Amateur Musician…

I don't see myself as an independent artist. The music industry has changed so much, and independent music is not what it used to be. It’s so easy to release your music on your own. Does this make you an independent artist? I don’t think it’s as simple as that.

I first started recording music crudely in 1997 on a Tascam 4 track. Through the years I have purchased more equipment, and got slightly better at the process. I now use computers and DAW’s, but ultimately I still make music in my bedroom. I can call it a studio all I like, but that doesn’t make it true. Music is a hobby to me, one that I take very seriously, but it doesn’t pay the bills, and the brutal reality of it is, it never will. I have had work released on an independent label, but I still consider myself an amateur musician. I have a job to support my family, for which I’m very grateful.

MMC 1.9...

Today I submitted my entry for this month’s Monthly Music Challenge hosted by Cosmic Bos. The theme was #SuperSpectacular. If I’m honest I struggled with this quite a lot. Whenever I tried to start composing a new song all I could really think of was this song from my album Volume 14 - Whojammyflip.

I did consider reworking this song for the challenge, but that is not really the point. The idea is to write a new piece of music each month. So after much head scratching I decided to work on another instrumental piece.

Recently in my compositional studies I have been looking at chords, and triads in particular. I wanted to explore the possibilities of music using only 3 notes. So what is the most spectacular triad I can think of? C Major of course.

I started out on the piano messing around with the notes C, E & G. Adding more instruments as I felt they were needed. Some woodwinds, percussion and a violin. What I created was quite interesting, but it didn’t seem quite right to me. I left it a few days, letting the idea float around my mind and mature.

I realised that the percussion was overkill, and did not compliment the other instruments well. I also made a change to the notes dropping the E to E flat and turning the major chord to a minor. This is exactly what was needed, and it made the piece sound much more like my style.

I have given it the title No. 12 in C minor as it is the twelfth short piece I have created in my studies. I don’t think it’s the greatest, but I do think it shows what I am trying to achieve in learning composition.

Semi Retirement...

Semi retirement from being a bedroom musician? Is there such a thing? I think so. If I’m just making music for my own pleasure, why bother with all the tedious self promotion? I really don’t have an answer to that question. I have no expectation to have a change in career any longer. I’m fairly happy with my current employment, and music has very much become an enjoyable hobby again.

I will possibly put a quick post up on social media, to alert anybody that might be interested, that I have released new material. I already have some completed work, and I have lots of projects in the pipeline, but I’m not even sure these require releasing to be honest.

As an example. I have two string quartets written, but does anybody really need to hear a digital mock up of these? If I had a recording of a “real” quartet playing them, maybe. I don’t personally have the ability to pay a quartet to play these works, nor do I see any probability of quartet ever approaching me to play them.

So, I’m thinking they should probably just remain in my archives. Maybe, I’ll get together all these works and give them to the British Library when I die. If they are of any interest to them, great. If not, I’ve lost nothing, and I’ve not stressed over put them out in the world.

StaffPad

 

StaffPad has quickly become my notation software of choice. I was recommended it as it enables you to input notes using handwriting recognition. As someone who was getting to grips with notation and theory this really appealed to me. It also has fantastic libraries to purchase, and these have given me a much better understanding of the orchestra and therefore how to compose for it.

For a while now they have been promising an update and rumours were abound that it would be midi input. This is not something I particularly required, but thought it could be an interesting addition to the program. I could potentially use it to add orchestration to previous work that was not recorded to a click track.

Well... the update was released a few days ago, and I'm fairly pleased with how it has turned out. True, some of the original factory sounds have been impacted, and they don't have their previous clarity. On the whole though I think it's a good step forward. Midi capture has indeed been implemented as well as live piano recognition, video score capabilities and a whole host of new sounds via the Muse library.

I've had a fair amount of success with the midi capture already by adding orchestral sound to a reworking of "A Sign Of Things To Come" from volume 20. This has been a real labour of love. I've been working on bringing the recording up to date for some time, and the ability to add orchestral sounds has really given it the colour I feel it needed. 

This updated version of Volume 20 will likely be the next project I release. I'm hoping to do a limited run of CD's that I will have professionally pressed for the first time. That is for considering some time in the future though.

The Study Of Music

Up until fairly recently I didn't study music in any meaningful way. I learnt only what I needed to facilitate my song writing. It's only once I started to learn notation and theory a little I realised how much there is to learn. Progressions, cadence, composition, orchestration, structure... it's quite an exhaustive list.

In the past I thought studying theory would hinder me. How can you be original if you learn everything that has gone before? To a certain degree I still have this belief. After all, some of the greatest musicians of all time had very little theory knowledge.

However, I have changed my mind as well. I figure to break the rules you need to know them. So, I've set out as I always have, and tried teaching myself the vast array of subjects that I have been discovering. I've come to the conclusion though that this is probably not going to work very well. I need structure. I'd like to study composition correctly. This opens another can of worms though. 

Most composition courses are at a university level and full time courses. In reality I am unable to leave full time employment to go back to education. I simply can't afford to live and feed my family. Even if I could, entry in to most courses requires a high grade level on an instrument. I'm ok on the guitar, but I am self taught. When I look at the requirements for grade 1 I'd be unlikely to pass it. I'm also not sure I'd want to change my guitar playing now.

My next line of thought is to get a piano, and to embark on proper tutorial with a teacher. How long would it take me to get to a good level? And then I'm still unable to study composition full time. I could find a composition teacher online. I'm sure there are plenty of experts in the field that take cases like mine, but I don't think that would be cheap. These people are professionals, this is their living, they deserve a good wage to pay for their skills. Again, I'm not sure I could actually afford it a present.

I guess I just need to carry on as usual, blundering along and teaching myself. It's not ideal, and I'm not entirely sure I'll ever be a good composer as a result. But it is what it is. I don't feel I have any other option at present.