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I’m not versed in music lingo like some of you guys are, but this “composes on his computer” stuff sounds like total bullshit to me.
Comment 1:
Just out of curiosity, if you own the Planet of the Apes DVD, you’ll find an enterview with Danny Elfman where he states he never learned how to solfege, that is the skill of reading and writing music on paper.What he actually does is he carries a voice recorder with him at all times, to save any music idea he comes up with, then transports it into his syntethizer at home. It is no very hard to find a computer program that can translate the music you just made into paper, separating it even by instrument. But this still leaves the musicians with merely a rough idea of the composer’s intention.
Therefore, he guides his orchestrator as he fills in the gaps, in terms of specific factors like adding pianissimo or fortissimo to specific moments in the music. The computer program I mentioned is not able to do this very important task, like others I don’t recall right now.
But even if he just came up with the idea and had no clue as how to have it made, he would still be the creator of all that great, moving, beatiful music we have heard throughout the years! Composer or not, he damn well earned his place as one of the All Time Great Musicians!
Comment 2:
no Danny does not right the sheet music, but he still composes it. When he started out he had help translating it to sheet music, but now he doesnt need to, cause he composes using midi software that creates the sheet music as you play it on a synth, which is the best way to go, cause if mozart and beethoven had that option back then, they probably would have used it(well except beethoven became deaf) because its the most practical way to write music now, the reason they learned to compose by writing sheet is because that was the only way you could do symphony, you couldnt just get an orchestra togather and play a tune and say, “Okay I want the brass to play this, and the strings to play this” it would never happen. Anyhow, Danny Elfman is the genius behind his work.Read the whole thread here:
http://www.timburtoncollective.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=364Note to Danny Burton: never learn about music composition from internet posters who have all the musical knowledge of a fifth grader.
It is no[t] very hard to find a computer program that can translate the music you just made into paper, separating it even by instrument. But this still leaves the musicians with merely a rough idea of the composer’s intention. [Authoritarian, 40s newsreel voice] Shirley Walker is then flown in to realize — with orchestra — Elfman’s minimalist smattering on his Moog Synthesizer!
You’ll see that an avalanche of replies were added to the topic – some detailed some not, and most sounding authoritative without giving sources. It’s tiresome, I know, but the general consensus from interviews is that although Danny wasn’t classically trained, Bartek coached him with the niceties of notation. It doesn’t take a university degree to read music. And I’m still convinced I’ve seen someone’s scan of an autograph score page from Pee-wee’s big adventure. I wish someone would re-unite me with that image…!!
Blunt
N.B.1. A midi sequencer is most effective when used with a keyboard, even if notes are only picked out (sometimes professional pianistic training can make composing for orchestra more difficult because of the way pianos group notes and use figures to fill in harmonies). There are plenty of software programmes that can take what has been played through midi and print out the notation – this is a splendid way of speeding up the process, allows the composer to be as specific as he likes in his scoring, and can make changes very quickly without having to re-draft.
N.B.2. I may not have the American meaning correct, but I think I’m right in saying that solfege is the notion of singing using the syllabic do(or ut)-re-mi system instead of notes. It comes from the choral tradition (hexachords and suchlike) and is still an adequate way of aiding young singers in learning their lines. Just thought you’d like to know
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