How long does it take you to finish a piece?

It depends on how inspired I am at the moment. Most of my work now is for clients (I'm a workaholic too) so sadly I don't leave much time for composition just for the fun of it. On my website (. : : Madsen Studios : : .) I have several trailers that were written in a matter of hours.

Mushi-shi took 8 hours

Glass Fleet took 6 hours

Tsubasa took about 12 hours.

Aquarion took about 14 hours or so. I was also working with EW Symphonic Choirs for the first time so there was some learning curve going on. :)

Just for example. Keep in mind that is starting with no audio and seeing the trailer for the first time. Then I begin to draft ideas, select patches, polish up the music and then begin to produce the audio.

I don't always work so fast- but writing to media seems to be my niche. I really enjoy seeing how sound and visuals come together.

I am planning on writing a larger piece just for myself. Once I get something pulled together, I'll share it with you all!

Thanks,

Nathan

So all that stuff on your website was made with EW?! Wow. I need to get that.

It was made with East West and VSL and some Logic or Sonar synths that I tweaked the crap out of. At times I would also use some stuff from Reason 4. But yes, those samples can make some incredible sounds!

I write relatively short pieces (ranging from 3-5 minutes) with a modest ensemble of instruments, so if I know exactly the direction I want to take a piece, I can have a polished copy finished in a matter of days, working about 1-2 hours at a time, if not more.

The fastest time I achieved writing a song was 2 weeks (and it's not "classical"/"serious" music). If we're talking about really "serious" music of considerably ambitious length, it could takes around 2 months the fastest to about a year (or more) for me.

Usually, I'll have a melodic/lyrical idea in my head for a few weeks, and I'll keep mulling it over and adjusting things.

By the time I sit down at the piano, the actual music takes 2 or 3 days at most. Lyrics might be a little longer, but rarely more than a week.

Concert Band/Wind Ensemble peices take considerably longer......

~Kal

I lack one important thing: patience.

It's very difficult for me to spend a lot of time on one piece. The result is that I kinda rush things and I think I'd do better if I thought a bit longer about it, if I searched for the right notes and stuff a bit longer...

I just finished a piece for piano yesterday that's only 72 bars, yet it took me two years to write.

I guess it makes sense, because I wrote most of it two years ago, left it unfinished, and wrote 5 bars yesterday.