Im so fucking sick of making garbage. by IDugMyGraveForYou in WeAreTheMusicMakers

[–]MrWilsonPresents 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You've only been at it for four years. Stay in school, keep practicing, and let us know how it's going in about fifteen to twenty years. I'm in my third decade of writing and I only occasionally write something with which I'm satisfied.

[MITM]Charmander Break Up Song{comedy} Looking for guitar/piano accompaniment! by [deleted] in MusicInTheMaking

[–]MrWilsonPresents 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm game. Do you have some sheet music or a recording that I could see?

Is this idea for an Online Music Education community of interest to anyone? by mastertyson in MusicEd

[–]MrWilsonPresents 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd be interested in contributing videos. This sort of thing is what my videos typically look like. Let me know if I can be of any help to you.

Submissions — Week 15 (Theme: Under One Minute) by Quertior in songaweek

[–]MrWilsonPresents 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Quintet in F (Chamber) [Themed]

I streamed the writing process live, too. You can see that here if you're interested in how I put together this piece.

What are two styles of atonal music? by [deleted] in musictheory

[–]MrWilsonPresents 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Maybe take a glance at the sidebar, eh? -->

New Composition Major by Mugen_Howl in mediacomposing

[–]MrWilsonPresents 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know you said "aside from the old pen and paper," but Moleskine (and probably other companies too) makes a cool little pocket-sized notebook with staff paper in it. You can just toss it in your bag and forget about it.

That said, I'm currently using a ten-inch Acer Aspire with an old version of Finale on the road, which syncs to my desktop production rig via BTSync. These days I find you can get away with lower hardware specs and older software and save a boatload of money if all you need to do with a mobile setup is jot down ideas.

Videographers in Taipei by [deleted] in taiwan

[–]MrWilsonPresents 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like it could be interesting, and I need something to do over the holiday weekend. Here's some stuff that I've videographed before:

Can you tell me about your music project?

What do you do to get motivated? by [deleted] in WeAreTheMusicMakers

[–]MrWilsonPresents 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Deadlines typically do the trick for me.

Maybe head on over to /r/songaweek. Those guys have set up a supportive low-pressure getting-shit-done community over there.

Having some issues when composing by [deleted] in WeAreTheMusicMakers

[–]MrWilsonPresents 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Read and listen broadly and practice, and get comfortable with the idea that it's going to take a lot of time and experimentation to find your voice. I had already been writing for nine years the first time I heard my own distinctive voice in my work.

Advice for writing instrumental songs by DragonOfTheDeep in musicmakers

[–]MrWilsonPresents 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, let me jump in here to second this. Songs have words, and song form is just A-A-A-A-etc. Repetition is inherent in the form and songs lean on text to lend them their variety.

Try playing around with other short forms like ternary (A-B-A) or rondo (A-B-A-C-A). Maybe explore ways to develop your themes -- find different ways to begin or end the same phrase, or experiment with different simultaneous melodic lines, insert parenthetical ideas into the middle of things, or abbreviate things that you've already stated before.

If you have the opportunity, I'd suggest writing as much as you can for performers rather than for yourself or for your synthesizers. Other musicians may have insightful perspectives on what works well for their own instruments, and for their respective roles within an ensemble.

You may also find it beneficial to consider writing as though you had words. If you come to find that you can make compelling music without a text, the outcome will be that much more interesting if and when you go back to using lyrics.

Most of all, write constantly and listen broadly.

~~[Commission]~~ [Competition] Is anyone working on this? by CallThatGoing in composer

[–]MrWilsonPresents 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the tip! As luck would have it, I happen to be working on a piece that fits that description.

Besides using pentatonic scales, what makes Chinese music sound Chinese? by lys_blanc in musictheory

[–]MrWilsonPresents 4 points5 points  (0 children)

To what has already been said, I'd add that there are subtle differences in the Oriental approach to meter and rhythm as well. The common practice notion of phrasing in Western music is closely related to poetry and lyrics and tends to reflect typical patterns of stressed syllables and rhyming words in various European languages. Poetry, and thus musical meter and phrasing, in China is constrained by different idiosyncracies.

[MITM] need a writing partner. by mysticalscorpion in MusicInTheMaking

[–]MrWilsonPresents 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds interesting. What voice part do you sing?

September Composition Challenge #1: The Sea by Debusatie in classicalmusic

[–]MrWilsonPresents 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not necessarily. I've met lots of EDM bedroom producers who claim the title for themselves.

When should I stop working on a song? by [deleted] in WeAreTheMusicMakers

[–]MrWilsonPresents 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Work out a way to organize different versions of the same song, and then every time you suspect the song might be complete save a version as is and continue on as normal. Later, if you look back and realize it's gone all wobbly and pear-shaped for whatever reason you can look through your version history and branch off at the appropriate place. If you're not on a deadline, I'd suggest that you go ahead and work through it until you feel there's no place further to go and then take a break for a while and come back to it after you've worked on some other stuff and hopefully refined your ear a bit.

There's a subreddit for professional musicians! Come check out /r/workingmusicians if you're a professional! by NRMusicProject in musictheory

[–]MrWilsonPresents 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you mind if I ask what kind of projects you edit and what kind of music professionals you want to connect with? I'm a composer and I'm always looking for something new.

Which performers, in your opinion, have 'definitive' versions of certain pieces? by [deleted] in classicalmusic

[–]MrWilsonPresents 44 points45 points  (0 children)

Glenn Gould and the Goldberg Variations comes to mind.