KVR Audio

kyokushin1 · Post by **kyokushin1** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:32 pm

sitting alone in a dark room at 3am in front of my laptop, clicking away on sibelius and fl studio

teknolag · Post by **teknolag** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:52 am

Lately starting to compose in a layered manner.
But more than that, I'm starting to sense making music
is like building a car. You got the intellectual(mechanical)
stuff mixed with the aesthetic(intuitive) stuff. Intellectually,
you use things like music theory, your own understanding of how
music works and your own experiences of what works, while
aesthetically you use your ears and intuitive feelings...
and slowly build and build...like building a ferrari.

teknolag

justin3am · Post by **justin3am** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:58 am

kyokushin1 wrote:sitting alone in a dark room at 3am in front of my laptop, clicking away on sibelius and fl studio

What is your laptop doing in my dark room?

an-electric-heart · Post by **an-electric-heart** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:07 am

I mostly put on James Cameron's Aliens with the directors comentary track on quietly in the back ground, strip down to my boxers, put on some dragons blood flavored insense, grab a couple of beers, then sit there and wonder how I'm going to pay for the next vst effect that I NEED before I can continue working on any of my colection of halve finished songs... mostly

tomg · Post by **tomg** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:25 am

I'm not a composer, I'm a songwriter. If I'm actually out to write a song and not just mindlessly play my guitar, I grab an acoustic guitar and get far away from my computers.

I almost always have a lyric idea to start with. Then I start trying chords to find what fits until I have a rough verse/chorus outline. Lyrics help me tie it all together. I always try to add a bridge and middle 8 because it makes most songs more interesting and less tiring to listen too.

Somebody once told me that if you can't play and sing a song using just an acoustic guitar( or piano ), it may be music but it's not a song. That stuck in my brain and I am always thinking about it.

That's it.. It's not rocket science. From here on it's production.

scavenger8 · Post by **scavenger8** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 3:36 am

yellowfever wrote:
Max Headroom wrote:Although I almost always aim for metal, I invariably end up with something that sounds like 80's pop or a lullaby.
Classic quote

As for me - copy and paste a kick wav file to a 4/4 beat, open up a synth, select arp, hold down a note, compress and limit to buggery, whack it on a cd. Done. MTV here I come. No?

There is that side of though. spend houres/days working on a project and end up chucking it out.then a couple days later 5 minutes before i gotta go to work throw some simple thing togeather that comes out great.thing was before i had a computer this stuff would end up lost.or i hear Compositions by people that are Technically Brilliant but they dont really move me.i try to avoid falling into a cycle that im subconciousely trying to prove myself or justify what im doing.trying to get in tune with using my Instincts is what i know is best but i guess its all togeather part of the process really.

Audio Gnostic · Post by **Audio Gnostic** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 3:43 am

i usually start by setting up a full instruments loop of abotu 8-16 bars, usually the chorus, then i copy that down the whole song, then i change and erase parts from there. like change parts for breaks, verses, etc, and delete stuff.

dirty oscillators · Post by **dirty oscillators** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 4:21 pm

i'd say a perfect day would consist of: dark clouds and periodic rain, a big bag of purple kush, and a 4 pack of la fin du monde. and the neighbors wouldn't be home of course.

timokc · Post by **timokc** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:12 pm

I usually start with a piano or guitar track and a melody. I like to use an oboe sound for the melody... seems like it can be pretty expressive. Once I've got an idea for a beginning, middle, and end, then I start to flesh it out with everything else.

Rellik · Post by **Rellik** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 5:13 am

whyterabbyt wrote:alot of stuff

I'll be honest, I didn't totally get all of that. But here's where IMO you're wrong: "planning" is in and of itself an iterative process. It just happens in the mind. You establish goals, brainstorm ways to move forward, evaluate, select, repeat, and possibly change your goals. The way I see it, all creativity functions this way

except in improv the goals are more fluid and may be subtle.

Here's how I compose:

Step 1: I come up with a goal. Do I just want to expand on this interesting melody or texture? To tell a story? To convey a mood? To create a whole other world of sound? To make people dance? To confuse people? To excite?

Step 2: Then I get right to the heart of it, digging deeper and just trying to find something that will indicate it's worth it to keep digging. Keyboard/improv tends to be a big part of this, but more and more I'm trying to move it all into my head - it's still hard for me when I get outside diatonics or have to manage a lot of voices, but it's good exercise.

Step 3: Do I have a kernel of something that I like? Time to envision it as a full piece/track/tune/song/work! How will it play out? What kind of structure will it have? This part's hard... but from here on out it's basically Step 2 over and over again.

oneonezero · Post by **oneonezero** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 5:39 am

music is a set of rules, which can be looked at - and operated with - individually, in order to create the whole.

silenthill2006 · Post by **silenthill2006** » Mon May 11, 2009 12:01 pm

I usually go back to my Music Theory and Composition books. I analyze some songs that I want to imitate. I check out the types of motifs, how they implement the motive (ex. same rhythm, different pitch/simply, etc), and song structure. I also see what key scale or mode they are composing in and base my track around that mode or scale. I look at the most common chord progression (verse, chorus, bridge) and go with that. I fit the chord progression to the scale or mode. I come up with the rhythm for the motif. Then I structure out what I want to do with the motif in other bars (ex. same rhythm, different pitch/simply, etc). Then I flesh the motif out to a melody and fit it with the chord progression. I like to have as much structure as possible. I work better coming up with a chord progression first, then a melody. But I usually have the motif in mind already.

kelvyn · Post by **kelvyn** » Mon May 11, 2009 12:18 pm

I just don't think... then after something has materialized I think a lot. Difference or repetition? Serendipity or archness? I saw the Beatles anthology on the BBC a while ago and was impressed how the ideas would appear and then George Martin would knock it into shape together with them. But they always seemed to be reaching for a place just outside of themselves, grasping at something intangible and new. Its an interesting topic. K

popmoney · Post by **popmoney** » Mon May 11, 2009 12:37 pm

awesome-force wrote:I mostly put on James Cameron's Aliens with the directors comentary track on quietly in the back ground, strip down to my boxers, put on some dragons blood flavored insense, grab a couple of beers, then sit there and wonder how I'm going to pay for the next vst effect that I NEED before I can continue working on any of my colection of halve finished songs... mostly

For composers: Share how *you* work. Process, Habits, Quirks

For composers: Share how you work. Process, Habits, Quirks