Philosophy of Creation (or - how I write music, why I walk funny, the frequency of nasal passages, and rolling in lame)

I was lame last week and didn't post anything.

This week I am less lame.

And for this weeks post: a little glimpse into my head.  Or, at least as much of my head as I can put down in words after a tiring brain day.

To explain: I picked out four weeks worth of music for worship services this morning.  I got into my office at 9:00 ad left around 12:30.  Not too many hours but sifting through that much music and matching it to themes and everything is mentally taxing.  That and I stayed up late last night watching Interstellar (which I enjoyed) and playing Payday 2 (which I also enjoyed).

Anyways...

I doubt anyone reading this has read any of the novels based on the Myst computer game series mythology but I am going to reference it.  In these stories there are an ancient race of people called the D'ni.  The D'ni create worlds by writing in books.  They have to describe the world and its peoples correctly and exactly or else the world is unstable and collapses.  Things can be omitted but striking a single line has extensive consequences.  Through the story Book of Atrus there are two theories about the creation of worlds.  Some D'ni believe that the studying of science and the writing of worlds actually creates worlds and the links to them.  Other D'ni believe that the worlds already exist and that by writing in the books they simply discover the links to those worlds.

This is relevant.

When I have written some of my best music I feel like the later D'ni.  It may sound weird (k, I admit it is a little weird) but sometimes when I write music I can hear it in my head.  I heard a melody and chords in my head.  I don't know exactly what everything is or how it fits together but I can hear it clearly and I can play it in real time as I hear it.  There have been times where I have played and didn't even really know where the song was going or what chord I was going to play next but my fingers went there and it sounded great.  That is partially due to many years of playing and practicing and I know where chord shapes are and their relation to each other.  But the chord progressions and melodies are new.

So I write out what I hear and what I just played and I can hear the melody continuing.  Sometimes I have to stop and figure out what it is before writing it down and sometimes I can figure it out and write it down right away.

And then I get stuck.

I went to college and have a degree in theory and composition so I know how music works.  I know how to write music.  I know how to analyze music.  Like everyone else who does anything with an amount of creativity I get stuck.  I get writers block.  I have techniques I have learned and made up to spin long pieces of music out of a few notes.  I can make something up even when I don't feel inspired.  But the best music I have written has come when I have writers block and I just sit there at the piano...and listen.  I replay what I have so far either on the piano or just in my head and listen to where it goes next.  And it usually goes somewhere I don't expect it to.  Or somewhere it wouldn't have if I had forced something out using a writing technique.  I feel when I have a good song, it writes itself.

My philosophy: I feel I am the medium between great pieces of music and everything else.  I hear great music and write it out.

There are definitely times when I use my knowledge of theory and I use composition techniques to make songs better.  Sometimes what comes out is very rough around the edges and needs a little polishing.  Sometimes it needs a lot of polishing. But the basic idea is there.  What's fantastic, and admittedly doesn't happen very often, is when the song just pops out and poof, it's done!  I think that happened once....

Not everyone writes this way.  And that's a good thing!  It takes too long.  There wouldn't be a lot of music out there if people only sat around waiting to be inspired.  There are entire genres of music dedicated to systematic and calculated creation.  And that's just fine.  I have written some music like that.

And I've written music that didn't write itself and it's been good.  It's not like only my good songs come out this way.  Just my best ones so far.

So that's a little about how I write music.

Here are a few other interesting tid bits that not everyone knows.  Maybe they shouldn't.......oh well!

I don't like to step on lines.

No, not real lines.  Just lines in my head.

Let me 'splain: When a wall, piece or furniture, or very prominent carpet patters come together at a strong angle I imagine a line coming off the angle.  (the next sentence bay be difficult for some readers)  For example, if I see a wall that ends at a 90 degree angle, I imagine a line coming off the point 135 degrees from either wall (or at a compromised 45 degree angle).  The corner of the wall is pointing at something and I don't step on the line it is using to point.  I do this.  All the time.

There is a coffee table at my parents house.  When I am on the phone in their living room I walk around the coffee table.  It has four legs and each leg is a square with pointed corners.

The big square is the table
The little squares are the legs
The lines are...the lines.  But the lines in my head.
The little black circles are where I step.

This is a common thing. And not just with the coffee table.  Stepping through doorways, through kitchens with furniture and cabinets, etc...

I also like things to be even.  If something brushes me on my left arm my right arm feels like it's left out.  It needs to be brushed.  But not just generically brushed but with the same firmness and texture as the other brush.

This doesn't count for itches or irritations.  It's more for randomness like when I'm walking and bump the toe of my shoe against the ground.  If you pay close attention (I don't know why you would) I will then spend an unhealthy amount of time trying to bump my other foot on the ground for an equivalent impact.  I will even bump it several times if I have too.  However, if I feel I have impacted my second foot more than my first, yes, I go back and bump my first foot again.

As I am writing this I just scratched my left cheek because of a mild irritation and then my right cheek to balance the sensory input.

I don't even understand my own rules...

Walking down sidewalks is a problem.

I out the outside I'm walking like everyone else.  Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, etc... However, unless I am having a conversation or have something using up brain processing power, I am paying attention to where my feet are landing.  With my standard walking pace and the standard size of sidewalk squares I walk in two alternating sets of five steps.

First set: 1) Right foot steps on a space between squares at about the toe joint.  2) Left foot steps between squares.  3) Right foot steps on a space between square just before the heel.  4) Left foot steps between squares.  5) Right foot steps between squares.

Second set: 1) Left foot steps on a space between squares at about the toe joint.  2) Right foot steps between squares.  3) Left foot steps on a space between square just before the heel.  4) Right foot steps between squares.  5) Left foot steps between squares.

Also, I can't sleep at night if one of my nostrils is whistling when I exhale.  However, I imagine that is slightly more common than the previous things.

That's about all I can think of right now.  I have other issues and soap boxes I'd like to rant about but honestly, I'm too tired to rant right now.  I'm feeling lame and I'm gonna roll around in it for a bit.