Know where you are heading

[ LiB ]

Know where you are heading

Those sudden flashes of inspiration, so often likened to thunderbolts, the eureka if you like, are wonderful. Trouble is, once recorded they often turn into short, rather stubborn, fragments of material that refuse to move on. Why? Probably because we have not decided what we want to do in the first place.

The mind works all the time in the background. It will throw up all kinds of great, but totally unrelated ideas. If we decide what we want to write first, and then instruct our subconscious mind to get on with it, we stand a much better chance.

If someone has been commissioned to compose or arrange a piece of music for a specific purpose it is much easier to get going. The plan has been provided, and if you expect to be paid, then you had better stick pretty close to it. If however you want to write for the sheer pleasure of it, maybe for practice, then it's a good idea to invent a brief of your own. Give yourself a purpose for writing. Here's a rough guide on how to set about it.

  1. Decide exactly what it is you want to write and why. If you are not sure, invent something like 'a local sports shop needs a short radio jingle.' Have a specific business in mind. You never know, if it turns out well they may decide to invest in a radio advertisement on the strength of your idea.

  2. Decide what style the music should take and what instruments or sounds you intend to use. Obviously things may change, but it helps to have a clear mental picture from the outset as to how things will sound.

  3. Decide on a basic form. If you can't envisage one mentally, invent one on paper. Keep it simple. ABA maybe. At least that way you have a structure to hang things on.

Now you know where you are heading. You have defined a set of problems to solve with your own skill and musical craftsmanship. Even if the result doesn't quite make it, you can get started and modify it later. As I said earlier, the mind is working constantly, all the time, in the background. If Dave had followed this route after that initial eureka he would maybe have recorded the broad outline of his project, and having done so had a further brilliant idea to help fill in the details, perhaps while waiting for the bus the next day. That's another thing the mind tends to do, throw out ideas at certain times and places.

[ LiB ]


Creative Projects with Logic Audio
Creative Projects with Logic Audio
ISBN: 1929685793
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 239

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