I also use dice to create rhythmic patterns. I take a four-sided die and I assign a note value to each number: 1 for an eight note 2 for a quarter note 3 for a dotted quarter note And 4 for a half note. With this method I've stumbled upon some very interesting rhythms. Once I even accidentally recreated the pattern in Greensleeves. Just putting it out there in case someone wants to try it.
Nice, I haven’t tried dice for rhythm but I like the idea. I like using words and short phrases for rhythm ideas, but although the results are natural sounding they probably aren’t as unique as they could be.
Subscribed! Ive tried to learn composition over the last 5 years with much struggle. I know the fundamentals but actually coming up with ideas and having those parts harmonically fit together has been really tough. Please keep the videos coming
To me, writer's block has nothing to do with not being able to write, but rather, not being able to write something meaningful. I have had long phases of working on projects where I would just write and write and write, and not come up with anything that worked for me. I can always force myself to write something that's a good coherent composition, but the personal, spiritual connection to it is a lot harder to find when it isn't there. It often doesn't show up until I stop looking for it.
I like that 12 sided dice idea. I look forward to trying it with my students. We bought some dice like that for story telling years ago and they are great. My go to method is to just sit down and play piano with my phone recording. Just play whatever, single melody line, chords full improv, it doesn't matter. Sometimes I have a style in mind when I start but often I just play without purpose, then after 10 mins I listen back and pick out the bits I liked to turn into a composition.
We had a bunch of different coloured 12 sided dice. The blue one is landscapes so if you roll a 1 it's a beach, if it's 2 it's a mountain range etc. The orange dice is for the main character, he red is for secondary characters, the yellow is for time period, stuff like that. You can decide on what each number on each dice corresponds with or I'm sure you can just find lists on the internet. You can decide how many die you want. If you want your characters to have magical powers add in another dice each with a corresponding power for each number. Just be creative. Just roll all of the dice together then create a short story based on the rolls. In the end it looks like you roll a red 7 (male dwarf) with an orange 3 (3 trolls) goes on an adventure along a blue 6 (river) to find a green 11 (shopping cart full of used nappies) so that they can save a yellow 4 (garden gnome) from a black 12 (group of man eating slugs). Then you make a story out of that. Heaps of fun.
“Thirty spokes are made one by holes in a hub, By vacancies joining them for a wheel’s use; The use of clay in molding pitchers Comes from the hollow of its absence. Doors, windows, in a house, Are used for their emptiness. Thus we are helped by what is not, To use what is.” - Laotze, “Tao Te Ching” I went to sleep watching Mozart or Pokemon, and woke up to this. specifically on the part when you are talking about getting the barebones out as quickly as possibly. This might be a life changing coincidence.
Some great ideas to help get you started Ryan, will give them a go, especially using a 12 sided die, as it reminds of when I use to play D&D when I was a kid!
Hey. If you are knowledgeable about Deliberate Practice could you do a video on how to incorporate it into getting better at composing music? i find it much easier to do Deliberate Practice on piano but rather difficult to go into Deliberate Practice with composing. The reason is: it's hard to get immediate feedback(or pinpoint your mistakes) on your work with composing but with piano you know exactly how it should sound so it's much easier to get immediate feedback(or pinpoint mistakes).
Love to play role, and I came with the same idea a couple of month ago, but I never get the way to make it part of the playing time, just to mess around a couple of minutes. Thanks for the video, is really useful!
I think these tips definitely depend on the personality and style of the individual. For me, I've always found it easy to edit while writing because... Well, that's just who I am. When typing out an essay (or even just a text, I'm that picky), I always make sure to have correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation the first time through. That way when I'm editing, I have less work to do. I also have a hard time of actually just thinking what to write. Or sometimes I have a general idea, but I don't have the specific details. So I just start writing with the general idea in mind, and figure out the details as I go along. Then when I sit down in the editing phase, I figure out if the smaller details actually work or if I should replace or remove them. Sometimes, they do work, but they need to be restructured and reordered. This has actually helped me a lot in screenwriting, something which I'm just starting out at, and has helped me to be more creative. It has also helped me in writing music, something in which I struggle at being creative (and I probably always will). If you want a great example of the work I can do while mixing editing and writing, just read this comment again.
Eh, I think anyone can take 5 minutes to generate something random for a starting point regardless of whether or not they can edit while writing :] If you edit during that process, then it doesn't seem like you had writer's block to begin with, and if you don't, then maybe you find it harder to edit while writing than you thought ^^;
@@crapshoot Editing is far easier than the actual writing. Especially in the creative writing areas such as music and storytelling. I pay more attention to how something looks or sounds in the moment than what it will look or sound like the next. But when it comes to music in particular, I rarely ever have an idea in my head I want to write down, because it's extremely hard for me to even form an idea of what I want to write down. And when I do have an idea in my head, I struggle to actually write it down because I suck ass when it comes to determining the size of a leap between two different notes. So I usually end up getting frustrated that I can't write down my ideas and then give up, causing those ideas to then fade out of existence. Edit: Writing in general is not hard for me. Just creative writing. I can form a very basic idea for an article or essay, sit down, and write it in 3-4 hours, adding in all the detail as I go along. But this process does not help when I write music or screenplays.
@@DarthTingleBinks And I think that's what the video is trying to get at; "if you have no ideas, generate something random". The "don't edit" part basically just means "don't worry if the random thing you generated is complete garbage" - because worrying about it being complete garbage might prevent you from wanting to generate that initial random thing in the first place :] As for ideas you do have and struggle to write down, is it that you try to hum it or play it back in a notation software/DAW but it never sounds right even after guessing all the possible leaps you had in mind? Or does it just take a while, and therefor it's frustrating? I get the 'can only pay attention to how it sounds/etc in the moment' thing though :P My first creative skill was drawing, which is pretty 'in the moment' since you just make one static image that doesn't change through time, so I thought I'd never be able to understand music where the whole point is how it changes through time :'D
@@crapshoot It is both hard for me to find the right leap between two notes, and it takes a while. If I had a good keyboard or piano (which I have neither), it wouldn't be as bad, because the notes are clearer and more defined, but with the DAW I do have (which is admittedly a lower end one, being FL Studio Mobile), it takes a lot longer to do things. You can go from one note in one octive to relatively close note in another octive and it will sound like the DAW suddenly went through puberty or had a major voice crack. Which is why most of the time I write music and actually get somewhere with it I just mess around until I've made something I think sounds good (I generate something random and edit at the same time) and then go from there.
Ryan your videos are amazing but I’m a 50 years Tuba and Music Teacher who has arranged music for many Brass and Wind groups but never an Orchestration or composed my own material. Have you a video that would take me through the whole process Beginning, middle and end. I am so excited to try and Orchestrate my own material but feel a lot of trepidation and worry about how to do this. Can you help? Mark
this is gonna sound so dickish but I almost turned this video off when you said Disney. but damn ive been a serious composer for 30 years and literally all of these solutions were gold.
🎻 How I Got Mozart As My Private Teacher czcams.com/video/_0EP8IvbqMk/video.html
I also use dice to create rhythmic patterns. I take a four-sided die and I assign a note value to each number:
1 for an eight note
2 for a quarter note
3 for a dotted quarter note
And 4 for a half note.
With this method I've stumbled upon some very interesting rhythms. Once I even accidentally recreated the pattern in Greensleeves.
Just putting it out there in case someone wants to try it.
Nice, I haven’t tried dice for rhythm but I like the idea. I like using words and short phrases for rhythm ideas, but although the results are natural sounding they probably aren’t as unique as they could be.
Subscribed! Ive tried to learn composition over the last 5 years with much struggle. I know the fundamentals but actually coming up with ideas and having those parts harmonically fit together has been really tough. Please keep the videos coming
Thanks for sharing your struggles, it helps me know what to make videos about!
To me, writer's block has nothing to do with not being able to write, but rather, not being able to write something meaningful. I have had long phases of working on projects where I would just write and write and write, and not come up with anything that worked for me. I can always force myself to write something that's a good coherent composition, but the personal, spiritual connection to it is a lot harder to find when it isn't there. It often doesn't show up until I stop looking for it.
GOD. This has been my life for the last ten years. I've had an insane writers block for this very reason.
As an avid DND player, using a d12 in music writing is so satisfying. Love this idea
I use the phone number method, pick a phone number in your phone or phone book and use those numbers.
I like that 12 sided dice idea. I look forward to trying it with my students. We bought some dice like that for story telling years ago and they are great.
My go to method is to just sit down and play piano with my phone recording. Just play whatever, single melody line, chords full improv, it doesn't matter. Sometimes I have a style in mind when I start but often I just play without purpose, then after 10 mins I listen back and pick out the bits I liked to turn into a composition.
Interesting. How did you use the dice for storytelling?
We had a bunch of different coloured 12 sided dice. The blue one is landscapes so if you roll a 1 it's a beach, if it's 2 it's a mountain range etc. The orange dice is for the main character, he red is for secondary characters, the yellow is for time period, stuff like that. You can decide on what each number on each dice corresponds with or I'm sure you can just find lists on the internet. You can decide how many die you want. If you want your characters to have magical powers add in another dice each with a corresponding power for each number. Just be creative. Just roll all of the dice together then create a short story based on the rolls.
In the end it looks like you roll a red 7 (male dwarf) with an orange 3 (3 trolls) goes on an adventure along a blue 6 (river) to find a green 11 (shopping cart full of used nappies) so that they can save a yellow 4 (garden gnome) from a black 12 (group of man eating slugs). Then you make a story out of that. Heaps of fun.
“Thirty spokes are made one by holes in a hub,
By vacancies joining them for a wheel’s use;
The use of clay in molding pitchers
Comes from the hollow of its absence.
Doors, windows, in a house,
Are used for their emptiness.
Thus we are helped by what is not,
To use what is.”
- Laotze, “Tao Te Ching”
I went to sleep watching Mozart or Pokemon, and woke up to this. specifically on the part when you are talking about getting the barebones out as quickly as possibly. This might be a life changing coincidence.
Some great ideas to help get you started Ryan, will give them a go, especially using a 12 sided die, as it reminds of when I use to play D&D when I was a kid!
I've done things like Google "random number between 1 and 12" but it's nowhere near as fun!
Hey. If you are knowledgeable about Deliberate Practice could you do a video on how to incorporate it into getting better at composing music? i find it much easier to do Deliberate Practice on piano but rather difficult to go into Deliberate Practice with composing. The reason is: it's hard to get immediate feedback(or pinpoint your mistakes) on your work with composing but with piano you know exactly how it should sound so it's much easier to get immediate feedback(or pinpoint mistakes).
I love this idea, it might take some time to come up with the best response but it's going to go high on my list!
@@RyanLeach Awesome. Thanks. Looking forward to it :)
Me too!
such a simple video and simple idea but absolutely perfect. going to go play guitar now. thanks, ryan.
Loving your channel lately. This video helps a lot. Thanks!
Glad to hear it!
I rarely comment on videos however dropping by to say this is a fantastic video!
Love to play role, and I came with the same idea a couple of month ago, but I never get the way to make it part of the playing time, just to mess around a couple of minutes. Thanks for the video, is really useful!
I think these tips definitely depend on the personality and style of the individual. For me, I've always found it easy to edit while writing because... Well, that's just who I am. When typing out an essay (or even just a text, I'm that picky), I always make sure to have correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation the first time through. That way when I'm editing, I have less work to do. I also have a hard time of actually just thinking what to write. Or sometimes I have a general idea, but I don't have the specific details. So I just start writing with the general idea in mind, and figure out the details as I go along. Then when I sit down in the editing phase, I figure out if the smaller details actually work or if I should replace or remove them. Sometimes, they do work, but they need to be restructured and reordered. This has actually helped me a lot in screenwriting, something which I'm just starting out at, and has helped me to be more creative. It has also helped me in writing music, something in which I struggle at being creative (and I probably always will).
If you want a great example of the work I can do while mixing editing and writing, just read this comment again.
Eh, I think anyone can take 5 minutes to generate something random for a starting point regardless of whether or not they can edit while writing :] If you edit during that process, then it doesn't seem like you had writer's block to begin with, and if you don't, then maybe you find it harder to edit while writing than you thought ^^;
@@crapshoot Editing is far easier than the actual writing. Especially in the creative writing areas such as music and storytelling. I pay more attention to how something looks or sounds in the moment than what it will look or sound like the next. But when it comes to music in particular, I rarely ever have an idea in my head I want to write down, because it's extremely hard for me to even form an idea of what I want to write down. And when I do have an idea in my head, I struggle to actually write it down because I suck ass when it comes to determining the size of a leap between two different notes. So I usually end up getting frustrated that I can't write down my ideas and then give up, causing those ideas to then fade out of existence.
Edit: Writing in general is not hard for me. Just creative writing. I can form a very basic idea for an article or essay, sit down, and write it in 3-4 hours, adding in all the detail as I go along. But this process does not help when I write music or screenplays.
@@DarthTingleBinks And I think that's what the video is trying to get at; "if you have no ideas, generate something random". The "don't edit" part basically just means "don't worry if the random thing you generated is complete garbage" - because worrying about it being complete garbage might prevent you from wanting to generate that initial random thing in the first place :]
As for ideas you do have and struggle to write down, is it that you try to hum it or play it back in a notation software/DAW but it never sounds right even after guessing all the possible leaps you had in mind? Or does it just take a while, and therefor it's frustrating?
I get the 'can only pay attention to how it sounds/etc in the moment' thing though :P My first creative skill was drawing, which is pretty 'in the moment' since you just make one static image that doesn't change through time, so I thought I'd never be able to understand music where the whole point is how it changes through time :'D
@@crapshoot It is both hard for me to find the right leap between two notes, and it takes a while. If I had a good keyboard or piano (which I have neither), it wouldn't be as bad, because the notes are clearer and more defined, but with the DAW I do have (which is admittedly a lower end one, being FL Studio Mobile), it takes a lot longer to do things. You can go from one note in one octive to relatively close note in another octive and it will sound like the DAW suddenly went through puberty or had a major voice crack. Which is why most of the time I write music and actually get somewhere with it I just mess around until I've made something I think sounds good (I generate something random and edit at the same time) and then go from there.
12 sided dice are a godsend :D
Ryan your videos are amazing but I’m a 50 years Tuba and Music Teacher who has arranged music for many Brass and Wind groups but never an Orchestration or composed my own material. Have you a video that would take me through the whole process Beginning, middle and end. I am so excited to try and Orchestrate my own material but feel a lot of trepidation and worry about how to do this. Can you help? Mark
This content is A1
this is gonna sound so dickish but I almost turned this video off when you said Disney. but damn ive been a serious composer for 30 years and literally all of these solutions were gold.
Point of break off with you and all connected persons.