If the secret was so clear, it would've been discovered by now, and there would be no such thing as a rich musician. Music is just too subjective to let such a secret out so easily. The discovery of the secret lies within the question of 'what is good mus ic?'

'Good' music is governed by the rules of personal taste. Personal musical taste is dictated mostly by the elements that you listen to, and look for. Commercial music is designed to be a money making machine, and tends to spread these elements out evenly to appeal to as many people as possible. A good piece of music may well have its elements tailored perfectly to your level of taste, but what turns a great piece into your favourite is a strong level of emotional association. That is, the composer has man aged to activate a response by using a musical device which conjures an emotional extremity or nostalgia.

Because everybody has their own tastes, you're stuck with the problem of what tastes to nurture in your tune. The ability to be able to express every element perfectly is probably the best talent to have, and the flawless integration of all the elements i s just as important. You may be a great melody writer with an uncanny ability to write percussion tracks and basslines, but the ability to track these parts so they're in perfect communication is probably more important than the crafty implementation of a ny element. [ "Just like a football team!", says Astrid :) ]

Writing emotionally is basically a question of sincerity. If you're really feeling what you're trying to track, then you won't have problems expressing yourself emotionally in your music. Some people still feel they have troubles, and it's not because of insincerity, but mainly to do with the techniques they employ when they track. You'll find people who don't play a musical instrument are usually the ones with this problem. This is mainly because they haven't explored the boundaries of musical expression with the depth of a person who has mastered an instrument. Emotional expression is mainly a subconscious process on a real instrument, so even instrumentalists find it hard to turn their emotive brain to the tracker.

Over the next few articles I write, I hope to explore everything above in a lot more depth, particularly the art of orchestration and emotional expression. I want mail with elaborative ideas about everything I write above. I want people's ideas about anyt hing. The reality is that I cannot possibly know everything, and the collaboration of everyone's insights will certainly help in the success of this series. There's a chance I've written something above completely wrong, and if you don't agree with someth ing, then I'll voice your opinion in the next article.

- Mick Rippon
Email: rip@hunterlink.net.au