# How do you compose?



## IAmKing

Do you compose sitting in front of your computer, typing notes into Sibelius or Finale or an alternative program? Or do you compose sitting down in front of a piano or some other instrument with a pad of paper (manuscript? lined? blank?)?

Do you tend to write out a piece as it comes to you, or do you jot down passages and ideas and work them into the piece you are writing? 

Do you try and write out music you hear in your head, or is your approach to composition more experimental? Or even scientific? 

Do you plan a composition out before you begin writing? Do you start with a preset harmonic or rhythmic or melodic or medium-based structure? 

And finally, do you experiment with different methods of composing? Different methods of notation? Different theories (as opposed to traditional western harmony... do you use modes or various scales one doesn't find in normal music)? And do you experiment with different tunings (microtonality)?


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## hlolli

My method is when I visualize the pice(I am btw only doing easy scores, flute and piano and other easy instruments) and I find the phrase and I split the timing 5 minutes meaning 5 sections and I never take it 100%, and I write lines on wich pitch I predict to use when. I use the sonata form most likely and I use varied scales (12 tone, major/minor,wholetone). So I start writing with pencil and paper and I start to do a few staff with the same idea and I try to itroduce the new section of the pice, so when the first section(minute five) has done its part I start a write whole new idea. Then I do a variaton from the first part, then I evolve them both, the second last part I start to come to an end and of the pice slow the tempo down, the last one I use phrase from the first section and end it nicely. But thad's just if I do typical short music, if I it whould have to be 15 minutes then of course more variations. Of course I use the fundementals of musical composition by Schoenberg to help me.


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## Saturnus

I write down tunes in my head straight down to the paper and then use piano and contrapunct to see what lines fit together.


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## Edward Elgar

You need to know what emotions you are trying to get across. Only then can you set out with melody and chords. Go ridiculously simple to begin with (scales and pedals) and then you can sequence it into a form (rondo, sonata e.t.c.). Only then can you twist the simplicity into a fruity masterpiece. Also - go mad in the coda!


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## IAmKing

All great posts. In composing myself I like to experiment with as many different methods and sources of inspiration as possible.



> Do you compose sitting in front of your computer, typing notes into Sibelius or Finale or an alternative program? Or do you compose sitting down in front of a piano or some other instrument with a pad of paper (manuscript? lined? blank?)?


I do both equally... I find I can create interesting music using both methods, although typing directly into Sibelius often leads to my getting carried away (for instance, my latest piano piece, towards the end, has chords in the right hand that span 3 octaves. I didn't realise until after the piece was finished).



> Do you tend to write out a piece as it comes to you, or do you jot down passages and ideas and work them into the piece you are writing?


Its all about smaller ideas and passages that come from various sources of inspiration. After that there's a mixture of inspired and methodical composing to be done to turn the initial idea/ideas into a fully developed composition.



> Do you try and write out music you hear in your head, or is your approach to composition more experimental? Or even scientific?


Mix of both, as previously stated.



> Do you plan a composition out before you begin writing? Do you start with a preset harmonic or rhythmic or melodic or medium-based structure?


Nope. Sometimes I might have a rough idea of where I want the piece to go... but I never pin myself down too much.



> And finally, do you experiment with different methods of composing? Different methods of notation? Different theories (as opposed to traditional western harmony... do you use modes or various scales one doesn't find in normal music)? And do you experiment with different tunings (microtonality)?


Yes yes yes. I'm fascinated by methods of composition and varying musical theories, be it as vast as 12 tone composition or as specific as a certain chord progression (Coltrane changes, for instance) I like to experiment and mix everything and anything.


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## Lisztfreak

Well, all I've done till now considering composition is a few nice motifs and a tiny waltz. I use a programme, since I have no instruments at home and also have no notation knowledge. I just cobble some notes together, and if it sounds fine, I write it down in a notebook. 

Sometimes, when I walk home, I hear new quartets and symphonies in my head. But what can I do when I don't know how to make it into notes? Yes, I know it sounds cheap...


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## IAmKing

Lisztfreak said:


> Well, all I've done till now considering composition is a few nice motifs and a tiny waltz. I use a programme, since I have no instruments at home and also have no notation knowledge. I just cobble some notes together, and if it sounds fine, I write it down in a notebook.
> 
> Sometimes, when I walk home, I hear new quartets and symphonies in my head. But what can I do when I don't know how to make it into notes? Yes, I know it sounds cheap...


That sounds fantastic. If there's anyway you can show us anything you've written, I'd be very interested in hearing what you've come up with... even its just one of these "motifs". I've often wondered about the pros and more importantly the cons of having a knowledge of existing musical theory and notation.


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## Lisztfreak

IAmKing said:


> That sounds fantastic. If there's anyway you can show us anything you've written, I'd be very interested in hearing what you've come up with... even its just one of these "motifs".


Kind words. Thanks a lot for your interest  ! Unfortunately, I seem unable to find a way how to put any kind of file attached to my posts. Any ideas?


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## Frasier

Looks easy enough. You scoll down and click "manage attachments" and a window opens where you can check you don't exceed the maximum size for your file, Browse to find it then upload in that window and it attaches to your post. 

I'll try one.

Sound files have to be mp3 for which you get up to 16Mb - probably get about 15 min piece in that. A midi file you get 2Mb.

Can't see a choice of .mus or .sib. Maybe they aren't allowed. 

jpgs are ok. Here's my experimental one.


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## Krummhorn

I do lots of improvisation at the keyboard in my church position. Many times, there are blank spots to fill with music in a service, and without any advance notice, I am required to fill that gap in a matter of seconds ... no time to leaf through pages in a book or a hymnal, let alone even reach for one ... so I just start with random notes, and start to 'noodle' and then what emits from the organ pipes becomes palatable music. Then, unfortunately, the tune is gone from my head forever ... so I invested in a portable digital recorder which I now keep (in standby mode) at the organ console to record those on-the-spot improvisations, notating them later on in Noteworthy Composer. 

I am a beginner at written music composition - recently retired from my non-musical full time job, and now devote all my time to my church position, composing, and music in general. Might say that I compose for my amusement and other's amazement or vice versa as the case may be !!

Kh


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## The Mad Hatter

Sometimes I write sitting in front of a computer, on Sibelius. Sometimes I write at the piano. Sometimes I write at the kitchen table, or in a cafe. Sometimes I wake up with a tune in my head and write it down in bed before it disappears.

I almost never write things in order.


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## Frasier

I'm something like that too. ALWAYS carry a notebook. But I haven't ever started at a computer and don't use notation software - prefer a sequencer. Sometimes I'm trying something out at the piano, hit on an unexpected sound and get diverted dealing with that.


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## World Violist

Personally, I think of a concept in my head (instrumentation, what its flavor/character should be, etc.), then, when I have my Mel Bay manuscript book with me, I write whatever comes to me. I'm often extremely critical of my music, which is why I've only ever finished one piece, a one-movement duet for viola and cello, which is very short, more like a theme song than a full-blown piece. I've tried adding movements, but it just won't work.


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## Eric

For classical music I write either on the computer or paper, but a lot of the time I write on guitar and then expand upon that.

Sometimes I know what I am writing, or what key it is in, or what flavor it should have, but sometimes it's much more spontaneous. Sometimes I have a more scientific approach, I have a song on guitar in which the pitches form a palindrome of notes. It was rather tricky to write.


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## Leporello87

I usually get ideas for self-contained units of a piece at once -- sometimes there is a sudden burst that's more of a feeling rather than a particular melody or harmonic progresion, and then with some thought, the larger unit is separated into its component parts and developed. These ideas usually come outside, when I'm in transit or walking somewhere -- making it inconvenient to write down! I write it down later, as soon as it's possible.

I prefer to just use staff paper (yeah, I know, old-fashioned) to computer programs, because it's much faster, and the method for composition is identical in either case. Just a matter of writing notes on a piece of paper vs. typing into the computer. I love to improvise classical music on the piano, but I rarely (if ever) use the piano for composition.


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## Oneiros

Using Finale directly. Generally I'll come up with a melodic / motivic idea at the keyboard (invention with the fingers) and then expand on it. No drafts or anything, just writing as it comes. This allows greater freedom I think, as long as one doesn't get too thoughtful (which happens a lot).

Lately I've been working the other way round, coming up with broader ideas then working back to the notes and such. And doing more pre-composition planning (though rarely does this turn out how I expect, which is good).

I think the best way to compose is intuitively, to have a sense of what works and what doesn't, and then just let the music come freely, whether writing it down or improvising.


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