In Process: Collaborators and Co-Creators

Somewhere in the public imaginary is an idea that composers are solitary people working alone to bring forth their next pieces. These twelve composers may indeed work by themselves, but they are also highly collaborative, open to ideas from fellow musicians, dancers, artists, and others. Other people impact these composers’ work in two important ways: by playing their music for them and by contributing ideas.

“Pester your friends into playing passages for you,” Steven Bryant advised. “When you hear somebody bring expression to a simple line of quarter notes, you realize, ‘Oh, I need to get out of the way of the musicians, and let them do some stuff.’ There are lessons that viscerally come from hearing other people your play music” Connor Chee also commented that hearing a musician’s interpretation can be “surprising, because you’d think if you wrote it, you would know how it’s going to sound. But I’m not of the idea that there’s one right way to play a piece of music. What’s exciting for me is listening to somebody else and what they come up with or what they find” Eric Whitaker explained, “Usually if a musician makes a suggestion, especially an instrumentalist, they’re right; it’s better. They know their instrument better than I ever will. And occasionally conductors will do something different to a piece that I wouldn’t do and it’s illuminating.” Anne McGinty advised a direct approach: “If I have a question about how to write something, I ask someone who plays the instrument.” While asking questions and having their music performed can be validating for composers, whether beginners or seasoned professionals, writing for their friends and having their music played can have practical learning implications. Jennifer Jolley explained:

I can talk with student composers till I’m blue in the face—“Hey, you might not want to give the sopranos those high notes. A singular soprano can do that. Multiple sopranos? They will hurt you. I care for your safety, please" A student laughed at me, and I said, “No, seriously. Your midi playback, that’s a tool. Do you know any sopranos? Think" So yeah, write for your friends.

Jolley also advised thinking about the lives of musicians and respecting them and their instruments. “In grad school, I was friends with a lot of percussionists. I know what angers them" she explained. “I know to make sure that I really need that instrument, because they have to schlep it. Do you really need that piccolo timpano? Think real hard. Do you really need it? Maybe you need it. Be conscious of those decisions"

For composers of ensemble music, collaboration with musicians sometimes involves making edits in rehearsals leading up to premieres. For composers in film, television, and advertising, suggestions from studio musicians about voicings, doublings, microphone placements, and more were key learning experiences. Collaborations with musicians during recording sessions could be crucial to a successful outcome. Steve Hampton explained:

Sometimes clients would change their minds midstream and say, “This isn’t really working for us. Can you try something else?" There you are, on the spot. So you walk out into the studio and make sure the engineer has the mics down so nobody in the control room can hear you, and you say, “Look, this isn’t working and I don’t know what to do. I was thinking maybe . . ." and you start brainstorming with the musicians. Now everybody’s contributing their creative ideas and energy to it; and one way or another we usually made it work.