Hi Mark,

quote: The time you invested in Funky Salsa really shows. Of the 120 hours you spent on this, how would you estimate that you divided your times between these three things:

(1) composing/arranging independently of actually getting the notes down on paper or getting the sound right in the MIDI file

(2) getting the notes visually into Composer (whether by playing or mousing them in), and correcting the as-notated rhythms, accidentals, etc; and adding annotations

(3) tweaking the MIDI performance

If you have a more interesting way to break down how you spent your time, then I'd be interested in hearing that.

That's a little tough to answer because they are all different, but in referrence specifically to Funky Salsa, less time than usual was spent on the brass/trumpet and trombone/saxes parts. The break down would probably be pretty equal between the above 3 areas. In this case, though, the sax solo was a little longer conquest. I spent quite a while just playing the ryhthm over and over, humming melodies and mentally visualizing them to give me the feeling that I had been playing the song for years. I think that if I could still play the sax (Physically) and the band asked me to sit in, the solo probabably would be very close to what I ended up with.
I guess what I probably do differently is to create separate files for each instrument along with the rhythm. That way I can change things without worry that I won't like something, erase it, and then forget what I had before. For me, it is a safe way for me to do whatever I want with a piece without danger of losing what I spent hours on and having to go back to square one. I just name each file something dumb like "Funksal_trump", "funksal_piano", funksal_drum, etc. etc. Then when I am reasonably satisfied with a part, I copy and paste it into the main file. Sometimes it may be 32 measures and sometimes it may be only 4 bars. I'm a copy and paste fool. I hope this gives you some idea of my madness.
Cheers,
FRed