Part II. Creating
Chapter 5: A Brief History Of Creating
Chapter 6: Why
Chapter 7: When
Chapter 8: Where
Chapter 9: Who
Chapter 10: What

Part III. How
Chapter 11: How: Composing From Scratch

Part IV. Aaarghhh!
Chapter 12: Inspirations, Jump Starts

Part V. Directions
Chapter 13: The Logical Next Step


Chapter 1: Dream Machine?
Beethoven's Dream Machine. What's that? It's an instrument of course. But not one that was around in Beethoven's time. But, thankfully, it is available today. Why dream machine? Because in old Beethoven's time, a musician/composer could only let his imagination run very wild to even conceive of such an instrument. So wild, that if they were to even speak of this dream, certainly they would be burned at the stake or beheaded at the very idea of such a heretic device. But dream they did. Dreams are the building blocks to all of mankind's achievements. He and countless other musicians have in centuries past dreamt of such a machine. We are fortunate enough to live in an age where such a machine exists. It is the synthesizer. This instrument coupled with a modest desktop computer and appropriate software will unlock your musical creativity in ways that, well, you could only dream of.

Along with the hardware comes an altogether new approach to composition if you choose to take advantage of it. You can still compose in whatever method you've done in the past, but if you prefer to harness the technology and ride it to the horizon of infinite creativity-limited only by the realm of your imagination, then climb aboard. This new approach is:

• more fluent
• more cerebral
• more immediate
• more engaging
• far more malleable and above all
• more enjoyable

That is what this book is about. Creating music. Composing. Writing. Whatever term you choose. If you are an artist whose latent talent is waiting to flourish, this book will give you the tools to begin this creative journey. It offers you a brief history of the technology and how to use it to unlock your creativity. More importantly though, this book will:

• Illustrate several purely artistic creative methods for composing in the synthesized format.
• Spur you on to tapping the creative musical force that lies dormant in us all (all us musicians, that is).
• It will unveil methods discovered by myself and others through the use of this equipment which will allow you to side-step the tedium and go headstrong into the fast track of realizing the music that lies within your head.
• Uncover creative doors which once you begin to open will make you say to yourself: "WOW! This is great!"
• Utilize your subconscious mind to solve a creative problem.
• Plant within you a creative seed that will continue to flourish long after this book has been read.
• Give you elementary tools to solve a creative problem.
• Allow you to use all the music you've ever heard and ever will hear to your compositional advantage
• Break down what you're hearing into the key elements to fully understand what is going on rhythmically and harmonically
• Teach you to listen with an open mind
• Instill in you the desire to appreciate EVERY form of music, even elevator music.
• Show you that a single note contains within it all other notes
• Provide you the tools to duplicate virtually any style of music
• Teach you to develop and nurture your own unique style
• If nothing else, teach you about the creative process

Now, none of this happens with the wave of a magic wand however. But given your zeal to learn and to become a highly creative musical individual-your hunger for knowledge-your desire to master the tools which will give your musical ideas wings, then you're in the perfect place to begin.

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