Right on time is the biggest tease of a 3 minute build up to the most disappointing pay off ever.

I learned while in university that just sitting down every day and writing something is the way to go. I never need “inspiration”, my brain just goes into composing mode and ideas start flowing. But it took a few weeks before that happened.

As for the actual process, I ten to write whatever idea I have down, and see how far it takes me. If it starts veering into something I don’t like, I save the file as a new version, delete the part that I didn’t like, and start on a new path. In the end I’ll have something like 10-20 different versions, sometimes I’ll go back to an older one with fresh ideas and continue on a new branch, etc. More than a couple times I’ll marry two versions and have the final product nearly finished just by doing that. If I get stuck, sometimes I’ll just repeat a section with different instrumentation just to get a fresh take on it which will jog some new ideas.

There are also times where I think strictly “logically” or structurally about a piece. Let’s say I’ve got a nice A section and some nice B section but no way to join them. Then I can reach into my proverbial toolbox and write something that I know will work (a short fugue-like bit, harmonize things to transition smoothly, etc). This is something I enjoy doing because it’s like I create two puzzle pieces and have go figure out how to fit them together.

ETA there is a lemmy instance dedicated for music producers, composers, etc, lemmy.studio!

Thanks for this, I hadn’t heard of half of these projects and now I’m also looking into them! Pixelfed in particular look amazing. I have a few friends that have been wanting to rid Instagram so will definitely be sending this their way.

What did you sub to on reddit? I’ve found a music-related instance with just a small handful of people, but I’m already enjoying the feel of it. I hope it turns into something slightly larger, but time will tell. I’d suggest looking for communities that are similar to your tastes and stick around for awhile. The party is early, and I think many are too shy to make a move to break the ice. The more active a community seems, the easier it is for newer people to start sharing as well.