I’ve always wanted to be a writer, as long as I can remember. But when I was younger, I also foolishly entertained ideas of being a musician. I set my sights on the RSAMD (as it was then called), thinking I could blag my way in as a reasonably talented violinist and a reasonably untalented pianist. But when I arrived for the open day, I saw the quality of the students already there. They were extraordinary; ferociously devoted to their craft, utterly at ease with public performances, devoted to improvement. I meanwhile had a drop of natural ability and no work ethic to speak of. Hours of practicing scales and solos were a threat, not a treat. It was never going to happen.
Having built so much of an identity around music though, it wasn’t an easy thing to shrug off. I began to tell myself “well, if I’m not good enough to play, perhaps I’m good enough to compose”. I wasn’t. You’re not really taught to write music in school, you’re taught how to string together a C-Am-F-G sequence and bash together an insipid melody to go along with it. There’s a barrier to entry with composition in that you need to have composed some actual music to qualify for the course. Consequently I decided to go and study neuroscience and spend the rest of my life telling people “I originally wanted to go to the RSAMD” instead.
But! In later life I got into a thing called Dungeons & Dragons, and found that scoring our campaign with a cinematic soundtrack was a fun way to add a layer of depth and originality to proceedings. For that reason, I wrote an orchestral suite for my players, with each character having their own leitmotif. I was able to rekindle an old passion and create something unique for our group. I recommend that everyone interested in D&D writes their own symphony, and I also dismiss everyone who doesn’t do that out of hand. Please do enjoy the below.
Matthew Weldon's Dangerous Thoughts 