composition/creativity

I'm enjoying the ideas of everyone commenting on composition...here's
a few more thoughts. As far as composing with/away from an instrument, I
see it as neither an advantage or disadvantage...I think the creative
process manifests itself differently with different folks...to try to
work outside of one's usual framework, of course, is a creative
suggestion in itself. To me, each time I work with a new tuning, I'm
forcing myself out of my usual boxes...but, the way a person pushes
themselves to move forward can be infinite, and what works for one
composer may be totally irrelevant to another. Since I crave the
unknown, that in itself is a great motivator for me...if I hear myself
repeating old ideas, I think it's stinky, and begin looking for
something unexplored. I hope I can do that till I drop...
I would be delighted to see others here talk about how they
stimulate their creativity...it's a process central to any act of
creation, but rarely discussed...what gets your mojo workin', tuning
guys/girls...? Hstick PS...oh yeah...I know that folks like
Debussy/Ravel (and I'm sure many others), would write, say, for piano,
then later, orchestrate these pieces for a larger ensemble. I can hear
that with a lot of my pieces, but do not have the orchestrating choppos
to pull it off...it's a project I would like to pursue someday, with a
collaborator...of course, Bach often did that, taking works from one
realm, and re-writing them for another. I think very nice things can
happen with this process, sheding new light on the inner workings of a
piece. In fact, I don't necessarily think of my pieces as "guitar"
pieces...that is my axe, of course, and the medium I'm comfortable
with...I wouldn't mind at all to hear my music rearranged, and performed
on other instruments...

--- In tuning@y..., "Neil Haverstick" <STICK@U...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_20124.html#20124

Yer so right, Neil Haverstick! We be on a composition roll!

Anyway, as to the idea of "stimulation," it is indeed a valuable
question... maybe a little OT, but since ALL the composers on this
list are xenharmonicists, maybe it's NOT so OT!

For me, composing is a kind of natural process. If it weren't, I
doubt I would do it. There sure is no money in it.. :) (at least
the kind of stuff *I* generally like to do.)

I just start hearing things and want to compose. It's a PHYSICAL
thing, like getting hungry or wanting to go to (whoops, don't go
there...)

But, really, it's PHYSICAL, and frankly there are some days I can
compose superbly, some days average, and a few days here and there
when I can't compose at all. Those are the "scary" ones, since I
like thinking of myself as a composer! Fortunately, I maybe get one
of those days once in every two weeks or so.

I try to compose every night. The consistency is important to me.
(OK... well I guess I don't do Saturday nights right now... but I
actually DID at one point...)

OH... as an aside, I generally can't compose in the morning. Even
the afternoon is not so great. Only after 6PM is my "body" into the
process in a physical way. It sounds really peculiar, but that's the
way it works. If I had all day to compose, I probably wouldn't do
anything until the evenings.

HOWEVER, my PHYSICAL perception of the sounds varies according to my
"mood" as I discussed above. I've thought about this in some detail,
and I have decided that the difference is that on a "good" composing
night the sounds ACTUALLY MEAN MORE to me than on "mediocre" nights.

On a "mediocre" night I might even get something more "elaborate"
going on, but it's generally junk. That's what assures me that many
of the "convoluted" composers out there really can't hear anything
and try to work their way out of it....

Generally speaking, this kind of "battering ram" method of
composition doesn't work for me. If I have a night when I'm really
"hearing stuff" then the sound really MEANS MORE... Usually it means
the work is a bit "simpler," "more colorful," may I even say
"inspired."

HOWEVER, it's NOTHING that I can CONTROL! It's simply a mood or
something coming from inside. Simply put, I "feel" like composing...

It sounds idotic, but, believe me, if I don't really "hear" the
sounds and "feel like" composing in a very deep way, I get REALLY
mediocre results.

If it EVER turned out that that was the kind of work I was
generating, I would stop. Fortunately, I have a large enough
background of works that I already have a "profile" so I suppose I
could even do that and still be a "composer," although I would feel a
bit "sheepish" about it. I generally never bother to call myself a
"composer" or an "artist" anyway... let OTHER people do that, if they
feel like it.

Well, there wasn't too much MATH in this post, but I hope it explains
a bit where MY OWN personal motivation is coming from!!!

best,

_______ _____ _____ ___
Joseph Pehrson