Quiet surroundings in the shack so you can really concentrate on not making mistakes.

And, yes, the room is completely black, even down to a black window blind!

I always get a kick out of life when, after a session, someone comes up to me and asks about a particular tune they'd heard but didn't recognize.  It's big compliment if they say they liked it, especially if it was one I had written.  The next question is almost a certainty.  "How do you think up these tunes?"  Well the simple answer is they just seem to happen.  I've already admitted to being an habitual whistler and sometimes a random series of notes gets into my head and I just play around with them until I get something I like.  The rest is pretty easy.

I might start out with what I think will be a good reel and it may finish up being played at a completely different tempo, as a slow lament.  To try and demonstrate what I do and possibly encourage other musicians who,  can knock up a tune out of thin air,  I'll try and explain in a few steps.

Some basic firsts of music.  It's no coincidence that many instruments developed around the range of the average human voice.  This is normally accepted as being the key of G and the scale of G is shown below.  The notes in the first and last bar should be the lower and upper limits of many people's singing range.

Aha! I hear you cry, I know someone who sings in the key of D.  Hey, I believe you.  It may just mean the top notes are too high in another key and the tune has been dropped down to fit the above range comfortably.

It makes sense, especially if you write a good tune, that someone may just want to put words to it.  If you can stay within this range it will make it easier for others to immortalize your name down through history as the composer.

I can't get it out of my head... We all know the feeling.  You're totally engrossed with doing a job and someone will shout across at you and say something along the lines of "Stop that damn whistling/humming, you're getting on my nerves."  You look up, stare at them and your memory is... blank!  You know you had a tune going but its just vanished into thin air.  Minutes later, as you get back to working,  the humming or whistling has started again and you're into your twentieth impromptu symphony of the day.  I've developed some great tunes this way but once I try to concentrate on them, they are lost forever.

Well...it sounded a bit like...this  or maybe this or even this?  It's no good, I just can't remember it.  First things first.  If I am in the house, I'll try and get some of the notes down on paper.  Nothing too fancy at this stage, just the dots.  All I need is an indication of when the tune rises or falls in pitch.  The rhythms can come later.  It may be a bit unconventional, certainly no-one could sit down and play it at this stage but it works for me.

The next step is to get the 'dots' down onto manuscript paper with the approximate intervals for the tune.  I tend to consider which instrument I will use to play this tune, in this case an accordion, and jot it down in the middle range of the instrument.

Well it still doesn't sound like what I had in mind.  Some of the notes are a bit discordant and there is no rhythm yet.  So let's fix the problem.

Okay, the tune is sounding a little bit better so let's add a few chords as a basic harmony to add some fullness to the sound.

After I've worked out a chord sequence I then like to try out different instruments to hear the different tonal effects that can be had.  For example here is the tune with the basic harmony played with solo flute, strings, a guitar and cello.

After you have the basic melody and harmony, you can then go on to add any extra twiddly bits you think your tune may need.  Don't overdo the frills and decorations though.  It is too easy to overcomplicate your work.  Better to leave it simple and allow the musicians to add a bit of their own personality to the translation.

Never be afraid to experiment with the tempo of a tune.  As I said earlier I sometimes think a tune may sound good at a lively jig tempo only to eventually slow it right down, change the instruments and turn it into a slow lament.  If it sounds good played at either tempo, you can be sure your melody is sound and others may adapt it to their own playing speed or style.

I have to admit, that my PC is often cause for some concern when I arrange some of my tunes.  I have a large library of sound samples from instruments around the world.  Some of them, I have had to look up and find out what they are, but they give a certain atmosphere to a piece.  This can be a bit awkward if you give others a copy.  I remember one poor Northumbrian piper looking at the sheet I'd given him and almost choking when he saw the melody covered four octaves.  Oooops!   Silly me!   I'd been playing around with the melody and adjusted the sound samples to cover a range that was impossible on the actual instrument.  Although, I have to admit, the electronic version did sound good.  Try it for yourself, you may be surprised at the results, even if you will never hear a live perfomance.

Remember there are a few musicians out there whose work with synthetic sounds make the piece what is and all without a live musician in sight.

Most of all, enjoy yourself and have some fun.  I write melodies and songs to suit me, if others like them I consider that a bonus.  Give it a go and if you want to swap ideas, get in touch.