Symphony of Creation: Understanding What It Takes To Compose

We listeners do not appreciate composers during their own lifetime. Search the web for your favorite composer who is no longer alive. See if their works took decades to be recognized.

Understanding Composition

Gustav Mahler was born on July 7, so I’ve been thinking about his compositions. During his lifetime, many thought of him as more of a conductor than as a composer. Since his death, his symphonies and songs have gained significant popularity. We, due to our biases, are even more likely to overlook the works of female composers. Many women composers never receive the accolades they deserve.

Besides prejudice, I’m sure there are many other reasons that people don’t hear and appreciate composers. One of those reasons is that we don’t understand the creative process.

I could never cover the many aspects or approaches to composing music. So, I will share with you from my own experience. Thanks for coming along in this voyage of discovery.

Compose Yourself

The beginning of composing is an inspiration. These take many forms. Perhaps I hear the sound of a waterfall and within that sound a melody forms. Or I may have a more direct connection to the theme running in my brain because I just attended a concert.

As a pianist, I frequently start the next step in the musical process by playing chords or melodies on the piano. I’ve already heard something in my head, so this is like a translation step: seeing how close I can come to what I’ve heard inside.

Themes

When composing or improvising, I think of the elements of what I’m creating as “themes“. These can take the form of a melody, a repeated pattern, a chord sequence, or even an intention. These intentions often drive the creative process more than the actual notes or even melodies.

With a few melodies and chords in my treasure chest, I begin to arrange the piece. Selecting the instruments and what parts they will play is the core of arranging. Dynamics, style, structure, and tempo are all a part of this as well.

Instrumentation is a process that I get a big kick out of. In these times, the choices are limitless. Anything that can be created with a synthesizer or recorded with a microphone can be one of the instruments. Whether it ends up being a solo instrument or a full orchestra, this is part of the joy of composing.

Fully Composed

Arranging and recording are usually the same step in my composing process. This is easy because the instruments are in the same tools on the computer that I use to record. And, of course, all of the tracks recorded with a microphone are together with these as well.

Once I can convince myself to stop tweaking the arrangement and the recording, I prepare the final version for whoever will listen to it. I’m truly grateful if you are one of those people listening.

The featured photo (white piano with broken keys) is by vargazs.