Don’t let the title make you scratch your head. This article is actually about something related to music. If you’re wondering exactly what the title means, this short explanation should do the trick.
Did you ever start off writing a piece of music and, for whatever reason, it began as a waltz and ended up as a heavy metal jam? If this has happened to you, you need serious help.
No, seriously, if this has happened to you, you’re not alone. Yes, you still need serious help but that’s the topic of another article. See the receptionist on the way out for an appointment.
Where was I?
Oh yes, that’s right. How did I end up in Oz? Well, I followed the yellow brick road except it didn’t exactly take me to where I wanted to go. Funny how that will happen when you’re trying to compose music.
So what exactly causes this? Well, the causes are different for each person so there isn’t a catch all cure all for this ailment.
One cause of ending up in Oz is boredom. How many times have you sat down at the keyboard, started playing some “cool” riff, said to yourself “wow, this is a cool riff” and after about 5 minutes (if it even takes that long) you end up saying to yourself one of the following things.
“I’m bored.”
“This is boring.”
“This sucks.”
“Why did I quit my job at the Walmart?”
In short, the piece just isn’t as cool as when you first started out writing it.
And then something odd happens. You play the same melody or chord structure, except you play it faster or you play it using a different instrument. Maybe you go from piano to electric guitar. Suddenly the piece has new life in it. It’s exciting and it stays exciting all the way through to completion.
What started out as a waltz ended up as a heavy metal jam.
That’s one way to end up in Oz.
Another way is actually by design. You purposely set out to write a piece that starts one way and ends another way. A perfect example of this is the original recording of Derek And The Domino’s “Layla” which goes from a hard rocking tune to a beautiful piano and lead guitar finish. If you turned on Layla in the middle, you wouldn’t know it was the same song if you had only heard the first 3 minutes.
Oddly, many stations late in Layla’s life span on the radio started fading the song out before the piano part. I don’t know whether that was more about time or that they didn’t think the ending fit in with their format.
Another song that was all over the place was Bohemian Rhapsody. Well, that’s why it was called Bohemian Rhapsody. It was in fact a rhapsody. If you look up the definition of rhapsody it says it says…
“a piece of music that is meant to express a lot of emotion and does not have a regular form.”
This from Webster’s online dictionary.
In other words, rhapsodies are usually all over the place. Queen did a great job with this one. It is still, to this day, one of my favorite Queen pieces. I’m sure a lot of people agree on that one.
So we also end up in Oz by design. The question is, how many detours do we want to take to get there? Rhapsody is one thing, but utter chaos is something entirely different. Some kind of order to keep the madness in check would be nice. Otherwise, the listener may have a hard time following just how you did manage to get to Oz. Bohemian Rhapsody, with all its complexities, is very easy to follow. That’s what good writing can do.
And if you’re writing royalty free music for a client, another way of getting to Oz is through orders. Sometimes the client decides that they want something else. The piece that you composed for the video isn’t cutting it for them. Maybe it’s not really cutting it for you either. Or maybe there is a change in specs for the video last minute and the original music just doesn’t fit anymore.
Hey, stuff happens.
So it’s very easy to start off with an orchestral piece for a video and wind up with a punk rock tune because of client wishes. You know what they say, the client is always right. Well, not always, but if you want to get paid, they better be right.
Most of the time, I don’t end up in Oz. I come up with an idea and I pretty much stick with it all the way through. Part of the reason for that is my stubbornness. I hate throwing away music. So I’ll find a use for something. For clients, it’s different. I have to come up with a finished product that they’re happy with. But for me, I’m easy to please.
And make no mistake about it. Unless it’s by design, ending up in Oz can be very frustrating. For one thing, it’s hours of lost work. Heck, sometimes it’s days of lost work.
But it’s a necessary evil. If we don’t adapt, if we’re not flexible, if we don’t know the meaning of the word “compromise” we’re going to have some very frustrating days. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet, realize that what you’re doing isn’t working, scrap it and move onto something else. Yeah, it sucks, but it’s part of music composition.
So the next time you’re composing something for a client, or if you are the client and feel that the music just isn’t right for your project, don’t keep quiet. I know you might not want to lose all those hours of work, but in the long run you’ll end up with a better product.
After all, isn’t that what we’re after when all is said and done, the best possible product for our client?
Besides, you just might meet a powerful wizard or cute girl once you’ve made it to Oz.
For The Love Of Music,
Steven “Wags” Wagenheim