New Composition: Lyrics *First*
Please advise how best to enter the lyrics first as a sketch, in order to compose a melody based on the flow & natural rhythm of the lyrics.
All i can find otherwise is the Muse Handbook strategy for typesetting completed compositions: "First enter notes" (then the lyrics)
I've never encountered a vocal/choral commission or new piece that didn't BEGIN with the lyrics.
(Granted, phrases are altered based on nuts and bolts of how the structure/phrases emerge)
Thus i'm looking for a sketch pad lyrics area above/below the (blank) staff to type in a starting point for lyrics (with ability to space out the syllables, and in fact i don't need it to be perfectly aligned at this early stage).
Note that my workflow would export resulting XML for final (publishable) typesetting by another person in another tool.
thanks for any pointers...
Comments
> Please advise how best to enter the lyrics first as a sketch, in order to compose a melody
> based on the flow & natural rhythm of the lyrics.
Frankly, the best advice I can give is to use pencil and paper when you're still at that early stage of composition. Save notation software until you're a bit further along.
I came across an interesting comment over the weekend in "Handbook for Creative Church Musicians" by Harold Owen
"We recommend that composers write a first draft in pencil away from the computer, rather than compose at the computer. The nature of synthesizer input and the computer's easy routines for copying, trransposing, and doubling can lead the composer into easy solutions, and the playback, while accurate in terms of pitch and rhythm, cannot replicate the subtle nuances of dynamics, tempo, and tone quality of live performers. In addition, the computer is capable of executing complicated rhythms and enormous leaps in pitch that live musicians cannot hope to manage...Since the computer can play constantly and tirelessly with no rest, composers working at the computer tend to write continuous music, ignoring the need for rests and for breathing--not only physical breathing by singers and wind players, but for the need of the music to breathe (phrasing, tension and release)."