My recent posts have tackled the advent of computers creating music. It’s exciting stuff but also daunting for anyone who makes money making music. There’s a fear, as I think there is with many industries, that the “robots will take over.” This has spurred me to think about what humans bring to the game. What…… Continue reading The value of being unique
As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been following the emergence of computer-composed music for some time. In that post I link to some of the software tools out there making music. What do I think of the state of the industry? There’s no doubt that computers are creating some decent experimental music, as…… Continue reading If computers make music, what do musicians do?
(Note: I retitled this post on March 10, 2017.) A topic that has fascinated me in recent years is that of computers writing music. They’ve actually been doing it for some time. This is, of course, a controversial idea and questions abound. Will computer songwriters put working human composers out of work? Should we even…… Continue reading Individuals/Companies Creating Computer Composed Music
How does one create a melody? It’s an interesting question with a lot of possible answers. For years, I tended to noodle around on guitar until I discovered a riff or chord progression I liked. Then I would basically just hear a melody in my head that would fit the guitar part. I really didn’t…… Continue reading Writing melodies using melodic shapes
(Note: this article is a piece I’ve published elsewhere but seems relevant here.) Years ago, I was watching a “Star Trek: Next Generation” episode in which Picard, the sage captain of the space vessel, walked into the room of some impertinent alien prince. The kid was playing this absolutely chaotic, atonal music full of clangs…… Continue reading Music and Sound
Note: To understand this article you’ll need to be familiar with basic chord theory and the use of Roman numerals to notate chords. (This link can fill you in.) I often find myself having to learn songs quickly. (Related article: How to learn a lot of songs fast.) Often I’ll end up scouring the internet…… Continue reading Songs can be harmonized in different ways
When first starting out playing an instrument, music theory can be intimidating. A lot of unfamiliar terms get brought up and it’s hard to get a sense how they all apply to the fun stuff: making music. I thought I’d write a (hopefully) digestible introduction to one the essentials of music theory, the major scale.…… Continue reading An Introduction To The Major Scale
This post is really a pointer to an article of mine that’s a few years old. I was surprised to find that there was not much on the web on the topic of writing music suitable for horror movie and game scores. It’s a fun genre to write in and I include several of my…… Continue reading How to write horror music
