urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nekuramanji I like guitars... In case you didn't know ^_^ nekuramanji 2008-01-14T14:36:10Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nekuramanji:689 So... yeah. 2008-01-14T14:36:10Z 2008-01-14T14:36:10Z Howdy doody.<br /><br />I've never really been into this whole blogging shenanigans, so this'll probably be updated sporadically, if ever.&nbsp; I prefer to bottle any problems I have up than write about them :P<br /><br />To be honest, all I can really think about to write is to do with music.&nbsp; As I've neared the end of this holiday (now back in Sheffield) I've started to become ever so slightly concerned about my musical output vis-a-vis Northern Oak.<br /><br />Now, the backstory is; for the past seven years that I've played guitar I've been quite a prolific composer.&nbsp; I wrote an entire album based on various aspects of Communism, both good and bad, several years ago, and for my band in college I wrote a shitload of songs.&nbsp; Long story short: I've never been one of those people who spends weeks or months on a particular song, I tend to get a creative buzz and just blast through a load at once.&nbsp; Hell, at the start of this holiday, I wrote about ten or so songs for a videogame project that myself and my friend Jonah conjured up, and I'm pretty damn happy with them; they're all orchestral and baroque, but also a bit death metal- downtuned and heavy.&nbsp; Think death (slightly doom) metal but done orchestrally with strings, choirs, timpani and shit. :D<br /><br />However, recently I decided to sit down and write some Northern Oak stuff since I haven't done any for a while.&nbsp; And I seemed to just draw a blank, which is something I haven't really experienced before.&nbsp; Okay, I did manage to do another song which I'm pretty happy with (working title: Folk Metal Ceilidh :D) but overall, I was a bit taken aback by the fact that I couldn't think of anything whatsoever to write- I couldn't conjure up any melodies or any particularly interesting rhythms.<br /><br />Meh, it's quite hard to write stuff that doesn't become generic.&nbsp; I find myself mentally treading the line between mixing up structures, trying to write more progressive songs, and just writing stuff that makes me tap my foot.&nbsp; 'Okay, so it repeats quite a few riffs, but they're fucking good riffs, so what's the problem?' is the mental question posed by the second approach.&nbsp; At the end of the day, I can obviously admire songs with very complex structures (Opeth, for example) but at the same time, I don't think I'm good enough to write stuff like that.&nbsp; Confidence in your compositional skills is a big part of being a musician, and while I'm confident that I can write pretty fucking melodic songs (counterpoint, anyone?&nbsp; God, I love counterpoint :D) I also like to stick to a handful of riffs; it makes the song easier to remember, and doesn't turn it into the kind of featureless stuff that, in all honesty, some Opeth songs become.&nbsp; Don't get me wrong, I love the band, but I do find it difficult to listen to some of their less well-known songs since there are relatively few points of reference.<br /><br />(Lulz.&nbsp; Susan just ran over some kid in Neighbours.&nbsp; She's become a cold-hearted murderer! :P)<br /><br />Anyway, yes.&nbsp; I'll probably get musically inspired again pretty soon and this'll no longer be a minor issue, but meh.&nbsp; If it doesn't, we might have a problem... I might have to leave most of the composing up to Elliot :D&nbsp; Argh, seven minute long keyboard odysseys that I have to try and memorise *bangs head against the wall* :D<br /><br />Ciao for now!