Declaring something to the world is a dangerous business; the world has a way of immediately testing you to see if you’ll hold to your convictions, or pointing out flaws in your theory.
For example, yesterday I talked how useful the piano was in helping me find melodies and harmonies I liked. And IMMEDIATELY after that, I began to see where this strategy falls short.
I am very suggestible in my loop creation: As I come up with combinations of notes, it’s very easy to just reproduce whatever I’ve heard most recently – especially if similar instruments are being used.
That was the problem I started having with the piano – it kept me stuck thinking about other piano-like sounds I’d heard, so it was difficult to imagine those sounds adapted to something different.
This is just a theory, but I’m betting I also had preconceived notions about how a piano SHOULD sound – like something fancy and aristocratic, for example. I couldn’t reconcile those notions with darker, grittier music.
But when I switched to a new instrument, suddenly new ideas started occurring to me, and I was able to create something that felt less recycled.
So, to sum up:
| Piano/Strings/Easy-to-hear instruments | Everything else | |
| Melodies/Harmonies: | Easy to hear and compose | Hard to hear and compose |
| Musical inspiration, based on instrument | Limited | Expansive |
Seems like the best strategy going forward is to switch between the easy-to-hear and hard-to-hear stuff so I can get the best of both worlds. At least, until life tests me again.