Tod Machover Quotes

The material of music is sound and silence. Integrating these is composing.

I loved the guitar, and I had all of this music in my head. My passion for the guitar and the ideas for what I could create musically were equal. So that's where I was.

All these tales of people sitting down and composing symphonies just as though they were writing a letter are very much exaggerated; at least, it isn't that way in my work.

The way I create music is maybe like a painting, to compose in a more visual way. Basically it's the music that I want to hear- that's my inspiration and bottom line. I just try to get ideas from books, movies, paintings.

I remember making up songs in my head.

Writing a simple melody can take weeks to get it right where I want it, but I do quite enjoy it.

It'll help you be imaginative if you listen to classical music. It helps you understand dynamics and how important they are to create an environment.

It's a big plethora of music floating around in my head all the time, and I'll sit there and write a song.

My music wouldn't sound the way it does if I hadn't had the experience of conducting.

Composing is sort of an intuitive act. You have to put yourself in the right frame of mind.

Trying to describe something musical is like dancing to architecture, it's really difficult.

I don't play an instrument - I just write in my head, and I usually hear fully formed songs. 'We Are Young' turned out so much like it was in my head. But it also exceeded all my expectations.

My music comes from my emotion, always.

I've always been able to just concoct a melody quite easily - it's just kind of instinct, really. You've got to channel your subconscious.

I usually think in terms of music.

When I'm making music, I can hear all the parts, all the instruments. I can hear what it should be.

Anything with music, you got to have inspiration. You got to have inspiration to do good music.

I can't play an instrument to save my life. But when I'm creating, and when I'm making music, I feel like I'm the head of the orchestra, and I'm just waving my wand, and something is created.

I always tend to think that composing is not playing an instrument, composing is having something in your head that's steaming and it has to go out. It has to become sounds and be written. It's an emotion that you can't repress.

Well, I have to have some type of visual in my head to finish a song. I can't finish a song if I can't see anything.

When I'm at home creating music, I usually wind up laughing. It's always, like, funny - like, what the hell did I just write?

As soon as I choose the timbre of an instrument, that dominates how I compose.

What's cool about making music is when you create a record, it comes from somewhere.

I'm always seeing stuff and imagining scenes in my head when I'm making music.

I think the thing that I really wanna bring is that I have a full world of music and imagination and ideas that I want to create as an artist, and that's my main thing that I want to do.