Creativity and Composition Archive
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The Beatles & active listening; an early lesson from “You Won’t See Me”
The Beatles’s song, “You Won’t See Me,” teaches what is meant by active listening.
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Using literature’s hero myth as a blueprint for music
Borrowing from literature’s hero myth has been a fruitful way for composing since Beethoven’s time. Here are some different ways to think about it.
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“Why Do You Compose?” a response to Rob Deemer
Rob Deemer, a composer and conductor, recently posed this question on New Music Box, “Why do you compose?” That’s a pointed way of asking some questions I’ve considered for a…
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Another Lee Hoiby quote
American composer Lee Hoiby passed away in late March. Since I had previously posted a great quote by him and am a fan of his vocal works, his obituary in…
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Black Swan’s composition lesson Part 2
To recap Part 1 of my reactions to the film Black Swan, I posed the question of: …how to rectify our training with our wild-card penchant for creativity? Artists anywhere will…
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Black Swan’s composition lesson Part 1
I recently saw the movie Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman (in the role of a lifetime?) and Mila Kunis. It is nominally about ballet, and perhaps a bit (or a…
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Once “Lost”, How to be Found?
I love this article written by Carlton Cuse, one of the show runners of my favorite television show of the last decade, “Lost.” In this article he faces a crisis…
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Renée Fleming wants to rock and roll
The Kennedy Center Honors were broadcast on tv recently. This year the honorees were Bill T. Jones, Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Herman, Merle Haggard, and Paul McCartney. (Notice that three of…
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First Question
Sometimes, when I start a new piece, within the first few measures or so, I’ll stop and ask myself, “What do I want out of this piece?”
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Sure, you can compose…
…but can you hear? I thought of that as I read the October 14, 2010 issue of…
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Children Choose Music
This article by Joseph Plambeck is about how retailers such as Best Buy are making up for the loss of CD sales by offering musical instruments for sale. As such,…
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On Audio Fidelity
Can you remember the first time you heard a live performance of a symphony that you love? I recall hearing the Beethoven Ninth for the first time in a live concert. I was in my last year of high school and heard it performed by the Honolulu Symphony. It was…
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A Quick and Easy Way to Vary your Music
Within iTunes or any audio file, it’s possible to tweak the equalization of the playback. This means boosting the bass or raising the treble. Every piece will be a little…
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Who said it‚ and when?
Here’s an interesting quote from a leader of music conservatories about the state of higher music education: ‚ÄúRight now, when we need musical leaders in every community, we are concerned…
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The song as a (gendered) script
Have you spent time browsing around ASCAP’s website? Some interesting things buried there. For instance, here’s Murphy’s Laws of Songwriting, including this bit about aiming your songs especially to an…
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How to be a composer
Here’s something I’ve never thought to do until just now. Head over to Google and search“how to be a composer.” That might fill up an afternoon!
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The CD as music
It’s audition time at music conservatories yet again. I thought I would share something that happens with a lot of frequency, and it’s got me thinking. Someone will come around…
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When Anything Goes, What Has Merit?
An important article (link below) by Anthony Tommasini in the 14 Feb 2010 New York Times asserts that for both composers and performers, the old “dogma” has been discarded and…
