One man who epitomizes the above is Manuel Mengis. A likely unknown to many readers, the Swiss trumpeter is happy to talk in detail about his modus operandi. It takes me a long time to write music; it's hard work," he says, speaking from his home in Valais, southern Switzerland. I have a lot of ideas in my mind. In the first few days, I need to find out what I really want--which notes I want to use. I write a lot of stuff, throw some away, edit, and then after a few days I'm really into it--I can get a clearer picture. And sometimes I'm quite fast. But there's no system when I can just sit down and pull the triggers."
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