Try a different composing workflow - Musical Creativity 35

Order

Have you thought about how you compose? Not which chords, but the order in which you approach composing?

My experience

I use a few different workflows, depending on what I'm aiming to produce. I change my approach if there's a video to sync to or if I need to incorporate other musicians and so on. I'm not saying that any one of the approaches is the correct approach for everyone, but I do what works for me.

Write first or play first

The main difference is in how I start. For some I

  • compose the music inside my head, then use instruments to recreate what I'd already envisaged,
  • create while playing the instrument
  • set-up a sequence of drums or bass and play to that

There are advantages and disadvantages to all of them. If I'm being honest, I use a mixture of all of them in almost every composition. It's how I start that counts.

Scenarios

Here are a few of the different scenarios I find myself in:

  1. Sync to video soundtrack
  2. Creating a library track
  3. Creating a bespoke track
  4. Creating a track in a new style
  5. Extending an existing idea
  6. Challenge - usually something I've never done before

Something like sync to video, I'll play first while watching the video. Sometimes what I play will make me think further and I'll switch to composing mentally before recording that part.

Why the difference?

I get different results depending on how I set out. With that in mind, I force myself to swap how I start to ensure that I get a variety of results. The sound quality is of an equal level with consistent production values no matter how I start, but it sounds different. Some approaches require an additional step for re-recording, e.g. if I've played first, then want to record it better.

Suggestions

Try starting from a different point.

  • Start with composing in your head. How far do you get?
  • Start with a video, try www.archive.org for sample videos. You can find public domain videos there if you look
  • Focus on a different part of the video, e.g. the background, the emotions of a secondary character
  • Start with a sequence of drumloops
  • Start collaborating
  • Start with a random bass line

I'll go into more detail about my normal workflows in a later article



Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.