Composition Quirks/Odd Techniques:

When I play any type of music I snap my jaws together in time with the rhythm. I always keep my mouth closed, though.

I do this too, usually improvising more interesting rhythmns

I don't have any musical emotion. I guess thats a quirk.

I like writing music in my head instead of sleeping. I can't think about more than 3 instruments at a time though. And even if I write rock music in my head I tend to neglet the mental drums.

A weird mental quirk. I hear movement. Like... if I see a lizard running a long my porch rail, I hear his footsteps in my head. That kind of thing, its weird. Animated gifs bug me for this reason. I hear the animation. I often try to cover them up with another window or something if I am reading or something.

I also tend to do lots of stuff in musical times. I can't think of any specifics right now though. I also like to practice on my desk at school.

Oh yeah another thing, this one is fun for everybody to try.

I mouth-wah everything that produces sound. Like I used to mouth-wah my cellphone's ringtone while I was driving around. Its good fun. I mouth-wah these little tiny speakers I have hooked into my computer. A fun one is to mouth-wah the vocals on song like you are singing them.

Mouth-wah?

I presume he means sticking the speaker in his mouth and adjusting the size and shape of his open mouth to create an effect similar to that of a Wah-Wah pedal. (youtube it.)

Exactly.

I often sing stupid song while composing at home (such as singing for one hour with only the name of my cat or stuff like this. One of my ex roomate was calling it 'the festival of the silly song'. But since I more often that not compose in coffee shops now I try to do less noises ! eheh

Oh yeah.. Once I was singing and my brother recorded it... It was damn embarassing..

Air-conducting is also something I like to do. Whenever music is in my head, i do it.. Altough in public I tend to minimize my actions a little.. :P

I brush my teeth in 3/4 time.

i brush it in 4/4 time semiquavers at Allegro :happy:

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i usually conduct the idea in my head and mostly when i get excited i dance..

I air conduct a lot... yup, Toscanini would have been proud.

I air conduct.

Even when I try not to.

My

I often catch myself singing/humming/whistling a melody and then dashing for my locker as soon as class ends so I can write it down. Tragically, I've lost it a few times. :P I really need a digital recorder or something lol

I always carry some manuscript paper folded up in my pocket for those occasions, very helpful, I would advise it :P

I'll finally embarrass myself: How would the ""swift movement of the liquid of the (buccal cavity) in a rythmic [and melodic!] motion"" rank on the top ten odd quirks related to music?

It probably wouldn't, but it's still weird. ;) I really wonder if anyone else on Earth does this..

I do the exact same thing.

I brush my teeth at waltz tempo.

I always carry some manuscript paper folded up in my pocket for those occasions, very helpful, I would advise it :D

Ah, but the terror and tragedy lies in the fact that I can't even write as fast as the ideas come and go :) however, my idea is that if I could just sing a melody into the recorder, then I could play it over and over when I got home until I had it perfectly written down :D

...I could just sing a melody into the recorder, then I could play it over and over...

It's a good idea...they're like, $40

I write my music directly in Finale. My quirk is that I will press play on whatever I'm working on over and over again to listen to it to see where it wants to go. Anyone listening to me do this could easily go insane. This is especially easy since I often will listen to it several times, change only a note and then listen to several times before changing it back and so on. I'll also listen to the final product over and over again for several days afterward, just so I know the piece better.

That's not a quirck or even odd at all. I'm pretty sure everyone does this.

That's not a quirck or even odd at all. I'm pretty sure everyone does this.

Ad nauseum?

I smoke pot before composing, and drink coffee while doing it.

Well, I play piano on my knees sometimes, or flute. If I'm sitting by a desk or table I'll sometimes tap random rhythms. Walking around the house whistling tunes that I make up as I go along is another good one.

Ad nauseum?

Yes. well,, I used to, until my ear got a lot better, now I know what it's going to sound like when I write it down so I don't need to play it back.

I dont know if this is really a quirk, but when I compose on the cello I just seem to stare at the scroll and if i get writers block, ill walk into the kitchen, grab an apple and speed walk around a table for a while, eating the apple.

Heh, I just dug up this thread. :D

Matt, I do the same thing too, I do the rythmic swishy thing in my mouth. And you thought you were alone! :P

WoW, I have a lot of quirks, actually...

I eat rythmically. You should see the looks I get at the dinner table, especially at my girlfriends house. She just looks at me like, "You're such a geek...". And I am.

I have never tried the mouth-wah thing, but the closest thing I can think of that I do is singing while gargling mouthwash and whatnot. My own mother thinks I'm a lunatic. That reminds me, I have plugs headphones into my computer and put the earpiece up to my (French) horn so that the horn amplifies the sound. I works quite well, and I do this often to hear my compositions at different sound qualities.

I often sing while playbacking back in Finale what I've written so far. When it gets to where I stopped in progress, I just keep singing and then adding on what I ended up singing. I've added whole new parts to orchestral scores this way. I also do it by actually playing the appropriate instrument.

My most annoying quirk must of course be my affinity for producing sounds from things that arern't designed to make sounds... here's an example list in this thread -> http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/random-27-83.html#post172154

I of course hum. Also, alot of people let the music just come to them, but like to have a set goal of what I want, for example, I want to write a symphony or whatever. Other than that, nothing really out of the ordinary. :blush:

I of course hum. Also, alot of people let the music just come to them, but I like to have a set goal of what I want, for example, I want to write a symphony or whatever. Other than that, nothing really out of the ordinary. :)

Actually, this is nothing out of the ordinary. :(