In Process: Intuition, Ideas, and Intentions

Early in their lives, some of these composers wrote music just for themselves or for friends in school ensembles or bands outside of school. Some wrote songs about things that interested them or to send messages to people such as “girls that I was too shy to talk to” Now, as adult composers with vibrant careers, the creative projects they enjoy most are those that align well with their own motivations and priorities and their own musical and aesthetic sensibilities. As Steve Hampton explained,

There are two layers to it. One is, “Here’s the job I have to do, and hopefully I’m going to do it well.” The other layer is, “What is it for me that makes this rewarding? Why do I want to do this?” And that layer touches the place way down in me that makes it all worth it.

“The most successful pieces I’ve written have been based on images or stories or some kind of personal connection to a topic,” Jessie Montgomery explained, “or when I have a very clear image of something—the performance of an act or a beautiful geometric object.” Social justice themes animate Daniel Bernard Roumain, Jennifer Jolley, Jessie Montgomery, and Miriam Cutler. Imagery in poetic texts fascinates Mari Esabel Valverde. Events, narrative, dance, art, film, theater, sculpture, satellites space, snow— all of these and more are motivation to create for these twelve composers. And sometimes, the motivation is a commission, an invitation from an ensemble, or a contract for a film or television project.

So how do they get started? Where do their musical ideas come from? Steve Bryant described the beginning stages of composing as “finding a way in. I think of it more that way than ‘Where’s my idea?’ Instead, I think, ‘Where’s my way into this piece? What is my reason to write anything at all?’ It’s different with every piece.” Bryant and other composers talked about cultivating a mindset for creating. “It’s not so clear cut as, ‘I want to write a piece, this is what I’m going to do,’ and it just happens,” Connor Chee explained, “There’s definitely some fostering of creativity. When I’m in the right mindset, then usually something will come.”

The “right mindset,” for Chee, involves setting aside anxieties and negative messages from early teachers about a “right way” to compose. Miriam Cutler confessed, “Every time I have a job, I’m scared, even now. One of the most important things I’ve learned is how to get out of my own way. I need to create the atmosphere for success by freeing my mind. Do yoga or meditate. Just trust your own creativity.” Eric Whitaker described “moving through the world with what I call beginner’s mind. When I’m seeing everything for the first time again, then the ideas are there.”

While they consciously cultivate a mindset for creating, these composers are not sitting around waiting for inspiration to strike. They experiment, research, question, and listen to music to generate ideas. “Sometimes finding a way in involves a lot of noodling at the keyboard,” Steven Bryant explained, “It doesn’t even feel like work necessarily; I’m just messing around playing, maybe scrolling through patches on the synthesizer and . . . ‘Oh that sounds cool.’ ” Similarly, several of the composers described the value of noodling on acoustic instruments. Miriam Cutler was keenly aware that physically touching instruments and making sounds, even on instruments she doesn’t play, could trigger her imagination.

Listening, too, can generate ideas. “I can inspire myself by listening to my Navajo grandfather sing songs and by turning to other musicians, other genres of music, other art, and seeing other people create,” Connor Chee explained. Steven Bryant described multiple variations of the generative value of listening, such as

listening to music and thinking, “Oh. I don’t really like this piece. I wish it did this instead of what it does” Listening to music you don’t like can be just as helpful: “Okay, what would you change then?” Or sometimes I’ll listen to things that aren’t related at all to what I’m writing. I love Nine Inch Nails and some electronic music when I’m writing for orchestra. What’s their sound world like? How can I replicate the way that music makes me feel, but with these noise making devices?

Listening to reference music supplied by clients is particularly important for film, television, and advertising composers, because reference music provides parameters. Miriam Cutler explained, “I may have a blank page of music, but I have lots of ideas, and oftentimes the filmmakers have their own ideas too.”

Sometimes idea generation involves conversation with clients, musicians, conductors, and teachers—a process that Jennifer Jolley referred to as “personalizing” a piece. When writing for school bands, Anne McGinty asks those who commissioned her, “Who can be featured? Who do you want me to bury? What are your students’ ranges?” Steven Bryant also thinks about what might interest the players. “I try to remember what it is like to that age, to be in band or orchestra,” he said, “What would have blown my mind? What would I have really enjoyed playing at that age?” For composers working in the film and television industry, conversations with clients are tremendously important and can also pose a different kind of challenge. “A huge part of learning to become a successful scoring musician is learning how to understand human beings and their psychology as it relates to music,” John Adair explained, “because what they’re really looking for when they say something about the music you’ve created and it’s not precise. Not everybody speaks music fluently.”

Jennifer Jolley elaborated on the multifaceted nature of her listening and research explorations for a single piece:

I was doing some space research for a piece eventually called Questions to Heaven, which is the name of the Chinese poem Tianwen and the Chinese satellite to Mars. So I downloaded some Mars sounds. At the same time I was listening to David Bowie’s Space Oddity album and trying to get some different ideas of what space would sound like, which is nothing because it’s a vacuum. I was also listening to sounds from the NASA Mars rover Perseverance. I was going on websites and looking up articles and seeing if that inspired some kind of melody or form. I did research on the soundtrack to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey because it’s amazing. I listened to some Strauss, some Ligeti. And I ended up including an electric organ part, because why not?