May 2nd, 2008
Composing, like a plumber
I’ll never forget when Henry Mancini told us that composing is very much like being a plumber. “It’s a job, I get hired to write music for a film and I do my job.” The vision of the composer on a mountain top conversing with the gods is a cool one, but not at all what happens.
Ideas come to us in a variety of different ways. It can be that the text evokes and demands that a melody be written in such a way. Or a melodic idea may come first. Who plays that melody can come with the idea or be a separate one. Sometimes a rhythmic idea pops into our head and drives us into action. Sometimes a series of chords inspires us. There may be a melody on top of those chords, and maybe not.
There are things like variations, inventions, falling bass lines, rondos, sonatas, song forms, and such where pre-fab composition can take place and we flex our technique and developmental muscles. For me, at least in vocal music, the text ALWAYS comes first. My job is to make sure that the people in the back can hear the text. I don’t repeat texts over and over as Handel would, I use it conversationally and in a declamatory fashion, meaning I want the words heard and respected. The rhythm of the sentences should be believable, and if not, eccentric for a reason.
So the text causes the rhythm and the melody to come into existence. Once I have my melody, I create a scaffolding throughout the song. Along the way I may write in bass notes, or accompanimental ideas, complete or partial. I also usually write out that main line in pencil, unless I’m in a rush, as I have for the past 10 months. Most of the melodies of the songs in Act 1 of HOMER IN CYBERSPACE were written in pencil and then transferred to the computer (I use Sibelius for notating my music).
Yesterday I had to get a lot of music written. Luck was on my side as I got a huge amount done. I had three scenes where music is sounding in the background (underscore) very much like film music, and four numbers where there was some kind of dancing going on. None of the music involved singing. The work rhythm that I used was as follows:
Read, savor, and imagine the scene.
Compose until you get the number done.
Lie down and read the next scene, fall asleep for 10 to 15 minutes.
Get up, have a snack, throw the ball for the dogs.
Repeat until you decide to stop.
Today is a school day, so I may have an hour this afternoon, and a few hours on Saturday and Sunday morning. The end of music for HOMER is near, after this weekend it should just be a little “snip, snip here, snip, snip there and a couple of tra la las.”
But as Mike always says: anything following the word “should” is usually BS.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:21 am
Roger,
I am the first to identify my composing as labour, as work (I even took May 1st off from composing to prove the point), but if composing is just a trade, without intellectual as well as technical depth — the sort that is well-explored in a liberal arts environment — then isn’t one basically giving in to the commercial entertainment system?
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:36 pm
It can be just a trade. It isn’t for me. As an academic with tenure, I could choose to write only occasionally for a small audience and still be supported. I don’t HAVE to make money, so I have the luxury of picking and choosing. I CHOSE to not become a film composer, in that I saw what it entailed.
I am not a hack. I get goose bumps, I cry, I dance, I move, I sing. I can’t help it.
But sometimes, especially after working on the same piece for almost a year, it’s like goin’ to work. I guess that is how I resonated with Hank’s comment. I have a job to do by golly, and I’m gonna do it.
We’ll leave “entertainment” for another day.
Good to hear from you.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Daniel -
I think the proper word to use is when composition becomes “drudgery” — any task or work, no matter how beloved, will be onerous without some rest from it (hey, its true of married couples - they need little breaks from each other sometimes!). Composition and any other mental pursuits follow the same stress-rest cycle as physical activities/sports do - apply stress, rest/nuture, grow, reapply with greater stress, then a light period, start over. It is usually never that linear but the guidelines should be followed. Have you noticed that many composers NEED physical activity to regenerate their thoughts? (I think of the stories of Schoenberg and Gershwin playing tennis, or how some of my composer colleagues enjoy incorporating a few good runs, swims or weight training sessions into their weekly schedule.
Also, your entry implies “plumbing” is a trade without intellectual and technical depth, I would agree ONLY if the plumber assumed he knew everything there is to know after his first year in the trade.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
It was Henry Mancini who made the comparison, ’twasn’t me. I didn’t press him as to why he made that comparison. Composing ISN’T plumbing — you won’t get any argument there from me!
I like your stress-rest comments.
May 7th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Thanks Roger. No I understand that it was Mancini’s comments, not yours.