Have you ever considered 'drawing' songs ??

[TUF]

As a U2 fan of about 20 years standing, and one interested in music technology for at least half that time, one of the common factors between the 2 is Eno. The wrote a bit of music software some years ago called Koan - sort of allowing a sequence to evolve and develop based on algorithms rather than the songwriter originating it all themselves. Which got me thinking that drawing and trying to picture music (possibly in parallel with linear sequencer tracks) is actually a pretty good way to generating music ideas.....

Anyone else tried this ?

 

[FallingStar]

Wow, I didn't know that, but it sounds awesome.

 

[gareth brown]

Only answer I can give to 'ever considered drawing songs' is Yes. While listening to Bullet the Blue Sky. I had a really vivid 'vision' of a tree made up of bodies nailed into position while you saw some lonely wanderer wrapped in a shoal dashing about 'in the valley below' with a backdrop of the San Salvador incident and crumbling city walls...dark red and grey clouds with a single ray of light poking through to reveal a Joshua Tree somewhere on the side of the picture.

Still haven't drawn it...

 

[TUF]

..Drawing songs....

...this wasn't quite what I meant.....

I think your interpretation is drawing what you hear in the song (or the lyrics in the case of bullet....)

What I meant is using sketches, paintings (non portrait) to pick out the way lines/circles etc etc or shapes meet or interact and transferring that straight into musical ideas - ie if you could put some of these together in parallel in the way a linear sequencer would show them, or just pick 2 or 3 notes or chords and put patterns around them to separate them a bit and 'evolve' the tune - creation rather than reaction.....

I'm amazed that it's not been developed more in terms of computer software considering how advanced some of the drawing software is these days.....

 

[gareth brown]

Re: ..Drawing songs....

...this wasn't quite what I meant.....

Sorry! *Shame*