This song by Elton John goes way back to my college years. I probably would not have thought of painting it until it popped back into my head from the 2001 musical Moulin Rouge. Certainly Lady Gaga’s recent cover and live performance at the Grammies made me think that this music had legs. Finally, I am a fan of Elton John’s music and Your Song’s prominent use of the piano, gives me a foundation for the creation of the sheet music that is my music box production guide.

Every new artwork starts out with the music that I selected to portrait. I put together the cover sheet music using the notation software, Notion 5, and its instruments. That sheet music, which takes days to create, is not only is the visual guide for the artwork that I will sample to paint, it is also the musical arrangement for the music box.

My notation software follows rigid rules when creating the sheet music worksheet. I don’t when I put together the visual up and down flow of the song’s music. Changes often occur where needed. For example, I may combine notes to better fit the artwork.

This musical arrangement will also change once I import it into my digital production software, Studio One. This software offers the music tools and third party instruments that will eventually allow me to produce a professional sounding song. I am not there yet. But with this software, I have higher quality and control over the instruments than anything the notation software offers. Still, creating that cover sheet music is my critical starting guide to my project’s success. Changes will occur, but what will not change is the cover sheet music’s up and down flow and the timeline rule: less than one minute, thirty seconds.

Scott Von Holzen