We had a post recently about posting your own original music, maybe we can also have some discussions aimed at music-makers.
I write music, and I aim to write just a little bit every day, and finish every composition that I start, without too much pressure for everything to be “good.” Every six months or so I listen to everything I wrote recently and pick out the good stuff to put online, and everything else gets stored away in a sort of personal archive that isn’t public. Maybe it’s a “quantity over quality” approach but for me it feels like it helps to always be working on something
I learned while in university that just sitting down every day and writing something is the way to go. I never need “inspiration”, my brain just goes into composing mode and ideas start flowing. But it took a few weeks before that happened.
As for the actual process, I ten to write whatever idea I have down, and see how far it takes me. If it starts veering into something I don’t like, I save the file as a new version, delete the part that I didn’t like, and start on a new path. In the end I’ll have something like 10-20 different versions, sometimes I’ll go back to an older one with fresh ideas and continue on a new branch, etc. More than a couple times I’ll marry two versions and have the final product nearly finished just by doing that. If I get stuck, sometimes I’ll just repeat a section with different instrumentation just to get a fresh take on it which will jog some new ideas.
There are also times where I think strictly “logically” or structurally about a piece. Let’s say I’ve got a nice A section and some nice B section but no way to join them. Then I can reach into my proverbial toolbox and write something that I know will work (a short fugue-like bit, harmonize things to transition smoothly, etc). This is something I enjoy doing because it’s like I create two puzzle pieces and have go figure out how to fit them together.
Man I wish I knew it myself, it’s very much a wildcard for me. Different approaches create different music.
If I start with a specific melody in mind, usually that melody is more or less present throughout the whole song playing nonstop, as if I can’t let go of it.
Sometimes I create the overall song structure first with e.g. the drums and the bass, and then build everything else on that.
…Or maybe in a flow state I create a short musical doodle that I expand on later. Or just play random bullshit and see where it takes me, possibly fitting old ideas in there. This usually creates the most experimental and fun songs, which I like. I’m all about crazy music that breaks all expectations and genre limits.
Most of my music doesn’t get past the production barrier. I love mixing and working in my DAW, but damn it’s hard to to actually start tracking and putting the time in. But once I get over that hurdle, I hyperfocus on it and can’t think of anything else.
I love writing with another person. Normally I’ll do a creative phase, then a sit down planning phase.
I’ll try to go into a writing session with a few ideas; normally I’ll do this by coming up with one riff, then trying almost random ideas for parts that go with it. Normally something clicks so i work on that and record it all to my phone.
When i get to the rehearsal space, I’ll demo my work to people I play with. It will normally change a bit from what i wrote. The goal is to come up with a structure and see if any new parts come up while practicing.
Afterwards, you and whoever else sits in front of a computer, we normally do this as a separate session. Record scratch tracks in the general order of structure so you can listen back and decide what work it needs. Make sure to play this part to a click so you can use it to record later on.
