A Visual Kickstart - Musical Creativity 6
Find something to inspire you. When you're looking at a painting or a picture, think about how you could convey in music the same thoughts and emotions you're experiencing. Or think about some music that would accompany people looking at the same pictures. Instead of trying to match it, create the opposite mood? There are enough angles to think about, just change your perspective slightly.
Here are two examples that I use:
Buy a diary from Earth from the Air
Or Lonely Planet Calendar 2008. The good thing about both of these is that because they're based on the calendar, they provide new inspirations at regular intervals.
Better still, walk into your local Oxfam shop, to buy the diary and calendar and you'll be helping Oxfam help others as well.
In the case of filmscores, ad-spots and music for TV programmes, the picture is moving, so it's useful to start practising with still photos. Doing it that way will reinforce the fact that moods can swap and change as the scene changes.
Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.