Comment

Comment by Pamela Soria Sánchez on April 25, 2012 at 9:51pm

Hi!

@Jordan, you mentioned earlier that you have written some songs, do they have a melody? I think lyrics are a great starting point to composing. It gives you a lot of tools to work with -mood, feelings, intention-. My suggestion besides the one by @Aaron -recording yoursefl reading your lyrics- is not being scared or discouraged by creating a melody, specially if you want to add one to your lyrics!! I would also suggest to experiment with your voice. How? Well, find a place you feel absolutely comfortable in -your room, the shower, etc- and hear your voice, sing whatever you want to, any melody without concerning about being tuned. Approach melody-making in a friendly way and maybe a tune might come out. I hope this makes sense or helps, if not...well I'll think of something else!

Comment by Aaron Siegel on April 25, 2012 at 2:52pm

@Jordan.  Have you ever recorded yourself reading your lyrics?  I would be really interested to hear what they sound like.  My sense is, since you seem very musical, that your lyrics will have their own innate musicality.  You could start there with your melody.  I always find it easiest to work with something that you have committed paper or a recording. Then your materials are right there in front of you, in the physical world. So, post a video of your reading of your lyrics.  We can go from there!

Comment by Jordan Nelson on April 25, 2012 at 2:41pm

@Aaron I do not play any instruments so I usually start with lyrics and then melody but what throws me off is the melody. I can't envision the melody in my head.

Comment by Aaron Siegel on April 25, 2012 at 1:18pm

Younes, I really like your piece.  I especially appreciate how you orchestrate each section a little differently.  The contrast between the strings, flute and piano is striking.  Going back and forth as you have creates an excitement and energy.  I can't tell what is going to happen next!  Did you create that melody yourself?   It sounds like a folk song, though I don't know which one.  Congratulations and good luck when you get a performance together!

Comment by Aaron Siegel on April 25, 2012 at 1:14pm

@Jordan, You say you have "always liked writing songs."  Where do usually write?  What instruments do you play?  Do you start with the lyrics first or the melody?  I would love to hear some of your music. 

Just to give you a sense of what my music is like, here is a little video I put together...

Comment by Jonathon Hampton on April 25, 2012 at 11:47am

@Kelsey: I love the rubato feel of your piece. I think you can use even more sustain pedal. Despite that, I could use more sense of a pulse. One of the keys to writing a piece that anyone can sing along to is having a pulse throughout that can be felt without being harshly articulated. So I hear your pieces as being in ABA form. In the A section, at the points where the accompaniment stops, be sure to count the rests in time. Giving that understated feeling of knowing when to come back in is important for the listener. Same thing goes for the transition to the B section. It felt like it came one or two beats early. Try conducting the beats in 4/4 time. You'll see that it's pretty hard to feel a continual pulse. This is demonstrated really well in Amel Larrieux's song "Make Me Whole", embedded below. Your styles feel similar, so I think she might be a good model for you. Check it out:

Comment by Jordan Nelson on April 24, 2012 at 10:47pm

Hello everyone! Well, I most certainly do not consider myself a composer but I've always liked writing songs (even if they're not that good). I hope to be better! Does anyone have any tips?

Comment by Kelsey Andridge on April 23, 2012 at 4:53pm

Hi everyone! So I've never really thought of myself as a "composer". But for fun I do enjoy writing songs for myself so I guess that would make me a composer in a sense. Here is mys ong entitled "Fly Away". I wrote this last year when I was dealing with tough decisions about moving away to college and truely starting my life in the big bad world of music performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNVE82CQgNI

Comment by Younes Bahri on April 11, 2012 at 6:13pm

Hello!
I'm glad to share with you one of my pieces, written for contemporary band, I'll probably perform it in few weeks, so I'd really like to know what do you think about it. Your comments, remarks and critics.
Thank you :)

Comment by Yasmin de Soiza on March 30, 2012 at 3:48pm

David Byrne (Talking Heads) recently discussed his recent trip to London and how he recorded the city sounds of London, which he then turned into a musical piece. Thought you might find this interesting as this is one of the composing methods that Paola has discussed using in her project.

Listen to his song and read his story below!

London's tempo is 122.86 beats per minute.

I brought along some field recording gear to use while I was staying in the lovely pod/room/boat. I went out during the day and recorded sounds that I thought might be useful and evocative. It turned out that most of the sounds—even the church organ in Southwark Cathedral—seemed to converge around a common rhythm. It's a bit too good to be true—that every large city should have its own rhythm, but here it is. I let the sounds dictate the groove, the tempo, and then I simply played along.

Here are where the sounds come from:

Strawberry seller: Borough Market
Train: Southwark
Woman Evangelist: Spitalfields Market
Organ: Southwark Cathedral
Jackhammer: near Waterloo
Footsteps: mine, embankment
Thames waves: near Surrey water

The videos are from all over. I took lots of photos around town while walking about, but I felt that moving images complemented London's groove a little better.

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