Am an aspiring composer. We often say we have no qualms about "stealing" from other composers. Yeah, if we see an idea or technique used in piece of music we like, we won't hesitate to try it out in our own pieces. Of course, we don't actually steal to the point of plagarism, but it's pretty common to do, and the ideas we take are often modified for your own needs or just taken in parts.

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pdonis 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

When Brahms was told that his Symphony No. 1 sounded like Beethoven, he said "Even a donkey knows that!"

https://note.com/apt_crow7500/n/n440c1a6cfb63?hl=en

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computerdork 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Actually, didn't hear about this, but makes sense, Brahms clearly builds off of Beethoven.

But, have had heard the same thing that was said in the page you linked, that one of the reasons Brahms took so long in his life before he wrote a symphony is that he had to compete with Beethoven, and didn't feel it was ready until much older. Yeah, what an immense weight he must have felt to have to follow up what Beethoven had done!

	▲	pdonis an hour ago \| parent [-]
		> Brahms clearly builds off of Beethoven And moreover he wasn't at all afraid to say so; he clearly considered it normal and commonplace.

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bryantwolf 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yes! I find that whenever I try to steal something, I end up taking some of it's essence, but I end up modifying it so much that it's not really that thing any more anyway.

So I want to be less afraid to do that. Because at the end of the day, if I decide it's too stolen, I can always just not release it.

	▲	computerdork 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Agreed... and am realizing, especially with themes/melodies, sometimes it's not always easy to modify them enough to the point that it's unrecognizable, but even then, you could be said to quoting their theme - although, am of course not talking about quoting popular music melodies, no one wants a lawsuit:)

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ranger_danger an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

This is really what all art is anyway, a collection of your own past influences.

Some also argue it's what makes AI "not stealing" although many artists disagree with it.