Poseur to Composer

One of the books I'm currently reading is Why You Like It: The Science and Culture of Musical Taste by Nolan Glasser, chief architect of the Pandora Radio’s Music Genome Project. It's a 770 page doorstopper of a book that seems to encompass anything you'd ever want to know about music. My Kindle says I'm only 11 percent done but I've already found some tasty quotes, like this one from Steven Pinker about the utility of music who suspects that "music is auditory cheesecake, an exquisite confection crafted to tickle the sensitive spots of... our mental faculties."

I guess Pinker is saying that music has no usefulness. It's like a fattening, sugar-laden course after a nourishing meal. It's superfluous and it's only purpose is pleasure.

Martin Luther, on the other hand, believed that music was a gift from God and it's sole purpose was to glorify and worship Him.

My perspective, albeit unpolished and only partly informed, is that music is akin to humour: it's a coping / survival mechanism. It releases endorphins. It feels good and lifts our mood. I also agree with Charles Darwin that song is used for sexual selection and to attract mates, both amongst humans and other animals in nature. We can also use music for worship and creative expression.

All this, and with zero calories.

As mentioned earlier in this blog, Djent is a subgenre of metal. It's signature sound is heavily distorted guitars, polyrhythmic drumming and synth keyboards. Definitely a prog rock vibe. Guitarists in this genre employ techniques such as "palm muting" and "chugging". I've been looking for equivalent techniques for the piano / keyboard to use in my dhymn.

For palm muting on the piano I found this example on Reddit. It's a technique commonly used in free jazz by artists such as Cecil Taylor and Paul Bley (here's a great documentary on free jazz).

As for chugging, the closest equivalent sound I can find is the very beginning chords of Tower by Ian Ring. Still looking for other examples.

My new job has thrown me right off my routine and it's been months since my last post. I apologise for breaking my promise.

Now I'm re-designing a practice and writing routine where I can still be productive between 12 hour night shifts. And I've had to recruit help, because even on my nights off it's been hard to focus. My mind has had a hard time adjusting to the time switch.

To finish the arrangement of my Dhymn proof-of-concept, I hired a musician on Fiverr. Many that I asked declined. They felt the gig would be too difficult to take on. One person declined due to religious grounds (he didn't clarify). It's made me contemplate the implications of blending a contemporary, somewhat "aggressive" style of music with a song of worship. This is a topic I'll continue to grapple with – that and the fact I have no right to invent a new music genre with so little knowledge, ability, natural talent and experience!

Despite my hesitations, the first draft A Mighty Fortress Is Our God: Dhymn version is done and uploaded to MuseScore. However, it's not djenty enough. After I learn to play the song in it's entirety (this could take awhile), I'll make changes.

For me, the most difficult part of learning to play a song on the piano is the fingering. Deciphering sheet music and translating it into an efficient sequence of finger movements (at 3am) was so inexorably slow, I decided to hire a local piano teacher to do it for me. She isn't teaching me proper form or music theory, I only hired her to map out the fingering. Lessons are one evening a week – a stop-off on my way to work – and take about 15 minutes, if that.

Since my last post I've tried other methods to move the needle and establish a habit of writing daily, but they haven't worked (obviously). Hopefully this time is different.

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P.S. Poseur to Composer has moved to a new service and the version on Write.as may not be updated as regularly, if at all. The RSS feed url has changed as well (here's the new one).