News time! I have been busy writing and pitching again to a variety of TV projects......I've also been delighted with the release of Vienna Ensemble Pro....particularly great about this is that it comes bundled with the Epic Orchestra sample set...so you can get going on this deep platform straight away. VSL can be meticulous and technical work, but always worth it...
Having just emerged from another round of updating/reinstalling software as I transition to a much larger Snow Leopard based studio, it occurred to me how long us modern composers can be wearing the comfortable 'technician hat', and forget one is wearing it...
As much as I love the technology we have access to now....when it comes to composing, I often find employing these wonderful tools is often best left as the very last step in the process.
For me, one of the key qualities of music lies in its ability to provide means of emotional connection and transmission in the end result - for this entry, I'm looking at the start of the composition process, when one's ideas are born.
It's at these times - when an idea is at its most delicate - that almost any technology (yes, even a pencil!) can force you down a particular path of rigidity and perhaps unhealthy familiarity. Beethoven famously preferred composing in a room without a piano for the same reason - it's not that he was a Luddite, just aware of the fact that ideas must be free if they are to fly.
Often (and particularly when writing to a very specific brief) it's easy to fall in to the trap of the tried (or tired?) and trusted. Whilst certain recognisable music 'scaffolding' is generally necessary for the presentation of an idea, a lot more can be done creatively around these landmarks. In any specific style of music there are certain givens, but one of the properties which makes a piece really stand out to the listener and truly communicate is the use of balance within confines, especially when it comes to novelty vs. familiarity.
This brings me to one of my favourite starting points with a composition. I consider the following opposite elements (often referred to as 'Unity' & 'Variety'):
Often (and particularly when writing to a very specific brief) it's easy to fall in to the trap of the tried (or tired?) and trusted. Whilst certain recognisable music 'scaffolding' is generally necessary for the presentation of an idea, a lot more can be done creatively around these landmarks. In any specific style of music there are certain givens, but one of the properties which makes a piece really stand out to the listener and truly communicate is the use of balance within confines, especially when it comes to novelty vs. familiarity.
This brings me to one of my favourite starting points with a composition. I consider the following opposite elements (often referred to as 'Unity' & 'Variety'):
Light vs. Dark
Dense vs. Sparse
High vs. Low
Fast vs. Slow
Change vs. Constancy (also can be seen as above, in Novelty vs. Familiarity)
etc.
etc.
The way in which these opposites are managed over time can radically alter the mood and overall impact of any piece of music. For example - music and instrumentation which has the character of dark, dense, low and slow can certainly suggest doom and foreboding, whilst high, fast and light can be more suggestive of playfulness, jollity etc....
BUT - it's also all about mix and match..and in subverting musical memes, exciting and original music can be produced by any composer willing to step away from the computer from time to time to consider these finer and more abstract points.
Technology introduced too early in the composition process runs the risk of (often very imperceptibly) forcing one down a route where opposites and balance become 'acceptable' and immovable limits, rather than playful and mutable entities in their own right, just ripe for a bit of musical manipulation and subversion.
...of course it's only of being so guilty of technolust myself that I began to develop these alternative techniques, having honed my skills in an empirical studio based environment rather than at the Conservatoire!
Technology introduced too early in the composition process runs the risk of (often very imperceptibly) forcing one down a route where opposites and balance become 'acceptable' and immovable limits, rather than playful and mutable entities in their own right, just ripe for a bit of musical manipulation and subversion.
...of course it's only of being so guilty of technolust myself that I began to develop these alternative techniques, having honed my skills in an empirical studio based environment rather than at the Conservatoire!
I'll give you a while to ponder the above for now, Part 2 coming soon!
btw - just a quick mention of Vaughan Williams' 3rd Symphony. This has got to be one of my absolute favourite pieces of music, period. I don't think a week has gone by when I haven't listened to it at least once.....if you've got half an hour, please treat yourself to this....:)
It's not as well known generally as his Fantasia On A Theme by Thomas Tallis -this is a link to the Barbirolli recording from 1962, recorded in the amazing Temple Church in London. Even if you know this piece well, but haven't heard this version...again find 16 minutes and just let it take you to wherever.
As always play both of these LOUD......
Also here are some cool links for the aspiring composer :
Scorecast Online - one of the absolute best resources out there for film/TV/game/whatever composers. Just so much quality insider information and an awesomely friendly community to boot, go check it out!
Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Principles Of Orchestration' free course online -over at the Garritan section. Brilliant resource for any composer, even if the Orchestra isn't your thang, there's a lot of information which can be applied to *any* music....
A Practical Guide To Musical Composition - very cool free guide by composer Alan Belkin, also be sure to check out his Workbook for Elementary Tonal Composition.
Ok that's all for now.... keep you ears open!
Chris
Ok that's all for now.... keep you ears open!
Chris
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