10 Years of Composing BLUNDERS

I originally called this 20 years of composing blunders because I could say more! But the first 10 years or my composing mistakes were more than enough for one video I felt - perhaps I'll do a part 2 some time. In any case, this is an honest look at some of the biggest mistakes I made in my first 10 years of composing.
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Bad Snacks
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[@ladyarlyss2932]

That exercise for finding what you like in a piece sounds like an interesting way to do a new 5 composers video- have someone pick a song and describe it in detail and then have each composer try and write a piece that hits most of the points in that written description and see how different they are

[@longschlongsilver7628]

Damn David, you were going to become a rockstar. Where did it all go wrong?

[@kingofthecrows8802]

@E. O. definitely much more impressive to the general public. I don't think most people care if you were in a rock band now a days unless you were in a classic band

[@ileryon4019]

that was a joke guys

[@brianmackyol2306]

@E. O. your

[@damnyankeega]

“Dude, suckin’ at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.” ― Jake the Dog

[@jossspear]

I definitely want to listen to the rest of “Songs for a Bus”!

[@diannelovesyou]

David Bruce: Prodigy pop writer, also good classical composer later on

[@pindebraende]

Can we please get to listen to it?? I love the sound.

[@jeroenwarner4834]

He threw those songs under that bus

[@politikilter6446]

Perhaps it was a Mixing Bus?!

[@ipudisciple]

@David: I hope that “like” means you’re going to upload that cassette to You Tube. We’re expecting the audio quality to be terrible - it’s a cassette tape after all - so don’t worry about that bit.

[@jacklav1]

He's very brave. I can't think of many artists that would look at their own work so unblinkingly in public.

[@torstenanders8213]

Yep. Various composers actually destroy their early pieces to cover their tracks. Sharing these kinds of personal experiences in a smaller setting might already be difficult, but posting this at KZbin is indeed brave.

[@ashbell1046]

Torsten Anders: and they weren’t THAT terrible.

[@ashbell1046]

Ask me what I was up to at 16!...On second thought, please don’t...You want BLUNDERS, I gots a million of ‘em

[@torstenanders8213]

@@ashbell1046 Agreed, and I also agree with some other commenter here that it is debatable whether playing around with clearly recognisable material written by others (blunder #1) is really a blunder. It depends on what you actually do with it, how much you then "own" it.

[@pablohernandez6282]

David, you've created a fantastic space for people interested in composition. It's reassuring to see an icon of 21st-century classical music such as yourself being so down-to-earth about both success and making mistakes. Thank you for your channel and kind words.

[@HTSITYS]

Absolutely. Im very grateful for this channel and Dave as a person. Hes quite the positive antipode of the cliche of an "elite" classic composer that I used to have. Embracing mistakes, while being relateable and humourous. Even taking advice from young pop artist like bad snacks.

[@lunakid12]

@@HTSITYS "like bad snacks" Snacks are good, though, almost by definition. ;) The bad part is our guilty conscience. (I mean taking advice from young pop artists shouldn't even invoke the association of something "bad". It should resemble _enjoying_ a snack, or a breeze of fresh air.)

[@willonastring]

@@lunakid12 @Sz. the producer he mentions in the video works under the name bad snacks. "like bad snacks" is not a simile, bad snacks is an example of a young pop artist worth listening to.

[@lunakid12]

@@willonastring Ahh, I see, thanks! :)

[@ipudisciple]

But here’s the thing. All that stuff, from the cassette tape of songs written on the bus to the piles of scores on the ground - he kept composing. Yes, some of it is better than others, but he just composed a lot of stuff. And that’s the secret. If you compose a lot of stuff, some of it will be bad. But if you don’t, it will all be bad. To compose good stuff, you have to put in the hard work. It’s true of painting, photography, music, and everything else that I know of.

[@ashbell1046]

And it was STILL better than a LOT of stuff that gets undue credit. In all of his supposed ‘foibles’ there is still a strong and clear sense of design, ‘intent’ and potential direction. These aren’t blunders...They’re learning trajectories’

[@kwarrtzorau7203]

Oh my god, David's mannerisms and personality haven't changed in 30 years

[@latt.qcd9221]

The "feeling like it's not going anywhere" is one of the things I noticed when I took some early college classes and listened to others and my own compositions. They always felt like that, no matter how texturally interesting students would try to make their compositions. It always felt more like trying to put notes on the page to "fill it up" in an interesting way rather than actually trying to say something. It was even more pronounced the more they explored atonality.

[@ashbell1046]

Spot on. I think the ultimate problem is that one MUST begin a work with SOME kind of design principle in mind, be it rhythmic or harmonic or whatever. The ‘blank page’ presents a different problem to composers than it does writers. There MUST be SOME ‘architectural’ concept at the outset before you can write the first note,

[@ashbell1046]

Unless you’re Max Reger and your life’s work can be summed up in multiple expressions of a single brilliant algorithm....But there’s no ‘there’ there. Once you’ve heard ONE PIECE he wrote, theres no reason to listen further.

[@hansmahr8627]

Yeah, this seems to be a common issue in atonal music because you have to find ways to create a clear sense of structure and purpose without the help of tonal harmony and that's quite difficult. It's why I love composers like Ligeti, Alfred Schnittke and Sophia Gubaidulina. Their music is atonal (at least for the most part) but it's never just a mess of notes, there's a dramatic structure to their pieces, a sense that you're going somewhere and that everything you're hearing has a clear purpose. Check out Gubaidulina's two violin concertos 'Offertorium' and 'In tempus praesens' for example, very exciting stuff.

[@kaia.4688]

The B Train is a gem. These songs don't suck per se, they just weren't written with the same level of expertise as if you would've written them more recently. They were good in the context of your abilities at the time and I appreciate hearing your efforts in your early days. "Being bad at something is the first step towards being totally awesome at something."

[@joshmontederamos4813]

Love that little short clip at the start

[@jbsandown]

So did I -and I'm Davids "uncle John" -the guy who posed the question to him all those years ago! Hardly my prodigy -but lovely to see the story as it unfolds.

[@user-km9bx3gf3z]

8:56 I've been struggling with this. i don't feel comfortable writing stuff that's too "easy" and i struggle with that. Thing is, Bach's Prelude to his cello suite in C major literally begins with a C major scale going up and down, haha, so simple doesn't equal bad. That's something I still need to learn.

[@russellszabadosaka5-pindin849]

*Z* I struggled with that for years and eventually found a few things that helped me move forward. - Difficult does not always make for bad music, nor does easy mean good music. Just write what comes most natural to you, by definition that is music you enjoy. - Then up your game: focus on writing the best music you can, within your own personal aesthetic. “Best” is subjective, but we all know it when we hear it. It’s harmonies that evoke a time, place or emotion. Melodies that tell a story. It can be tonal, atonal or serial, doesn’t matter as long as it’s your best effort and conveys some sort of journey. - Finally, make a point of going back through your music beat by beat looking to strip it down to its barest elements without losing its message, without losing the emotion you intend. Take out unnecessary doubled parts. Strip out unnecessary notes from a theme. Liszt wrote timeless, beautiful music that is still only playable by a very small percentage of musicians, because he knew when to use virtuosity and when to tone it down, These helped me. I’m just sharing, not preaching. Even if you ignore what I wrote, keep writing new music, never stop. One day you’ll reach a new plateau and it’ll be worth all the frustration you felt getting there.

[@user-km9bx3gf3z]

@@russellszabadosaka5-pindin849 I just saw this now, and thanks, that really helped.

[@russellszabadosaka5-pindin849]

*Z* you’re welcome! I’m glad to hear that, and thanks for writing back.

[@NothingYouHaventReadBefore]

I've tried to see it as this: The simple things in life are seriously complex, the most complex things are usually at their core very simple.

[@user-km9bx3gf3z]

@@NothingYouHaventReadBefore This applies very neatly to a lot of things.

[@james.randorff]

I thought I had heard the chord progression and melody to “The B Train” somewhere else, but it was Just My Imagination.

[@james.randorff]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2a9amCHeNKNr9k

[@davidgjam7600]

Actually, it's super similar to this random Portuguese song kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnLXloCmq9CKncU

[@Rubrickety]

I hope "Could You Lend Me A Rubber" wasn't from your American period.

[@christopherheckman5392]

Sounds like a Zappa title.

[@jackspnc]

Probably, or else it would be " ...... a blob "

[@atzgoblastbotzo]

"The B Train" could make a good Belle And Sebastian - style song if you turn into a clever pop song with a catchy chorus and some unexpected twists in the bridge and outro. Love the Tees. Don't delete your old works, they're part of your personnal history (see : Adam Neely) Their imperfections pushed you to work on your weaknesses and correct them in the next pieces : they got you where you are now. :-)

[@guidovivan5035]

Holy shit, tought exactly the same thing

[@farisfuad1150]

Listen to sugar ray-someday

[@jakeritmiller]

the b train sounds so sick! i love the piano accompaniment. I also would love to hear your pop rock record!

[@SeanEmmettThompson]

This was such a great video, and highly relevant to anyone who has struggled at any point in their compositional path. I had worked on an undergrad program in composition for 6 years, but despite graduating from that program, I still continue to run into the same issues which you mentioned in your different "blunders". But, hearing your experiences and seeing you persevere gives me a lot of hope for my own compositional journey. I had almost decided to stop composing and focus on just making music outside the classical context, but this video gives me some pause for thought. Probably the one "blunder" that affected me the most, personally, was the focus on making my professors happy and writing music the way I thought they'd appreciate, rather than taking any of their criticism or praise and filtering through my own idea of what music is. Didn't help that I struggled with Imposter syndrome, as I didn't know how to read sheet music until I started that program back in 2013. All this to say - thank you. Your video has succeeded in inspiring me to, at the very least, think openly and honestly on my musical "blunders", and learn from them, rather than focus on my sore feelings related to what I felt were failures.

[@elenahull6751]

CONSTANTLY FIGHTING BLUNDER #4! Every single bass piece entered in a recent composition competition suffers from this ailment. I know the composers want to be edgy and different and use interesting techniques but actually, it all sounds the same - fff low augmented 4ths, ppp high minor 9ths and a bit of tremolo. If you've written a solo bass piece AND thought about how it might sound, send it to me and I'll play it (well) on KZbin. #makegoodbassmusic 💖💖💖 Love you Brucey; thanks for making this excellent video. x x x

[@peterschaffter826]

It was already ho-hum back in the '70s when I was an undergrad in composition. :)

[@SteffenThole]

Nothing will get a return in Kopenhagen? And there are still 39 tickets left for one showing?? And tickets up to 25 years old are only just about 20 EUR??? Gosh, I am so close to booking it, even though that would mean traveling nearly 600 km…

[@YAYAYASHA]

To watch a living composer start and how he keeps evolving himself in 3 decades or is pretty awesome

[@roryreviewer6598]

I think what you say about the emotion in music around 13:54, especially with regards to "horror movie music", is something that concerns me and relates to my struggle and experience. I've found that when showing new music to the average person, whether it be my own compositions or not, they tend to think "anything not familiar" = "Horror movie music." It's somewhat frustrating, because for people like you and me who are familiar with modern classical music, a group of random composers, say: Messiaen, Ligeti, Schoenberg, Norgard, Boulez, Takemitsu encompass a distinctly wide array of various emotional/expressive content, but for some people it's all just "horror music" as you put it. As a composer, do you think there's a way of getting around that? Or getting people to see, say, the joyful expression found in Messiaen's Turangalila for instance, rather than them just hearing "something weird"?

[@DeflatingAtheism]

I think you can thank Hollywood for much of that. From Bernard Herrmann onwards, and possibly before that, atonal music has been associated with horror. The Twilight Zone theme is perhaps the most recognized piece of atonal music among then general public. It's also interesting to note that atonality historically began in late-Romantic ultra-expressionistic music, often describing a deranged mental state as in Schoenberg's Erwartung,

[@HewWagner]

I think there’s another side of the coin to this though. It’s often said that most people don’t want to listen to atonal-dissonant-modernist music, but in the context of film scores they do listen to this music all the time. The massively popular Lord of the Rings scores by Howard Shore are a great example of this. We all remember those soaring melodies, but the scores also feature extended sections of aleotoric dissonance.

[@ALF8892]

Your music will be interpreted different ways by different people. Those who say it's "horror movie music" just don't have a trained ear. Iv had breakthroughs with people by playing them different instrumental music. If you aren't familiar with a certain style there is no historical or cultural context.

[@Donderu]

The issue there is not specifically the piece itself. The fact the “average person” with no previous knowledge connects certain unfamiliar sounds with horror music is a cultural phenomenon. Culture dictates what feelings we associate with which sounds (or colors, shapes, etc. for that matter). So one would need to change the cultural significance those “weird sounds” have in the general populace. How a cultural shift is achieved is up to debate, as there are many different (and competing) theories on what dictates popular culture. So there is almost nothing an individual person could do to change how the general population perceives the “weird sounds”, short of a mega-star on the level of Elvis somehow implanting more unorthodox compositions on the general conciousness

[@maheshpadalingam3137]

Can you help me with the Messian symphony? What is it about? And what do you mean by joyful expression? It just sounds creepy to me.

[@ChristianLoftusMusic]

This was such a fun watch. Really enjoyable, and I'm not even just being nice because your video just premiered.

[@JaySuryavanshiMusic]

'A person who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. -Albert Einstein btw I loved your cheesy look in the thumbnail. Awesome video. Your collaborations with KZbinrs and Musicians, your brilliant videos as well as your overall KZbin channel has really helped music students like me. So,Thank you and keep up your good work! 👌🏻

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

If it’s new how do you know whether or not it’s a mistake (in the arts)? That’s not a trick question, but it is an interesting one to think about.

[@Ermude10]

@@JazzGuitarScrapbook That's a very good question. How do you judge whether something is a mistake at all? You need some kind of baseline to judge from. If this new piece is breaking too many "established" rules and accepted norms, then those will be judged as mistakes... for now. But the baseline of what's accepted changes over time, and what's previously a mistake might not be considered such in the future. So actually, you can only say for certain that it was a mistake at some point in time. Now, another interesting thing which this video shows is that this baseline is also something that takes time to learn and absorb into one's knowledge base. Young mr Bruce made many mistakes, but probably didn't realize at the time. Only by expanding his knowledge on what constitutes "good" music over time was he able to look back and tell that those were mistakes. But at each moment, all we can do is to judge our creations to the best of our abilities. So short answer: time will tell ;)

[@sschmidtevalue]

I suspect the Einstein attribution is apocryphal, but it's a good sentiment.

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

@@Ermude10 I think you can separate things into 'the matter of technique' - which is things like learning to orchestrate in a way that sounds like what you expect on real instruments, for instance - and 'matters of expression' where you might be going away from the expected norms of whatever music 'should be'. In fact, David's points about finding his own thing rather than writing the music he felt he ought to write is very much in this area.

[@soundknight]

"There is no victory without first a defeat" - Rommel, E.

[@sandnerdaniel]

I am amazed by how quick the general talk about music composition escalates into deep themes of the creation of art in general, especially of the contemporary one. Also, I could not take my eyes off your mooning t-shirt during the video, David.

[@tantefrusciante]

David, I really like the way you dealt with the interview and critique of Chris Dench here. Very respectful and not taking yourself too seriously. Confirmed juance again what a likeable person you are!

[@E.C.GoMusicandMore]

The struggle of being stuck in a loop is very common with myself as well.

[@ashbell1046]

Ditto. Kinda glad to see thats pretty universal.

[@freshpressedify]

'Oh, look I found my voice here in a piece by Ligeti' that one cracked me up

[@keysyun1430]

“Been down this road before” sounds like a killer jam

[@stefanparrott]

You made this at a perfect time, I've been looking back at some of my old compositions and feeling pretty disappointed in myself. Thanks for reminding me that its all part of the process!

[@michaelandrewnewell]

This makes me feel reassured that my compositional journey has only just begun!

[@Serpent453]

God, I can see a lot of these blunders just in the stuff I make nowadays. It does feel healthy, though, being able to look back and see how far one has come from them in a lot of ways, and that makes me feel happy about it. Thank you for this video, David! As always, you've made something fantastic.

[@irock58]

I know this might be how these things usually go, a talent discovered at a young age and is developed over time. But hearing you compose and write music at 16 blew my mind. I love your channel. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with the public. ❤️

[@sharrettwithyourfriends]

Excellent video. I enjoyed this and can now watch out for these blunders personally!

[@AllanGildea]

Cheers David, excellent video and provocative reflections on your compositions and music in general. I love that you feel that music should be about making emotional connections, at least in part - congratulations on your successes and thank you for sharing your so-called "failures' along the route.

[@bennywollinmusic]

"Kill your darlings". You've taken it to a whole new level. You've resurrected them, just to execute them again, publicly. In all seriousness though, massive kudos for examining your old work like this.

[@torstenanders8213]

Great honest video! This is pretty instructive. Thank you very much for daring to share this level of personal artistic experience. I agree that this might be your best video so far. Looking forward to part two :)

[@camieljansen5504]

Love the crosswinds piece. Very great video! Running into some of these blunders myself, too. Very well articulated as always.

[@wingflanagan]

Thank you, David, for your honesty, your humility, and your cogent advice. You are one of the best composers on KZbin.

[@thedivacomposer]

Thanks so much for this insightful video! Blunder #3 was such a good point to bring up; just the act of you explaining your own voice helped me reflect on what my own voice could actually be!

[@TheLadydragonnfly]

Thank you do much for this video. I think it was brave and really generous. I find your observations about personal voice very accurate also when it comes to other art fields, not only music. Thank you!!

[@darrenlucas804]

Thanks David, this is a wonderful video (that has already made me question so much of my own journey - in a constructive way) and the insights from your experience are priceless. Bravo!

[@nothingmuchado]

Looking forward to you hosting the next Humble Brag Awards Show

[@kaiquestumpf1]

Seeing somoene like you sharing your "failures" makes me more confortable with my own writting. Thank you very much for sharing this with us. Love your work!

[@leonardofae1568]

11:38 - I mean, just look at most of Beethoven's manuscripts. If struggling to compose interesting music is wrong then he was doing everything wrong for his entire life.

[@SirScheisalot]

Great Video, watching Music KZbinrs like you really motivates me to keep up my musicianship and gives me an itch in trying to compose myself!

[@Lynkevmusic]

generous video, David. I'm a huge fan of your channel, the work you do and how you present what's important. As a beginning composer without a teacher, I have to rely on channels like yours for nuggets of wisdom. Thank you, Kevin.

[@gnarlybird]

I totally appreciate where you're coming from in this video, especially the part about "the technical compositional process versus the aesthetic consideration". I have been composing and playing music since the 1970s, majoring in theory in college and attempting to adapt what I learned into progressive/avant rock compositions. I started out merely trying to write a good, imaginative song, finding a nice chord progression and melody that had a bit of gut to it, nothing too poppy or smarmy. As I developed a knowledge of interesting rhythms, expansive chords, polytonality, interesting modes and scales, I started finding things that sometimes were technically interesting but not as melodic they should be, or too melodic and somewhat boring in their use of conventional harmonic resolution. Nowadays, I record (under the moniker "Rag and Bone Orchestra") playing all the instruments on my recordings. I am very prolific, so I release the songs I feel accomplish what I was after, shelving the ideas that don't pan out. Quantitative searching for the qualitative.

[@pedrupusanfig7828]

Thank you David! Your videos are very inspiring and work wonders for me! I like your attitude towards music and your thoughts on connection with the public and expression. It makes me aware that, despite the very strong opinions of many colleges and teachers of mine (back in the day), my opinion is also shared with other composers who do write things I like and, in my opinion, are worth listening. I cannot believe how much weight those prevailing opinions had on me and how they worked as a sort of restraining jacket. So, once more, thank you for your videos! Wish you all the best!

[@alexjevincent]

The raw hindsight is honest and humble. Too often we look at artists with only the context of their best pieces, but showing artistic growth is equally important for someone else aspiring. This will have taken some heart to do, David. Thank you.

[@uritibon17]

It was very helpful to see what you consider as mistakes and how you move forward to create more music with the new realizations. I would very much like to see how to rewrite a piece of music, something I struggle with as I grow emotionally attached to my old pieces, even if they are flawed.

[@lb-ob4to]

Great video David!

[@luciwaves]

Lovely video! Thanks for opening up😊🤗 the titles at the end were funny 😂 Life in C# sounds great haha

[@georgehenry8391]

Much appreciation for this, David. For me, it was a particularly insightful and enjoyable video. I've always wanted to be a hobbyist composer and at one time fantasized about making composing music my occupation. The problem is, I've reached retirement age without ever really getting started, and certainly without persisting. But the insights you offer may one day help me to bypass or more quickly remedy some of my own blunders.

[@vivo-audio]

There are some wonderful and interesting characters on the interweb and David, you are one. Hats off.

[@janvanwijk5979]

Excellent video David!

[@soundknight]

This is such a great video. I feel so much better now and in more ways than one.

[@ivyssauro123]

This is such a wholesome relatable video, I love it

[@TotalDESSSS]

Good stuff! Doing what you love even though it's difficult is great advice. And the last one as well; I have this rule I practice as well as preach: never say anything negative, even if it's constructive, to yourself or anyone else following a concert. The next morning is the earliest for that. The main reason for this is to maintain a positive emotional association with performing concerts.

[@nicolasrichardcompositions5569]

Thank you for this very inspirational video

[@jackmar98]

As a masters in music student focusing in composition your candid honesty has helped a lot with the panic I feel around my work. It has certainly given me a little bit of inspiration to sit down and get a bit more writing done!

[@henrygingercat]

Brilliant and very helpful. When it comes to complimenting composers on a premiere of their latest masterpiece, especially if you've been rendered clueless, I find that, "It will resonate with me for a long time." or "I particularly liked the section near the middle", work quite well.

[@billsybainbridge3362]

Thank you for your modesty, honesty, and courage in showing the world potential flaws in your work, this is important for modern influencers to do to help smash the dysfunction of idolatry, so that society can evolve to our next phase in which authenticity is cherished above all. Be aware also that some of the things you perceive as flaws may also be idiosyncratic charms for some of your listeners, and that sometimes self-editing can be too harsh to allow your personality to be retained in the work. Thanks again for the lovely channel and your work!

[@Lequerica]

Those 18-stave Panopus manuscript paper booklets definitely bring back great memories of my own blunders! Cheers and thank you for a great channel!

[@anniehochberg7398]

thank you for sharing, i think it is completely necessary to have blunders to learn and improve!

[@ilinoiswnbe4992]

The bit when you were putting (or throwing) away the scores in a trashbin gave me a good "first laugh of the day". Thanks for this inspiring video.

[@AndreaMoonMusic]

This is an amazing video. Reminds me that Mel Gibson was discovered when he had a small part in an awful film. When studying jazz improv I remember hearing someone say that you have to realize that you will hear yourself play a lot of music that sounds bad. So...you’ve inspired me to just get to work and keep working! Thanks

[@alaspooryorick9946]

Great! Lovely video as ever :) I definitely get stuck in implications a LOT Pedal point is a delicious and perilous black hole for me as a composer.

[@CalendulaF]

This was one of the most fun, entertaining, yet not at all stupid videos I ever watched on KZbin. Thanks, David

[@GiveZeeAChance]

I haven't composed in a classical sense for a long time but most of the advice here is 100% translatable to producing with a DAW. I love your insights and your attitude. Thank you for all the work you do on this channel

[@emilianoviolinista]

What a great beginning for this video!

[@Nooticus]

Exceptionally entertaining and educational video! Tysm David!

[@boomshankah1123]

Can’t wait for the US debut of ‘Can You Lend Me A Rubber’.

[@Tabu11211]

Thank you! This is so important!

[@rodrigoanavalon]

I just love Dave's honesty and humbleness.

[@gordonkennygordon]

Greetings! I have a fair amount of education and experience in performance and songwriting (mostly jazz), but almost no formal composition training, and I find your videos absolutely full to the brim with useful practical information and valuable insight, thank you very much! I was particularly struck by your note that the ideas that come to you naturally are rhythmic and textural. I am also a writer (of word-things) and MY natural ideas are always around settings and character voice - my editor struggles to wring things like "plot" and "motivation" (whatever those are...) from my manuscripts. Best Regards from Salt Lake City Peace

[@kentabenno]

This is literally my entire musicology degree compressed into a 30 minute video. Nice

[@thepowerofgomez]

I'm currently doing a master in composition and this video is the most conforting thing I heard since I started it. I think it is even more hard to "find our voice" in the context of academic progression. An unending list of new music of new composers to listen, combined with developing interests in other arts or new fields to search for new inspiration, combined with the struggle to make a carreer in music (finding contacts is painful during COVID) : all of this is a lot of pressure and stressful. It feels good to hear from someone who succeeded that it will go better.

[@LordQueezle]

Your discussion on Crosswinds and the idea of composing with too many emotional ideas or too few reminds me a lot of the War of the Romantics. Absolute music vs program music. I know it is a different set of ideas but it feels like a similar discussion to me. Interesting stuff and I think it'll be worth researching more.

[@obedmaldonado6303]

Good hair! I think I needed this video today, thinking that I've been mentally blocked on making music.

[@julyrides1804]

Very insightful! I'm a fan. :)

[@hadinossanosam4459]

The point about implications is interesting to me, because I tend to be so careful to not get stuck in any implications that my pieces end up with no coherent thread at all (and it also takes ages to continually come up with "completely new" ideas). Thanks for making me more aware of why that is!

[@TheBonerBoyzGotWood]

Excellent video that speaks to all of us musicians who labor with self doubt and second guessing....thanks for this.

[@williamlee0]

Total honesty. Any creative person will admire what you have presented here.

[@itsmrpalomar]

14:52 I really recommend this two books: Daniel Levitin - This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession John Sloboda - The musical mind

[@prof.heinous191]

... and I've blown number 5 way too many times. Lot of laughs in this one David, even for a non-musician - thanks!

[@TheTroubadourRecords]

Loved the video, Bruce. I'd love to see you rewrite one of those older pieces with the voice you have now. Would that be an interesting exercise? I find myself reusing some old ideas quite a lot, but not entire songs.

[@tarikr5853]

wonderful .. thank you so much.

[@nathandlogosmusic1106]

As someone who has only been composing for a couple of years, I'm grateful for the opportunity to see your early work and hear your more experienced thoughts about what you would have done differently.

[@MikeCrowl]

Really appreciate your videos, David. They're always interesting, and sometimes hilarious. Appreciate also your concern that too much modern music is divorced from its audience, as much modern art treats its viewers with a kind of disdain. The strange thing is that after a while these 'modern' pieces all begin to sound the same: violins scratching away, blips and beeps from the brass, squeaks and whistles from the woodwind, and plenty of noise (but not much actual rhythm) from the percussion. My reaction is that if I can't find any way into these pieces I stop listening very quickly...but of course the Emperor's New Clothes syndrome takes over for many audiences and they studiously applaud (while wishing they'd gone to the concert where the classics of the 20th century were being played instead) when they finally realise that the piece is actually over, there being no indication other than the conductor has turned around and is waving his arms at them and not at the musicians any more.

[@morgangungor6767]

as a 20 year old musician on his way I am immensely touched and satisfied by this segment of content. This covers so much more than the chronological order of your discography but spreads an entire rabbit hole and its tale being told by someone who has fallen deep into it.

[@catalinagalan]

Great video!

[@adroharv9213]

it's very interesting seeing a video like this and an account of one's failings. Those failings not always so failing but seen at the time when we were looking through an entirely different filter. I've been writing for around 35 years now and it has been a very fascinating time for me starting as I did knowing absolutely nothing about how I should realise on my ambition. Around 1984 I started to read a computer magazine called Zapp64 for the commodore 64 and it was here I would read about a guy called Rob Hubbard who month after month it seemed would be crowned a genius for his incredible tunes by each of the reviewers. At the time I had access to a Yamaha organ and when I was very bored I would mess about managing the very worst of efforts requiring just one finger. It was perhaps because I already had some experience then and certainly because I realised my efforts were so comparably pathetic that I developed a real unhealthy envy. I also did own a Commodore 64 and some of the games featuring Rob Hubbard's music and soon became equally compelled that maybe one day I too could be in a similar position. I learned very early on this wasn't to be something I could achieve very easily and the envy deepened. I had a desire at least and that was to be my starting point I'm blessed at this point to be in a position I simply can't quite believe and when I look back at my original work towards becoming a megastar, I realise it all came from a sheer unending desire to succeed. A passion so desperate that failure was not on the cards. I sometimes wonder if this is a similar thing or if people mostly feel inspired on their journey Anyway a very interesting video thanks and expect to see mine some point

[@yapvoonyee1778]

You shouldn’t be ashamed. Life is a journey and at each point you take the next step and there are many steps each getting close to where you are going. Thanks, it is a good to learn some of the steps and skills needed.

[@DoctorLazertron]

I totally stole little bits in my teens, I never kept those songs but re-contextualising familiar tunes was a useful experience.

[@NotLegato]

very good note about the repeating patterns getting 'stuck'. i often find myself in that position, *especially* with simple 2-4 chord harmonies. you have a good thing going, and it seems the only way to break free is to go full stravinsky and shake all the engrained harmony out at once. edit: the string quartet going up to the high D was really beautiful, at least.

[@daniellouis6665]

Thanks for this. It's hard to be honest with your own work. I took quite a lot away from this.

[@pikupixel5094]

"Does the fact that I have to fight to create more interesting harmonies prove that I'm doing something wrong? No it's not, there's nothing that says your real voice will be easy." Man, your words are really sobering, but in a really optimistic way. I think of the words to one of Porter Robinson's songs (which hints to me that he probably struggles with music production as well) "Is it fate? If it's not easy, then it must not be" Thank you so much for sharing so much with us, both knowledge and insight. It's people like you reaching out to the unknown audience that gives people like us hope in ourselves, and a direction to go when we're stuck in our own doubts.

[@ashbell1046]

One of the best DB KZbin segments! Although there’s perhaps a whiff of ‘false modesty’ in it? (or more likely garden-variety envy on my part). I’d give my left arm to have made ‘blunders’ like that at DB’s respective developmental stages. That being said, his enduring problem of getting stuck in ‘harmonic regions’ is EXACTLY my current problem. I tend to start off a piece with a loose ‘ pitch class’ generative process, not 12 tone serialism doG forbid! But definitely fields that lock in too tightly to get out of easily. DB’s chops are FAR greater than mine will ever be, so there was some comfort in seeing that he struggles with the same obstacles.

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

These sorts of lessons are really the best IMO

[@AngelGarciaN]

For a composer in development it was a pretty inspiring video. Thanks! (What about a Midi Shirt of another piece of yours or your theme from the second 5 composers video)