A new Record Time record?

Hey all,

So for this RT I ended up doing something a bit different and far more challenging than anything I've done in the past.  I was excited to write some stuff for solo cello as I just got a cello and can almost sorta play it.  Dan W, however, suggested I write some music using nothing but some orchestral manuscript paper.  To write for orchestra without being able to hear it (or even any pitch reference at all) sounded like a pretty interesting challenge, so I decided to try.

So I ended up writing about 3 pages worth of action-ish music for full orchestra.  I successfully wrote an entire bit of music without hearing it whatsoever except in my head.  I didn't use a pitchfork or tuner or hit a single piano key to help me.  It was a total brain drain trying to concentrate on hearing it mentally.  It made me resurrect a bit of my ear training from college.  And it made me appreciate my composing rig a ton more.  It was super satisfying to finally sequence and hear what I had written out over the past 4 days or so.  I'm actually really pleased with the way it came out.  I did make a few tweaks here or there after sequencing it.  I added some cymbal crashes and bass drum hits, took out some notes that were cluttering things up, and changed a few notes at the octave.  But like 98% of what you'll hear is what I originally wrote...I didn't change any pitch classes or re-harmonize or change rhythms, etc.  It's interesting to compare now how I write when I can play it back and hear it immediately with how I write when I'm on my own.  If I were stranded in the wilderness without my rig, and had to compose to survive, I now think I could! (Bear Grylls would be proud, and that's really what I'm taking away from this.)

Okay, so I didn't start on this until Wednesday because of work projects, and I didn't really work on it Thursday either.  I guess my head wasn't in it that night.  So I really only had the weekend and two weekday evenings that I put into this.  That being said, what I wrote came out to a grand total of about...........an entire........30 seconds!!  Yeah, not my lengthiest RT for sure, but I'd say it was by far my most challenging and beneficial.  (There's a bit in the strings at the end that I started but didn't get to continue with, so never mind that!)  I didn't spend much time on the mixing and mastering, because it's only 30 seconds long so who cares, but I think it's fine.  I'm calling it "Contentment Storm", which comes from a song name generator and is dumb, but it pretty well sums up the piece and the way I feel about it.  So that's about it!

-Andrew