h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Either of the above, really.

Probably edging towards writer, though (of novels), since I find it an easier (i.e. quicker) task than composing - coming up with the tunes, etc, is the easy part - writing it down is a pain in the rear, takes so long.

Writing is definitely the way forward, but I'd be interested to know what makes you think writing novels is quicker than writing music - especially when you're holding down a full time job! Writing can flow faster than a musical composition, granted, but from start to finish? I would say that a minimum of six months' full time work would go into a good novel, minimum of two rewrites, unless you're someone like Terry Pratchett who seems to be able to knock out a Discworld novel or two every five minutes. How long does it take you to write a piece of music?

Hi DSJP,

When I write music - orchestral scores - I'm using A2 sized paper which can accommodate 45-50 staves which can be for up to 90 instruments. It takes me on average about 2 hours to write on one side of the paper (the scores I use have staves printed on both sides.)

Depending on tempo, a ten-minute composition can use anywhere up to 100 pages. A symphony lasting 30 minutes to an hour, when writing it, can be huge.

That's not including the days or even weeks spend writing sketches of melodies, harmonies, linking passages.

The problem is not simply just bunging down the notes, but also letting the conductor and musicians know what colour and texture you want the notes to be played at.

In the same time I have written a single page of music, I have found that I can usually have written up to 10 pages of a novel.

Lecture over now

Wulfric

Hi, from a fellow writer and composer. Have been trying to write a musical for the last 3 years, and am in the process of writing 2 novels. Am also a singer, trying to turn professional,have some demos recorded.

Hello Beckzter

It's a chore trying to juggle novels and music, I find. At the moment I'm concerntrating on a novel; only three chapters written - the rest sketched out.

I did try writing an opera once based on the poem Beowulf. There is a distinct lack of female roles in the poem so I had to introduce ladies from other Anglo-Saxon poems. Gave up on it in the end, it was just too complicated and time-consuming for me at the time. I may pick it up again.

What's your musical going to be about? What singing style do you sing - jazz, pop, operatic, blues?

Hey Wulfric!
Not been online much lately as have had exams. I'm writing a musical for the West End about the West End! Singing style is cross between Irish and Country&Western, do a lot of ballads. Also unusually a female tenor!

Me and my mates have just started up a band, so I'm busy writing songs for us. We're calling ourselves Surrendered Minds, and are modelled on a cross between the Rolling Stones, the Chillies and the Levellers. Me and my mate Tom are the vocalists, and we aim to play our first gig in the Joiners, a student pub in our home town of Southampton, at Christmas. 'S gonna be great! We've even got our own security in the shape of my big lump of an ex, Rob. And Mad Jez, another mate of ours, is our roadie. The novel has had to take a back-burner for now, 'cos of this, College, and the fact that I am still limping around on crutches after a VERY nasty ankle injury.

BIG SHOUT TO ANY TAUNTONIANS OUT THERE!!!