Composing Quotes

“Writers do not have the privilege of sleep. There is always a story coming alive in their heads, constantly composing. Whether they choose it or not.”
― Jamie Weise

“You know that I immerse myself in music, so to speak— that I think about it all day long— that I like experimenting— studying— reflecting.”
― Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

“For most digital-age writers, writing is rewriting. We grope, cut, block, paste, and twitch, panning for gold onscreen by deleting bucketloads of crap. Our analog ancestors had to polish every line mentally before hammering it out mechanically. Rewrites cost them months, meters of ink ribbon, and pints of Tippex. Poor sods.”
― David Mitchell, The Bone Clocks

“Write the music your inside-you needs your outside-you to hear.”
― Eric Whitacre

“The best songs are written through our anger. Even though feelings change over time, our lyrics will always remain inside the song as a way of reminding us how far and how much stronger we've become since then.”
― Kastle King

“As important as color is to a painting, or wings to a bird. Music injects vibrancy to film and makes it soar!”
― Gerard de Marigny

“Co-writing. Man, just the word. I always thought it would be as intimate as sex and as serious as marriage. You'd come to each other committed but with no clue what to expect. You'd both lay down your tender ugly first-draft words and sounds, full of humiliating dents and bruises, and she'd see every part of your process as you sweated and chopped and swore your way to something plausibly songlike.”
― J.C. Lillis, A&B

“Her playing which had been superb became merely correct. It was necessary to suggest a certain sloppiness, the playing of something that hadn't been written. Computer-made music-synthesized Blue Moon- presented same problem. Random elements introduced.”
― John Cage, A Year from Monday: New Lectures and Writings

“If any of my kids ever asked me that question, the answer would have to be: "What I do is composition." I just happen to use material other than notes for the pieces.
Composition is a process of organization, very much like architecture. As long as you can conceptualize what that organizational process is, you can be a ‘composer’ — in any medium you want.
You can be a ‘video composer’, ‘film composer’, a ‘choreography composer’, a ‘social engineering’ composer — whatever. Just give me some stuff, and I'll organize it for you. That's what I do.”
― Frank Zappa, The Real Frank Zappa Book

“You have to utilize what's inside you to create what you want to create. If it doesn't come out pure, it's no good.”
― Duane Allman, Duane Allman Guitar Anthology

“Music soothes the mind just as painkillers would soothe a sprain.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, Sips And Little Portions