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20 ways to start a track
If you're short on ideas, we can help
Computer Music, Fri 22 Aug 2008, 3:09 pm UTC
16. Quite contrary
Alternatively, take the opposite approach. There are loads of online dictionaries and encyclopedias that feature a word or topic of the day. Check in on one and create something inspired by its direct opposite – whatever that might mean.
17. Change languages
Try a little international inspiration. If your linguistic skills are rusty, use the net to translate words into another language. 'The tropics in winter' may not grab you, but how about 'tropici nell'inverno' or 'Les tropiques en hiver'?
18. Science and maths
Don't be afraid – such academia can provide you with many days' worth of new ideas. Mathematical formulae, the periodic table, the speed of light and the values of Phi and Pi can all be interpreted musically in countless ways. Or how about a micro-house tribute to the fathers of Boron?
19. Along came a spider…
With so many bits of software being titled after animals, insects, forces of nature and other real-world things, even names can be inspirational. Note down a few such devices and select some at random. Now you just need a self-referential story to tell with those instruments. You could use the Virus PowerCore to write a 'killer' DnB lead or a track expressing how you feel about that Trojan horse that messed up your computer last week.
20. Make a code
Inventing and working from codes can be an abstract but entertaining way to generate musical structures or note sequences. For example, giving every letter of the alphabet a musical assignment and 'decoding' a poem or advert will give totally unpredictable results that could take you anywhere.
