I’m going to get a little deep here. If you have trouble following, it’s not you. It’s all on me. Sometimes my mind goes into very strange places and it’s not pretty. Then again, what musician is in his right mind anyway? Having said that, if you want to go on a little adventure, come with me now into the land that is commonly referred to as Steve’s “happy place.” No, I am not off my meds.
So I go to this forum that I regularly attend. It’s a marketing forum. Honestly, I don’t get along with many people there. I do have a few friends but most people think I’m just plain nuts. Who am I to argue? Anyway, the other day there was a purchase on my site for one of my orchestral tracks titled “Fanfare For Fran.” I was curious as to what this person was using it for as I always am, but quickly forgot about it. But back to the forum.
I talk about the track and my amazement at the circumstances of the purchase (I won’t get into that here) and then wouldn’t you know it, one of the members of the forum admits that he was the one who purchased it. But not only that, he posts a 7:35 video on the site. Well, wouldn’t you know it…Fanfare For Fran was the last song on the video, the finale.
Now, when I wrote that, I pictured it being more of an intro piece, though I guess it could be used to close a video as well. The context in which I saw it, taking everything into account as far as the video itself, left me kind of scratching my head. I just didn’t picture this piece used in that manner. It seemed like a square peg in a round hole. But son of a gun, it worked. I’m not saying that because I wrote it because God knows I’ve written plenty of stuff that probably wouldn’t work if you took a sledge hammer to it. But this odd little piece worked in the context in which it was used.
And this got me to thinking. As composers, do we box our brains in? Are we so programmed to hear what we want to hear given a set of conditions? If video director John Doe shows us a bowl of fruit on screen and tells us to write music for it, do we only see one way of doing this that makes any sense to us?
In other words, are we so afraid to break stereotypes that we refuse to accept that maybe sometimes we can put a square peg into a round hole and it will somehow fit?
Okay, I know what you’re going to say. But a square peg DOESN’T fit in a round hole. Yeah, but can we make it fit? What if we widen the hole? The square peg would then at least go inside the hole. It may not be the most snug fit. The peg might wiggle around a bit, but it will still go inside the hole.
If that doesn’t work, we can always shave the peg. Why not? Take a knife to it and shave off the corners. Decrease the size of the peg and maybe even round the edges and that peg might just fit after all. Again, it won’t be the best fit in the world but it’ll fit.
Fear is a terrible thing. A wise man, a long time ago, said that there was nothing to fear but fear itself. He was very wise and one of our greatest Presidents. And he was right. Fear is a crippler. Fear keeps us from doing crazy things like fitting square pegs in round holes.
Now don’t get me wrong. When you decide to go against the grain, you’re taking a chance. People in general expect certain things when they are exposed to other certain things. If they’re watching a scene in a movie with cowboys and Indians fighting each other, they’re going to expect to hear some kind of wild west shoot ’em up music and God help you if you decide to orchestrate a waltz for the scene. You might get more than just some strange looks.
But having said that, do we always have to go for the stereotypical response? Must everything be so gosh darn obvious that the audience can practically write the score for you? Doesn’t that end up going in the other direction of predictable and boring?
There has to be a middle ground. There has to be some square peg that will fit in that round hole that doesn’t make us cringe but makes us go “Hmm, that was very interesting the way he did that.” I think that’s what separates the great composers from everybody else.
Want an example of what I’m talking about? Watch the Cantina scene from Star Wars Episode IV. That was so totally unexpected it has become a classic. That’s taking chances, putting that kind of scene and music into a sci fi movie. It was brilliant, that’s what it was.
Personally, I think we need more of that in entertainment. There is too much mundane stuff floating around. Don’t get me wrong, it all fits nicely and, on some level, it’s really good. Of course it’s really good. It’s tried and proven to work. There is no danger involved. But it’s also very safe. And where you have safe you have no innovation. And when you have no innovation you have a stagnant world.
Therefore, when I write, I try to stretch things a bit. I try to put that square peg in that round hole. I don’t always succeed. In fact, I’d say most of the time I probably fall flat on my face. But every once in a while I hit pay dirt and when that happens, it makes it all worth while.
So don’t be afraid to take chances. Don’t be afraid to find that square peg and put it in that round hole. With a little widening or shaving, it just might work and turn out to be a piece of real art and not just another stock piece of music.
For The Love Of Music,
Steven “Wags” Wagenheim