rainstick Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Just wondering about how often people actually think of thing's before they play / write them.... A lot of the time i just mess about, but then think i should spend more time thinking.... perhaps a daft question riddled with personal qualities and aims but i'd be interested to hear others approach none the less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Juda Sleaze Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I don't quite get the question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainstick Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 hmmm... i guess what i meant was would you (in the absence of a definite direction / idea etc... ) be more inclined to noodle about until something popped out that worked or would you rather try and think of something in your head, ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Juda Sleaze Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Ah, well I do both usually. Either noodling about will lead to thinking, or something I've thought of will turn out differently once I start noodling about with it. I most often start with a feeling or mood, rather than some harmonic idea. Like how George Clinton told his guitarist to "play like your mother just died" for the Maggot Brain solo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainstick Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 ha... and that's some solo... i've actually been thinking about starting tracks with mood idea recently rather than just hitting straight into a few notes or whatnot... should give it a shot... i tried to make a chord generator in Excel the other day, ha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Juda Sleaze Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Yeah, one of the best ever recorded guitar solos, in my book. Chord generator in Excel? Sounds very modernist, and a bit anal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainstick Posted June 16, 2012 Author Share Posted June 16, 2012 Chord generator in Excel? Sounds very modernist, and a bit anal yeh it started as an amazing idea and rapidly became a turn the computer off and leave the house, ha... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Juda Sleaze Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shivermetimbers Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Just wondering about how often people actually think of thing's before they play / write them.... A lot of the time i just mess about, but then think i should spend more time thinking.... perhaps a daft question riddled with personal qualities and aims but i'd be interested to hear others approach none the less. Bach used to sit around and write things without actually playing them at the time he wrote them. That type of music didn't go over well at the dance hall. Stephen Hawking sits around thinking too much, look what happened to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camillo jr Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 For me it depends on the kind of music. If it's more on the electronic synthy side of things, it's all about exploration and noodling. If it's something orchestral, I go for mood and texture while at the same time sort of hearing melodies like they were being played a couple of rooms over. But even then, it's rare that I use the melody that I hear in my head, partly because I like to improvise. So the melody that I get from jamming often wins out. Because of those kinds of habits, (and looking at much of the music that I've written) I'm thinking that starting with a set melody and working with that, building around it, would be a really good exercise for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev. Juda Sleaze Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Because of those kinds of habits, (and looking at much of the music that I've written) I'm thinking that starting with a set melody and working with that, building around it, would be a really good exercise for me. Themes and variations can be a very good mental exercise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rone2him Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I'm definitely one who noodles til it pops... there is always an element of envisage at work, no doubt, but with little or no deliberateness, at least during that onset of an idea, or conception. A premeditated work mode just tends to constipate my creativity juices, as I try to create without much judgement, analysis, or evaluation... though I do utilize more of that kind of a modality, once a rough draft has been established, and a piece begins taking form. It's idiosyncratic for sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristancalvaire Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 I start with a saw wave initialized on a synth, then move a note around in the piano roll until it 'feels right'. Bizarre, I know. I generally make this note the root of my song, decide if I'm going to make it minor or major, perhaps draft out a chord progression, then fill in some notes to what my ears want and proceed with the rest of the song. It's rare that I really hear something beforehand- though once I'm in the swing of things, my mind starts generating 200 hours worth of audio possibilities I could pursue, then refuses to go ahead with any of them. It's really a dilemma! What I have found is that often times I'd hear melodies or entire songs in my head right before I fell asleep- which really sucked, as when I'm about to fall asleep I have no desire to right it out in Logic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedivisionbell Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I set up atmospheric stuff - strings, synths - and sometimes rhythm/beat, and jam with it in realtime with a mood in mind to come up with a solo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtees Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I normally hear melodies in my head first, transfer that to logic, and then noodle. Sometimes I dream full songs/melodies, wake up in the middle of the night with this fantastic new melody/song/idea, I tell myself that i'll remember it in the morning but every time I end up waking up kicking myself cause i didn't write it down. The introduction of an iPad/iphone with garageband has been fantastic for solving this issue, now when i wake up in the night with a melody I punch it into gargeband then go back to sleep. when I wake up again in the morning ive still forgotten the melody but when i play it back from garageband it all comes back to me. I can then transfer that project into logic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snorkybingo Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Get something going in Logic then leave it playing and leave the room/studio to do something else. Humming or singing along to your developing song, which is now in the background, can give you some really good ideas. Alternatively select a good sounding pad then draw a bunch of lines (silently) in Logic's piano roll over 4 or 8 bars and then listen back. It doesn't always work out perfect but it's something new that you wouldn't expect and can soon be changed to sound better. Get away from the constrains of you own music by jamming along. Ideas galore! It doesn't take long to come across something good you can add to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Jackson Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 If you can't hear it - can you play it? Beethoven could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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