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Does anyone here do music with wind instruments? If so, how does songwriting go? I'm working on composing a piece (hopefully more, but I'm only committing to one for now ) and I'm a little as a loss because it seems more daunting. My normal method is to bring a riff, chord progression, something like that, and we will all just jam on it for a while. I want this to be a little more structured, but I'd like to not actually score out the whole thing. I played trombone for many years in band, so I'm fluent in reading and writing sheet music, I've just never composed for instruments in various keys.

On a less technical level, how well does it seem like it'll work if I write out basic chorus and verse parts and just say "feel free to embellish tastefully." That's kind of my dream for it. Sorry for the rambling... I'm just mulling over this idea as I avoid doing homework. So far the recruited musicians is a baritone saxophone, trumpet, piano, drums, and I'll play guitar. I want to keep it far away from "a rock band with horns." If anything the vision is to an "ambient jazz band with ILF sensibilities"

I play clarinet, or rather I played clarinet when I was young and still have one / can play it. I wouldn't imagine it being the best songwriting instrument, as it's only capable of monophonic lines. Certainly nothing wrong with writing melodies that way, but obv it doesn't have the self-accompanying convenience of, say, a guitar or piano.

That said, certainly kinda rad to see what you can come up with because of the fact that it's sorta limited... so I dunno, embrace the simplicity?

EDIT: I realize that was probably zero help

haha no it is helpful! The monophonic thing is something I've been thinking of, like should I write out the horn parts to be harmonizing each other for chords, or give each a different thing to be doing, like the bari sax playing a bass part, the trumpet acting like an analogue count to 5 above everything. I have too many ideas right now with this. I'm trying to write them out but it's taking a while. Oh well. Turns out that I'm really enjoying writing like this because it forces me to keep working, rather than just play the same thing a long time because it sounds pretty.

Absolutely! I was just thinking that writing for wind instruments is indeed monophonic, but it's often with harmony in mind... like usually you hear several clarinets arranged, or a horn section etc.

Also funny how certain wind instruments are decidedly more solo... like a sax or a flute. You don't hear a ton of those harmonized. Anyway, feel like I'm having some sort of Keanu moment haha... DEEP THOUGHTS.

I don't know how I played in band for so many years and gave so little thought to the whole. I was just real focused on my own part. Jazz band was a bit of an exception, but even then I was mostly just goofing off. High School being as it is and all. Hopefully have a little something to share sooner or later, although I know it will definitely be January at the earliest that I can get everyone together to record.

using instruments with extremely limited reach/range is really difficult if you are not used to 'composing' music vs. 'playing' it. by this i mean like what popvulture said above about it being monophonic. with a guitar, it is extremely easy to just fill up as much range as quickly as possible and then feel satisfied with what you did. but when you have to mix it critically, you quickly find how muddy everything is and how much frequency overlap happens, etc. during the recording process. Once i started actually recording my own music, and tried to learn step by step, little by little how to overcome the problems that i hit, it really influenced my way of thinking about the guitar in general. I am way more conscious of what range i am playing in now and how many notes i am reaching through, along with what room i have left to add to or extend.

I would really encourage you to keep working with instruments like you are working with now and really push yourself, even though it isn't easy. But i think in the end, if you wrap your head around it and it becomes natural, you will be greatly rewarded in more areas than just composing. I would also recommend using a looper, or recording ideas and then playing them back through speakers and riff off of them. I do this with my taishokoto that i use with a bow and have done whole compositions just with it, then basically added minimal guitar to support it at the end. I also very often limit myself when playing guitar to at the most 2 notes playing at once for the reasons above, and at max usually 3 is reaching a pretty dense range. This allows me to better separate and pan across the stereo field when recording is is just naturally how i play now.

to conclude, if you can loop, or playback something you record, and work more and more on being able to play something and then hear what you want to play over it in your head, everything else will come as second nature after that switch hits. The way Jessica Moss uses her violin for her solo stuff is in this same realm of thought too. Maybe you would enjoy it, even though it isn't wind instruments (but the concept is really similar). She records and builds things up with this exact same philosophy and it is really beautiful to listen to i think.

here is her bandcamp if you are interested:

https://jessicamoss.bandcamp.com

I don't play any wind instruments, but I have a couple thoughts after playing in bands with people who do:

1) Pedals. This is obvious. They support the texture/timbre approach for composition, so rather than thinking 'oh wow, here come the french horns' you go 'what the fuck is that thing?' Good pedals change the way you play an instrument, so even something as mainstream as a dotted-eighth delay sound on staccato notes produces a whole new sound. Which is to say nothing of filters, dirt or more esoteric stuff. Trombone in any of the Ct5 modes would be something new.

2) Listen to Kayo Dot.

3) It has helped in the past to build a chord structure around a melody line. There's more for accompanying musicians to work with...you play guitar, so maybe building in changes/chord stabs that a full band can fill out will help. I think someone mentioned this, but having a band of varied instruments play out a chord is one of the greatest things that can happen in music. I don't play enough instruments to work it out by myself, but 'orchestral' approaches in bands make me want to cry (in a good way). Even more interesting is when the voicing for a 'chord' changes over time--so the bass instrument isn't always playing the fundamental, for example.

Invisible Man wrote: I think someone mentioned this, but having a band of varied instruments play out a chord is one of the greatest things that can happen in music. I don't play enough instruments to work it out by myself, but 'orchestral' approaches in bands make me want to cry (in a good way). Even more interesting is when the voicing for a 'chord' changes over time--so the bass instrument isn't always playing the fundamental, for example.

amen