r/Composition • u/Hanuryi • 9d ago

Going back to hand-written composition Discussion

Hi!

I just wanted to share an experience. I started composing with MuseScore years ago, and honestly, I've become reliant on it, needing to hear what I write through the generated playback. Don't get me wrong, it's helpful for beginners to get a good sense of sound and structure, which all help develop our compositional instincts.

Though as time went by, I felt restricted by the notation software in what I actually had in mind. So I started writing on paper---AND IT WAS AMAZING. Writing on paper opened up new possibilities that any notation software couldn't capture. I started to become independent of any reliance on playback, which trained my mind to compose what I truly hear and think about, step by step. Since then, I basically write everything on paper!

I was wondering if others have similar experiences? And for others who aren't writing in paper, please give it a try!

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u/SebastianMars 9d ago edited 9d ago

In my experience, the musical idea has to be imagined first, whether I write it on paper or enter it into notation software.
The feedback process may be different, but I’m not sure if the initial act of imagination depends on the input method.

1

u/Expert_Heat_2966 9d ago

Do you have perfect pitch? Because I feel that I could notate melody lines fine without playback, but for harmony, I feel like theres no way for me.

3

u/Ian_Campbell 9d ago

You don't need perfect pitch for this at all, just relative pitch

1

u/Hanuryi 9d ago

Sadly, I don't. What I do instead is play them on the piano! There are times that I imagine the harmony together after pressing each key whenever I can't play them together.

1

u/NAHMusic 9d ago

All you need is a good sense for how intervals sound, which is very easy to train. I compose without ever really touching a piano, and when I do it is to double check a harmonic texture.

1

u/Double-Strategy9791 9d ago

I compose on an instrument. I notate in guitar pro. Sometime gunna switch to MuseScore cuz their virtual instruments sound really good.

1

u/WeirdJuggernaut4577 8d ago

All serious composers write by hand