Business stuff ...

Ok, not really business, but there's no music in this post. I'm coming close to finishing up Phase II, which consisted of 30 days of composing. While I had sort of gotten behind for a few days there all is caught up, more or less, and I plan on continuing as long as I can.

To break up the monotony, however, I was thinking of doing some little sub-projects within the overall Daily Composer, and I'd like some input on whether or not you would like to see them happen.

1. One week per month designated to a single instrument. I already worked this into the guidelines and had planned on doing it during the first 30 days, but have not yet done it. It would be good practice for me to stick with one instrument.
2. A 3- to 7-day span designated to a single piece. It's nice writing these phrases, but I feel like I need to do work towards something. The overall goal is "something," but it'd be nice to try and give myself some time to actually come up with an actual, completed work.
3. Institute a rating system. I'm trying to find an AddOn for the blog that will allow you all to rate each post. I'd like to do this for a number of reasons, but high on that list of reasons is to help choose a piece with #2 above. I generally have an idea of what I write that you like to hear, and what I write that you probably don't like, but there are some that fall into a gray area. You rate the compositions as I post them, then once a month I'll either poll you (if it's not clear) or choose the highest rated one to use towards writing an entire piece. (This will also help contribute to some research for a very, very long-term project I've had in mind.)
4. Once or twice each month have a history day. Rather than write a piece, I'll give you some history on a composer, a specific and well-known (or perhaps relatively unheard of) piece, an instrument or something else music-related. I'd like this to be educational, too. I try and share a bit about what I'm writing and the instruments I'm writing for, but if I could use a day's time to designate to some bit of history I think it would be very informative.

I'm always open to suggestions. Have an idea for something? Let me know.

Lastly, spread the word! Of course things like voting don't work if I only have a small handful of readers. Let your friends know. Families. Coworkers. Whoever. Musicians love an audience!