How many pieces do you feel comfortable writing at the same time?

Hello everyone :)

I personally don't like having anymore than one project. If there is no time limit and I am just writing music for the enjoyment then I will only write one piece at a time, and fully finish it before writing another. If I am bored of the track I am working on and have an idea for another then I will force myself to get it finished before I start another. I have a friend who has like 10 unfinished pieces and he is working on them all at the same time, just because he prefers working that way. I am curious how other people approach writing multiple pieces of music :)

Usually I write one major project at once and have several minor ones going along on a rolling basis. But usually my concentration is only on one significant work at a time. That's why it sometimes takes a year to finish a symphony, because you're not thinking about it every minute of every day.

i think it's impossible to write more than one piece at a time, unless you can write with both hands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handedness) and have a split brain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain).

but, i think, with maturity and getting old comes this WORKING on multi pieces in overlapping time PERIODS as one a) has more ideas and b) is already past his ability to work on one piece without distractions (which most probably leads to more ideas). it's like weaving or atonal counterpoint. personally, i don't have a clear way of doing things. paraphrasing uldis berzins: i'm not a big man, i'm a small man, and i do this and that and another one. which in latvian goes like this: "es neesmu liels virs as esmu mazs virins es saku sita un ta un otradi".

I usually have two on the go.

I start, obviously with dozens of jump-off points, but once they start to solidify, I can maintain two. I like having two - gives you somewhere else to go when one runs out of steam. Focusing solely on one project is draining and I find it difficult to keep my own interest in it. It helps me as well to jump from one ensemble to another - again helping differentiate and keep my mind mobile, not having to staganate on one singular piece for too long.

"At the same time" does not apply fully. It can't apply fully.

But right now I am working on a number of short (easy) preludes for piano (I still need another 4 to finish), and at a larger form works for piano again, with much more contemporary techniques and aeasthetics, and much more difficult for the performer.

Finally I have contract for 4 games, two of which are on stand right now and the other two are active.

That said at the same time since January I have scored another game and did music for two commercials.

I have to be honest that in the case of the computer games, I got used to working in the fast lane, day by day and changing ideas constantly. It can't work any other way. With concert hall music things are quite harder I have to admit.

BTW< Hey Robin! ^_^ Nice to see you again!

I'm not really comfortable composing multiple pieces at once, unless it's a series of something or a suite. Then it's just the matter of coming up with enough time to write down all ones' good ideas.

It's too bad you can't have someone else write down your ideas, like in the end of "Amadeus" with Mozart and Salieri.

If you're writing some variations, it's relatively easy to compose something else at the same time. Variations don't require that much creativity before you start writing, and you can quit composing them just like that and settle for what you have.