Quora user Jennifer Ha asked me: What is your process of composing music? She goes on:
For me I have to wait for the right inspiration given to me very irregularly. But it seems others can compose with chords deliberately. How do you compose, and do you feel proud of it all the times (i.e. know you couldn’t have done better)?
I have two methods of composition: improvisation and collage. I use the computer for both. At the moment, my software of choice is Ableton Live. Before that I mostly used Pro Tools and Reason. It’s been a long time since I “composed” something on a piece of paper (except for music school assignments.)
I like to start with a rhythmic framework, a programmed beat or a sampled drum loop. Then I plug in an instrument — guitar, harmonica, a MIDI keyboard, whatever — and record some jamming. I listen back to what I recorded, looking for the parts that work best, and edit them down to a “highlight reel.” The composition emerges out of copying and pasting parts of the edited jam into a structure. This method never fails me, and it usually goes fast. Here are examples:
I’m a terrible keyboard player, so a lot of the time it’s easier for me to work out ideas in MIDI by just drawing the notes in with the mouse. I try not to worry too hard about scales and chords when I do this; I just add and remove notes by trial and error until it sounds good.
I also really enjoy creating new music from existing material by other people. Lately I’ve been recording other people improvising on their instruments and then editing their playing into a shape that appeals to me. And for many years, I’ve been making new music by sampling and remixing. Often the end results bears little resemblance to the source material.
https://soundcloud.com/ethanhein/1930s-synth
The collage method applies if I’m writing a more conventional “song” rather than creating electronic music. In the past, when I’ve written jazz, rock or country tunes, they end up being stitched together from little fragments of other tunes that I like.
Improvisation and composition are really the same act; improvisation really just very fast composition. I’ve spent many years studying and playing improvisation-oriented music: jazz, funk, rock, country, hip-hop, etc. Being well-practiced as an improviser makes composition a heck of a lot easier. I recommend it.
You mention in your question details that you wait for inspiration to strike you. I recommend not doing that. Make it a habit to write some music every day, whether you’re in the mood or not. Writing music is a skill like any other — you get better if you practice. The stuff you crank out every day doesn’t have to be good, you just have to push it through to completion. It’s helpful to have external pressures to motivate you. Several of the pieces I linked above were prompted by the Disquiet Junto, an online community I belong to. Every week, the group leader emails out an assignment, and you have a few days to complete it and post it on the web. I recommend joining.
Having a community of listeners is very important. You are the worst judge of your own material. The pieces that I like the best are not necessarily the ones other people respond to. Meanwhile, sometimes people go nuts for something I tossed off in an hour without really thinking about it. You never know. That’s why you need to just keep making music and sharing it with anyone who will listen. Put up links to stuff you’ve written and let us check it out!
Update: hear my newest batch of original material with my band Tabla Breakbeat Science.
https://soundcloud.com/ethanhein/sets/tabla-breakbeat-science