Music by Ben Barden
Blog > New project: 15 minute melodies
It's been a long time since I wrote any new music, so I'm keen to get into it again. As a result, I have embarked on a new project - "15 minute melodies".
The idea is simple. Start writing a brand new piece of music with a totally clean slate. Keep an eye on how much time it takes to write the track. After working on the track for 15 minutes, save the track and start a new one.
I've found that there are several benefits of writing music in this way:
- It forces you to write quickly, which means you come up with more ideas.
- It's easier to be creative, writing in many different styles so as not to repeat an idea from a previous melody.
- Any tracks that don't turn out too well will not take up more than 15 minutes of your time, and can be shelved if nothing decent can be salvaged.
- The best tracks can be completed at a later date.
This project is working very well. I've already written 7 brand new melodies, and I think they all have potential. I've surprised myself with how quickly I write new tracks. Writing the melody, choosing the instruments, getting a few different tracks going at the same time - there's a lot to it, and I've still managed to write between 4 and 8 bars of music for most of the tracks.
I'm not sure if these tracks will become a future album or if they end up on other albums. Either way, there's plenty of new music being written at the moment!
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