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@clairc thanks. I’ve been composing for five years I was fifteen I think when I wrote my first song, but the opera is a new thing I embarked upon as soon as I finished college. It’s certainly not easy, but I’m thoroughly enjoying every bit of it. Writing the poetry and script for the libretto was wonderful. I don’t think I’ve both laughed and cried so much over one particular project. That’s wonderful that you make music too. Which instruments do you play? I admire people who can write historical fiction because it’s one of my most favorite genres to read, I simply don’t have the diligence to write it. I love history but I guess am too lazy to study a time period enough to write about it! Anyhow, what are your favorite time periods to write in? Do you have any books I can read? 🙂
@sam-kowel what is it about? I don’t know that I’m ready to spill those beans especially since when I publish it I intend to publish under a pseudonym, however, I’ll say it’s centered on my fascination with the flaming sword that God sent to guard the tree of life from anyone who would try to seek eternal life that way. My story is set in a different world but there are some crossovers and the sword is the centerpiece! 🙂 That probably sounds really silly but, trust me, I’ve thought this through…I hope! 😉
Haha….Ha! Composing, hard? …. As the contemporary composer John Rutter mentioned, nothing about creating music is easy until after you’ve composed it and are listening to it being performed, and even then….only genius’ like Mozart can call composing easy. :p Anyhow, your advice was really sound. Thank you for that. I shall continue to persevere and work through the hard parts. I like what you said about different aspects being independent of each other. I never thought about it that way. Thanks again.
Okay…. @clairec, @sam-kowal I can’t seem to get this tag thing working!
@christianna-hellwig, they take a bit of getting used to. 😉
I play piano, guitar, and sing. I’m thinking about studying vocals at University. Did you study something musical at College, since you’re now composing an opera?
I’ve only been writing seriously for 4 years, so no finished books yet, but I’ve been thinking I can write since I was pretty small. Took me a while to realize there was more to it than just writing words onto a page, that there was actually this little thing call ‘structre’, and ‘plot’, and ‘character arcs’! 😀
Also I love that concept of your book, that you explained to Sam. I’ve always been fascinated by that passage of scripture too! And placing it in a different world with the sword as the main theme, is a really great idea!
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@clairec Nice. I got a B.A. in music with voice as my primary instrument. I sang a lot of opera for both my senior and junior recitals, I believe that’s really when I came to love the style. So, out of curiosity are you a Soprano or an Alto? Haha, writing has been the same way for me. Isn’t it hilarious to look back on the stories you wrote when you were eight or ten, and laugh at what you thought was a really brilliant description of a sunset at the time? 😉
I’m so glad you like my idea. I hope it turns out okay. Are you working on a specific story write now?
@christianna-hellwig Welcome, welcome, welcome! Great to have you aboard!
It’s awesome that you sing! I think it’s so cool when people sing and all of the control there is in it! It’s really awesome! My brother sings bass. I think the lowest note he sings with control is an F1.
Composing, though? Now that is awesome!!
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
@christiana-hellwig 😀 Actually, that doesn’t sound silly, it sounds awesome 😀
What a thrilling idea! I’ve never thought about somethig like that before. A flaming sword is a very nice setpiece to have around, and the biblical tie-in is very intriguing. It sounds.. well, my signature word is EPIC.
XD Right. Composing is tough. It’s rewarding, though, when you feel satisfied with it. I’ve read that Mozart basically kind of though in music… that had to have helped him out just a little.
You’re welcome, for the advice, nothing revolutionary… 😉 but glad you liked it
*Giarstanornarak tries to melt chair*
Also, Daeus has 22 turtles in his signature.Opera! I don’t sing much classic opera, (German, Italian, etc.), but I love singing things like ‘The Phantom of the Opera’.
And I’m a soprano (G3 to E6). You?
Um, yeah. Hilarious, or cringy, one of those. 😀
Yes! I’m currently writing a novel about an Australian nurse in WWII, serving in PNG. It’s alternative historical fiction.
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@skredder, thanks. Singing is fun! F1 is wonderful, I really enjoy listening to low men’s voices. Do you sing? What’s your favorite genre to write in and why?
@sam-kowal I’m so happy you think it sounds epic. I guess we’ll find out whether I have what it takes to write a story on such a topic and have it come out epic. 😉 So, I’m curious, you mentioned a friend of yours played violin and you’d dabbled in composing, but do you play an instrument?
@clairec Oh, I love musical theatre music. I couldn’t sing too much of it for my recitals because it’s considered light music but I sang a medley of “Think of Me” and “Wishing you Were Somehow Here Again” to finish out my senior recital. A friend of mine and I also sang “All I Ask of You” for fun once, along with songs from several other musical theatre and Disney musicals….those are great fun, probably more fun in a sense than the art songs because more people recognize them. 🙂 Anyhow, soprano…is great, I must be partial because I’m one myself (D3 – F6) so, I guess we’re both high sopranos too! Wow, that story sounds great. As much as I hate thinking too hard about WWII it’s one of those really intriguing moments in history. Okay, what is Alternative Historical Fiction? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard that term before. 🙂By the way…this is a general question. I think the term fits, but why am I a Bumbling Henchman? Some of you others are Knights in Shining armour and loyal sidekicks, I think it’s related to how many posts you’ve made but I’m curious to know for certain! 🙂
@christianna-hellwig Unfortunately, I don’t sing. Despite being in a musical household, my musical abilities are below par.
I’ve got medieval fantasy, historical fiction, and futuristic fantasy projects going. Apparently, anything but contemporary, I guess. 🙂 I probably prefer those genres because I feel like I have a bit more freedom when it comes to the world they are set in.
And the rank, like Bumbling Henchman or Loyal Sidekicks, does have to due with the number of posts made.
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
@skredder, that’s okay, that means your non-musical abilities are all the better. 🙂 Fascinating. I actually feel that when I’m writing in the real world, if you will, writing in contemporary settings is easier because I’m more familiar with the here and now and don’t have to do too much research on the historical aspect, thus making me feel I’m freer to write what I want, yours is a unique perspective and probably better than mine, mine is just born out of laziness :p. Have you finished a book yet, or are you still in the writing and re-writing stage like I am?
Oh, thanks for the clarification. I wonder how many posts do I have to make before I stop becoming a bumbling Henchman… 😉 Anyhow, I love the verse you have on the bottom of your posts how do you add something like that? I notice everybody has one…except me!
@christianna-hellwig The signature at the bottom you can change on your profile page. The verse I have is one of my favorite verses. It was featured in a self-published book by a friend of the family. So, it’s got more than one meaning for me. 🙂
With contemporary I am too concerned with getting the details of the surroundings correct in case someone who actually lives there points out any discrepancies with what I wrote. Especially since I haven’t been to too many places worthy of being written about. With historical fiction there is definitely a lot of research to be done, but when the story happens about 500 A.D. there’s not a whole lot to go on and the imagination can take over quite nicely.
I did finish one book, contemporary actually, and was in the process of rewriting it, but a few personal things happened. That resulted in me putting it on the back burner. So now, I’m just in the writing stage.
I may be wrong, but I think your rank will change after 20 posts. I know there was a thread that had the exact number listing for each rank, but I don’t remember what it was.
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
@christianna-hellwig, You have a beautiful range! And yeah, sopranos… we might be a little biased, but it’s so much fun! 😉
I recently did the Rogers and Hammerstein musical ‘Cinderella’, and really loved it. About 200 people auditioned and the cast had 80 in the end which is pretty big for a musical! I auditioned for the role of Cinderella, and was very excited to get a callback. There were only 4 others, but one of the girls really shone over the rest of us, so I wasn’t surprised when she got the role. I still got to be in the chorus, though, and had a line in the opening song. Have you seen ‘Cinderella’ the musical?
Alternative Historical Fiction is basically historical fiction combined with speculative.
So, in my book, there’s a special weapon that is hidden in a secret place (that just so happens to be a significant location to my MC). It’s uncovered and the Japanese try to get it, so they can take over the Pacific. My MC has to (for reasons you’ll understand if you ever read it 😉 ) dispose of the weapon before they can find her and blow up about a quarter of the world.
Cheerful, I know.
If the genre still doesn’t make sense, think Captain America (see the second post in this topic).
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@christianna-hellwig 😀 Anytime awesome swords are involved, the epic factor goes up.
I play the guitar, and I’m going to learn the keyboard soon, because we just got one. (I’m definitely not a master on the guitar, though.) I usually make my music by picking out guitar notes or trying some chords, and I don’t make the parts for the bass clef. To call it real composing would be an overestimation, although I write lyrics to go along with it.
I’m curious about opera composing, though. That’s a really unique thing to do. 😀 What are the basics of going about that?
*Giarstanornarak tries to melt chair*
Also, Daeus has 22 turtles in his signature.@skredder, Thanks. 😉 That would make it extra special. You’re right, that is an aspect I hadn’t really considered…Well, hey at least you finished one. That I haven’t done as of yet! 🙂 …Yay, so maybe only three more posts to stop bumbling places. 😉
@clairec, I love the Rogers & Hammerstein Cinderella. What a wonderful opportunity. I really want to sing in a musical sometime but as of yet I haven’t got the chance. We have a community theatre in the area which I recently discovered…we’ll see. 🙂 Wow, your story sounds really fascinating! Special weapon, Japanese out to get you…sounds wonderful. I hope I get to read it someday. Your explanation made sense! Thanks. 🙂@sam-kowel, Haha, you’re right about that. Nice, I’ve been working on banjo, but I really want to learn guitar because it’s such a versatile instrument. Have you ever done any of the classical guitar where they pluck the strings rather than strum them? I also really admire the driving Spanish guitar style as well, that makes you want to get up and dance. Well, that’s great. Melody and lyrics are an excellent start…that’s what I always start with no matter how complicated the piece I’m writing. Well, as this is my first opera I can’t say I’m an expert. First and foremost I wrote the Libretto, which I’m still adapting and fixing as I go along. That is basically the script, if you will. The poetry for the arias, detailing the action and how long they last so that I know how long the music for those scenes has to be. I also have to determine what will be an aria(a very lyrical solo), recitative (a very choppy solo), Chorus, and what will be spoken. Now, as I’m writing the music I have to determine the mood, and the key, and the setting, and figure out how many instruments will be playing for each scene and which section of the orchestra will be predominant…often it’s several per scene, but strings will be used in a more emotional setting, while, brass is more stern and martial, and woodwinds usually set a more tranquil scene…at least that’s what it is for me. I write out the score at first just for piano, as it’s easier that way to see where it’s going, then I expand it for full orchestra. 🙂 Sorry for the long-winded expose….You asked for it though. 😉
@christianna-hellwing Welcoooome! I’m sure you’ll absolutely love it here! 😉
Well, I would give some fantasy advice……………if I had any to give. I’m kinda new to fantasy myself. 😊
What are your favorite book/shows/movies? Do you have any pets?
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