@William said:
I think about that at times. Of course people can work in different ways, but I wonder if composing for samples directly makes you weaker as a composer. Because you do not have to imagine the sound - it is all right in front of you. And so your musical mind becomes lazier, with all those wonderful sounds distracting you from the fact that what you just wrote is a piece of shit.
Absolutely! I discovered this years ago when I first started working with MIDI gear. Prior to that, it was just the piano, pencil and score paper. I got excited about being able to play all my parts into the computer and have it spit out written parts. Fast, easy and no writer's cramp.
But it didn't take long to realize that my music was not benefitting...in fact it was suffering. I wondered why. Then it hit me. I was trying to arrange and orchestrate before I composed anything! I got so distracted by all those cool sounds, I was putting the cart before the horse. I resolved then...and I stick by it to this day...I don't go to the computer until I know where I'm going compositionally. Even though I don't always write the parts down first, I pretty much hear them all before I start sequencing. That's not to say that I don't occasionally noodle around when I want to try out some things. But that usually happens when I'm a good way into a piece and am experimenting with different doubles and such.
So most of the time, I need to hear it in my head fully realized before the computer comes into the equation. The exceptions would be electronic/textural things where sounds or rhythms are the conceptual anchor point. Playing around with different colors can inspire compositional ideas.
But like I said...when the deadline looms - you tend to do whatever it takes! [:)]
Fred Story