If it gives you joy, or a sense of accomplishment - however large or small, that's why. If others garner some pleasure out of the efforts, that's just icing on the cake.
“What is the purpose of writing music? One is, of course, not dealing with purposes but dealing with sounds. Or the answer must take the form of a paradox: a purposeful purposeless or a purposeless play. This play, however, is an affirmation of life--not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we’re living, which is so excellent once one gets one’s mind and one’s desires out of its way and lets it act of its own accord.”
I posted a relevant reply before I read this - must be a resonance in The Universe or something.
For me, composing, or creating anything means it would not exist if I hadn't put it there. This can easily sound self-aggrandizing, but it matters to me that I'm acknowledging Nature in some way. The answer I receive is "there it is." Same feeling to a degree, when I assist an animal out of harms way; or grow an accidental vegetable in my garden from the compost I threw in there last week. I like it when people enjoy what I write, but it is not why I write. Maybe this is the selfish part: when I am pleased with a composition or drawing, it closely reflects what I think is my humanity.
Your remarks about melody going out of fashion reminds me of how representation went out of fashion in visual art. What it says about the modern period, I’m not sure, but nothing positive.
If it gives you joy, or a sense of accomplishment - however large or small, that's why. If others garner some pleasure out of the efforts, that's just icing on the cake.
I’m a big believer in this John Cage quote:
“What is the purpose of writing music? One is, of course, not dealing with purposes but dealing with sounds. Or the answer must take the form of a paradox: a purposeful purposeless or a purposeless play. This play, however, is an affirmation of life--not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply a way of waking up to the very life we’re living, which is so excellent once one gets one’s mind and one’s desires out of its way and lets it act of its own accord.”
― John Cage, Silence: Lectures and Writings
I posted a relevant reply before I read this - must be a resonance in The Universe or something.
For me, composing, or creating anything means it would not exist if I hadn't put it there. This can easily sound self-aggrandizing, but it matters to me that I'm acknowledging Nature in some way. The answer I receive is "there it is." Same feeling to a degree, when I assist an animal out of harms way; or grow an accidental vegetable in my garden from the compost I threw in there last week. I like it when people enjoy what I write, but it is not why I write. Maybe this is the selfish part: when I am pleased with a composition or drawing, it closely reflects what I think is my humanity.
Your remarks about melody going out of fashion reminds me of how representation went out of fashion in visual art. What it says about the modern period, I’m not sure, but nothing positive.
The modern period isn’t what it used to be.
A fun one! For popular tunes I would recommend Olivia Rodrigo or Sabrina Carpenter or sza