Shinny Objects

Where to start? Just write!

Currently On SibeliusMusic Chat there is a discussion going on about writer's block and how to over come it, or at least deal with it.

For me, however, writer's block is the least of my worries, my problem is “writer's overload”. That is I have so many ideas and project going on that I do not know where to start. I am simply overwhelmed by it all sometimes that nothing gets done. I am not good at prioritizing what needs to be done first. And I have a bad habit of jumping from one project to another before the first is done. My fried Todd says I am easily distracted by shinny objects.

Shinny Objects ...

Ursus Demens

Prelude to a Morning Prayer

I have upload a preliminary raw mix of the prelude to Morning prayer. Prelude to a Morning Prayer. It has been called austere.

Ursus Demens

Prelude to a Morning Prayer

Work on “Morning Prayer” has been pretty slow for the last six to eight weeks and while I have little to no notes down on paper in that time, I have been devoting my time thinking about the structure and overall form of the piece. As it stood last week the piece is in five sections and each section is about six minutes long. I have not been and I am still not happy with the fourth section/movement. I have been working out in my head how to rework the fourth movement, or if I would need to rewrite it from scratch. While I have yet to figure out what to do with it I have been considering adding one or more movements to the piece. Specifically a new movement before the current fourth movement or one right after it. But I was (am) unsure what “form” the new movement should take, I was leaning towards a more electronic, synthesize ambient idea, but I have serious doubts about how that “style” would fit with the overall piece. I have come to realize that just adding another movement would not solve the inherent weakness of the material in the fourth movement.

While I have not ruled out adding additional movements on either side of the fourth movement (and I think that the overall structure/form calls for another movement after the fourth movement, or at least a substantial transition to the last movement) the only way I am going to “fix” the current fourth movement is to get my “hands dirty” and start tearing through its guts.

In the middle of all this thinking and pondering last Sunday while I was waiting for my wife at the temple (Buddhist) I was struck with an idea for another movement and I began sketching it out there in the “Harmony room” (cafeteria). This new “movement” has turned out to be a short two minute section that fits well with the rest of the piece. While conceived while I was thinking through the idea of adding a movement before or after the fourth movement, this new movement is not it. Instead this new section will serve as an extend intro or prelude to the entire piece. Unlike the following movements that make use of a far number of instruments and players this “intro” only uses the Soprano Sax soloist, the string bass, and some miscellaneous percussion (Rain Stick, Two Gongs, and a Mark tree).

Ursus Demens

How Much Detail?

In a previous post I talked about how in Writing Down The Bones (WDTB) Ms. G. says to provided details in your writing, do not write “there was a flower in the window”. Instead write; “There was a fresh rose in the bay window with a wee bit of morning dew still on it”. The first gives you a fact, the second paints a picture and possibly invokes a memory or emotion. In my previous post I suggested that this too applies to us as composers. That we need to supply more than just the notes, instruments and a simple metronome marking.

But what is detail in music? (Or at least how i am using it here.) In my previous post I only game one short example. I think for our discussion composing details include such things as dynamic markings (more than just one at the beginning of the piece) and changes in dynamics. Tempo and mood indications, phrase markings, bowing and breath markings. What else?

What I am not including are the actual notes themselves, meter, basic tempo indications, and instrumentation. ...

Ursus Demens

be specific

In Writing Down the Bones Natalie Goldberg in one of the chapters talks about being specific.

Don't say “fruit”. Tell what kind of
fruit ..

So it is with music, do not say “fast”, be specific, “fast, with anger” or “fast and jolly”. Too many times on SibeliusMusic I see scores where the composer has written in the program notes something like: I have not include any dynamic markings, preferring to leave it to the performer's interpretation.

"This is a romantic concert piece - I have left out expression marks - it's open for interpretation."
(actual quote from a piece on SibeliusMusic.)

Sorry. This does not work for me. Is the composer that unconcern with his piece? Why not also leave the choice of notes to the performer? Is the composer lazy? Or... .

Ursus Demens

More Reading.

I picked up Emblems of Mind: The Inner Life of Music and Mathematics at the library last night. Any one familiar with it? Any thoughts about it? I have so far read the introduction and have started on the first chapter, so far not much to report.

Ursus Demens

Reading list

Last week I picked up a book that was recommend to me several years ago on the art of writing: Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. While the book was written for writers (essays , novels, poetry, et cetera) I find that some of her ideas also work with writing/composing music. I hope to share some of these insights in the coming days and months.

The first idea is "practice every day". Ms. Goldberg writes that a writer needs to write everyday. That it does not matter if what you write, just that you need to write to practice writing just like a baseball team practices, so it is with composing music. As musicians the need to practice our instrument everyday is ingrained into us very early in our studies, but as composers I get the impression that we do not write, or shall we say practice composing everyday, yet I think maybe we should be.

Everyday day we should be working on our craft of composition, practicing our craft. Not that I do, but it is the goal that I am going to set for myself.


Ursus Demens

tag: Music Composition Practice