I: Expanding your creativity--Open up your mind, man!

Now that you know how to write down the basic music, you can sit at the piano or something, and just keep a piece of paper with pre-drawn staffs on it, so whenever you come up with a song, you can find out the notes by playing it on the piano and then writing it down. You have to remember this one thing: No matter how stupid it sounds, write it down. Creativity is like that. If you do something creative, it usually sounds different, because it IS different. That's what you want. You don't want to get sued by somebody else because you made money off a song that was already copyrighted.

I can't tell you how much times I've thought of the stupidest songs in the world. I wrote them down anyway, and then when my friends heard them, they loved them! In fact, one of them was so good, it was chosen to be the main theme for one of our games! Anyway, just goes to show that the person who creates something usually things that his creation is stupid, but others think it's pure gold. Abraham Lincon had doubts about his famous speech, but it turned out to be one of the greatest speeches we've ever heard. Anyway, enough with the history lesson, I'll go on.

When you can't think of a good song, have no worries. If you can only come up with songs that sound terrible, it's probably just a block...sort of a writer's block for musicians. Just write down the songs you come up with anyway, and take a look at them a few days later, then play them. Make some changes, then come back a few days later again and make more changes. In time, you'll probably have a theme that you'll like.

Also remember that the way a composer thinks of a theme is usually different than how the audience thinks of it. If you think of a theme, you'll probably think that it sucks big time, but when you show it to somebody else, they might like it. Just try it out, and ask a friend to give you an honest opinion on it.

Or, you can write down a song, then come back to it in about a day or two. By then, you probably will have forgotten how it sounds. (If you still remember, that's a good sign that it's a good song!) Listen to it now, and then if you still like it, it's a keeper. If you don't like it still, then that probably means it's not a good one. Keep it anyway, it's not good to waste songs. You'll probably find a use for it in the future. I've got some songs that I've written years ago, but I still haven't found uses for them.

It's almost mandatory for it to be completely quiet when you are trying to think of songs. Use your eyes to think of new songs, just look around. If you want to think of a sad, emotional song, look at something that reminds you of something sad that happened to you, usually one that wasn't resolved. If you broke up with your girlfriend and then you got back together, you usually won't get into the "sad" mood when you think about her. If you really loved your girlfriend, and then she broke up with you because she wanted to date your best friend, then that's a tragedy. Now, looking at a picture of her will probably bring you a sad song, or an angry song. That's one of the ways that musicians solve problems in their lives--if they are sad about something, they write a song about it, and they feel a bit better. They express themselves through music. So events in your life can inspire you to write better music. Take my favorite composer Beethoven, for example. He lived a life that was very sad. He was going deaf during his 30s, and became completely deaf. He was insulted at the kids at school because he was "dirty," and "different." He wrote Fur Elise for a woman named Elise. (Get it? Fur = For? Ah, forget it. I don't speak german either.) He proposed, and she said no. He wrote the moonlight sonata, one of the most beautiful piano pieces ever written, for a Countess named Giulietta Guicciardi. He proposed, but she was married off to a count. The point of that little history lesson was, experience makes you stronger. Use experiences you've had to get you into the mood.

Of course, I'm not saying that you should cause yourself to experience emotional pain just so you can get the songs. If you are one of the lucky people who haven't had a sad experience before, then watch a sad movie or something.

Like I was saying, look around for inspiration. Watch movies to get you into the mood. If you want an exciting theme, like a battle theme, turn the sound off and watch a fighting movie, or read an exciting comic book. (I suggest the X-Men issues where Onslaught is finally destroyed...I loved those issues!)

Usually, when developing a game, the team makes a sample of the game, and then gives it to the musician, so that he can have an easier time thinking of a song. If time is not a problem, I think this is a good thing to do. That way the musician can just look at the game, or screenshots of the game, and think, "what would sound perfect in this situation?" While doing this, make sure to keep a piano or another musical instrument next to you, so once you think of a theme, it can be written down and not forgotten or changed. You want to try to avoid having too much changes made to an original game idea, because usually that change is made so that it can sound more like a song that was already written. Earlier I said that it would be good to make changes to a song a bit, and with a time interval of a few days in between each time you make a change to the song. This is different, because each time you make your changes, there will be a different song in your head, and therefore a different song you are trying to change it to. Yes, I know that you're thinking, "he's not right. When I make changes to my songs, I'm not trying to make it into a song I already know." But...subconsciously you are. Don't ask me exactly how, psychology is only one of my interests, not my career. :-)

So, what I've basically been saying so far is, get yourself in the right mood. If you're not in the right mood, don't force yourself, do what you feel like. To try to get into the "musical" mood, do what I said above, or go to a musical environment. Turn on the radio and listen to the kind of music you want to write--remember this! Don't listen to music that you're not planning to write, it's going to make it ten times harder. If you want to write a sad, instrumental song that plays when a character dies, don't listen to rap. If you want to write rap, don't turn on a classical music station.

Also remember that creativity improves with practice. If you first start and you can't even think of one song, just keep trying. As time passes by, you'll think of songs, and if you work dilligently, they will get much better. If you tried once and then gave up, and then tried again a month later and gave up, and then tried again a year later and gave up, you probably won't be able to come up with good songs. At that rate, it would take years for you to get better.

Instrumental music (music without human voices talking or singing) is the kind of music most commonly used in games. If you plan to use human voices (a chorus singing, or somebody rapping or singing, etc.) then keep in mind that you'll actually have to have somebody perform if you want others to hear the music. You'll actually have to pay somebody, or you'll actually have to teach somebody your music. (Unless of course, you plan to sing yourself.) If you only use instrumental music, then all you have to do is have a good synthesizer.

I don't know what creativity is exactly. All I can say is that somewhere deep in your mind, you remember a song or a part of a song, and then depending on what musical mood your mind is set to, it is changed or distorted. Other factors affect how it is affected, like what other songs you are thinking of, what other songs are remembered, etc. Remember, this happens subconsciously, you have no control over it.

Writing a song is different for different people. Some people have a very good short-term memory, and so whenever they think of a song, they hear all of the instruments playing in their head, and they write down the part for each instrument. But others, including me, only write down the basic theme and then add to it later. Most people write the basic theme. (How to do this is described in section III of this article.) From there, they add harmony and other instruments, and other musical effects. When I write music, I sit down for about an hour at the piano, and think of one theme. Just one basic theme, once I have it, I write it down, and write down any other themes that I may have gotten. Then I go to the computer, and add more instruments, and let the computer play back my composition to me. Whether I like it or not, I save it, and then I make my changes, like adding other parts. You shouldn't be composing for more than four hours in a row, non-stop. If you're on a roll, and can't stop thinking of more themes, keep going, but you almost always have to take a break. Take a walk, take a bath, anything to get the creative portion of your mind rested.

If you absolutely cannot think of themes, there is the last-minute resort, which is writing a variation of another song. This is described in part three of this article series, which I'll finish writing in a few weeks or so.

Picking a music format