Help with writing music on bass

[IamGroot]

Write it manually in INK. No erasing.

I am just getting back from a long day and a 150 mile drive. Lets see what I can create tonite. My usual notebooks are at my home.

 

[IamGroot]

Attached is an etude in ink (i.e. no erasing). I started around 10 and finished around 12. Its not great and I am sure many will find fault with it, but the point of the exercise was "Just Do It". Normally I dont spend more than an hour, but its been a long day.

 

[mambo4]

@IamGroot that is brilliant
In my other life I do graphic art stuff and I took to doing all my sketches in ball point pen
no erasing and correcting, if you make a mistake just keep going, maybe you can turn into a useful element
but the point is to keep going, draw (compose) more, get faster at getting those ideas down.

Inspiring, thanks

 

[IamGroot]

@IamGroot that is brilliant
In my other life I do graphic art stuff and I took to doing all my sketches in ball point pen
no erasing and correcting, if you make a mistake just keep going, maybe you can turn into a useful element
but the point is to keep going, draw (compose) more, get faster at getting those ideas down.

Inspiring, thanks

Thank you for the compliment.

Yes, pen "cured" my biggest writing hurdle.

In the cold light of morning, I can see a big immediate problem (other than a lack of a concept) and couple of notes I would have changed, but I can fix that the next time. If I had stopped along the way, I would never had finished, especially given I was pretty tired. Just stuck it out.

I wish more people would post their writing instead of talking about tort.

 

[JRA]

I wish more people would post their writing instead of talking about tort

for that!

i used to have a similar routine (in the old days before music writing software). your etude is nice and kudos for laboring into the night after a rough day.

i'm working on sibelius these days because i have deadlines and i always have a pile of stuff to complete for someone so i avoid 'doing it twice', or more. also, my penmanship is pretty sketchy (yours is very easy to read!).

per the OP: i've written many tunes on bass (all parts: guitar/keys, horns...) but i can only do it, i think, because of my piano experience: once you know piano/keys = pretty easy to generalize/transfer to most other instruments. so even though i'm 'restricted' to a bass instrument i'm seeing/hearing the piece from a 'piano point of view'.

 

[IamGroot]

Time wise, how does Sibelius compare with doing it by hand?

I used Finale years ago and abandoned it. Easily tripled the time to do a piece, but of course it was a lot prettier.

 

[IamGroot]

I normally use xeroxed manuscript paper divided into 4 columns. If your page width is 7 11/16", then the lines are at 1 15/16", 3 7/8", and 5 3/4". I ran out of xeroxed sheets a while back and the store wanted $0.15 a copy for B&W so I am holding off.

I scored a 40 sheet book of Carta jazz band paper (20 staves, 12"x18") for $7 a few weeks ago. The guy was glad to unload it for half price.

 

[Bassbeater]

Every song I write starts with the vocal and the vocal melody. For me the bass line is usually the bridge between the rhythmic structure and the vocal melody. If I'm stuck I just play simple roots and listen back to the simple line to hear what's missing.

 

[Badwater]

Perhaps you're trying too hard. Keep it simple to begin with and just write a song. Then fill in the instruments you want.