Composing falsetas

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Composing falsetas

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rombsix

Posts: 7808
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

Composing falsetas

Hello everyone,

I was just wondering: How do you all compose your falsetas?

Let me tell you how I do it. Let's say I decide I want to compose a buleria falseta in E-flat. I play some compas in that key to get the feel, then I come up with an idea. I play it once or twice until I get it into memory. Then I start recording: I play some compas, then I play the idea I came up with. Then I count what I've recorded, and see what numbers it ends up on, and if it's too short, I lengthen it, and if it's too long, I shorten it so it fits a 12-beat cycle, then I re-record it with compas before and after it. If I can count the final product it to be in compas, then I'm usually satisfied, and that would be the end of it.

Things I've heard:

1- You should compose while having a solo-compas record playing, and thus you will directly compose something in compas (or very close to being so).
2- If you get experienced enough, you will compose a falseta without any backing tracks, and it will immediately end up being in perfect compas.

What do you all think about all of the above?

Gracias!

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Ramzi

http://www.youtube.com/rombsix

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 8 2009 11:31:36

87david

Posts: 4
Joined: Nov. 19 2005

RE: Composing falsetas (in reply to rombsix)

I think that’s a good way to do it—very methodical. I’m not that good at composing; however, when I do, I usually compose out of chords. Composing would probably be hardest on a static chord. But usually, I just try and come up with my own variations of what I see in books and so forth. Recently, I composed a Solea falseta based on the cycle of 4ths (Am, Dm, GM7, CM7, F, E).

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 8 2009 14:19:48

JasonMcGuire

Posts: 1141
Joined: Apr. 10 2007

RE: Composing falsetas (in reply to 87david)

Listen to great music Ramzi. That is how to compose. Steal, like Beethoven said. Practice later in the day, listen to great music at night, rest well and when you wake up, pick up the guitar before the world distracts you. Keep the guitar by your bed and a recording device too. Noodle around, record, noodle, record..... If it is going well and you have inspiration, call and cancel all apointments and stay in your pajamas all day. Those that are close to you will worry about you, but they will soon accept your NEED to compose. A composer HAS to compose. Mornings are the best. Feed the brain at night and your brain will disect it all while you sleep and all of the answers will be at your fingertips in the morning. Do some studying of the history of composers. They are a wacky bunch.

Chopin kept a guitar by the bed. He knew what I am talking about...... too hard to play piano in bed.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 9 2009 0:37:51

Ricardo

Posts: 14802
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: Composing falsetas (in reply to rombsix)

Without inspiration I can neither practice guitar nor compose. If I must get paid I can play a gig uninspired, but that sucks. Usually I find inspiriation SOMEHOW!

Usually listening to music in the car on the way to a gig does it for me.

But anyway, to compose something for me takes a very special inspiration. Anytime I have been in a situation where I had to compose something for the sake of composing, I have not been happy about the result and later forget it. There have been exceptions where I compose for a dancer and because of repetition I did not forget it, but nothing so amazing I would feel a need to put it in a guitar solo or recording.

Hope you get what I mean. Once I compose something it was born out of some inspiration, and ever after playing it reminds me of whatever that was. In most cases the music flows out, the technical details never really come into it, like compas for example. There have been a few cases where I realized the music was not exactly in compas or cuadrao etc, when you do it with palmas but those things for me are easy to fix once you practice it to palmas.

Being able to improvise is important for this, because you end up with a more natural feeling music then if you had counted it all out first. Problem is with improvising on you composition ideas, is that it can be easy to forget what you did. Recording your improvisation is a great idea, as suggested by Jason. Perhaps you can figure out what you did that was really nice, or really hear that what you thought was an amazing phrase was really stolen from somewhere or just crap.

Hope that helps.
Ricardo

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 9 2009 5:12:15