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.

YouTube Videos

Over the past few months I have decided to upload the compositions that I have created to YouTube. These are basically the pieces of music that I have created whilst learning to read and write music, and trial the various music notation softwares available.

The first one was originally written using Musescore 3.0. I then developed it using presonus' Notion 6 and then finally input into StaffPad which I have chosen as my preferred software just now.

It's far from perfect. It is an insight into my development as a composer. I would like to revise it slightly more in the future. Work on the pedal in particular.

One thing at a time...

I have so many projects ongoing at present I don't feel I'll ever finish any of them if I carry on the way I am. 

I've been pondering this in my mind over the last few weeks. I really want to start concentrating on one piece of work at a time.

Firstly I have to finish the Monthly Music Challenge hosted by Cosmic Bos. There are only two months left, and I have submitted an entry every month so far this year. I initially thought this would make a new album for 2024, but I've decided that the collection is not cohesive enough. Ultimately, my circumstances have changed through the year, and I'm not the songwriter I was. I struggle to write actual songs each month, so I fall back on instrumental work when needed.

Come January I will start to focus on the oldest work in the list of projects. I've revisited Volume 20 whenever the mood has taken me. I would say it's actually fairly close to completion. I'm in no rush though. The reason I've gone back to this album is because I didn't dedicate enough time to it, so to rush it now makes no sense at all.

I have a large chunk of my next "song" based album (23) written and recorded. Some of this will come from the previously mentioned Monthly Music Challenge, but also I have a few other pieces that I have recorded, and some others that still need recording. I have a feeling that this may be my last song album for a while. I'm not entirely sure I have much more to say.

I'd then like to work on a couple of other things I've started. A brass quintet and guitar quartet. These are predominantly learning exercises, but they have nice moments, and it seems a shame to not give them some time.

Finally, I have started work on a second orchestral suite. This is proving way more challenging than I anticipated. I have the premise and also some nice themes to work upon. However, the more I study orchestration the less confident I am in what I am writing. I listen back to earlier sketches and they now appear to be wrong, or rubbish. I hope to work my way through this with additional study, but I really don't know if the suite will be finished any time soon.

Blogging (again)

I'm looking to start using this blog (again). Hopefully I'll stick with it, and update my musical activities.

We shall see I guess...

Escape, Cosmic Bos challenge & Drowned

I've done quite a lot of music making today. 

It started off when I saw the latest music weeklies challenge on Twitter. It's also been adopted by Cosmic Bos for their own monthly challenge

This week's brief is Escape. I've not been that prolific at song writing for some time, but I wrote this in around an hour this morning. I then spent a good majority of the day recording various guitar, bass and vocals. As well as this I scored some drums within StaffPad. It has the makings of a good song. I could probably submit it as it is. Maybe I will.

I decided to give the monthly challenge a try. I figure if I write and record a song a month I'll have a new album by the end of the year. Although in my mind I probably won't release it that quickly. I'm really determined to make my next album really crisp, so I'm going to take my time recording, mixing and mastering to whole thing.

I also recorded some vocals for a secret project for the classical label Monochrome Motif Records

that released my orchestral suite last month. It's nice to give something back to the label manager Andrew who has shown a great deal of faith in music. I'm not particularly happy with the results of the recording. It could be they are just too high in my mix. I certainly need to tweak it a little before sending it across.

In theory I should have time to work on music again tomorrow, although what I'll do I don't know as yet.

Orchestral Suite No. 1 - New Lanark

So, I've neglected my blog (again). I do intend to try and update it a bit more regularly from now, perhaps a weekly update with what I've been doing.

On January 6th my orchestral suite was released on Monochrome Motif Records here is a little information on how that came about.

Orchestral Suite No. 1 - New Lanark is my first foray into classical music. A sweeping evocative soundscape that I hope conveys the stunning world that I am fortunate enough to have surrounding me.

It was in March 2022 that I set about the task of teaching myself to read and write music for an orchestra. I had very little knowledge of music theory or notation, it was basically just an exercise to see if I could compose something. 

Initially I was just messing about. Creating small pieces. Learning as much as I could about composition, orchestration and the software that I was using. After a short while I decided that I wanted to write something for a symphony orchestra, so I took the pieces that I had and worked on expanding them so that they would fit this brief. 

I first visited New Lanark as a tourist visiting from southern England around 2006. It immediately struck me a fascinating place. A natural beauty, steeped in history and an incredible insight into Britain during a very challenging period. I now live and work in the area, and a lot of the main themes were written during my lunch breaks, so the idea of basing this orchestral suite on New Lanark happened quite naturally. 

From deciding to learn composition to the completion of this orchestral suite in under 10 months is quite a struggle to comprehend. Yes, I have been making guitar based music for many years, but this seems such a short space of time. It's very difficult to explain. A large credit needs to go to my partner Vicky, she is classically trained, and has patiently answered all of my queries (however basic) as simply as possible for me. I'm immensely happy with how it has turned out, and it has set me on a completely different musical trajectory for the future. 

Lights & Lines - Grim17 Remix

I struggle with self promotion. I have pretty much given up on it to be honest. That's why it has taken me so long to compose this blog article. 

I entered the Lights & Lines Grim17 remix competition. I've wanted to do a remix for a long time, but the opportunity has never really presented itself. When I saw that all of the original stems would be made available for the Bitter Shine single it seemed to good to be true.

I've been an admirer of Grim17's work for only a short time, since discovering the label basically. On my first listening I really liked the single. I think it's very rare that a remix betters the original. When the original is such a high quality I think you have to just try and not butcher it.

The focal point for me was the backing vocal that had Grim17's distinctive scream. This gave me a place to start, I planned to make this more of a lead vocal in my mix, and I hoped it would create an interesting twist. 

I added absolutely nothing of my own to the original stems, I chopped up the drum, guitar, bass and synth tracks, added FX here and there, but other than that it's all Grim17. I'm not a good enough musician to add anything better. I just mashed it up slightly.

It took me no more than three hours from starting to mastering, which I was slightly embarrassed about when submitting it. I was worried that it would like I was taking the piss (which I certainly wasn't)...

I was very much in a musical slump when the winners of the competition were announced. At the best of times I think my work is substandard, so to find myself a winner at this low point was both a shock and pleasant surprise.

The remix is going to be included on a sampler CD for the label, which is a huge reward for me. It's proved to be a very enjoyable experience, and one that I'm glad that I embarked on.

Alright here we go! The winners of the @Grim17music remix competition are

🥁🥁🥁@aseawarren with his #BitterGrimRemix

And@HartshornMusic with his Beyond The Fringe #ShineGrimRemkx

Congratulations both! I’ll be in touch to sort prizes. See previous tweet for details!

— 🎸🤘Mike Five🤘🎸 (@Mike1inFive) August 8, 2022