I finished the musical composition for two saxophones today. In the last couple of days I had two separate musical ideas that I added to some of the material I already had. After working one of the ideas out on the piano today, I sat down at the computer and worked on the piece until it seemed ready. Then I printed it out and played through my part on the baritone sax, to see where the difficult bits are that will need more practice time.
In the end, the piece settled in place not by adding more, but by editing out some parts that had become superfluous. More than half the ideas I was working with are set aside - most of them deserve more attention, and could easily be worked into another piece.
I learned (re-learned... again) about the process that works for me. I have to capture ideas when they arise, and work on them regularly - if only for a little bit at a time. If I keep myself in it, eventually the pieces will fit together, and the final composition often emerges from a final burst of focused work.
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