OK, I'm just going to throw this out there, because I get asked the question all the time:
"I don't know where I get my inspiration."
It's not like I run down to the local hardware store and pick up a fluorescent light bulb, some mulch, and a gross of inspiration. And I hate to sound too awfully crass and commercial, but I've always appreciated Cole Porter's quote "All the inspiration I needed was a check from a producer."
I write really good music for student musicians. Yes, I've written professional level works, but true joy for me is writing for student musicians. And, let's get something straight: just because it's written for "kids" doesn't make it "crap." How about you walk up to a world-famous painter and hand him three jars of finger paints (blue, yellow, and red) and tell him "Now, I want you to paint a masterpiece for me, but you can't mix the colors, use any hard shapes, and please keep the painting a good four inches from the edge of the canvas at all times." Yeah, right. He'd open those jars of paint and pour 'em over your head!
But that's what "educational composers" do all the time: we write really good music for student musicians within certain parameters. And don't kid yourself - the publisher's "rating" means practically nothing here. Most publishing houses deliberately grade their works on the "easy" side so that more school directors will buy them. For example, a recent publication of mine, "Epilogue" is listed as a Grade 3. No way that piece is a 3! Musically alone, it's a grade 4, and with all the shifting, it could even be a 5, but if the publisher listed it as such it wouldn't sell as many copies.
So, back to my original idea (sorry about my digressions - adult onset ADD or something...whoa, a squirrel!): I'm not really quite sure where I get the impetus for a piece. Sometimes it's given to me by the commissioner. "Mr. Bishop, we'd like a piece commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Belly Button Lint Factory here in town," and off I go to write the "Lint Lullaby" or some such thing. But more often than not, the commissioner says "write whatever you want."
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! Now the bells are really ringing in my cavernous little brainpan. "Really?" I ask. "I can write anything I want for your junior high orchestra? Really?" And then I start to ask some pointed questions about what they've been performing. How many of each instruments do you have? "Five violins and nine basses? No violas and one tone-deaf cellist? Hmmm." You get the idea.
Don't get me wrong, I like a good challenge, but I'm also not about to run down to the bow of the Titanic with a roll of duct tape, a smile on my face and warm fuzzy feeling in my heart. I'm good, but I'm not sure Mozart could pull off some of these situations.
And what about the creative process itself? In other words, how do I write a piece of music? Most times I "doodle" at the computer until I get a germ of an idea that I can develop. I use Sibelius notation software and a digital keyboard interface on a 27" iMac. I'm also in the process of getting ProTools so I can work on video productions (as I believe ALL composers today are secretly longing to write movie music). Sometimes I actually hear the music in my head while I'm riding my bike, sleeping, or just hanging around with friends. I've been known to say "excuse me" at a party and run off for a few minutes until I can find a napkin on which I can doodle an idea.
I don't have perfect pitch. And since I teach school, I'm not really sure I want it. I have a decent sense of relative pitch, though, that has been honed over the past fifteen years of teaching and composing. Besides, I have a particular "sound" that marks my composition style - in other words, you could probably identify my piece just by listening to it (assuming you knew some of my other stuff). So I use a lot of the same rhythmic and melodic devices in my pieces.
Which leads me to my next favorite question: "Why do you keep writing the same kinds of music?"
I'll let Elliot del Borgo, another educational composer, answer for me. I was at one of Mr. del Borgo's sessions at a music convention when some jerk asked him the same question. The composer only smiled and said "If you don't like my music, then don't buy it."
Point, set, match to Mr. del Borgo.
So, there you have it. I'm not really sure how or where I get my inspirations for composing new pieces of music, but I'm sure glad I do!
Anything I didn't answer for you here? Send me an email nwbishop(at)smsd(dot)org and I'll see if I can't confuse you even more!
Thanks for reading.
