I find it fairly easy to write a sentence, a paragraph or even an essay. Heck, given enough time I can manage it in reasonable Italian, or Latin.
For the last couple of months much effort has been expended to further my understanding of the basic rules of composing music. I already have a reasonable grounding in the Theory, and I’ve been playing various instruments for years. In conjunction with all this theory there has been sonic experiments with the Moog Synths, and I learned a whole load of new stuff about Analogue sound design. I honestly thought that I could devour half a dozen books, watch a few YouTube videos and “Bam” Mooglight Sonata would pour out of my head, and pop into reality….
Electronic Music has always appealed to me, and I’m paying close attention to the likes of Vangelis and Jean Michelle Jarre, but also seeking inspiration from the likes of Basto, who has produced some remarkably powerful and uplifting melodies. All this to fuel my intense desire to create something beautiful…
Turns out, its not as easy as that, and to be honest, this is just fine with me. Hard tasks are worth sticking with. I am making some progress, snippets of original music have been teasing their way out of my over worked Neural Pathways and into the various Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) that are steadily filling up my Mac. Speaking of DAWs I’ve developed a real fondness for Reason 10, a package I had not encountered before, that I am currently using in Demo mode for the next 12 days.
Its definitely a struggle to maintain my composure sometimes, but when I am focused, I can easily loose two hours just playing around with arpeggiating one chord progression, and then tweaking the sound to suit..I don’t think I have ever been more intent on grasping the intricacies of Music. Not even when I was belting out cheesy tunes on a Tenor Horn in the local Brass Band.
In other news, the Theremin is still here, and not forgotten, and neither is my ambition to “Busk in Busselton” playing Christmas songs on the unusual instrument in the baking Summer Sun is going to be an interesting experience.
In a recent session with my amazing counsellor, I was explaining my personal disappointment at not yet having composed a memorable Symphony. She rolled her eyes, and asked what was stopping me, and urged me to get started… “What will you call it ?” She asked…
This was an easy question to answer.. “It will be Symphony #1 of course ! and probably in Db minor.”
Why Db minor ? because like much of my work at the moment, it’s Purely Theoretical 🙂
Watch this space….
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