The Birthday Project- Four Blake Songs (Part 2)

Here's a quick update on my progress for Four Blake Songs. Just finished the first song (Soft Snow) and sent it to Christopher Smith to look over. I am 60% finished with The Laughing Song and hope to finish that in a few days. As I reflect on how this project is affecting me as a composer I am noticing several interesting things:

1. I have never had to work so quickly to finish a piece. I have always had the luxury of taking my time because I have never had a hard deadline prior to this piece. As a result I am noticing that I am spending significantly less time in the sketching phase and writing more intuitively, following my gut so to speak.This is also true for the revision process, which has been cut drastically. For me this is a biggie because I tend to rewrite and revise alot.

2. Having a "day job" has seriously inhibited my usual creative tendencies. When I was in school and had the luxury of time I would set aside at least an hour everyday (usually in the evenings. NOT a morning person) to write and I would always write in the same location. With my job I simply cannot do this. The majority of my creative time (for this project at least) is crammed into the weekends, usually writing in 3-4 four blocks in the mornings and evenings.

3. My productivity is substantially higher now than ever before when I factor in how much (quality) music I am writing vs. how long I am taking to write it.

So there is my update with some extra revelations for those who care to read them. See you next time!