A Guide to Musical Composition

Here is movement I of The Experience Machine. For me, music should not only express what the composer intended but also what the ensemble members, director, and audience envision together. To accomplish this aim, programmatic music is an excellent choice. For those who do not know, programmatic music is music that contains an extra-musical idea. My definition of programmatic music is music that tells a story. Here we are focused on writing music which tells some narrative. For writers and authors this should make perfect sense.

The method is simple:

1. Develop Prose to Outline your Musical Narrative (in written form)

2. Consider What Musical Elements Convey your Story and Write Them All Down on a Separate Outline

3. Begin Doodling on a Piano or Your Instrument of Choice (preferably one that can play more than one pitch at a time)

4. Come Up with a Melody or Chord Progression to Outline your Piece (or First Movement if Your Piece is Multi-movements)

5. Figure Out How the Piece Should End. Maybe even sketch out the last phrase or write in a final cadence.

6. Write the first several phrases to Flesh Out the ideas.

7. Decide where the Climax (the most exciting part) Should Be. It is typically towards the middle of the piece.

8. The rest is easy since you know where the beginning, peak/climax, and end are. Just Fill It All In.

9. Consider what roles your characters fall into. Do not make them contrived. Give them ‘free will’ and the ability to make spontaneous decisions. Express this in the music.

10. Print out the score and make final revision by hand using a pencil or red pen. Circle ‘mistakes’ and parts you think could be better. Once revisions are made and there is a clear vision then you have a completed piece of music.

Always consider the aesthetics behind the vision. Art and music must be both intelligible and beautiful! If there are other elements (artwork, film, dance, audio tracks, etc.) figure out how to incorporate them into the performance. Music is always more entertaining for everyone with other elements involved.

Below is a copy of the first movement of my latest project ‘The Experience Machine’. I will include a copy of my own outline as well as sketches that are intended to show you the process behind my own creations. Thanks so much for listening!

First, Here are my program notes. (the narrative)

The Experience Machine

Movement 1, Dreaming:

Do people have the ability to choose their destiny? While exploring the conceptual landscape that governs reality one must ask, is fate pre-determined or does one have choice to direct the course of her own life? Echoes of great music from the past guide us along our path as we explore this brave new world. When one is dreaming and asleep, she cannot realize her own importance in the schema. Does God have a plan? Is God there at all? Simulacra veils the truth and importance behind existence. The Real once entered is a chasm, containing lost archives. Knowledge acts as the precursor to ultimate understanding! So long as she is asleep, how can she recognize who she is? Bland tapestry gives way to a clear and overwhelming sunlight, blurring and confusing the senses. Self-knowledge is only obtained at the behest of her journey.

Movement 2, Deconstruction:

Old ways are trivial and imperfect. New ideas have not had the opportunity to be challenged. How are new ideas different from old ones? Once the core of star collapses it expands into the vacuum of space. Doubt leads us to transformation of belief. Break down the boundaries of imperfect thought to reveal a greater truth! The photorealistic binary must be forsaken for a truth far greater. People roam in droves as cogs in the machine. Wandering as ethereal spirits, they are uncertain and blind to the Real. For if they plunged into that chasm, most would leave as blind men unable to cope in a world of aimlessness. Perfection and pure emptiness, a vacuum such as space, may only be filled by the wicked desire of man.

Movement 3, Reconstruction:

Demons gnash their wild teeth as men behave like beasts. Searching for her place in this world, she delves into the underworld to piece together fragments of a forgotten past. Material reality sheds its skin as she snakes toward the brilliant light! The universal pattern, veiled to the uninitiated, commences an unfolding process. Let us take the brick and mortar we have smashed to pieces and create some semblance of the world. It is not the world we have always known but a new and more perfect vision. This is truth only she could have known. The conceptual and material landscape coalesce. The beatific vision presents as a wandering traveler. The only savior for her lost and broken soul. She is herself reimagined over lifetimes and millennia.

Movement 4, Self-Knowledge:

Knowledge of oneself is crucial to understand the innerworkings, a mystery to the material realm. Once full knowledge of good and evil is obtained it cannot be unseen. The truth lies somewhere beyond good and evil! Where does the soul meet body? What separates soul and body? The soul, a higher form of the body, must be well kept. Do not let your conscience be bothered by action. Eliminate all action which causes conflict to your conscience. Do not be bothered by the action of others. They are lost in void, struggling in the chasm of the Real. Her will is stronger than those who reject unpleasant misfortunes. She is not one who fails to evoke opportunity despite transgression.

Movement 5, Doubt:

The final break in the machine! Doubt leads to greater belief. A product more substantial than what lied at the onset. The lie that transformed itself into disbelief which went on to become parlance then finally reared its ugly head boldly speaking to its master, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Revelation 22:13). What was became eternity and what shall be has already been done. Know thyself! Who said that? Was it the oracle at Delphi? How predictable to contrive a philosophy so inordinate?! Such a mind could only hope for sudden death upon realizing immaculate holiness. For death will transform nonbelievers to heathen and believers to saints. What is the worth of either? Die in faith and become a saint or live in impurity, bathing in filth. Life is impermanent but death is final! Seal your fate! Become the filth basking in sunlight!

Movement 6, Belief:

She is no longer a wander but a child before God. Faced with her own demons she became afraid. She opened the veil and He spoke to her, “And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God” (Mark 3:11). What good is freedom in confinement? Believers do not reside in cages nor revel in victory as the last man standing on a battlefield. They are meek, kind, and long suffering. She keeps to herself as a hermit burned by the harsh truth of the world. Everyone has their own path, and she has found her place amongst the vitriolic inhabitants. She built her home on calm waters and encouraged those miscreants to create a peaceful world.

Movement 7, Love:

Understanding may only be complete once fully integrated into one’s own being. Her understanding of the pain residing in the people of this world gave her the insight which allowed her to accept each person as an end of their own. Each person had their own purpose. Each event had its own ending. She was content knowing that everything was already perfect as nature and God had designed it. She fostered a love for each person without contempt. Even when they are mistaken they exist, and are forgiven.

Melodic Compositional Approach

Practice Routine