Composing For A Reason

[AngelCityOutlaw]

I was thinking about this today:

These days, I find that I can't bring myself to write original material unless I have picture, video, lyrics or something like that to put music too. Years ago, whenever I'd learn some new music theory concept, I wrote music for the sake of putting that theory into practice and making something that didn't suck.

Do you find that you need some sort of motivation to compose music, or can you just sit down and do it without any existing audio/visual inspiration? Or do we all subconsciously compose music that is inspired by something else and we just don't realize it?

Share thy thoughts.

[ectogemia]

Both, but I do it more often without any pre-existing inspiration. But in almost every case, what actually inspires the music to come out is finding a sound I think is really cool, dragging it into the playlist or sequencer, and then rolling with it. In fact, almost all my music has a single preset synth patch in it -- the very first sound I write with in a track -- and then I usually make the rest of the sounds by hand around it. I just need that little seed idea to get the juices flowing.

All that being said, the tunes which are the most MEANINGFUL to me as an artist are those which were inspired by real events or troubles in my life. That Unsurefooted track on my soundcloud is about a time I just about died, and I get chills and have good/bad memories about it every time I hear it, even though it's not my best track.

[Radiowar]

personally i like to think of it more like i approach every piece with a question: what would happen if i did [x] - in a very general way. put another way, i had a teacher who described inspiration not as something that arrived to you in a flash, but something that arose out of some process already in motion.

i have always found that the music i make which is most coherent to me was not written with any prescribed "reason" or "meaning". it's actually something i struggle with a lot, believing that if there is an idea which is real to me it will manifest itself in the music whether i will it or not, and trusting that i do not need to try to adjust or direct my ideas toward something which i perceive as being better - that's just insecurity.

[Melodious Punk]

I like working with other musicians, I always write music to be played by people I know and appreciate, including myself. 'nuff said.

[ectogemia]

i do not need to try to adjust or direct my ideas toward something which i perceive as being better - that's just insecurity.

Ladies and gentleman, the most smartest man in the universe. Just fucking write music. Don't think. It's the key to productivity and satisfaction.

[Frederic Petitpas]

When writing original material, I always have something behind my head somehow.. not on purpose but generally, those are the one I keep (riffs/melodies) or devellop into a full song. I guess when I listen back later it has some kind of soul to it. But it's not something I care about, I don't try to find a reason if there's none but I think melodies often bring back thoughts and it snowballs.