[afterthefact]

Which do you prefer? Not really listening to, but playing. I prefer improvising. I've written stuff before, and I always get bored with it. But with improv it's never the same thing twice, so you never get bored. Well, that's my opinion anyways; some people get easily bored with improvising and just want to write stuff. And I know there is always the "free-jazz" aproach in the middle of writing something simple and then expounding on it though improv, but to me that just improv too.

[ALIEN ANAL]

improv by far
it can go anywhere, its exciting and you got that great feeling when you and your other band mates all read minds and jump to something that fits in perfectly

[Savage Clone]

My roots are in improvisation and I am an improvisor at heart, but I have done so much of it for so long that at the moment I am enjoying writing solid musical pieces. Live shows as an improv unit can be spotty, but when it hits it's pretty amazing. Getting through a night where it just isn't happening is painful though. The nice thing about having rehearsed material is knowing the performance is gonna be solid. Most songs I write have room for improvisation/interpretation within them anyway, which helps me from getting sick of them too fast. I definitely get sick of songs if I play them too much, though.

[Everyneurotic]

i like both and both represent challenges of different nature.

[Sheriff Rhys Chatham]

I enjoy writing songs but I have the hardest time because I want them to be perfect so improvising is easier for me.

[GrungeMonkey]

i think that there are not many better things than improvising with other musicians and creating something amazing that could not have happened a any other time. That said, its a hit and miss process, and alot of improvised music is boring to listen to.....

[batreleaser]

i like when improv becomes a song. starting off by just jamming, and then realizing something sounds really good, and creating a song out of that sound. thats what my brother and i do. but i dont know, its hard to say, some musicians are better at jamming, some are better at writing songs. it depends a lot on the music being played. like the ramones obviosuly, a great band, probably did not groove out to find their songs, but just wrote them down. and then theres like teenage jesus and the jerks, another great band, who probably did a ton of jamming and experimenting before a song was found. so maybe for more far out bands its better to improv, and for more simple bands its better to write? yes? no?

[afterthefact]

Originally Posted by batreleaser

i like when improv becomes a song. starting off by just jamming, and then realizing something sounds really good, and creating a song out of that sound. thats what my brother and i do. but i dont know, its hard to say, some musicians are better at jamming, some are better at writing songs. it depends a lot on the music being played. like the ramones obviosuly, a great band, probably did not groove out to find their songs, but just wrote them down. and then theres like teenage jesus and the jerks, another great band, who probably did a ton of jamming and experimenting before a song was found. so maybe for more far out bands its better to improv, and for more simple bands its better to write? yes? no?

I agree, but I'm asking more what you like to do...

[batreleaser]

Originally Posted by afterthefact

I agree, but I'm asking more what you like to do...

well, like i said above, my brother and i who started a new band with another friend of ours over the winter break, we just jam till we find a sound that sounds particularly cool, and build upon that. so i guess improv, not to mention i cant read music, and i also kind of think reading music and song structure stifles creativity a bit. so definitley improv, and from there, turning the improv sounds into songs. i do write lyrics tho.

[SpectralJulianIsNotDead]

I write by improvising.

[SYRFox]

I like both. Generally, though, I improvise, and then something comes that I can work on, which lead to a proper song.

[raging_nelly]

I usually jam something until it develops into a song...

Then of course once Ive got a written song I just leave big gaps in the middle of it for improvising... so it all comes back full circle. and everyones a winner!

[nicfit]

I like both. But I think when I improvise (happened mainly with bandmates/people I knew well, just a few times with people I didn't know) I have great fun, while when I "refine" and write something (which usually comes out from spontaneous impros anyway) I feel more "satisfied". Playing a nice improv gives me a more "volatile" feeling, while writing something I REALLY like is like finishing a painting. Overall I'd say I like more writing.

[andrei]

For listening both, for playing i'd choose improvisation cause i don't know how to play

[Tokolosh]

I always improvise because I can't play to save my life.
I lie. Smoke on the Water!

[Savage Clone]

It's gotta kill Ritchie Blackmore to be known for such a simplistic dumbass beginner riff when he can play the ass off a guitar.

[Tokolosh]

I bet that's one of the first riffs you ever learnt?

[Savage Clone]

I don't know if one has to "learn" that one, exactly.

[Tokolosh]

Ha! Post of the day!

[atsonicpark]

Improv is boring and goes nowhere, even if you know what you're doing. It's boring to listen to (except for some Derek Bailey records, but even that gets old..), it's boring to make, etc. Obviously, you need to improvise a little bit on your own, as the idea of "writing" also does nothing to excite me at all. So, for me, it's somewhere in the middle or somewhere outside of both.