Aidan Taylor
Bio
Professional musician based in Toronto, Canada.
I play in symphony/philharmonic orchestras and theatre pit orchestras for a living. I also write classical music for orchestra and music for film and media.
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Stories (3)
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My process for writing music.
When I write music for a short film, a movie or an orchestra, I usually take one of two aproaches. The first being the approach of gathering materials and doing reserch on the project, weather its a film or a story needing to be conveyed through the music. The idea is essentially to just gather as much information as possible. Talking to the director (film or musical) about their vision and how my work is suposed to fit into the larger picture. These conversations take the form of lots of meetings and cups of coffee. The second apporach I take is, and quite frankly I literally mean this, to "wing it". As rediculous and obscure as that sounds, music is based on inspiration, well informed and reaserched inspiration or wotherwise. Occationally, things will just come to you. And it is under these circumstanses that I will dive into a project head on. Of course there are things you can do to aid in spontanious inspiration.
By Aidan Taylor6 years ago in Beat
How to write music.
The first thing I usually get asked as a composer is, where do you start when you write a new piece? Unfortunately there is no definitive answer to that question as each piece is uniquely different. In my second ballet, La Feuille Qui Tombe, I started writing 3 minuets into the overture specifically for bassoon, clarinet and cello, but for my massive tone poem Levensverhaal I started halfway through the second of two parts with a solo organ. Needless to say there is no set way to write a piece of music. This however doesn't mean I can't walk you through the necessary steps.
By Aidan Taylor6 years ago in Beat
What it's like playing in a professional orchestra.
As a professional musician, making your way to a full time job in a symphony or philharmonic orchestra is not just the goal in life, but the dream. For the lucky 100 classical musicians of each major city across the globe who survive the seemingly endless rounds of auditions, they experience a life and career like no one else.
By Aidan Taylor6 years ago in Beat
