Chamber CD - Day 11

Thursday, November 16, 2006
12:04 PM

This morning was dedicated to rhythm and percussion. A few good ideas came out and it was the most fun I’ve had writing since I started this project.

For a while now I have been hearing a way to incorporate drums in my writing. I really enjoy drum corps and drumline percussion and, even though I play percussion a bit, I need to learn more about it to write for drums like a pro.

So I allotted a limited amount of time this morning for the studying of percussion, listening and reading. I focused on drum corps, drumline, snare drum, sticking rudiments and the Quad (a collection of 5 toms).

I kept my study time short and then used the stimulus to generate ideas. The writing was a lot of fun and ideas came faster than I could grab them. Some of them seem cool now, but we’ll see in a few days. I’m still “planting seeds” right now.

There is just enough time in the morning to write as much as I need. The early afternoon is dedicated to business matters and then I am off teaching. I get up early to do piano, perhaps I could replace that with more composition? The thought of it breaks my heart...

Oh, and here’s a little thought I had this morning, an analogy about the process of composition I thought was rather amusing but true.

“Coming up with musical ideas is like having sex: fun, fast and exciting. Writing the piece based on the idea, though, is like having the baby: slow, uncomfortable and often painful.”