From Nothing
By Emma Stover
At first I was very unsure how to create something out of nothing. It took me a while to come up with an idea I deemed fit for this prompt. Then it hit me that I did not have my instrument on campus. I decided to compose a song for the harp without my harp here, to create music with no instrument to play it on. I also do not have any real experience writing music so there is another “nothing” that I planned to make something from.
Last semester for InterArts I had messed around with some online composition software and made a chord progression I enjoyed. I decided to expand on that and see where it took me. There was a lot of trial and error, I would have a note in my head that I wanted to come next but I had trouble figuring out which one it was. Sometimes my guessing led me down paths I didn’t originally intend to follow. At the end of my piece I wasn’t expecting to go so low, but I really liked the way it sounded. I will say this is in no way complete, there is a lot I could still change but I have to sit on it for a while.
The short piece I have composed so far takes me through a couple of emotions. I also noticed it reminds me of some pieces I really enjoy listening to. I inadvertently took inspiration from the music I listen to. It definitely would have been easier if I had my instrument or a more recent music theory course under my belt, but the challenge was a good one. I am excited to continue to work on music, whether it is this piece or little bits of newer stuff. I have a few new instruments I would like to learn so that will expose me to new kinds of music and new techniques. Eventually when I have my harp, I can attempt to play this myself which will be very interesting.