comments on composition

I have composed many tunes, and in many different ways. For example,
my tune "Mysteries" (on "Acoustic Stick") was composed in 1979, when I
was studying 12 tone serialism. I came up with a 12 tone melodic line,
than found chords to fit the line, totally by ear...I just messed around
until it felt right. Then, years later, I put it into 19 tone eq...now
it's finished. Another tune, "Microseconds," in 34 eq, was a piece of
cake...I got Larry Hanson's 34 tone Telecaster bass in the mail, opened
it up and started playing it. Within 5 minutes, the bassline of the
piece appeared...with a bit of shaping, it was all done, real quick. Of
course, the guitar solo was another piece of work, but I improvised that
at the recording session, with a bare minimum of practice.
My tune "Breakfast Squids" took 25 years to write...I had the title
(there's a story) many years ago, and never forgot it...then, somehow,
several years after I began playing 19, the rhythms and melody showed
up, and I said "that's it!" because it was...the title suggested
everything else. "From the West" began as a scale in 34...it took me
about a month to put this scale together...after that, many months of
practicing went into finding ways to develop the scale melodically.
Ernie Crews and I recorded it live in El Paso, in 1996, and I have NEVER
since played it as well...probably never will. My blues tunes "Birdwalk"
and "667 Shuffle" came from simply stretching my blues chops a bit, to
make them fit 19, and "The Spider" evolved over the years from a 12 tone
piece into a 19 tone serial row. Once I had the row, I transposed it
into various shapes, and there it was. Some of the lines in "The Spider"
are mighty mighty difficult to play.
I could go on...usually, my intellect is present at the compositional
process, but more as a respectful helper than as a main mover. My pieces
seem to come to me from somewhere else...not just my pieces, either, but
often album cover designs and general concepts as well, such as the
decision to do an all acoustic album for my 2nd project. And, that's the
wonderful, mysterious quality of art...it puts me (us?) in touch with
something beyond this teensy self, and lets me peer into other worlds
and places not of this Earth...it's a great ride, and I enjoy it
immensely....Hstick