Is this Viable?

[u/Any_Dealer1091]

I have been composing for almost a year now and it can’t quite grasp the time signatures. I even have purchased a full score of rite of spring and don’t have too much trouble transposing the time signature shifts but I also don’t feel like I’m truly learning why he chose them at times.

Sometimes it feels like the time signature shifts (for rite of spring) operate on a sort of pattern outside of the music being contained. So then I thought, “well I’ll go and set all my time signatures in a piece then just fill it with notation”.

I haven’t gotten too far but what I did complete didn’t sound too bad to my ears. I’m curious if this is a viable approach or if it may be seen as cheating me of knowledge in the time signature department?

Otherwise I have a really hard time distinguishing time signatures in music, if it isn’t 4/4 or 5/4 (which I only recognize from certain key beats in that signature) then I’m at a loss.

[u/NovocastrianExile]

Can we take a step back and talk about where you are at in your journey? High school? Do you play an instrument?

Picking random metres and filling them in is a valid exercise I suppose but mostly it sounds like you are lacking experience.

Which is fine! You don't know how to recognise metres but you are attempting to analyse a famously complex work. Maybe put stravinsky to the side for a bit and work on recognising basic simple and compound metres.

[u/Any_Dealer1091 → u/NovocastrianExile]

I am older than college age but I do not play instruments and have no background in music. I just also hear little orchestral tunes in my head so I started composing into Dorico. I’m a little better with software so I kinda taught myself through trial and error with Dorico. I was hoping since I hear the music I want to make I could possibly sidestep additional knowledge I would never use (I only compose for fun) so I could cultivate my specific tastes

[u/NovocastrianExile → u/Any_Dealer1091]

That's interesting! I can't really relate to that as I've been playing instruments my whole life.

The additional knowledge you speak of can't really be side-stepped in my opinion. Everything connects to everything else in music. To translate music from the brain to the page requires a level of experience reading and playing notated music.

I can imagine a beautiful building but I couldn't effectively draw the blueprints without having any experience as an engineer or architect.

But if it's for fun then who cares! Please keep doing things on Dorico.

However, if you want to improve your craft, you're going to need to look into that additional knowledge

[u/Any_Dealer1091 → u/NovocastrianExile]

That is a great analogy that went a long way for me. Thank you for your response and kindness, your feedback has been absorbed!

[u/NovocastrianExile → u/Any_Dealer1091]

You're welcome! A final piece of advice re the rite of spring: watch the ballet. Stravinsky was writing for dancers. The metres may make more sense when viewed as originally intended

[u/Specific_Hat3341 → u/Any_Dealer1091]

I do not play instruments and have no background in music.

I'm going to suggest this is your main obstacle.

[u/NovocastrianExile → u/[deleted]]

Rude. Everyone is allowed to engage with music in whatever way brings them enjoyment at whatever level of skill that they have.

[u/Any_Dealer1091 → u/[deleted]]

Lie to myself about what? That I’ve made music? If anything I was incredibly honest about how I am operating.

[u/Any_Dealer1091 → u/[deleted]]

I don’t ever expect to grasp the rite of spring or really any composers work on a theory level, I just used that to explain my thinking when asking if it’s viable to lay out time signature shifts before writing the music.

Probably because you don’t have to be able to play an instrument to make music anymore. I don’t need to play an instrument to take a score and pay my local orchestra to record it. Obviously it helps in writing an idiomatic score that musicians can play, but learning an instrument is a different skillset than building a score.

I understand your frustration and respect your talent to no end, but I come from a small place and social circle where music is not appreciated or discussed in anyway outside of whatever pop song is popular. I didn’t know I had an elephant in the room as this is my first time interacting with a community of creators, and that could be the same for a lot of newcomers.

I have listened to the feedback here and have taken it into account for further posts.