Holyrood Muse

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Writing a Song - Creative

So, how does one go about writing a song?

I can only speak for myself, but this is my process -

I always think of a song as a poem (rhyming or not) set to music.
You can of course just have music without words,
which then just becomes "instrumental".
And of course, you can also just sing with no musical accompaniment.

The Words
So, I started out for a long time just writing a poem now and then
when I wanted to express some feeling at the time.
But, eventhough you can put feeling into the words when you say a poem,
it still remains basically a statement.

The Melody
Then when I wrote the poem "Shimmer",
(see my blog entry, Song - "Shimmer")
the feelings seemed to transcend up into another level
and a melody to support the words came into my head bit by bit
as I developed the verses,
so that it became a song.

The Musical Instrument
I've had musical instruments before, and I never really used them much,
they just sat in my room doing nothing.

But, when I bought my ukulele,
I also bought a book on how to play it,
and eventhough I've only glanced inside it,
getting this piece of information and that,
my understanding of how to play the instrument has really taken off.

So, if you do have a musical instrument or are thinking of buying one,
I advise you to buy a book on how to play it,
eventhough you don't have to learn everything in it.
Or, undertake a course in how to play it.

Playing around with an instrument
has stimulated the flow of songs from me.

From an instrument (depending on what sort), you can find -
- The Melody The sequence of individual notes that tell the story
- A Chord The group of notes that support and include
the individual melody note
- Bass An additional sequence of supportive notes,
played in a deeper (lower) tone (notes)

What comes first ?
I've only written 3 songs so far, but with -

"Shimmer" The words came first,
then the melody

"Tintagel Shipwreck" I started with a melody,
and the words followed

"Dreamscape" The bass came first,
and then the words and melody came second

So, anything goes !

What happens after that ?
So, when you start to have a better idea of what your song is,
you should write it down, or record it in a sound recorder.

In the days when pen, paper and sound recorders were not available
it was the bard's duty to memorise all poems, stories and songs.
I think this is a specialist skill which only some people possess,
so, thankfully for the rest of us, we can record them in some way
without the danger of forgetting those elusive words and melodies.

At a later stage, I'll do a blog entry called
"Writing a Song - Technical"
on how to write down a song
in some basic formats.

Happy tinkering :)

(c) Katherine Stuart 2015

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Mad Max 4, "Mad Max: Fury Road"

On the weekend I went to see the film, Mad Max 4, "Mad Max: Fury Road".
It was action packed !
I only have good things to say about it :)

Hot Water Systems

As you can see above,

the solar hot water system that's on the roof at the house where I'm staying

is too broken to use anymore.

The glass has been broken for a long time,

but the crunch came when the tank burst a seam and water was spraying out like

a fountain.

That was three and a half months ago !

But on Friday, I was able to have a new instantaneous electric hot water system

put in, as you can see below.

It feels good to have hot showers again !

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Dust haze over Darwin

There has been the biggest dust haze
over Darwin
(Northern Territory, Australia)
tonight.

This is what it is like,
all around.

(c) Katherine Stuart 2015

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Writing a Poem

So, how does one go about writing a poem?

I can only speak for myself, but this is my process -

Taking as an example, my poem "The Wave",

So, you're just going about your usual
daily business,
and then something triggers a feeling in you.

Here, I was relaxing at the beach,
pretty much doing nothing,
just watching the tide come in,
and then the way the waves splashed against
this rock started to take my attention.

The Wave It was something about the motion
of the waves splashing up and over this rock
Oh, to be a wave, continuously, that triggered a feeling in me.
Dancing on a rock,
Splashing in the air, I would say that the feeling was there inside me
Spilling o'er the sides, all the time, it's just that this "event" harmonised
Back in to the sea. with it.

At the time, I was wishing that I could dive in
(c) Katherine Stuart 2013 there and have a swim, as it was a hot day, but I
didn't have the confidence.

Okay, so I had this feeling,
and I was associating it with the image I was
seeing in front of me, of the waves splashing
over the rock.

Then I decided, to express this feeling in a
poem.

I always carry spare paper and a pen,
so I just wrote down what came in to my head.
But, I had to re-work it quite a bit,
until I was happy with the sound of the words,
and that it accurately expressed my feeling.

So, writing this down as a process, it would go something like this -

1. Go about your daily life
2. Has a feeling been triggered?
3. Is the feeling associated with an image?
4. What is the image?
5. What is the feeling associated with that image?
6. Describe that image/feeling in words
- Use short lines of words, either,
- short sentences, or,
- long sentences, broken up into shorter pieces (you can use commas)
- The lines of words can rhyme or not
- The lines of words can be arranged in groups called verses (stanzas)
which can each express individual ideas

:)

(c) Katherine Stuart 2015

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Song - Tintagel Shipwreck

Tintagel Shipwreck

Let me tell you,
A tale,
Of a ship,
That set sail,

Down the coast,
To no avail,

One stormy night,
Doomed to fail.

A decoy lantern,
On the headland,
Tricked the captain,
No bearing at hand,

"Head to port!"
Was his command.
"Seek shelter,
Or we are damned!"

But, 'twas no port,
Pirate cove it be,
Under the shadow,
Of Tintagel he.

Waves crashing,
Relentlessly.
Wood smashing,
Rocks under sea.

Woe to those,
Who swam ashore,
Worse than those,
Who drowned before,

Dispatched by those,
Of pirate lore,
On the beach,
They were no more.

Scavenge did,
Those pirates toil,
Bringing all,
The goods to soil.

From the broken,
Ship of royal.
Plans to sell them,
No-one could foil.

And what of all this,
I do say?
Standing nearby,
Out of the way,

In the shadows,
The answer's, "Nay!"
Silent witness,
Come Judgment Day.
Silent witness,
Come Judgment Day.
Silent witness,
Come Judgment Day.

Mmm............ (last 2 lines above
x 6)

Stormy seas,
On Christmas Eve,
'Twasn't what,
You would believe.

(above 4 lines
x 2)

Mmm............ (above 4 lines
x 6)

*Note - Played on my ukulele, open strings are - B (mid C) D F G#
See blog entries "Chords on a Stringed Instrument"
"How I Tuned My Ukulele"
for details.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Little Bats' vapour trails

There is a species of little bats, that most evenings on dusk, fly over the house here
(in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia), sometimes down the driveway, and also
through the front patio!

In some of the video footage that I took,
I noticed that the bats were flying so fast, that they were leaving vapour trails in the air!

Here are a couple of photos
lifted from the footage,
which have been enhanced,
to more easily show
that there are vapour trails.
These were taken on 18 March 2015.

Videos - Little Bats 1

- Little Bats 2

Dochas Books Film