Azrael Arlington's post in the authoring lounge just got me thinking....Have you ever written a piece starting from a scene in your head rather than a melody? Lately I’ve been wondering how many of us compose from images vs. sounds. What’s your starting point most often—scene, mood, or melody?
Composing : Scene, mood, or melody—what’s your first spark? by Kat Spencer
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Kat Spencer, Great question. For me, songs don’t usually start with melody, mood, or scene in the traditional sense. I’m on the extreme spectrum of creative synesthesia, so ideas come to me in a flood — sometimes sparked by a word, an image, even something as random as an old comic book panel or a train ticket stub.
When it hits, I don’t sit and wrestle with it — I just write as fast as I can. All of my songs are finished in five minutes or less because they arrive almost fully formed. I’ve learned not to second-guess it. My job is simply to catch the song before it slips away.
That’s how I can go from writing a wild joyride like Yay Yay Yo to something raw and emotional like I Got My Memories on the same day. Different styles, different moods — all arriving quickly, all sparked from different sources.
So my “first spark” isn’t always the same, but the process is: grab it fast, before it fades.
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Here is a song I wrote today. I should point out I write every lyric for my more than 250 songs. However, the voices and music are a.i. generated.
https://wymanbrent.bandcamp.com/track/aint-gotta-worry
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It depends on the scene - smiles!
For this one competition w / short video,
Scary scene - I started with the scary sounds and built the rest around those scene places.
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Yes, I tend to get lyrics first, then music, so it's often related to a theme or scene.