I’ve written before that for the past 2 years, AEJ has been — and I don’t mean this to sound cheesy — the biggest inspiration and influence on my music. We talk about every piece before I start it, and throughout the composition process. I had been reluctant to talk to her about the new piece — the one I’m still trying to start — because, well, I had no real idea what I wanted it to do. “Percussion-driven. Kinda like Tool.” I mean, is that even a cell of an idea?

For AEJ, it was. We started talking about the piece last night as we were going to bed, and before we knew it, it was after 3am. Bad news was that AEJ had to get up early and go to work, having gotten very little sleep. Good news is that I now know what the piece is called, and more importantly, I know what it does. If I have the technique to pull it off, it’s going to rock.

That, of course, is the big question — Do I have the technique to write the piece I want to write? Most of my music isn’t about “technique,” but rather about instinct while I’m writing it. At least that’s how it feels. I mean, the “record-speeding-up” section of Sasparilla took some technique to write, but really — it was minimal. What I’m planning with this new piece, though, will be tricky.

More to come, as I figure this thing out.

And if this doesn’t work, I’ll just write “Snooze,” the sequel to Eric Whitacre‘s “Sleep.” The piece will start with an annoying, blaring, grating, “beep. beep. beep. beep,” followed by some pretty dream-like music, and ending — far-too abruptly — 9 minutes later, with a return of the “alarm”ing beep. beep. beep.

Well, it was funny at 3am.