In fact, if you were cerebral enough to try and somehow "see",

or even worse, analize where it came from,

then the muses would immediately leave you,

and the magic would be gone.

 

My friends and I sometimes talk about how lucky we were to have lived

through that incredibly creative period in music history.

 

The Shrine Auditorium used to hold a concert every weekend,

where for $5, you would see three headliners,

all of whom are now legends.

 

One unusual and really cool thing about those concerts was the stage.

It was a huge platform, about 8 ft high, 30 ft wide and 60 ft long.

The musicians would hang out under it,

because that was where it was safest to go for a smoke.

 

I met Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Ray Davies, Chuck Berry

and many others who wrote their own material.

 

One thing that they all seemed to have in common was an awareness...

a state of mind... that deeply appreciates beauty.

 

If a another musician did something cool,

then they would pick up on it immediately,

while everyone else failed to notice.

 

Don.

[Knowledge515]

I usually start my sessions with a nice four chord progression then build off of that. Once that's done I move on to build a nice eight bar drum loop> copy & paste then screw around with changing up hi-hats and snare to build the songs climax. This is when I let total creativity take control of my hands, I found you can never force music. Well at the least you can never force good music!!!

 

If all else fails, switching to Pro Tools always helps!!!!

[suppenkasper]

when I used to write some songs... I just stay alone in my bedroom take my notebook and pencil and then write wherever it could match and I could feel

[Drip Curl Magic]

Ableton live, Yerba Mate or a sugary drink, a ton of VST plugins, a few solid hours to just tinker with sound design until I get some sounds that I like. Then, I usually hammer away on my midi keyboard for another couple hours if I'm still feeling inspired enough. I've spent so much time over the past couple of years focusing on sound design. I've been trying, lately, to catch up with my song writing workflow. It's a little sad to think about, but I hardly ever pick up my guitar anymore. I hope to someday get back to it and combine what I now know about electronic music production with live instrumentation. mmmmmmmmm