How to USE Improvisation as a Compositional Tool

Ever improvised something and thought "this seems a lot like that other thing I improvised...." In this video we'll talk about how to use improvisation as a tool for composition, and some techniques to make your improvisations more focused and easier to develop.

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[dmreturns]

I'm reminded of a fun quote by Angus Young from AC/DC.
"I've heard people say we have 12 albums that all sound the same, ... they are wrong ... we have 14 albums that all sound the same!". - Angus Young.
- - -
I feel like its best to either repeat yourself or explore new areas ... in a controlled way.

[alexgrunde]

One thing I find helpful when translating improvisation to composition is that if you do find that golden riff/melody/bass line/chord changes/etc, don’t treat as a thing you use one place in one song, then go wander for the next golden riff. Treat it as a motif, take bits of it, rework the bits to be a similar but different element somewhere else in the song or in another song entirely. If it’s that good, get the mileage out of it. And helps the music sound cohesive instead of a collection of interesting but fragmented riffs.

[CapriciousBlackBox]

Once again I would like to thank you for your generosity. These concepts really help. Cheers!

[RockwellDulcimer]

One of the best common-sense improv/composition lectures ever!!! You have reinforced decades of hunches and speculation in my loose composing process. I have come away from this with some new ideas as well, and now I'm looking forward to getting back into the flow with some refreshed energy! Thanks!!

[Auxend]

Thanks for having a strong POV—it's helpful for me to see others who ponder similar ideas beyond just thinking and talking.

[GunnerVFox]

As an aside, i am not classically trained -or even a good musician- so most of what i do is in the work flow of Sound Design > Experimentation in a random key (usually minor 👀) > Discovery of something interesting or amusing > EDITING and lots of it to refine and further experiment > -hours of weeping and gnashing of teeth-

So in other words, i have found what you are talking about here to be a very helpful and good way to develop music. But also i have been a synthesist for like 2.5 years and can barely play 😁

[RichardAmesMusic]

For personal projects/albums I always let a piece sit for a few days then listen/tweak then let sit again for a week or two and again revisit. If I still feel good about it after ignoring it for a while multiple times then I call it done. If not, I keep iterating on that process until I do feel good about it. I think those who say the best music is immediate haven't taken the time to go through that process and understand how much better it can be. Yes, sometimes you get a great piece of music quickly. But, in my experience, that is rare and anything you thought was good could be made even better by ignoring it for a while and then revisiting it.

[bricelory]

Good conversation! I think your concluding thought lands on a good place: there is certainly space for improvisation, both in one's indiviual process as well as performative/recording - but be wary of positions that try to say to never refine ideas, or only improvisation is correct.

There are people I find who have truly romanticized the process of making music, and the creative process in general. They tend to promote an idea that creativity unfiltered is purest, and thus best, that the purpose of creativity is to reflect unintentional genius as an unadulterated good. The idea tha "expression" must never be filtered or re-worked, or improved, often strikes me as living in some sort of fairy tale. Even in our conversations, we regularly take back ideas or say things in ways we didn't mean, or have to pause and look for words or re-phrase our sentences. And we do it all exactly so our words can be more expressive of our intentions. I think miscommunication and frustration happens most when we don't take any time to refine our communication to reflect our real intended expression - and something similar is true in art of all sorts.

There can be great value in just creating whatever without refinement. But refusing to grow in planning, composition, or refinement is more a sign of creative immaturity in my experience.

[MarkosK]

To be honest I rarely improvise, the moment I sit down on a piano I come up with a melodic idea. However I'm going to mitigate that via purchasing a piano.
My compositions are done pretty fast too, one of the reasons I am still not sure about the quality of my work...
I love reiterating on ideas on the basis that it allows me to see how I tackle the same theme, how much my composing skills have developed.
Music is a set of melodic and rhythmic patterns that we artists combine to create something familiar yet unique, sometimes returning to an already explored idea will lead you to find solutions you couldn't even imagine for example one year ago!

[hipskind]

I just ran across your channel. Holy cow...so much great insight. Thanks so much!

[KevinJohnsrude]

Improvisation is composition in real time. It's the first draft and the first draft is sometimes perfect. Just like when you talk, especially when you consider that the first language was probably song.

[WEL]

This might be my favorite video from your channel. Absolutely spot-on. The bridge from improvising to composition is so fascinating a space to explore, and the challenge is by no means limited to music! Yes, it is “authentic” to sit down at the most basic instrument and just let it out. But it really is wonderful to take the best fruits of those endeavors and *compose*. Thank you again for the inspiration and for your excellent and authentic thoughts.

[elliotttadanier]

Something I’ve realized is that over time, as I have practiced the skills of slowly and intentionally composing things, it has helped me to “improvise within a form, ” or give my improv more structure. I have a better sense of when to intentionally repeat myself, call back to a similar melodic motif, etc. - and not to say I’m the best at this, but I assume many of the masters of improvisation have developed an awareness of how to create structure and shape within their improv., whether they’re doing it intentionally or by intuition.

[danbient]

Beautiful explanation of the difference and the transistion from noodle to craft

[williambrandon]

take this idea and use it for vocal and instrument recording.
on a track I'm working now, I used the daw to "sketch" the vocal. so far I have the timing and pitch that want. now for tone character and delivery and its good to go. being able to lay it down and hear it back rather than reheasing into the air has changed how I feel about recording as a whole of the better!

[cornishwavesmusic]

Always learning more from your great vids, keep em coming dude

[PantaFlux]

@3:14 When it comes to the tactile interaction with and physical playing of a sequencer, the Torso T-1 comes to mind.

[NeZversSounds]

5:56 I hardly disagree with limited sound statement. If you are limited to using ONLY direct sound then yes, but apply that to synths (no presets, knob tweaking, no effects).
I'm mainly guitarist but I also do a sound design. Just from playing I can get expressive (palm muting, picking technique and position change sound and texture). Pair it with effects and you have unlimited sounds. What I haven't seen mentioned around is to put guitar through sinfold or linfold distortion (like in SerumFX) and you won't be able to tell that's a guitar.

[JeffHendricks]

Re Traditional instruments: I could play the exact same melody on a synth guitar, keyboard, or wind synth, and I will play it slightly differently on each one by the inherent way you play them. There will always be a uniqueness with traditional instruments.

[GizzyDillespee]

3:00 Keyboard's easy to improvise on, but if someone's too not-motivated for that, and they're not a guitarist, either, then here's an option: audio to MIDI.

Sing into a microphone, record it in your DAW, and click "convert audio to MIDI". If your software doesn't have that, then get a software that does. Then, assign an instrument to that MIDI track, and clean it up if need be, and then overdub another vocal improvisation over that, and convert it to MIDI, and so on. So, you don't even need to be able to play an instrument. Or, you can pick one of the easier instruments, and learn enough.