I always have this question in my mind: "what to make?".

A screenwriter can dream up most scenes or events visually in his or her head at the outset. Is it possible for the musician to do similarly on most sections of the song before its creation? If your answer is positive so how? By following which rules?

Are you a improviser or you can imagine what to make in the beginning?

 

Last edited by a moderator: Feb 7, 2016

It can be. I think of 'random' as a device, then, you can sculpt the product of that randomness. It can work to get you an idea quickly,

But, your main sound choices for instruments that anchor your composition should not be chosen using that particular device. Choosing the right sounds takes the most time.

Sometimes I come up with ideas, and remix, or..'DJ'.. them into an arrangement that I can't get to any other way.

70% of the time, using a digital voice recorder and a guitar gets me a lot further with arranging than starting off from behind a computer monitor and mouse. From there, I can substitute
chord progs and melodies for synth
simple guitar chord progs & vocal lines with ext keys, vsti, kontakt libs, etc.. into more dance or modern indie styles.

Btw, you're not truly composing if you already can hear/know what you're going to do.

 

Is music making a random process?

Yes. And No.

Having spent most of my early music career playing in band situations, we did a lot more improvisation instead of formal training because of the nature of the bands.

However, before and more so after music traing, i often write whole pieces in my head before commit the down in some form. Whether it be lyrics for a song or a track to be laid down in a DAW. Occasionally, while trying to go to sleep, i write whole songs in my head. All parts with words and melodies, but it depends on the complexity of the song in my head.


But if I have to record a bunch of tracks i've written beforehand i'll think about the nature of the parts before I'm anywhere near a computer. Like at work cooking on the line or while stuck in traffic.

 

I usually first create the tune in my head, then sit in front of the DAW and try to "copy" what I hear in my head. That works great, but it doesn't happen so often. Most of the time I just jam until I get something that resembles a good tune. Or not.

 

About 50% of the time I hear something in my head and then rush to recreate it on some kind of instrument and record it before losing it. The other 50% of the time I just happen upon something while messing around. What I build upon those intentions and accidents usually comes from what I hear in my head as accompaniment or response. It's not intentional, but I wouldn't personally call it random. I think I'd call it intuitive.

 

making music is both Random and programmed process.
Being songwriter -singer. I mostly have a melody line in my head. I sing and record it in my cell phone. then i recreate relative phrases for that melody line to increase the dynamics of the song. then record it in cell phone. i don't need to go and open my DAW computer. it is waste of time for my creativity.
After i finish all of my interests and emotions for that melody. I usually open my DAW and decide the key of the song.
In my Daw, i rewrite the whole again and rescreen it,decide the chord progressions, bring the beat loop.
while bringing the beats, i waste a lot of time in shaping the structure of the whole song: intro,verse,fills,chorus,second verse, second choruse, the bridge, build up, then last chorus...

 

Parece ser que todo lo que hacemos tiene su origen en el pasado. Cuando se construye una melodia con su armonia, ésta parece amoldarse a gustos, experiencias y aprendizajes que hemos acumulado a lo largo de los años. Asi que si hago algo con caracter clasico, es muy posible que ese sea el sustrato en donde he aprendido. Si es pop, lo mismo. Es como el pintor que prueba en su paleta los colores hasta que da con el que se queda mas o menos satisfecho. Pero la idea en sí, no es original. Es una recombinación impuesta por nuestro entorno, nuestro pasado, nuestra forma de ver el mundo de los sonidos. La condicion social, historica, personal marca la tendencia y la forma de crear. Alguien oye la melodía en su cabeza y la interpreta. Otro prueba con sonidos. No hay una forma standard de crear. La creatividad proviene de un lugar desconocido. Si existiera un método para crear música, ésta dejaría de tener sentido. Puede haber formas de acercarse a ella, pero todas tienen origen en los condicionantes historicos, culturales y personales. Aprender música en el conservatorio proporciona una técnica para ejecutar que nada tiene que ver con la técnica adquirida por los aborigenes australianos por poner un ejemplo. Ninguna de las dos es mas o menos. Sin embargo en ambas, el transfondo cultural e histórico envuelve el proceso creativo.
Cuando lanzas esta pregunta es porque esperas una respuesta que desconoces y cualquiera que te la dé, será la suya, no la tuya. Asi que en tu propia pregunta, si la ves, esta tu propia respuesta.

 

It's both. Musical and lyrical concepts always come to mind. We get caught up humming a melody or repeating a catchy lyrical phrase on the fly.. but get sidetracked and can't remember the melody or words later. That's why I keep a small field recorder with me at all times after experiencing the feeling too many times that good concepts were going to waste. And when it comes to the spontaneous aspects of recording they can be inadvertently just as good. It's always a disappointment when you're scrolling through some instrument patches and putting your hands down.. and as soon as you play some shit that makes you think "damn".. you hit record but can't play it back nearly the same way. So when I'm in those patch browsing and searching for inspiration moods I hit record ahead of time and leave that mf on with no metronome the whole time I'm browsing and putting my hands down. That way you can cut and set the part aside anytime you do something to amaze yourself whether it's deliberate or accidental, and of course it's easy to track the tempo of what you played afterwards. Usually better riffs get played during the 10 minutes of messing around than the one's they decide to record to a click after the magic has already occurred.

 

Last edited: Feb 7, 2016

as random as cooking

 

You got no idea what composing means.

 

"com·pose": write or create (a work of art, especially music or poetry)

That's all composing is. People always want to take a word with a simple definition and add complexity to it's meaning. There's is no clause added to composing that says "when mustering your ideas on the fly".

 

A lot of songs start from jamming, but I think it depends on the kind of music. Sometimes you'll have an idea in your head and start from there.
I think it's more fun if you just have a feeling and start playing around in line with it. No definite criteria, let the beat and rhythm evolve into whatever shape feels good. Although I find that difficult to do in front of the computer.

Some songs pretty much have to be composed, as I can't imagine an orchestra getting together for a quick jamming session to come up with a new symphony, but I could be talking fluffy toys on that.

 

I don't understand why you are posing such questions. Are you not a musician? If so, are you a novice? Do you not have any creativity? Did you just get a computer and a DAW because you'd thought it would be cool to "get into" music? Are you perhaps a screenwhiter who would like to make music? If so, how is screenwriting done? Wouldn't the same principles of creativity apply? How is anything done? You ask, "Are you . . . ?" – so you are soliciting subjective answers, not general principle or universal law?

 

Making music is very unrandom, is quite algorithmic - as there are esthetic rules (scale, tempo, measure) that must be fulfilled. One can falsely believe is random because of so called "striking inspiration". But inspiration is nothing else but connections made by the brain based on previous experiences (music production work). An experienced producer is never out of inspiration.

 

. . . I think Mozart and Beethoven would have something to say about that.

 

The only way truly create something new, is to know what's been done before. When composing, your past musical experiences come into play. Writing and arranging a work should include spontaneity and creativity. Use a road map or form, but no, my relative ear and poor memory do not allow me to contrive a full 5-6 minute track note for note. It's an adventure to see what works, and what doesn't work so well.

 

No. And Yes.

 

If finding an objective answer was your intent on posting this thread good luck.

 

Mozart was composing in his head a whole piece without even playing it down to make sure it sounds right. Especially when you're gifted with pitch perfect ability that you can name complex chords progressions, notes, etc. on the fly like you would actually hear a native language that you know inside out and the whole songwritting process to feel like you're actually writting poetry instead of music and that you can hear the words in your head and the way they link together.

Also i compose in my head a lot, not just the melodic and theoretical aspect of the music, but also the production related technical aspects, arrangements, the whole story.
When i start writing music, i'm thinking about certain scenarios in my head, like i would write a story not just something to bang out of speakers.
I did produced songs started from random ideas that accidentally got into a finished form, but my best compositions/productions were always the ones that started with their own core scenario benefiting from a clear initial vision.

When you're able to visualize what you want to create before creating it, the result will always be better! That's because you have both a clear vision AND randomness (on purpose).

 

Last edited: Feb 7, 2016

There is only one way to compose music. It ìs a secret but if you promise not to tell anyone I will fill you in on it. Afterwards you will have the power to transcribe or record exactly what you hear in your head instantaniously and note for note. The secret is...




































Always...I mean, never....