# How Do You Write ?



## ed buller (Mar 14, 2012)

I'm curious ( maybe nosy ) to see how you all write. Do you bash out some chords and melodies on the piano and then move to the computer? Or do you start straight away on your DAW using the massive template you've spent hours creating ?

e


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## wst3 (Mar 14, 2012)

(C) all of the above.

I will say that in general my best stuff has resulted from sitting down with pencil and paper and thinking it out. Next up would be working it out on a acoustic guitar... amazing the ideas one can come up with. Guitar is my primary instrument, which helps, but I think that being somewhat limited in the way one can voice chords, or create counterpoint pushes you to do something more clever when you sit down to arrange.

This is not to suggest that I haven't been inspired by banging something out on the guitar or keyboard, or even auditioning factory presets...

they all work! Just differently.


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## Mihkel Zilmer (Mar 14, 2012)

I've always been interested in this topic. In my opinion - changing the environment you work in can have a strong effect on your creativity. I am sure the material I write using different methods is actually different.

I personally switch between sitting at a piano with pen and paper or improvising straight into my DAW. I guess the pen and paper method will make me focus more on the raw musical material and recording into the DAW makes me more conscious of the sound. I don't use a massive template though (unless the music required is very 'standard' orchestral), I enjoy the part of finding and polishing new sounds way too much...

And of course, if the instrument in question is something I can play (guitar etc.) I will pick that up. Though, at times I might still make sketches on a piano first.


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## germancomponist (Mar 14, 2012)

It depends..... .

Sometimes I get a great idea when I am sitting on the toilet, then the next step is pencil and paper,

sometimes I get a great idea when I play on the piano, then the next step is to switch my DAW on.... 

sometimes when I play the guitar, then I swith my old EMU DARWIN 8 track recorder on and catch my idea there... 

The most ideas I got only in my head...


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## Kralc (Mar 14, 2012)

These ideas you guys have used guitars for, are they orchestral? Does the guitar continue to be a focal voice in the piece, I mean? Mostly when I have a guitar, more modern stuff comes out.


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## germancomponist (Mar 14, 2012)

I am a guitar player for more than 30 years now. When I have the guitar in my hand, it translates 1:1 my thoughts without the need to think about guitar playing....., it is only my medium then..... .


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## germancomponist (Mar 14, 2012)

I'm not sure whether it is good, as I say now: 

If I drank a beer or two, then I get quite often the best ideas. o-[][]-o


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## windshore (Mar 14, 2012)

I have found that the best process when I get an job is to review the reference materials. (That would be video, ref audio or genre styles - maybe including a couple of searches on Youtube.) 

Then... Take the dog for a walk. I find that letting all the references sink in for about 20 - 30 minutes before actually sitting down to computer or paper tends to reap great rewards. I often have the most important parts of whatever it is written in my head by the time I let the dog back in the house.

Sequencing, orchestration, etc are infinitely easier when you start with a strong musical idea.


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## Mike Greene (Mar 14, 2012)

germancomponist @ Wed Mar 14 said:


> If I drank a beer or two, then I get quite often the best ideas. o-[][]-o


Until you wake up the next day and hear them when you're sober.

:mrgreen:


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## twnd (Mar 14, 2012)

> I have found that the best process when I get an job is to review the reference materials



+1


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## Arbee (Mar 15, 2012)

Piano doodling, guitar doodling, "nice patch" doodling, just in the head doodling, pencil and paper doodling, they all work but with different results. Most often a phrase just appears in my head uninvited and I let the brain work with it for a while, then attempt to develop it.

I had an interesting experience years ago while moving house. The furniture and gear was on its way interstate and I was called to do an urgent orchestration. All I had was a portable tape deck, pencil and score paper. A scary experience but the end result sounded great and was a wonderful lesson in how much more freedom the brain has away from an instrument.


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## nikolas (Mar 15, 2012)

Arbee @ Thu Mar 15 said:


> I had an interesting experience years ago while moving house. The furniture and gear was on its way interstate and I was called to do an urgent orchestration. All I had was a portable tape deck, pencil and score paper. A scary experience but the end result sounded great and was a wonderful lesson in how much more freedom the brain has away from an instrument.


Brilliantly said!

I compose in many different ways, including in the DAW, doodling at the piano, or the mouse, using loops, making computer programs, doodling on the manuscript, etc. I find that the most liberating way is doodling with your pencil and your own thoughts, but this doesn't necessarily mean that the end result will be the best (and 'best' takes quite some defining I think)


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## leafInTheWind (Mar 15, 2012)

germancomponist @ Wed Mar 14 said:


> ....
> 
> If I drank a beer or two, then I get quite often the best ideas. o-[][]-o



http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/ballmer_peak.png

I see a parallel between composing and programming now.... ~o)
Curse my intolerance for alchohol


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## germancomponist (Mar 15, 2012)

synergy543 @ Wed Mar 14 said:


> Gunther, maybe its not a good idea to post late at night on the forums after you've been drinking beer? :oops:
> 
> We got the picture, and so far it ain't pretty...
> 
> ...





Mike Greene @ Thu Mar 15 said:


> germancomponist @ Wed Mar 14 said:
> 
> 
> > If I drank a beer or two, then I get quite often the best ideas. o-[][]-o
> ...



Well, something like this: http://www.sample-modeling.com/Demos/5-Oktoberfest.mp3

Salut my friends! o-[][]-o


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## synergy543 (Mar 15, 2012)

germancomponist @ Thu Mar 15 said:


> [Well, something like this: http://www.sample-modeling.com/Demos/5-Oktoberfest.mp3
> 
> Salut my friends! o-[][]-o


A Radler (or two) to you my friend! o-[][]-o


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## Niah (Mar 15, 2012)

For me it begins with sound and it ends with silence.


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## jleckie (Mar 15, 2012)

Mike Greene @ Wed Mar 14 said:


> germancomponist @ Wed Mar 14 said:
> 
> 
> > If I drank a beer or two, then I get quite often the best ideas. o-[][]-o
> ...



It's waking up the next morning, and LISTENING that makes you sober up.


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## Kralc (Mar 15, 2012)

jleckie @ Thu Mar 15 said:


> It's waking up the next morning, and LISTENING that makes you sober up.



Or throw up...


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## twnd (Mar 15, 2012)

Well, something like this: http://www.sample-modeling.com/Demos/5-Oktoberfest.mp3 

Beer Diary :D


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## germancomponist (Mar 15, 2012)

Opssss, I just drank a beer again. o-[][]-o o=<


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## Ed (Mar 15, 2012)

ed buller @ Wed Mar 14 said:


> I'm curious ( maybe nosy ) to see how you all write. Do you bash out some chords and melodies on the piano and then move to the computer? Or do you start straight away on your DAW using the massive template you've spent hours creating ?
> 
> e



Personally, I just play stuff with samples until an idea works. Then add more stuff, maybe tweak things. Add more if its going well etc. An idea grows and the track forms. Then I realise its rubbish and delete it.


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## germancomponist (Mar 15, 2012)

Ed @ Thu Mar 15 said:


> Personally, I just play stuff with samples until an idea works. Then add more stuff, maybe tweak things. Add more if its going well etc. An idea grows and the track forms. Then I realise its rubbish and delete it.



:mrgreen:


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## reddognoyz (Mar 15, 2012)

I am motivated to write when there's money and an impending deadline. I don't write w/o a specific sponsored agenda. Sad I know. Today I wrote music for three guitar playing monkey novelty items. a 20 second song that can be played by all, or individually. It pays significantly better than scoring a major network cartoon. So sad. 

All whining aside, most of what I do is score picture, so I almost always have the pic in front of me and I start either with a melodic idea or some sort of vamp that I play into my daw wild, and when I think it's working I tempo map it (maybe straighten out the tempo a little if it's too loosey goosey) and then I orchestrate it. I don't worry about hits within the piece or where/how it will end. That's pretty easy to fix when you get there.


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## christianhowes (Apr 15, 2012)

My preferred way of composing when scoring to picture is reviewing the material over and over and trying to hear what's "already there" i.e., to what the picture "wants" to have accompanying it. Once I can hear the score playing in my head, only then do I put pencil to page. 

Of course, that's not the only way I've gotten pleasing results. I've tried most of the aforementioned methods, and they're all great!


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## wst3 (Apr 15, 2012)

comments on working against the picture intrigue me...

my two biggest projects thus far have both been for live theatre, so I was working against the images in my mind after reading the scripts.

Much to my surprise, it worked out pretty well, I'd say the majority of the material worked really well. There were a couple of pieces in each show that just did not fit, mostly because what I envisioned did not match the final production. On the second project there was time to re-write, and while the re-writes were not as strong, musically, they fit better, so everyone was happy.

It has been a while now since I worked on a video, need to dig up a project and get back into it! But, in those cases my best (at least that which I liked best) work usually came before I saw the film, again working against what the writers and/or directors told me about the films.

I think that a big part of the reason this works for me is that it reduces the time pressure - a little anyway. I still do 80% of the work in the last 20% of the allotted time<G>!


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## Dotour (Jul 21, 2012)

These past few years, I've tended to start with prewriting for anything longer than a cursory sketch, just like one might do when setting out to write a short story or a novel or some other literary equivalent. The process might be triggered by a musical idea like a line of counterpoint or some new theoretical idea that I've just read about, but it moves quickly into outlining the form and mapping out modulations so that I know where I'm headed.

I recently put up a blog post that I think may be germaine to the topic: http://mrwilsonpresents.tumblr.com/post/27172059893


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## Nick Batzdorf (Jul 21, 2012)

> Sometimes I get a great idea when I am sitting on the toilet, then the next step is pencil and paper,



Doesn't the pencil hurt?


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## Saxer (Jul 22, 2012)

Nick Batzdorf @ 22.7.2012 said:


> > Sometimes I get a great idea when I am sitting on the toilet, then the next step is pencil and paper,
> 
> 
> 
> Doesn't the pencil hurt?


 :lol: that's what i thought too... i also recommend using paper first.


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## Ganvai (Jul 22, 2012)

In the beginning I was writing songs for several bands. I did it with guitar and keyboard but the best songs I wrote was free from any instrument and pencil. I took dictaphone and took it everytime with me. 

Now in times of smartphones, I have my smartphone with me, just whistling every idea in several versions into it. When I think I have enough ideas, I sit down at my keaboard, trying the ideas with chords and finding what fits best. It's very helpfull from songwriting cause it is so free from any instrument and you can save your good ideas very fast (you all know the moment when you hear a melody in your head and think that you have to remember the next time you have an instrument in your hands and then... you just forget it) 

It is the best way for me. But there are times, when i didn't use my smartphone a lang time, so I have to sit at my keyboard and jam te shit out of me 

Greetings,
Jan


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## david robinson (Jul 22, 2012)

never delete anything.
it could be usual to bash your wife with, when needed. j.


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## Leon Willett (Jul 22, 2012)

I just call my ghost writer, and then take a nap, or maybe go for a walk. 

Probably the nap though, if I'm honest.


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## handz (Jul 23, 2012)

Hi Leon - I was lurking trough your webpage recently again - so cool - really love your work, sad you are not addin new blog posts.


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## jsaras (Jul 23, 2012)

I generally write from the bottom up. It's all about the bass.


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