# Composing Question for StaffPad Users



## PaulieDC (Oct 10, 2021)

Probably a weird question, but for those who do the bulk of composition with StaffPad, do you still sit at a keyboard or other instrument to work out melodies and arrangements, then do the input into StaffPad, just as you would for paper? Or do you simply sit with Pencil in hand, working out the same and just play it back to hear it? Maybe the answer is both.

I ask this because for years I’ve been a session player, picking out melodies I hear off recording and using music theory as my guide, not notation (as do most jazz players where chords are numbers in a given key). But I’m trying to up my knowledge in music and work with score, not just have the DAW spit it out. So I can hear/make up something in my head, and can input it it for the most part, but it seems odd to not be playing it on the piano. Hope this makes sense. I’m looking to understand the workflow of musicians/composers that are properly trained, and not just “hack it out”. Don’t worry, _I’m_ even a bit confused with my question.

Thanks much!


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## PaulieDC (Oct 11, 2021)

Pretty sure I answered my own question last night. I opened a string quartet template, and after staring at it and feeling completely inadequate, I thought I'd try inputting a simpler melody, Ode to Joy, since it's mostly quarter notes. Adding the remaining parts was easy and then I started tweaking what areas didn't sound right with 1/8 notes, rests, harmonies, etc. Before I knew it I had a short piece done, and that broke the ice. I think I can do this with my own Freshman 101 original ideas. Guess I just needed to talk it out then jump out of the nest.


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## Karmand (Oct 11, 2021)

So far, just pencil and my thoughts. I am working on a series of cues for a video. Small, tight, short. Later I'll take them and mix em in a DAW.


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## jadi (Oct 11, 2021)

Hello Paulie, I use StaffPad both at the piano but also without. At the piano when I get stuck and when not then on its own


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## Jett Hitt (Oct 11, 2021)

I work out ideas at the piano sometimes, but I try to limit my piano composing because of finger memory. Improvising at the piano is accomplished through a "bag of tricks". The bigger your bag, the better you are at improvisation. The problem is that most of us don't have an Art Tatum-sized bag, and quickly our music begins to sound the same. Consequently, I try to do most of the composing in my head.


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## mopsiflopsi (Oct 11, 2021)

I have the Korg module app on the iPad, which I sometimes use to play a little riff to get things going in my head.


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## nas (Oct 12, 2021)

Both. 

If I'm hearing something in my head or have a vague idea, I can write it directly on Staffpad. However, more often than not, my composition is usually a result of messing around on a keyboard or guitar and stumbling open something that sounds interesting within a pre-existing concept. I then take that initial chord progression, riff, or melody and develop it by arranging and orchestrating it on Staffpad.


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## Uncle Peter (Oct 12, 2021)

Since acquiring Staffpad I've so far just been importing old unfinished scores and fleshing them out/ defining orchestration without the need for keyboard or guitar etc. 

For new orchestral pieces I envisage:
> Using Cubase as a lab/experimental environment for recording doodles/ideas
> Use ensemble patches for 'Strings', 'Woods' etc for quick writing/sketching
> Quantise/perform basic orchestration
> Export XML or MIDI to Staffpad - orchestrate define detail/let other ideas come from inner ear.
> Typically render from App or if more detailed export stems back to DAW for mixing.

The goal being that the pieces are actually recorded with real musicians - i.e. just generating a mockup. 

For authentic virtual realisation the XML would have to go back to a DAW and use top end libraries (maybe combined with some of the stems from Staffpad). But I've no interest in doing that - so if that was the case I'd get someone to do that for me.


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## Sean J (Nov 12, 2021)

PaulieDC said:


> Probably a weird question, but for those who do the bulk of composition with StaffPad, do you still sit at a keyboard or other instrument to work out melodies and arrangements, then do the input into StaffPad, just as you would for paper? Or do you simply sit with Pencil in hand, working out the same and just play it back to hear it? Maybe the answer is both.
> 
> I ask this because for years I’ve been a session player, picking out melodies I hear off recording and using music theory as my guide, not notation (as do most jazz players where chords are numbers in a given key). But I’m trying to up my knowledge in music and work with score, not just have the DAW spit it out. So I can hear/make up something in my head, and can input it it for the most part, but it seems odd to not be playing it on the piano. Hope this makes sense. I’m looking to understand the workflow of musicians/composers that are properly trained, and not just “hack it out”. Don’t worry, _I’m_ even a bit confused with my question.
> 
> Thanks much!



Step 1 - Play it in my head
Step 2 - Write it down
Step 3 - See if SP's playback agrees with me
Step 4 - Adjust if needed
Step 5 - If unnoticed, weird, or unexpected aural collisions occur, use ear to revise.

While I _can _improv with my fingers, being deliberate and methodical has it's place... thus I prefer StaffPad over the DAW (though I'm fine in a DAW if need be). The more I slow down and write it without a keyboard holding me hostage, I write faster the more I do this and it starts to feel like I'm doing an improv either way. It also informs my piano improv because I know how to be more deliberate, or rather what sorts of decisions I truly like after having worked them out. If anything, I feel like StaffPad has helped me be more deliberate regardless of which app I'm using. But if I'm only writing with my fingers, I feel like I'm missing something much greater. I play the organ constantly, so I'm never away from a keyboard. I wouldn't want to be.

My point... I'm not "the exact process" really matters as much 1) writing constantly and 2) playing constantly. They aren't always the same thing, but sometimes are. Sometimes mixing is writing. Sometimes writing is mixing. It's all always just... music. This is me pretending to be eloquent with my words.


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## PaulieDC (Nov 12, 2021)

Sean J said:


> Step 1 - Play it in my head
> Step 2 - Write it down
> Step 3 - See if SP's playback agrees with me
> Step 4 - Adjust if needed
> ...


Fantastic answer, thank you!


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