Still write physically on manuscript paper?

[EFlexMusic]

A thought just popped into my head and I was wondering if anyone still uses manuscript paper and writes their music while simeoutaneously working in a DAW. I wouldn't think it would be necessary when writing anymore with MIDI being the main notation but, I would like to know if you do write it physically along with MIDI, what is the reason to do so?

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[cornelisjordaan]

It depends on the project, but I still do yeah. Of course there isn't really ever a need to write out full arrangements, but playing with melodic / harmonic ideas on paper is a great way for me to develop ideas. Getting away from the seemingly infinite choice sound possibilities of the DAW and using something simple that doesn't generate sound lets you see (and hear, internally) things differently. Limitations and creativity and all that jazz

Plus, it's nice to have a handwritten record of at least some of the things I've done. One day when my days on this planet are done it would be nice to pass that on to someone instead of a folder with cubase files haha... this is the more romantic side coming out.

 

[danstein]

I like to write manuscript at the piano - sketches and ideas rather than fully fleshed-out arrangements, mostly. Then I’ll take them into the DAW to develop further.

Another use I have for manuscript - well, printed notation, anyhow: I have an arrangement I’m working on of a pop tune arranged for string ensemble. I have worked it out bit by bit in the DAW, but in order to really get a convincing performance I printed out the parts and re-played them in.

 

[JohnG]

if you do write it physically along with MIDI, what is the reason to do so?

the best reason is that one spends less time finding "just the right patch..." while inspiration quietly fades and tiptoes away.

In under a minute you can jot down an idea that can take a very long time to realise on a DAW, simply because inevitably writing on a DAW involves mixing and runs up against the patch's limitations. By scribbling it down you can generate many ideas in a short time and then polish or develop them later.

it's the same reason that it's often better to write with a real instrument (piano, guitar, voice) than a DAW. DAWs can, in the end, sound great, but they take sooo much coaxing.

 

[jonathanparham]

I've found StaffPad to be a good inebetween

 

[Tom_D]

IMO, my best work starts on paper. Then transfer to the DAW as needed. I don't always start on paper, but as others have said, it imposes fewer restrictions / headaches in the moment. There is no searching for patches, mixing decisions, crashes, tech issues, etc.

Everything @JohnG said above is spot on.

One middle approach is to compose in the DAW using only a piano to start (I often have 4-5 piano tracks to split up different parts in preparation for orchestration)

The only exception to all this, is if your writing style is very sound-design / synth focused. Yes, you can imagine the sound in your head but you will have to find that sound in your DAW to realize it.

Traditional composition, on the other hand, is easier away from the computer because I know what those instruments do and how to notate their parts, and I am free from the "this string library doesn't sound good with this phrasing so I'll change how I write." mode of thought. I just write freely.

A personal example, I often imagine phrases with several repeated notes; let's say a rising triad of C-E-G, then hold G and re-bow it a few times before moving on. Well...in my experience samples are awful for this type of phrasing where there are many re-bows on a note. So often my DAW writing favors melodic lines where (mostly) every successive note is different.

Picture Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. The opening string section has so many re-bows in that melody which are great in real life, but not so great with sampled strings. You either get that "sucking" effect of the slow attack where you re-start the sustains for each note, and/or you get the machine gun effect of every sustain being the same (most libraries don't have RR longs, and I don't think the ones that do have very many RRs - it would take up a huge amount of HDD space)

 

[Matt Godbey]

Yep. Still do here. It's just clearer to me.

 

[jbuhler]

I still sketch on paper. I have a little music notebook on the desk. It’s often much faster. But I do most of the work in the DAW. I plan to try a notation program again come May and see if that’s any faster. For me it’s all about finding fluidity in writing.

 

[olvra]

many piano tracks for me, life's too short for transferring/re-playing MIDI

 

[mikrokosmiko]

Yes, almost always. Not the full arrangement, but I need to see the main lines on paper. Or just draw the general direction of the music, pointillistic textures... It's the best and most flexible tool for me. A lot of times I start a cue in Logic... and later write down the ideas on paper for managing them better. Like this:

 

[Onemandown]

Mainly when I'm somewhere away from my computer and a melody or chord progression pops into my head and I have to notate it. I used to handwrite a lot but I've now almost completely shifted to DAW work.

 

[wing]

I do, at the piano, while just sketching out ideas. If an interesting melody pops in my head it's the fastest way for me to get it down accurately without losing my train of thought.

I also try to keep a manuscript book in my bag while travelling. I am still learning to create a sight-sound connection but it has improved my skills to write away from an instrument and computer, such as if I'm on a train for awhile, I will sing in my head while writing down. It's pretty interesting when I get back home and put it into software and hear it all played back – some of my coolest ideas have come from this process, because I write differently, perhaps more intentionally when using a pencil and paper, as opposed to when I'm at a computer with immediate feedback.

 

[TheRitornello]

Yes, usually when I am away from my computer, which is most of the time.

 

[youngpokie]

anyone still uses manuscript paper and writes their music while simeoutaneously working in a DAW

Perhaps the nuance in the OP question wasn't so much about using pen and paper in general but rather using that and DAW at the same time. In my opinion, pen and paper is simply a workflow. Yes, it has its own haptic and mental mode, but it's ultimately about capturing the music one imagines. Composing in a DAW introduces an additional step where one has to physically reproduce the music as one hears it in order to write it down as it were. That requires a different mental state - something akin to performance.

The middle ground, as mentioned above, is to use a neutral sounding multi-voice instrument, traditionally piano. This allows the composer to focus on the music but to have immediate feedback on ideas. It's a lot easier to work out the texture using the piano, for example; and for some people the very process of composing starts with or involves a lot of improvising.

My own workflow is built around the pen and paper model but it takes place entirely in Dorico, using a combination of various layouts. I find that I'm now faster inputting music into Dorico than writing notes on paper. But at the same time, I use piano staff/VI and also process that sketch track (copy, paste, reduce, explode, etc), which might be equivalent to working in DAW.

 

[Nick Batzdorf]

Notebook on my desk. I use it to scribble things down.

 

[MikeT99]

Yep, mainly at the piano, sometimes even at the daw when arranging. Sketches, main voicings, lines, contrapuntal melodies, etc