| On Wed, 9 Apr 1997, Ruediger Borrmann wrote:
> >Remember that an 'orchestra' is nothing more, or less, than a set of one
> (or more)
> >instruments, each with abilities, inabilities, and limitations. To play ANY
> >instrument, and to write for it, you must know :
> > 1: what it can do
> > 2: what it cannot do
> > 3: what information it needs to do it
> > 4: how it needs that information to be presented
> >
> >
> >And, guess what - this is called COMPOSING!!! :-)
> >
>
> In general yes, BUT ...
> some of us (possibly the majority) like to walk around
> and try all instruments we find on our way around the world.
> We like to use them just to play a little bit around with them.
> Call it try and error and not composing, but it's fun and
> really ENJOYBLE, although we'll never be experts on any instrument. :-)
I agree totally.
As Stravinsky says "amateurs borrow, professionals steal," and all
composer must spend time trying out new things. I have to admit what I
truely love about csound is that I can take something from someelses
research and manipulate for my own compositional needs. Except for a
handful of composers, most composers throughout history built on already
excisting resources and manipulated them to realize thier own musical
identity. I feel Csound can be used the same way. I could spend a LOT
of time designing my own instruments based on extensive research, but I'd
rather spend that time developing musical ideas and leave the research to
the experts. Granted, I do believe it is important to realize the
fundemental construction of any instrument a composer chooses to use
whether it be an Oboe or Csound designed instrument, but the bottom line
it is not always necessary to do this to create truely interesting
music. It just helps.
Just a little note of encouragement,
John Beahan |