There it goes again!

[Styxx]

I can hear the strings! I can hear the piece materializing and coming together in my head. I can hear all the parts, the harmonies, the melodies. Even how I would like Diva set within! I\'m at work! Nothing to record my thoughts with and I know it will be the same as always... I\'ll forget. How frustrating this is and I guess I can take comfort in knowing I am not alone.
Still, if only I could share with you what I hear. If I could give it to you and you could make it real! Sometimes I feel as if it is the worst punishment to be a musician who loves so much and so many things yet can be so limited.
It is still there... Maybe, just maybe I\'ll get lucky and He will hold it for me for the right time. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[FossMan]

Can you write down the melody by itself? When I\'m at work and this happens to me I print up staff paper using MS Powerpoint and at least get the melodic line down. It does take a bit of aural training, but it works for me. Usually once I have the melodic line down I then sketch in with words the mood/feel of the background chords (I\'m not advanced enought with aural skills to identify complete chord progressions).

[Shazbot]

Get yourself a little voice recorder, or a Pocket PC with a voice recorder. Great for humming things into!

[Styxx]

I thought of that but out of desperation I decided to try Finale Notepad 2004 free download. Pretty hairy having something here at work. But instruments sounds on this laptop don\'t leave to much to be desired! The keyboard sound is about the only decent one out of them all. Now, here\'s another avenue I must cross. Hey, I am getting a little bit too old for this learning stuff. I\'ve heard of a learning curve but at my age it is more like a Learning curve to Mars! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[William West]

Call me crazy! I\'ve gone as far as calling myself and singing an idea on voice mail. After listening to it later, I can assure you the thought was no stroke of genious!


You might give it a try in an emergency - I hope your results will be far better than mine.

William

[musicpete]

Oh yes, Styxx, I know what you\'re talkin about. It took me about 12 years of learning, but now I am able to remember musical details I come up with fairly well. Actually it\'s not that different from inventing a poem and remembering it until you can write it down. It just takes much practice....

But I can assure you: Once you get the hang of remembering those things, you will have no problem inventing a complete cue and it\'s orchestration an writing it down at a later time. That can ver very rewarding.

Don\'t give up. Work on it.

[Styxx]

I had it up until I was on my way home from work. My habit is to turn the radio on the concert station and the \"Unanswered Question\" by Charles Ives was playing. One of my favorite works that is way out there for its time. I was into it, stopped at the violin repair shop, talked a bit and went home. I couldn\'t even tell you what one melodic line structure was. Maybe I am getting too old for this. Naw!!!! It has to come back~!
I\'ll be Bach! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[music man]

You shouldn\'t have stopped into \"That Violin Shop!\" That must have been the problem! LOL /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Alan Lastufka]

[ QUOTE ]
Call me crazy! I\'ve gone as far as calling myself and singing an idea on voice mail. After listening to it later, I can assure you the thought was no stroke of genious!


You might give it a try in an emergency - I hope your results will be far better than mine.

William

[/ QUOTE ]

I have done that four times this year... and counting... seriously!

[galvedro]

Take a look at Amazon, and search for \"Listening and writing Music, professional training for today\'s musician\". It\'s a kind of workbook to train the inner ear. It takes time to obtain results, but if you have a method, you are not blind in your way to writing down your music directly from your head.

Regards,

Anton

[Nicole]

Funny, I was watching ovation once \"Howard Goodall\" I believe the show was. He was talking about an interview with John Lennon and presented a piece for him to listen to by Debussy. Anyway when it was over and he asked John his opinion of the piece the reply was \"well its very pretty, but I cannot remember where it started to where it ended\". Something like that anyway /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Styxx]

Hey! I happened to like that place! The proprietor is a great person! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Finale note pad....whew! Like baking with an easy bake oven without a lightbulb! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[musicpete]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Styxx, you just summed up the \"Finale\" experience in a perfect way! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

It is not my intent to start the recurring nottation program flamewar but you might want to check out Sibelius. This program has served me well for about 3 years, is very easy and intuitive to use. I find it ideal for sketching out a piece and then working on it until it grows into a complete orchestration.

There is only one drawback: The price. That and the constant refusal of the makers to create a \"light\" version of Sibelius, similar to \"Finale Notepad\" (although users keep asking for it all the time).

On the other hand some people prefer Finale. I guess it\'s like chosing a sequencer: You have to take the program that suits best your way of thinking and working. We are lucky to live in a time where we have a choice.

[Mike Kelley]

Um, isn\'t \"Scorch\" the Sibeilus Lite?

I dunno, I\'m a Finale man myself. Notepad ain\'t Finale, though, and after downloading it to try out (just to see if it was worth it for other people) I don\'t think I could in all conscience recommend it.

Finale, with the Softsythn, is the Next Best Thing to GPO. I often sketch out my ideas at work and then use GPO at home to fully realize them. Even with Finale\'s new licensing scheme you can install on two or three machines, so it makes using it at work, on your laptop and at home fairly easy. I would hope Sibeilus allows the same flexibility, so if it has a softsythn type module that could also be a way to go.

Before you dismiss Finale you ought to at least try it (full 30 day functioning demo, so you can\'t say you can\'t try it. I assume Sibeilus has the same deal, so you can check them out head to head).

[Styxx]

Mike,
So am I to take it downloading Finale Note Pad is questionable for my desires? Geezz and I was having so much fun trying to figure it out. I guess the only alternative is to re-hire the Monks and have them follow me around work all day. I can chant the parts and they can write them down. Just have to get past their constant periodic kneeling and chanting. \"Ooommmmmmm e\' GPOoooooo, ooooommmm e\' GPOoooooooo. Get\'s monotonous after a while. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif