I'm terrible at sitting down and working on a full piece from start to finish. I have tons and tons of short phrases, chord progressions, loops, sound designs, musical ideas...but I never know the right way to save and organize them. Right now I have a bajillion random Logic sessions and sporadic Soundcloud uploads for listening in the car.
How do you title ideas? Where do you save them? How do you organize?
My answer is not surprising: music theory looks like the issue here.
I have some ideas for organization, but may change the topic a bit, because it essentially touches another subject .
I don´t use to do this so much anymore: any idea i have to finish somehow.
Depends on which phase of development you are. A beginner should be more patient and ambintious with some pieces, while having some short exercises done in note more than one day, in my opnion.
You also have to understand the cause of not finishing. Often the cause is simple: technique. Forget the people speaking about walks... Walking is for Tchaikovsky: he had technique, then he walked to FEEL something that helped him decide for a MORE PERFECT result. He would be able to finish something assap if required, I bet.
Forgetting the piece and moving on can help, meditation or jumping in the water may help, but will not help more than having the technique your piece wants ; ) And by technique i include even the technique of feelling something!
So, WHEN i do save ideas, I save as NAme of the PIece +INCOMPLETE. If it is too short, i send to Logic Loops. If it is a motive for brass , i call like BR MOTIVE Adagio in C Minor. And I pray God that this helps me use it...
This is by the way a new technique I try to develop, and was on my youtube GOLDPILL videos list, to show to people in detail. If it works, i may save more ideas ; ) but then use them!
I am just reseaerching the file organization of the loops browser, and waiting for a detail that makes it even more awesome and interesting for the workflow - principally for non-beatmakers classical composers, who happened to know how to read music.
But the beatmakers will give some great ideas, if you learn how to convert them to your goals; maybe you find ideas about saving ideas... And i imagine that a DJ has to be very organized with samples.
I also had a project called IDEAS: everything comes there.
And what happened? THe ideas stay there very happy and never go to nothing...
Let me quote something from my lesson material:
We wait for the idea worth being finished, but the truth is: if you finish it, this makes your bad idea a great idea, while the best idea waits.
We should look for better ideas, but after we finished something fast. If you take to long to compose, then the contrary is important: wait to have a great idea, compose less quantity and more quality, like Ravel. But for film composers this approach looks like a luxus...
Filmcomposers and Co. are makers of Gebrauchsmusik (the music we use), so it is important to master craft and technique.
If the ideas you save and organize find a place, I appreciate it very much. In my personal case, i have so many ideas "saved" but never remember them, i am always finishing something that came along and said: man, if you are not ready now, it will be another idea waiting forever...
Just few incomplete pieces i have in my head burning me to be finished assap, it is a hell. BEcause those pieces i did not want to rush, they are especial.
And the problem is here: today, when you feel like they are toooooo especial and the best you could have done..... they may break up with you.
Kind Regards