Why do you compose?

And I don't mean like "because I was good at it when I was small" or something. Just tell me the reason for which you compose, your motive...

I personally compose because I think music is a form of expression that no other art can provide you with. Plus, it is something moving, not constant (like statues or paintings) and can change through time (revised versions, imagine DaVinci revising the Mona Lisa after 10 years), plus it is something you can do for entertainment, both for you and others. So, what about you?

Well firstly, I agree that music has elements that are unique from other forms of art, although that isn't meant to degrade the artistic value of a statue just because it can't be revised ten years later. My personal motive is pretty simple and is probably the same as everyone elses, I started off young playing an instrument (cello), grew to love music, eventually decided to try composing, and grew to love that as well...

I did pretty much the same progression as hoontar. I started composing even before I knew how to read music. Now I compose because I feel like I need to. It's weird.

Because I couldn't live my life without composing.

I can't remember why I started composing.. but I do know that composing is what I always wanted to do since I was very young. My mother said I would sometimes turn off the T.V. and sing random tunes....

I couldn't live without composing either...

Define "compose". Making midis is not composing. I love how a bunch of peolpe here like to think they are in some way "composers" because they connect dots on a software program.

I think of composing as the practice of Western Art music composition. I'm not sure i'm ready to claim I "compose" yet. I am still studying it. The reason why I do it is simply for the love of the music and nothing more. There can be other motivators you can mention, like the intellectual, emotional or cultural reward it can provide, but these are consequential to the love of the music.

Just the desire to create. To take something that's bouncing around in my head and to put it down on paper.

I compose because I love it

I compose becuase it gives me sooo much pleasure...

*MIDO*

'Cause it's a nice feeling of accomplishment when something you've made sounds just excellent.

PraeludiumUndFuge this is concerning your comment. Hmm, I dont really know how I stand on that. I think making midis is NOT composing - but making music is. I don't care if you are expressing yourself creatively with a feather pen over a candlit piano, or if you are clicking away at Finale on your new laptop, as far as I'm concerned, if you are succesfully combining elements which would comprise a musical composition (which I believe is the strictest of definitions for "composing") then in my books, you are "a composer." Maybe that's showing too much disregard for the meaning of the word in a traditional sense, maybe i'm just a reformist, it's all opinion anyways...everything about music, subjective...

I think of composing as the practice of Western Art music composition.

Are you saying, then, that the music from other half of the planet was never really "composed"? That sounds rather insulting, IMO, because it sounds like you're saying that only cultures of the Western world can truly "compose," and that anything from the Eastern hemisphere is somehow "less."

The #1 thing probably could be attributed to listening and enjoying classical music. But before that, I have always enjoyed creating and building things, and I enjoy math and logic. I also consider myself pretty creative, so music is a great way to express creativity. All of this, combined with my strong characteristic of being annoyingly persistant and competitive has definitely helped me become a better composer.

Because it's what makes eating worthwhile.

Define "compose". Making midis is not composing. I love how a bunch of peolpe here like to think they are in some way "composers" because they connect dots on a software program.

I think of composing as the practice of Western Art music composition. I'm not sure i'm ready to claim I "compose" yet. I am still studying it. The reason why I do it is simply for the love of the music and nothing more. There can be other motivators you can mention, like the intellectual, emotional or cultural reward it can provide, but these are consequential to the love of the music.

I disagree entirely. Regardless of the medium, the scale, the manner of production - whatever - anyone who brings a completely realized piece of music that did not previously exist into the world is a composer.

Define "compose". Making midis is not composing. I love how a bunch of peolpe here like to think they are in some way "composers" because they connect dots on a software program.

:huh:

...welcome to the 21st century.

"define compose"

#1...to make or form by combining things, parts, or elements.

#6...to create. Anything.

A midi is as valid a musical creation than any other format.

Composers like the dude who made your favorite movie soundtrack, maybe.

Composer in the traditional Western sense, dream on.

Composers like the dude who made your favorite movie soundtrack, maybe.

Composer in the traditional Western sense, dream on.

The Western tradition isn't the golden standard in music, you realize this right?

Composers like the dude who made your favorite movie soundtrack, maybe.

Composer in the traditional Western sense, dream on.

Yeah, 'cause I'm so into movie soundtracks. :P

I'm not talking about composers in the traditional sense. I mean current, modern, serious composers incorporating and using electronics and MIDI as a valid musical tool.

Why not?

What's wrong with it?

Do you have the same objections to synthesizers and drum machines? Saxophones? A pianos low 'A'?

Can the laptop not be as important an instrument as cello or bassoon? I think people like Ikue Mori have already answered that question.

But, in fairness, if you limit your scope to traditional western classical music, sure....you win.

The Western tradition isn't the golden standard in music, you realize this right?

No I don't.

The Western tradition isn't the golden standard in music, you realize this right?[/quote']No I don't.

Again I point out Eastern music...is this just not music in your eyes? Are you really going to be that prejudice?