— How do I create a musical image in a song?
— I need to achieve complete detail.
If you can draw, draw the music you want to write.
Telephone consultation.
Listener — S.
Me — Q
S: Hello, I just wanted to know how to write music in an image.
Q: Hello, do you have any ideas, sketches, drafts of your plan, or any ideas?
S: Yes, I want to write music in the image of a poor artist.
Q: How old is this artist?
S: I hadn’t even thought about it.
Q: Well, you already have a picture in your head; you just need to draw the image and understand what kind of character it is.
S: I think he should be old. It’s just that, in my understanding, a poor person is already very old and lost.
Q: Then why an artist?
S: Artists are often unclaimed, and their paintings gather dust on grandmothers’ closets. They often don’t have the money to make a decent living.
Q: Okay, we’ve decided on our hero’s profession or hobby, but I’d still like to know his age. That’s important.
S: Well, I think he’s somewhere in his 70s.
Q: Okay, appearance. What should your hero, a 70-year-old artist with no money, look like?
S: Probably not well (laughs). All his clothes are old.
Q: What kind of clothes are they? It would be nice to know more specifically: color, style, type.
S: He’s sitting in a moth-eaten green sweater, wearing old shoes and gray pants.
Q: Okay, you said he’s sitting. In the song, you’ll also create the image of a person motionless or in different positions.
S: I didn’t think about it. Maybe he’ll be sitting, maybe he’ll be walking, but is that really the main thing?
Q: If you want to create an image, then everything will be important. More precisely, important. Moreover, when a living creature is in different positions (sitting, lying, standing, running, walking, crawling, somersaulting, jumping, etc.), then you are obliged to show this with music.
S: Okay, first he sits, then he goes outside.
Q: So he was sitting somewhere?!
S: Yes.
Q: And where?
S: What do you mean, where, in his studio.
Q: A poor artist with his studio?
S: Well, yes, they have attics or rooms for creativity.
Q: Okay, let’s assume. So the old artist is sitting in his studio, right?
S: Yes, sad and looking at the canvas.
Q: Why sad and why is he looking?
S: Because he can’t paint the picture, that’s why he’s sad.
Q: Where he’s looking, what’s there?
S: Nothing, a blank sheet. You see, he’s sad that he can’t paint anything.
Q: Yes, yes, that’s clear. Then, you said he went somewhere, but why did he get up and go, and where?
S: Well, I don’t know. To find inspiration, he went outside.
Q: You simply start changing locations, and that changes a lot. It becomes difficult to compose in the format of a regular song. The scale can stretch to entire mini-symphonies. That’s why many composers try to write in a single location.
S: ???
Q: Okay. Outside, where does this take place, in what country?
S: In a fictional world.
Q: Okay, tell me, when did this happen, did it happen, or will it happen? That is, answer what era is this (PAST, PRESENT, OR FUTURE)?
S: I think in the future, of course.
Q: That is, the future, and an old and poor artist goes outside to find inspiration.
S: Yes, that’s right. Q: Is the city important to you or not?
S: No, it’s not important.
Q: I think you’re tired of this conversation, and what you had in mind is already evaporating. Am I right?
S: Probably so. Honestly, I don’t understand why so much information is needed to write one song?
Q: To fully compose an image and convey it through musical sounds, you simply must immerse yourself in your character, their time, their thoughts, their fears, doubts, and other feelings.
Only when you have the whole picture before you can write a quality song. Conveying your vision to others isn’t enough with three chords.
S: Okay, I understand what’s next.
Q: I understand there’s no need to continue, so let’s summarize the interim data:
What happened (I wrote down everything the listener said in a notebook)
In an uncertain future, an old and poor artist lives. He’s already 70 years old and is deeply grieving. He laments the wasted days and the untapped potential of a creator.
He has his own studio. He wears old clothes: a sweater, pants, and well-worn shoes. He seeks inspiration and goes outside.
So far, right?
S: Yes
V: But for completeness, you need to determine why he didn’t achieve what he wanted, what will happen afterward, and beyond. You need contrast, conflict, or whatever you want to call it, something that will create interest. And the lyrics need to be polished, precise, you know, so that they rhyme for rhyme, line for line…
S: I see
V: Then find the right motifs and timbres to describe your image. Your task is to convey your vision of the image to others. But the beauty will be that everyone will see their own artist in your music…
That day, I really got on the girl’s nerves with my meticulousness, and I think she changed her mind about writing music that way. But now she understands that creating a musical image is a whole science.
Create an image with musical colors. Dream, imagine, and create!
