On Apr 10, 2005, at 4:00 PM, Bob Florence wrote:
Are there any books concerning composing and arranging that cover the spiritual and inspirational aspect. I am always interested in the way other writers get there music off of the "launching pad". I not concerned about what harmonies to use or what instruments to combine. I find it so fascinating to know what another goes through in the creative process.
Hi, Bob. Your question implies that composing and arranging do, in fact, have spiritual and inspirational aspects, and I'm not at all sure that's true, at least not for everyone and not all the time. It is a very 19th century and a very Romantic assumption, but I tend to favor Stravinsky's instructions: Set aside a definite time every day for composition, go into your studio at that time, and compose!
I suspect that the composers who do feel a spiritual aspect to their work are going to be the ones who are spiritual outside of their composing, and I also suspect that those who wait for inspiration are not working musicians who have to deal with deadlines.
For whatever it's worth, I often get my most creative ideas, sometimes just in hints and sometimes rather complete, when I'm showering in the morning. Maybe it's just that that's when I actually wake up. When I was actively arranging, certainly every week and sometimes every day, I did my best work when I was most rested and the ideas seemed to flow easily. I reserved late night sessions for copying parts. (Remember pen and ink, anyone?!!) But when deadlines loomed, I just sat down and did it, making the best decisions I could and working as quickly as I could. That comes from a lifetime of doing it and having made some decisions over and over so I no longer agonized over them. And I will say that I've done some of my best work when facing deadlines.
John
-- John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
