Composing

Hey Composers, today's Stage 32 blog is written by musician, composer, and actor Marco Antonio Berrios. Recently, Marco shared a bit of a story with us here in the Composing Lounge where he talked about a life-changing event in which he met an extraordinary man in the NYC subway who taught him how t...

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The question is how do you codify your music. Back in the 'old days' to write music, composers either used their preferred instrument (piano, harpsichord, guitar, violin, etc.) or they did so in their head 'sounding' the notes. And no matter how they 'envisioned' the notes, there was still the process of describing the note length and the various ways to articulate the sound. Nowadays with samples/samplers, vsts, etc. it has become 'easier' for those who write music to envision the manifestations of the sound - even if the sound will eventually 'transfer' to a live musician.

In depictions of the early 20th century songwriters or earlier classical composers in film, we often see them writing music directly on paper without first 'sounding' them on an instrument. Many of the composing teachers I have studied under could write whole pieces of music without outwardly hearing anything at all.

So how do you compose. As I do not have perfect (or perhaps not even relative) pitch :) , but having had all the years of formal ear training or the dozens of transcriptions I have done, I can not sound a whole piece in my head even given the initial note. So I make a stab at it using my second and third fingers tapping to determine the note durations. I then play it back on a sampled piano (or the instrument it will eventually sound on) and make any corrections). More often than not, I get 1/2 to 3/4 of the notes correct. If I have any 'errors' it is often putting 1/8 or 1/16th notes in the wrong spot and I need to move them over slightly left or right to get the rhythm correct.

So how do you get what's in your head onto your sheet or piano roll? Are you blessed with perfect pitch and rhythm and can get it out correctly on the first time without hearing a thing? If not, what techniques do you use to make sure what was in your head ends up as you envisioned it - either as correct notations or bars with appropriate midi commands in your piano rolls?

Linwood Bell

11 months ago

I don’t listen to a whole lot of broadway music. That’s not to say I don’t like it, it’s just not something I listen to that much. There are a few musicals that I have listened to over and over though...

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My brush with greatness: Years before it was released, I had heard about the Awakening project with the LSO that is mentioned so many times in this tribute. I was/am such a fan of Jeremy’s work that I...

Sam Sokolow

This is a great piece - evocative of Hitchcockian tension. Sometimes a score puts visuals in your head and this did it for me. Thanks for sharing, Chris.

Here’s an idea with minor third relationships maybe for an ending, who knows…. I’m just moving two triads up in minor thirds and voice leading them. The one on the bottom is an Am triad moving up in m...

Snidely Whiplash looks over with a menacing gaze...

Sam Mannetti

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1 person likes this
- Linwood Bell
12 months ago

A true icon!

Amazing body of work - really a master behind so many we think of as masters. Thanks for sharing, Linwood!

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- Robert Andrei Musatescu
- Maurice Vaughan
11 months ago

If you are just talking about having one of your songs placed in a movie/tv as background music you would need to attract the attention of a music supervisor. The way that it has happened for me was t...

Joanna Karselis

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4 people like this
11 months ago

I'd agree with everything Linwood said. Those are all good places to get started.

Library music does tend to have a specific structure. It does depend on exactly the kind of music you're making and wha...

Pontus Ullerstam Tidemand

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3 people like this
11 months ago

If you are aiming to score a film then there are no rules about structure or how a score should sound

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- Maurice Vaughan
12 months ago

It's also a reminder of how valuable 6 and 9 are in such a pure form. Lovely.

Ashley Renee Smith

Linwood Bell, this is such a beautiful piece! Thank you for sharing!

Yeah...and so simple. It's C F G. You learn it the first day you're handed a guitar, but these two hear it differently. :)

Maurice Vaughan

"8 AM, Christmas Eve" is incredible, Linwood Bell. It's really calming. I'd be perfect for writing, studying, and resting.

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2 people like this
- Maurice Vaughan
- Linwood Bell
12 months ago

Really moving piece, thanks for sharing Linwood!

12 months ago

That was a great one! Congrats, Marco! Bravo, Sir!

Emily J

Such a great read, thanks for sharing, Ashley!

Great blog! Thanks for sharing, Ashley!

It's such a beautiful story. I'm glad Marco took the time to share it with us all.

Really great blog, wonderful work Marco and Ashley!

Great perspective Linwood Bell!

Pat was an amazing musician and I was lucky enough to see him a few times. He had full command of his instrument and lots to say. He also had an incident where he lost all of his memory. All of it gon...

Linwood Bell, I love that!

Stage 32 also recently published a blog about how to have a healthy relationship with criticism, which I'm going to share below for anyone here in the lounge who may have mi...

Yes! That article is what inspired me to post that Pat Martino quote. Thanks, Ashley!

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Bueller?? lol

Joel Irwin

One of the things my composition instructor does with the students each semester (he is imho one if not the top jazz pianist/composer in Houston) - he plays four bars of quite complex harmony and asks us to identify it. Turns out to be Happy Birthday. Try that one :)

Million ways to play a melody...

https://www.stage32.com/photos/3278721600337225680

....or your kid just got an invitation to Chucky's third birthday party. The point is, reharm is a useful tool we have in the toolbox and worth talking about and sharing how we might go about it.

http:...

What a cool idea, Linwood Bell!

For me it depends on what I’m doing, but it always involves a piano. I like that point of reference and I’m sitting there anyway. Sometimes things might just go straight in from the keyboard and other...

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