I started writing music as a child, and then began a degree course in composition which really put me off; its modernist emphasis seemed to favour ideas over intuition in the creative process.
Formal methods and structures certainly have their use in artistic expression; I agree with poet and musician Don Paterson when he says
While intelligence can be harnessed in the creation of art, it can only be an adjunct to our deeper, intuitive creativity, never a replacement for it.
Anyway, after a two decade hiatus I've started writing music again - this time unencumbered by any ideological constraints other than the wish to make some music I can enjoy listening to.
My main composition tool is Rosegarden, a Linux music package with a rich set of features, including a very classy notation-based editor and interpretive MIDI playback. It's a credit to its authors and an outstanding example of what the Open Source Software movement can produce.
* I'm currently recording using a software synth, public-domain soundfont and software-based "interpretion" of phrasing and dynamics. This hardly compares to a real peformance on real instruments, but it's still listenable and showcases the power of (free!) linux audio and midi technology.
