HankTheSpankTankJankerson

No disrespect whatsoever to @timaeus222 but the opposite is true for me - when I am not feeling "inspired" about an arrangement or a composition, I put it down. That being said, I've heard that Chuck Close is credited with saying "Inspiration is for amateurs," which I disagree with especially because I think his stuff is (on the surface) the same thing over and over again. I recently finished 10 or so tracks for an indie game, and I flat out DIDN'T meet deadlines because I wasn't feeling inspired about some of the tracks. They weren't saying what I wanted them to say! So @DarkEco to your original question, I would advise you to first master your primary instrument, and I mean strive for professional level playing. Most of the composers I have played have had a big impact on me and my arranging. We are all of us product of our influences. Cement to yourself who you want to emulate, because everyone emulates someone. Bach got his hands on some of Vivaldi's orchestral scores and came up with the Brandenburg Concerti because he took apart Vivaldi's introductory phrase structure and reconfigured it like legos into something he loved even more. He walked many many miles round trip so he could go listen to Buxtehude play organ, which impacted the rest of his fugal composition. If your influences are your contemporaries, that's perfectly fine too! Rush cites Led Zeppelin as a HUGE influence, and they were playing/touring at the same time. I think Neil Peart said in an interview that for a couple years in Rush's early performing, they sounded like a Led Zep ripoff band. They found their own voice eventually, of course. Led Zep, their biggest influence was blues form! If you aren't a formally trained musician, that's perfectly fine. Just cover the music that you love - don't play the same stuff all the time, and internalize the components that you love. Have no fear in incorporating your influences into your compositions. It creates meaning. Jazzers are advised and taught to transcribe solos from the greats on their instruments (and NOT their instruments).

WIP coming soon, baby. Its ready for a bounce.

Sign me up!

I will be there.

Unfortunate that PS Online episodes 1 & 2 would not be covered, as the music is... pretty compelling...

Yeah dude. Sent you one. If you need more examples of my work, let me know - it is mostly on my band's soundcloud, though.

Bumping - please feel free to contact me if you need any instrumental work done on your tracks!

Well, that only pertains to my arrangement of Meteo for the album. HOWEVER, in the original, the "da-ga-da, DA" accents happen on beat three of each measure (all 3/4 meter), which threw me off. It took me a couple listens to figure it out, so I decided to play on it, which gave birth to the current WIP that you have. In my WIP, which I can't really link here (very sorry), I keep the A sections in 4+3, with the final bars of it in 5. The B section is in 5+6 (so I actually compressed the melody by 1 beat). I have nearly decided that the C section will be in straight, easy 4/4. Soooo thats a rough metric breakdown of my WIP, I guess. Its both easier and harder to arrange source material that has static harmony throughout whole sections. I like playing with time and groove, but it takes a lot for me to inject more creativity on top of that, which unfortunately shows my hand in terms of arranging. In terms of key changes - I was INCORRECT in my last post What actually happens is, lets say the tune starts out in E minor. It modulates to EITHER Eb Major, OR Ab Lydian (those two have the same collection of pitches). If it goes to Eb Major, then the chord changes during the B section are ||: IV - V - IV - V :|| or "AbMajor - BbMajor" If it goes to Ab Lydian (has a raised 4th scale degree), then the chord changes are ||: I - II - I - II :|| or "AbMajor - BbMajor" In either case, the chords are completely diatonic which is pretty cool. And truth be told, I REALLY would like a second opinion on that analysis.

Yo man, in my arranging of Meteo, check this out - the B section modulates to a Lydian bII key signature. So the tonic moves up a half-step and raises the new 4th scale degree.

This shit has 12 pages of content to read through...............................

As a multiple woodwind specialist, I know I can't be amazing at everything unless I practice everything right in a row. So, I need to be able to play Flute, then Sax, then Clarinet all in a row and IN TUNE dear god help me. In a recording environment, I just want to go for one at a time if it aint too much trouble, then work out kinks from there. Also, I tend to write stuff that avoids my secondaries if possible. I do enjoy playing flute and clarinet, but let me tell you, you can't master everything. Actually, I can say that my woodwind playing has suffered from my brass playing. AND my classical playing suffers from playing jazz - the reverse is true as well. Strange stuff. What HAS formed a symbiotic relationship is my guitar playing and bass playing combined with my wind instruments. Playing bass has enhanced everything. Its amazing. Let me say, as well, that I think multi-instrumentalist stuff is for the birds, subjectively speaking. We should write for what is on hand and available. According to the world at large, it takes 10,000 hours to be an expert at anything, and even though I have long passed that 10,000 hour mark, I still do not feel like an expert on my primary instrument. Sad truth. I even know my teacher in grad school felt the same way about his playing. There is always something more to perfect. Moral of the story is there is someone out there willing to play *expertly* the thing that you write, and they can let you know if its possible or not. There should be no shame in collaborating with someone.

Anybody got that WIP Spreadsheet link? I want to hear some tracks! Did anyone get a chance to listen to and criticize the construction of my take on Meteo yet? It has to get recorded, but gimme some criticism on form and harmony and melody and pacing and anything else you want!

I have to say, I just learned the McRib is made out of yoga mats, but I don't care, I still want to try it.

I had no idea...

Name your price. JK just message me and we can help one another.