zompist bboard

Does anyone here compose music?
What instrument, which methods do you use? Are you a fan of harmony or dissonance?
How do you do it?

I've recently begun to compose music on my faithful Yamaha - it's a tedious process of jotting down movements, notes and whatnot.
Being ambi, and knowing that music in general has a leading hand, I've been facing a dilemma: which hand should lead the game? I'm currently trying out my left hand as the leading melody hand, and results are quite unexpected!

Care to share your experiences?

Unsurprisingly, I've composed music before for some short films and productions through the medium known as GarageBand. And I don't have any formal musical training, nor do I know how to play an instrument, so I go based on what sounds good and what I like in music. This, naturally, is difficult, but some of the results work.

I compose some microtonal stuff, but I kind of lack any reasonable software for composing it in. The fretless guitar I got last year does help a bit, though.

vampireshark wrote:Unsurprisingly, I've composed music before for some short films and productions through the medium known as GarageBand. And I don't have any formal musical training, nor do I know how to play an instrument, so I go based on what sounds good and what I like in music. This, naturally, is difficult, but some of the results work.

Formal education is quite helpful...

Miekko wrote:I compose some microtonal stuff, but I kind of lack any reasonable software for composing it in. The fretless guitar I got last year does help a bit, though.

Oh, I'm a sucker for microtonality - do you have any of your work online?

Alas, only some really ancient stuff from the early years of the 2000s:

http://miekko.infa.fi/16_8.mp3
http://miekko.infa.fi/31-3.mp3
http://miekko.infa.fi/16_7.mp3
http://miekko.infa.fi/lambda5c.mp3

Oh, and these things aren't microtonal but made with better equipment (about the same time, though, so terrible midi is what you get)
http://miekko.infa.fi/xyfr.mp3
http://miekko.infa.fi/5_4.mp3
http://miekko.infa.fi/eh13.mp3

I had a noise project a few years ago, but I got bored with it about the time I went off to college. Here are the only good albums: (I made the first two in one night when I was on a lot of speed)

http://www.last.fm/music/Nortaneous/Systemkrasch
http://www.last.fm/music/Nortaneous/Vag ... And+Profit
http://www.last.fm/music/Nortaneous/Huarf

Most of the others are just me fucking around with broken shit when I was like 13.

I sometimes write progressive rock music which I want to play with a band some time in the future. So far, nothing presentable, though. I usually start with an idea which I set into lyrics and then make up the music to match the lyrics. I don't write complete scores (this is rock'n'roll, you know) but merely lead sheets (for those who don't know what a lead sheet is: it contains the melody, the words and the chords), and leave the details of the guitar, bass and drums playing to whoever will play them in my future band.

EDIT: Forgot to mention my instruments: vocals and keyboards.

From about 1988 to 2003 I've written lots of guitar-based pop/rock songs which, because I can't sing, are currently just backing tracks. I'm still hoping I can find someone to write and sing words for them.

I've composed music since I was little, although I haven't done a lot after high school. It's mostly piano instrumentals (since, well, like every good Asian I learned piano), although some of the songs were done with my conworld in mind.

I used to compose - and every so often I try again. But I get worse every time. I can never remember what I need to remember, and the more I try to learn theory the less instinct I guess. The annoying thing is that out for a walk I frequently hum tunes to myself (and near sleep I can compose quite complicated music in my head - nothing outstanding or original, but perfectly good improvisation) - but I have no ear for music in the slightest, and even if i had a piano to hand, the time-consumption of labouriously working out which note I'm humming, one note at a time, would be enough for the tune to slip out of my head.

[Plus, now the music i wrote in the past (primitive, but better than i can do now!) is all in a format that i can't read, and that apparently no software now exists to read.]

I write a lot of music in various styles. Lately I've ended up playing with a folk music band, so I wrote some folk music for them. Previously I've played with a jazz band, so then I made some jazz. When I'm not writing for anyone in particular, I make all sorts, often quasi-classical or rockish, usually but not always instrumental. My main instrument is piano, but I rarely compose for it - I just find other instrumentations easier. Sadly, I don't have any good band to record my compositions, so most of them exist only as midi.

I've always been pretty good at playing by ear, but I only just started to write stuff.

Mostly I'm teaching myself through writing and experimenting, I've not had any formal training yet. I used to play some wind instruments, but I've been trying to learn how to play the piano. Though for the actual recording of music, I tend to just write things directly in piano-roll editor form in MIDI sequencers on a computer.

I enjoy writing little bits and pieces, recently I decided to direct my work towards writing a sort of mini-operetta, which also ties into my other hobby in that the story derives from my conworld, and the libretto is in Zelsen.

Laura in Space wrote:From about 1988 to 2003 I've written lots of guitar-based pop/rock songs which, because I can't sing, are currently just backing tracks. I'm still hoping I can find someone to write and sing words for them.

Can I be a lyricist? I've been writing poems w/out songs. Ever since my keyboard died and my brother said that I can't use his guitar, I've had no place to use them.

Most of them are lyrics that would come from a RedHotChiliPeppers or They Might Be Giants.

I've been busy for the past few months writing what I think (but what probably isn't...) the great American thrash/prog crossover epic. However, I've been wanting to put stuff out while I'm writing this, so I've been doing a few covers, one of which is actually nearing completion. (System of a Down's "Holy Mountains" for any who want to know). I'm currently stumbling through a lack of inspiration, though, and can't really write for shit right now. I'm terrible at singing however, so I'm trying to fill this thing up with as many riffs as possible, so I don't have to actually do much. Couple that with my terrible inability to write good, meaningful lyrics, and you've got the situation I'm currently in. So, I've got around 15 riffs in one song, that has absolutely no meaning to it, just riffs.

growl, duh

SlayerXX33398 wrote:I've been busy for the past few months writing what I think (but what probably isn't...) the great American thrash/prog crossover epic. However, I've been wanting to put stuff out while I'm writing this, so I've been doing a few covers, one of which is actually nearing completion. (System of a Down's "Holy Mountains" for any who want to know). I'm currently stumbling through a lack of inspiration, though, and can't really write for shit right now. I'm terrible at singing however, so I'm trying to fill this thing up with as many riffs as possible, so I don't have to actually do much. Couple that with my terrible inability to write good, meaningful lyrics, and you've got the situation I'm currently in. So, I've got around 15 riffs in one song, that has absolutely no meaning to it, just riffs.

Surely you just need find other people to make a band? That way you can do the riffs and someone else can do the singing.

jmcd wrote:

SlayerXX33398 wrote:I've been busy for the past few months writing what I think (but what probably isn't...) the great American thrash/prog crossover epic. However, I've been wanting to put stuff out while I'm writing this, so I've been doing a few covers, one of which is actually nearing completion. (System of a Down's "Holy Mountains" for any who want to know). I'm currently stumbling through a lack of inspiration, though, and can't really write for shit right now. I'm terrible at singing however, so I'm trying to fill this thing up with as many riffs as possible, so I don't have to actually do much. Couple that with my terrible inability to write good, meaningful lyrics, and you've got the situation I'm currently in. So, I've got around 15 riffs in one song, that has absolutely no meaning to it, just riffs.

Surely you just need find other people to make a band? That way you can do the riffs and someone else can do the singing.

True, but then I'd have to go around the entire county looking for people, considering the fact that the town I live in used to be the town with the largest population over 75 in the US. That and the fact that it is full of people who can't stand anything that isn't on the Billboard Top 40 (only by chance, however; most people here probably haven't even heard of it). Also, the only people I do know that would be possibly interested, unfortunately, can't sing. I would love to be able to find other people though, but if I don't, I can always fall back on "Ok, I'll just do instrumental music instead."

You should probably try putting an ad up somewhere. You might be surprised by the responses you get. Anyway, lots of people everywhere like what's in the charts; that's how the songs get there.

I compose some things electronically and a bit by guitar/ukulele. But most of it isn't any good. Also I wish my singing was less awful.

I was wondering - anybody here have perfect or relative pitch? I have perfect pitch (seems to run a bit in the family... one of my uncles has relative pitch and I suspect my aunt too), and it has been a tremendous help with composing (it's easier to hear music in my head), though it is no substitute for creativity. So for those of you that have had pitch, does it help you compose, for instance, and how so? I've always thought that anybody could easily hear composed music in their head, but I guess not, judging from what others have told me.

I draw sound waves by hand in Audacity.

Ouagadougou wrote:I draw sound waves by hand in Audacity.

I've tried that. It takes forever.

I am very interested in music and music theory and from time to time I compose something by mouse in Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 (THE best software for composing only with mouse).
I have downloaded a torrent of music theory books and try to read them and apply what I learn. Unfortunately, due to my attention deficit I'm not able to make music for more than three days in the row.
Right now I am able to compose short pieces with a naive melody and put it in Band-in-a Box.
My dreama are to eventually compose:
a) a Kenny G style ballad (I'm really into smooth jazz)
b) a piano solo composition (something like you hear on 181.fm Piano Solo radio)
c) a ballad from my favourite 80s. (I'm lucky! The radio is playing The Power of Love by Huey Lewis)
As they say, the journey of thousand miles begins with a small step for one man (or with a lost bus ticket).

I used to have a lot of inspiration towards music but truth be told most creative inspiration left me lately. I always enjoyed music because it's very easy to get it close to how it was in your head opposed to painting and cooking which tends to deviate.

Stuff I made was also sometimes nauseatingly dissonant.