Geeezzz...depressed...

[t4mh]

Man, I listen to the A LAs for the LUSH UNDERSCORE listing and I'm like, there is no way. What I do is SO lame in comparison. I honestly wonder if I have the creativity in me to come up with anything even close to par with these composers. I've always thought of myself as a creative person but I'm not sure how to build up a game to bring. The hell of it is, this is exactly the stuff I've always "thought" I could do...

I don't think it has anything to do with technology, the quality of a VST or DAW or anything like that, or knowledge of orchestration, or knowledge of your libraries, though those things undoubtedly help. It ultimately comes down to being all keystrokes on a computer or keyboard or some other instrument. In my mind, way beyond writing lyrics for a song, mainly, a person has to be able to dream this stuff up, pure a$$ed art. I guess if you can't get on the stage with the big boys you'd better hang it up.

wow, I am big time down this morning
Keith

[allends]

Keith,

I'll just toss to you my observation that when I listen to my own very best material after a long time away from it, I sometimes catch myself wishing I could be that good! My point isn't to brag . . . what I'm saying is, the magic that enters into our best tracks transcends our limitations as artists. If you give the music permission to flow through you on its own while you compose, the outcome will pleasantly surprise you!

Become the messenger and you'll never doubt your music again!

Peace,
Allen

[hummingbird]

hey we have all been there (almost daily, sometimes) but... don't give up. Of course we must listen to the 'a la's' as that is part of our job. And then... begin to work, letting go of the outcome, devising your main line and counterpoint.

A suggestion to help with the lushness: double up the lines by playing the same notes on a different instrument, perhaps in that octave or one above/below.

In addition, I would be sure to use different articulations of the instrument used for one line.

So in the end perhaps you have 3 articulations of say, strings, playing a line, with a flute playing the same notes an octave above, and a deeper instrument playing the same notes an octave below.

Love to hear anything you come up with
cheers
H

[mazz]

Sometimes lush isn't necessarily the amount of sound, but the amount of space. The right spacing of lines and instruments will often create a lush sound with 3 or 4 notes. It's a lot about taking a triadic conception and broadening it out. For instance take a C major chord and spread it out over an octave and a half, and then when you change to an F chord, leave the C in the bass. Another strategy for lushness is to move triads over a pedal tone. Great tension can be achieved by playing Ab and Db triads over a C pedal, for instance. The sound will be lush but will have some nice "rubs" in it that will make it sound more dramatic. Also, holding certain notes through chord changes will make suspensions above and beyond the usual (and sometimes very pedestrian) suspended 4th.

I'm a big advocate of thinking modally instead of tonally. Basically that means that you could invent your own mode based on C, for instance. Maybe some combination of minor and phrygian. Then you lay out your diatonic chords (chords built on each scale tone) and now you know the territory. Then you invent melodies based on the mode and try to harmonize them using the notes from them mode. You can decide how constrained or not you want to be to the mode. You can also stay rooted in the C tonality and shift the modality.

Having strategies like this in your back pocket take a lot of the stress off of having to be "creative", because you can use them to jump start the process. IMO, inspiration is basically having a good idea or a "brief" (like a listing) and then drawing upon the resources of your craft to make that idea come to life. Waiting for inspiration is a complete waste of time, IMO, because I believe that the river of creativity is always flowing and the trick is to show up with a towel and a bathing suit and jump in.

What does that have to do with "lush instrumentals"? I guess basically how can you get unstuck and get to work on them. Don't focus on what you don't have, focus on what you already know and use that to get started.

You can do it!

Mazz

[t4mh]

Thanks for the comments all! I just need to pick myself up, dust off and get with it. Hell of it is I haven't written, submitted and been returned so that I could have something to feel depressed about. I'm doin' it to myself and as I always say, the biggest thing I have to get past is my own stupidity.

I agree that waiting for inspiration is a waste of time. Maybe I didn't make myself clear. Creative people have ideas and I have them also. The difference I guess is in the quality of the idea. The depth and scope of an idea. Kinda separates the men from the boys. But, I can get behind the idea that you go with what you know and work from there. I can do that. Maybe, just maybe, the A LAs haven't cornered the market on good ideas and there's a few left for me.

Hammer time

Thanks again
Keith

[mazz]

Actually I have to disagree with you on the "quality of ideas" statement. IMO, Ideas are a dime a dozen, it's the craft and creativity applied to the ideas that separate the great results from the not so great results.

That being said, the practice of creativity every day magnetizes the creator (or maybe sensitizes is a better word) towards an ability to more effectively filter ideas. I think there comes a point where it becomes easier to recognize viable ideas in the sea of just plain old every day ideas, and that takes practice. Sometimes in the heat of the moment with a deadline looming, it's pure craft that needs to be employed to an idea to whip it into shape, sometimes the idea can be left to simmer below the surface until it's ready to be led to the next level.

OK, sorry for the philosophical veering! It's all good. Go for it!!

Mazz

[jazzstan]

Related thought... the "Science News" magazine had a recent issue devoted to Music and the Brain. A bunch of great articles, and how music hits so many areas in the lymbic system. Got me thinking how I often seem lead with my left-brain about the mechanics of creating music, and not enough about the feeling of it. Add it to the list of things to work on!

[davewalton]

Man, I listen to the A LAs for the LUSH UNDERSCORE listing and I'm like, there is no way. What I do is SO lame in comparison. I honestly wonder if I have the creativity in me to come up with anything even close to par with these composers.

Hi Keith,

When I first got a good orchestral package (essential), I started by doing *very* short compositions (like 10 sec long). The idea was to make whatever I did (even just 10 seconds) sound as good as possible. I used these little compositions to experiment with various articulations (like horn crescendos, rips and other stuff). It also helped me get out of "playing chords" and into dividing my music up into various orchestral sections, having one section start a phrase and another section ending that phrase, having sections filling in just a few notes to complete an idea, etc.

As an example, here's something I did as one of the first experiments with EWQL Gold (back in 2005)...

http://www.DaveWaltonMusic.com/MyMusic/ ... feated.mp3

I don't have it anymore but there were several pieces I did, much simpler with just strings and horns. Anyway, start small... you'll be thrilled with a cool 10 second piece and that leads on to bigger and better things.

Dave

[t4mh]

Hi Stan

You've got it exactly what I'm struggling with and what I believe this particular listing is all about along with the execution and production of the track. I just think its beyond me at the moment. I'm just trying to be realistic about it and the realizing that I'm not there is at first depressing but not really when you think more about it. Its a journey and we're all at different places in our development. But the good news is there is always room to expand your horizons.

Good Luck
Keith

[t4mh]

Hi Dave!

As always you've got great advice! I enjoyed the listen and see exactly what you mean by trying to get everything to sound real by small experiments. While I wouldn't say I'm an expert yet I will say that I have, over the past couple of months, followed this same line of reasoning and have worked to be knowledgeable of the articulations in my software and I have to admit I have a growing catalog of unfinished but good sounding ideas.

My problem, I think, is that this particular listing asks for thought way beyond a knowledge of articulations and small ideas. Rather, it asks for depth of composition that I am as yet unprepared for, or at least thats what I get from the A LAs. So far, my one finished attempt is unfocused and contains a collection of small bits instead of making a complete statement. So meaningful composition is obviously the direction my concentration really needs to go at this point.

As Mazz advises, you go with what you know. I agree. It is apparent to me now that I just need to know something more and I have to push forward to get there. None of us can really do that for each other. We can only offer advice, encouragement and when necessary a dose of reality check for each other. I appreciate the time you guys take to do exactly that, right here!

Good Luck!
Keith