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I guess there are advantages and disadvantages to anyone's composing work ethic. But in this topic I will be talking about why I compose on paper and why it has proven so advantageous to me. There is perhaps a certain legend about composing on paper that it results in music that sounds more inspired. For me it's more that when composing on paper, my musical imagination has more free reign and can't be fooled by the sound of the composition. And I do think that "fooled" is the right word here because it can be very easy to have one's musical decision making disadvantageously swayed by the immediate feedback of sound while one is in the process of composing. Silence also allows me to compose music from a more dispassionate angle without feeling anything that the music might make me feel. And I think that helps me have a more objective relationship to the musical material and use better creative judgment. Sometimes I might whistle or hum the melodies to myself. I rarely need the help of any instrument as even vertical sonorities can be whistled/hummed or imagined (exception: writing music for instruments I'm not familiar enough with like guitar). But if I let myself feel the emotions of the music while I'm composing they interfere with the process and I start to build up too much expectation and pressure to put out the finished final product. While if I write the whole piece out on paper without listening I feel like I have all the time in the world to organize things the way I want before calling it "finished" and there's no pressure (which sometimes can also be a drawback as it can be easy to lose motivation). But I have resorted to going back and forth between computer and paper where I had listened to part of a composition before finishing it on paper. Usually I have done that (even very recently) because I was losing interest in a composition and hearing it provided a certain infusion of excitement and motivation to finish it. Usually in my style of composing (which has to a degree become accustomed to composing on paper) the melodic and contrapuntal lines take precedence and justify the harmonies. Even very unusual or dissonant sonorities can in this way be confidently (I hope) and deliberately written since the logic of the melodic line leads the ear and justifies the harmonies. Of course, the assumption behind composing only on paper is that the result will be simpler and to that effect, better conceived. Although as I have already mentioned, hearing an unfinished composition can also be advantageous as long as one has the self discipline to tear oneself away from the computer and return to the notepad (that's at least very important for me). The reason why I find it also inconvenient to start the whole process of composing on the computer is because it's not as easy to sketch things out on the computer. I have a small 8 in. by 3 in. notepad in which I jot my ideas down everywhere I go that I can keep in my pocket. It's really convenient for brainstorming. Later I set those ideas harmonically or for various instrumentations and variations. It's a longer process but it's easier than having fragments in a midi or other file form on the computer (for me). Back in the day I used to compose exclusively into the sequencer but circumstances in which I did not have access to a computer for extended periods of time forced me to write only on paper and I came to prefer it. Don't get me wrong though - I have tried to return to composing on the computer. I found it to be a very aimless and fruitless experience. The things that I "composed" in this way were more like improvisations that lacked any kind of musical direction or logic. Maybe I have just gotten old or something, but I much prefer my new way of composing on paper. Please share if any of this is relatable to you - or share your own composing work ethic and why it works (or doesn't work) for you! Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far! Peter

Hi @olivercomposer! You've been submitting your pieces for quite a while now and have composed many successful tracks that are very similar to this one! Your music includes lots of great features such as modulations and changes in orchestration and instrumentation and very dramatic harmonies and melodies! This track even includes some great synths and glissandi (if I am hearing correctly at 2:59?)! But what is missing from almost all your music is dynamic contrast! And that is a very important feature of music that brings it almost all of its life and vibrancy! Different sections of your music could be conceived at completely different dynamic levels to bring great contrast to your music (and almost all great orchestral music has these dynamic contrasts). Conceiving your music from the level of being like almost a whisper to a cacophony of expression would bring great dramatic effect! And the crescendo and diminuendo! Those are tools I don't think I've heard you make use of at all! (And if you have made use of them please correct me!) Your music, as it is conceived of here in this Space Battle piece, is all at the same dynamic level and almost the same texture throughout without any contrast. And that kind of piece can get old pretty quickly causing what I like to term sonic fatigue. In VGM this kind of approach is quite common as the utility of music in video games is for a limited context for each track. But adding this feature of dynamic contrast to any music is sure to bring it more life and can only help imo. Thanks for sharing! Peter

Firstly, thank you for your review. I don't say, you're wrong, but I really didn't want to use bigger dynamic contrast in this case. In other cases, for example, in the music piece I linked, I faced many technical issues. It's hard to adjust the dynamic level of all the instruments properly. My purpose was a quieter sound at the beginning of the piece, but the bassoon and the violas together were too loud. But, if I turn the volume down, they can't be heard, so I left it louder than I wanted to. The final mixing was quieter, but the mastering always decrease the dynamic difference/contrast, so I have to say, I'm not a mixing engineer, and for me, it's a serious difficulty to create a clean mixing, highlight the main instruments, and adjust the proper dynamic level. So maybe I wanted more dynamic contrast, but it's hard to handle the volume in the case of symphonic music because there are so many tracks and instruments, and some instruments almost have the same frequency range/upper partials, etc... Thanks again, and have a nice day! 🙂 I always appreciate your comments! (Just to clarify, it wasn't me who reacted with the laughing face on your comment, just so there's no confusion. 😄)