Alan Menken Quotes

It's about the stories. If I write 14 stories that I love, then the next step is to get the environment of music around it to best envelop the story, and all kinds of sonic goodness - sonic goodies.

It's all about theme and development anyway. That's what music is about.

I had a really pleasant time composing music for 'Raaga.'

The bass line is the anchor for me. I started with the bass, and either doubled that and then added the harmonies, or sometimes added my own harmonies that I've always wanted to sing on the song. And then it just went on from there - singing violin parts and trumpet parts and just trying to emulate the sounds of the instruments.

We knew we wanted to put a lot of melody into it - a lot more than what we did on our first album.

Sometimes I write them down in musical notation as a trigger to remind me about certain directions to go. Or I can be specific about a sound I'm looking for.

The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score, and the print the performance.

Writing music is just like writing a book.

In my mind, my music feels so big, a true production.

So when I started writing my own stuff, it was with a lot of combinations and time changes and power.

Sometimes it takes us a long time to build up songs, and we really work the structures over and over and build in lots of noisy parts.

I used to do most of my composing at a little table in a cafe. Composing for 52 instruments, I had to figure out how to accommodate myself to the small table.

I have just begun a work in which an important part is given to a large chorus and with it I want to use several of your instruments - augmenting their range as in those I used for my Equatorial - especially in the high range.

But there's a thin line between songwriting and arranging.

When I walked into the studio, the chorus of 'Nobody Love' was already set. For me, the challenge was to make it have depth.

I don't sit down to write a song, per se.

I'm interested in creating a little sound world for songs, really crafting it, building it, and making it like a little doll's house with little things inside it, staircases and rooms and everything kind of relates to everything else. I've never seen it as drums, bass, guitar and vocals in very separate spaces.

We start a lot with melodies and instrumentation and trying to figure out good melodies for verses and choruses. We get to lyrics sometimes second, so we'll start humming a melody, finding something, and see where the music takes you as far as lyrics are and what you want to say and go from there.

Music has a poetry of its own, and that poetry is called melody.

Every single note on this album is there for a reason.

I aim my arrangements at what will fit and colorfully frame the song in the best way possible.

You can find the whole world of a film in one instrument, or you can find a world of sound in the orchestra.

My songs are more arrangements than they are songs.

Composing gives me a chance to work in multiple dimensions and helps me pare down my melodies into what is essential. Learning new skills has always energized me and scoring has opened up a world of sonic possibilities.

There's two facets to writing a song. There's you sitting in your room writing the sentiments of the song; the lyrics, the melody and the changes, and then there's the part where you go into the studio and you put clothing on it.