NEGATIVE SILENCE

"It's just a hobby!"

I bought my first guitar about 10 years ago, I was 56 years old. I had wanted to learn long ago and decided with my early retirement, now was a good time! I had no musical experience but with the help of many YouTube videos (mostly JustinGuitar.com), I started to learn. Along the way, I wrote my first original song and started videoing and recording my music, both originals (@lenaloise) and covers (@lenaloisecovers). My first song was posted about 5 years after that first guitar!

My music "hobby" has really grown since I started! Many guitars, pedals, gadgets, equipment! But it's a hobby! I work hard for every note and learning this instrument at an older age is different from starting in your teens! My page is a mix of things that I enjoy in my "hobby"! I record "almost live" with minimal takes and editing. I strive for fun, not perfection, and I learn as I need to for that enjoyment!

So please subscribe (if you like) and follow along! Thanks for listening!

Len

I love film scores, electronic and ambient music. I gravitate towards electronic and ambient simply because I love creating cool sound textures.
Please follow me on Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube Music. It really helps. Links in my profile.

https://progettosonoro.bandcamp.com/follow_me
progettosonoro è Marco Mascia, accumulatore seriale (e parallelo) di strumenti musicali e oggetti sonori e (non)musicista. Dal 2007 fa parte (con Manuel Lain) del duo Le Pecorecaramellate che ha all'attivo un Cd (Una botte e via! edito da Sesto Esercizio Records) e ha partecipato (Cagliari, 10 Ottobre 2015, Nuovo Panificio) al Multiversal EXP-OFF. 
Il 1 Maggio 2016, sempre al al Nuovo Panificio, ha partecipato, con la Roaring Pianolas Orchestra, alla perfomance live "pianoltre"

I am a composer and producer of instrumental music in several genres, including ambient soundscapes, electronica, orchestral and chamber music.  

Musical influences include John Coltrane, Igor Stravinsky, Gustav Holst, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Tangerine Dream, Robert Prince, Frank Zappa, Brian Eno, Heinrich Ignaz, Franz von Biber.

My Method of Composing and Producing
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I'm sharing my method of composing and producing music recordings in case other composer-producers like me might find ideas worth exploring in their own work. I use this method for Classical, Avant-Pop or Neo-Folk Instrumental genres, not for Ambient and Soundscape pieces. Non-composers might find this explanation interesting, but having a bit of music theory background will definitely help. I consider myself a humble learner when it comes to music theory. 

I owe a debt of gratitude to British musician and educator Gareth Green, whose Music Matters online courses and free YouTube lessons have taught me so much over the past few years. Thanks to his instruction, I’ve moved from struggling to compose music by trial and error to something more enjoyable and productive. The knowledge I've gained has taken my work in new and expanding directions. As the saying goes, “Theory is not a cage — it’s a map. It doesn’t make the journey for you, but it keeps you from getting lost.” 

When I start a new piece, I begin by choosing a key, and picking a scale drawn from one of these sources:
 
1) Western Tonal / Functional Harmony - major or minor chords I II III IV V VI VII
2) Modal Harmony - Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, etc.
3) Slonimsky's "Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns" 
4) Messiaen’s "Seven Modes of Limited Transposition" 

For many pieces, I also decide on a progression, one as a simple as I IV V, or something more elaborate.  

Next I create a "scales and progressions" piano track in my DAW (digital audio workstation software) and enter the chords I to VII in my chosen key. These harmonized scales serve as a basis for writing multipart harmonies and finding pivot chords for key modulations. 

At the start, I know what instruments I want to use, making adjustments along the way. I tend to write chord parts first, then melodies created through a mix of improvisation and direct input in the DAW. Sometimes I start with a melody.

I develop melodies and variations of a phrase by some combination of: a) passing it from one instrument to another, transposing it by an interval that sounds pleasing, b) reversing it, c) inverting it around the tonic (first) note of the scale. These are well-known methods. 

After completing a section, I choose another scale and maybe a new key and repeat the process until I have a draft of the entire piece. Then I export a recording and listen to it “offline”, take notes of errors and new ideas, and incorporate them back into the piece. Often this “compose / listen / compose” cycle is repeated many times. These iterative cycles include adding new ideas, polishing transitions between sections, changing the arrangement, and incorporating expressive details like accents, and articulations (staccato, sustain, portato etc.). I’m often working several different pieces at once. 

Last is mixing and mastering: balancing the loudness between instruments and adjusting elements like reverb, compression, and equalization. I tend to mix as I compose, even though many producers frown on that approach. I find mixing as I go helps me envision the completed piece and make adjustments to the choice of instruments; it self-inspires me when the piece is starting to sound good.  At the end I do a final mix, but as the saying goes, “A mix is never finished — it’s surrendered.”

In the end, this method gives me a basis for exploration and creativity and helps me stay focused. The goal is always to make a piece of music that feels expressive, cohesive, and emotionally resonant.

(>°.°)>¬Φ⌐<(°.°<) ................ (>°.°)>¬Φ⌐<(°.°<)
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Things are changing here...
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Hi. Welcome to my page! I hope you enjoy my music. Feel free to drop me a line or comment :)

I don’t have as much time at the moment to be on Soundcloud. I always appreciate listens and feedback and will respond when I can. 
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Thank you for visiting. It’s always appreciated. 
You’ll mostly find blues colliding with other sounds, styles and traditions here. Lots of improvisation. Lots of guitar and some other instruments. Hope you find something to enjoy!

Lifelong keyboard player and composer and synth programmer. Perhaps, I hear things just a little differently...

NEGATIVE SILENCE

Bobby Nelson