iOS music: Music you MAKE vs. what you INTEND TO MAKE?

lukesleepwalker

@RUST( i )K said:
The simplicity of producing so many sounds is amazing.

So true. I read hand-wringing in these forums about how "iOS is a mess" and "this app doesn't do exactly what I want"--I get that sometimes it is frustrating. But on the other hand, I carry around a music making machine IN MY POCKET that would have blown my mind 20 years ago. I can knock out a compelling piece of music while I'm waiting for my wife to come out of the shoe store. With that perspective, how could I complain? It's simply astounding what we can do these days.

RUST( i )K

@lukesleepwalker said:

@RUST( i )K said:
The simplicity of producing so many sounds is amazing.

So true. I read hand-wringing in these forums about how "iOS is a mess" and "this app doesn't do exactly what I want"--I get that sometimes it is frustrating. But on the other hand, I carry around a music making machine IN MY POCKET that would have blown my mind 20 years ago. I can knock out a compelling piece of music while I'm waiting for my wife to come out of the shoe store. With that perspective, how could I complain? It's simply astounding what we can do these days.

Bro

I daily sing/rap/spoken word on the way home in the car over a baseline or beat just to test freestyle or new ideas.

It is amazing.

Most people say phone.

But, the better way to look at it is a computer with a phone app.............LOL

AndyPlankton

For me it is the almost throw away nature that some iOS apps give to the tunes I make...they are so quick and easy to put together that I do not feel invested in them yet...so anything that is garbage is thrown out more easily than if i'd spent hours setting up and already invested in the garbage before I've even made it.
This leaves more time to maybe get those moments where the music just flows...no thinking...just doing...and ENJOYING !

With regards accidents vs planned thought.....who cares, if you've spent many years studying musical theory then good for you....if you haven't and you make tunes anyway, then good for you too. As long as you are happy with the tunes you are making...if not then try the inverse to your norm....
If you're a music scholar, then try and forget some of the restrictions that have been imposed on you by your knowledge.
If you're not, then try learning some of the basic music theory rules to give you some boundaries and guidance to harness and understand those accidents you are having.

At the end of the day as long as you are making music you like...in a way that you like...when you like....then all is good

[Deleted User]

@u0421793 said:

@Arpseechord said:

@u0421793 said:
I won’t tolerate random inspirational creativity in my art – art has no place for variability and lack of control, in my opinion. I come in with a specific specification, I get stuff done, and when the specification is fulfilled, I’m finished and the product is fit for purpose. The only room for variability and accidents is due to ignorance or lack of skill, and in my case, there’s a quite lot of that. If I was better at it, I’d be less creative and more designed.

I’m confused...wouldn’t a “ specific specification “ kind of cancel itself out?
Please explain I don’t understand

It doesn’t cancel out because they’re phase-coherent. It becomes additive, like the additive effect of two similarly tuned resonant filter poles.

Thanks for clearing up my momentary incoherency ...So in essence one could say that “ like the additive effect of two similarly tuned resonant filter poles” are similar to a Mommy and Daddy having a baby....it’s all addictive...I mean additive!

enc

@MonzoPro said:
Complete random bollocks. Sometimes it’s good random bollocks, other times, just bollocks.

This

Lady_App_titude

My work goes back many decades, and certainly changes in technology have influenced the process over the years, so, hmmm, let’s see….

Prior to the 80s, and the rise of digital synthesizers with presets and the drum machine, it was obviously more driven by an internal and intentional process. Although even back then, the type of music you ended up composing could be influenced by the instrument. You might write different kinds of music on an electric guitar (esp. a cranked, heavily processed guitar) than an acoustic guitar, or electric piano vs. an acoustic piano.

Then in the 80s, the sound palette of the compositional "axe" was transformed by patch memory and the ability to instantly switch between hundreds of radically different sounds. Moreover, the inherently linear process of tape was being reinvented by MIDI sequencing, beats, loops, the building of “grooves” from layers of short repeating chunks.

So fast forward to today... I still write two basic ways: the traditional way which is coming from a more internal, intentional place, and the “discovery” method, where you are exploring sounds or grooves and the instrument steers you off into some particular direction.

In the case of iOS, now you’ve changed not only the sound palette or production method, but also the whole posture and interface. Rather than sitting down to work at a dedicated musical instrument, you are holding in your hands a multifunction device with the potential for infinite diversions, and you might be lying in bed, or killing time at the airport, and you are sliding a single finger around to make tracks — Cra! Not to mention the pace with which new apps show up leading you off in endless other paradigm-shifts. So, naturally all of this is going to drive a more discovery-and-experimentation approach, and maybe lead to surprising aspects of identity as an artist.

In fact, at first the approach was so different, that it actually pushed me to invent an entire alter ego for my iOS-based projects. Initially, it was because I wasn’t sure the iPad could be a serious musical instrument, so this way I was free to experiment without it impacting my image as a “real” musician. Then as the apps got better, and iPad music eventually became hip and chic, you started to see people go to extremes in the other direction, eschewing the old ways and vowing to work ONLY “in the slab”. At present, I think most of us are starting to get beyond all that and just use whatever tool works best, or some combination.

But these days I find that regardless of how a piece comes to be, there is “intent” and “discovery” involved to varying degrees at various stages in the process. And I think the fact that I sometimes end up in more diverse or unexpected places may also be more driven by the way the entire music industry has changed. With the collapse of the whole radio station/record label/store distribution model, there is less of a need to think in terms of genres or albums or categories. And someone like me, who always had eclectic interest and tastes, is free to explore any direction — could be a single, an EP, an album, a classical form, a film score, in whatever style that is calling or required in the moment — without having to think about the piece (or me or my identity) fitting into some box.

All this, of course, ignoring the Schrödinger's elephant in (or not in) the room (possibly thriving and viable, possibility doomed or dead, and no way to know), the crisis of our age, monetization. But from a creative standpoint, the shackles are off, and perhaps now more than ever, the artist is more free to do or be anything. And new tools, be they iPads, or Seaboards, Pocket Operators, or whatever, are part it, further messing with what we THINK we want to do and what we end up doing.

Tarekith

I learned very early on that my songs rarely if ever end up sounding like what I intended when I first started writing them. That used to bum me out a bit, because I felt I was failing at making my music sound the way I wanted.

Then I realized that it was not only more fun, but just more liberating to let the muse wander where she will and see where things end up. I'm happy to just noodle around and let unexpected ideas and accidents trigger new ways of looking at the music making process that I might not been aware of before. Focusing more on having fun during the process instead of worrying about the end result has led me to make FAR more music than I would have otherwise too.

[Deleted User]

I lean towards a solid foundation in a song. So I make sure when I start off with perhaps a guitar track I want it to be very good because I know from experience that happy and not so happy accidents can happen in a take. I like that human element in a recording and if the misstep doesn’t ruin the flow and continuity and feel of the whole track I’ll leave it. Then I’ll carefully think of what elements will compliment or contrast the first track. I always insist on a solid firm foundation because if you don’t have that there’s no sense in building walls and a roof on that one then

RUST( i )K

@Lady_App_titude said:
My work goes back many decades, and certainly changes in technology have influenced the process over the years, so, hmmm, let’s see….

Prior to the 80s, and the rise of digital synthesizers with presets and the drum machine, it was obviously more driven by an internal and intentional process. Although even back then, the type of music you ended up composing could be influenced by the instrument. You might write different kinds of music on an electric guitar (esp. a cranked, heavily processed guitar) than an acoustic guitar, or electric piano vs. an acoustic piano.

Then in the 80s, the sound palette of the compositional "axe" was transformed by patch memory and the ability to instantly switch between hundreds of radically different sounds. Moreover, the inherently linear process of tape was being reinvented by MIDI sequencing, beats, loops, the building of “grooves” from layers of short repeating chunks.

So fast forward to today... I still write two basic ways: the traditional way which is coming from a more internal, intentional place, and the “discovery” method, where you are exploring sounds or grooves and the instrument steers you off into some particular direction.

In the case of iOS, now you’ve changed not only the sound palette or production method, but also the whole posture and interface. Rather than sitting down to work at a dedicated musical instrument, you are holding in your hands a multifunction device with the potential for infinite diversions, and you might be lying in bed, or killing time at the airport, and you are sliding a single finger around to make tracks — Cra! Not to mention the pace with which new apps show up leading you off in endless other paradigm-shifts. So, naturally all of this is going to drive a more discovery-and-experimentation approach, and maybe lead to surprising aspects of identity as an artist.

In fact, at first the approach was so different, that it actually pushed me to invent an entire alter ego for my iOS-based projects. Initially, it was because I wasn’t sure the iPad could be a serious musical instrument, so this way I was free to experiment without it impacting my image as a “real” musician. Then as the apps got better, and iPad music eventually became hip and chic, you started to see people go to extremes in the other direction, eschewing the old ways and vowing to work ONLY “in the slab”. At present, I think most of us are starting to get beyond all that and just use whatever tool works best, or some combination.

But these days I find that regardless of how a piece comes to be, there is “intent” and “discovery” involved to varying degrees at various stages in the process. And I think the fact that I sometimes end up in more diverse or unexpected places may also be more driven by the way the entire music industry has changed. With the collapse of the whole radio station/record label/store distribution model, there is less of a need to think in terms of genres or albums or categories. And someone like me, who always had eclectic interest and tastes, is free to explore any direction — could be a single, an EP, an album, a classical form, a film score, in whatever style that is calling or required in the moment — without having to think about the piece (or me or my identity) fitting into some box.

All this, of course, ignoring the Schrödinger's elephant in (or not in) the room (possibly thriving and viable, possibility doomed or dead, and no way to know), the crisis of our age, monetization. But from a creative standpoint, the shackles are off, and perhaps now more than ever, the artist is more free to do or be anything. And new tools, be they iPads, or Seaboards, Pocket Operators, or whatever, are part it, further messing with what we THINK we want to do and what we end up doing.

Thank you for your well thought out answer and explanation.

RUST( i )K

@Tarekith said:
I learned very early on that my songs rarely if ever end up sounding like what I intended when I first started writing them. That used to bum me out a bit, because I felt I was failing at making my music sound the way I wanted.

Then I realized that it was not only more fun, but just more liberating to let the muse wander where she will and see where things end up. I'm happy to just noodle around and let unexpected ideas and accidents trigger new ways of looking at the music making process that I might not been aware of before. Focusing more on having fun during the process instead of worrying about the end result has led me to make FAR more music than I would have otherwise too.

I would like to hear about your Circuit iOS integration and complimenting one another and which one is the driving force in most of your work?

RUST( i )K

@Arpseechord said:
I lean towards a solid foundation in a song. So I make sure when I start off with perhaps a guitar track I want it to be very good because I know from experience that happy and not so happy accidents can happen in a take. I like that human element in a recording and if the misstep doesn’t ruin the flow and continuity and feel of the whole track I’ll leave it. Then I’ll carefully think of what elements will compliment or contrast the first track. I always insist on a solid firm foundation because if you don’t have that there’s no sense in building walls and a roof on that one then

Thanks Abe Lincoln.

[Deleted User]

@RUST( i )K said:

@Arpseechord said:
I lean towards a solid foundation in a song. So I make sure when I start off with perhaps a guitar track I want it to be very good because I know from experience that happy and not so happy accidents can happen in a take. I like that human element in a recording and if the misstep doesn’t ruin the flow and continuity and feel of the whole track I’ll leave it. Then I’ll carefully think of what elements will compliment or contrast the first track. I always insist on a solid firm foundation because if you don’t have that there’s no sense in building walls and a roof on that one then

Thanks Abe Lincoln.

Top hat to you sir!

wim

@Lady_App_titude said:
So fast forward to today... I still write two basic ways: the traditional way which is coming from a more internal, intentional place, and the “discovery” method, where you are exploring sounds or grooves and the instrument steers you off into some particular direction.

^this

Daveypoo

I've been reading these responses, and I'm intrigued by the way folks apply their creativity around here.

See - I don't perceive any real difference between purposeful, deliberate creation and the magic of inspiration/the moment. To me they are all different aspect of the same thing, and I'm constantly switching from one state to another. I've always left room for happy accidents in any music I make because to me they just elevate the whole thing. For example:

1) I've played in bands where we've written songs together on the spot. Is it purposeful & deliberate: YES, because we all had the intention of writing something when we got together. Is it creative and inspired? YES, because the inherent nature of musicians playing together means that everyone is inspiring everyone else to make something new and exciting.

2) I'm composing background music for a video I made set in Italy. I need something generic & accordion-based, so I write something. Is it purposeful? Of course - I had a need to fill (background music) and I filled it by writing an appropriate tune. Is it inspired? ABSOLUTELY. Halfway into the track I got all sucked in, figured out a way to emulate a bass harmonica, added a theremin playing the lead in the middle.... it went WAY off the rails from my original intention, but was far more interesting and inspired when all was said and done.

3) I'm dictating a song I wrote on guitar to my band - a bunch of guys I enlisted to play my own singer-songwriter material. I give them the structure and the feel I had in mind. They introduce elements to their own song which inspire me to change the arrangement and feel to accommodate. Again, both deliberate and improvisational.

It's this combination that I use whenever I create music, in whatever format. VERY rarely do I either require another musician to play something exactly a specific way, or am I asked to do that for someone else's tune. Very rarely do I start a song and have it end up being exactly the way I heard it when I start. But to me, the essential aspect of music making is the unexplainable. It's this seemingly random or spiritual element that is what makes music more than just notes on a page, or in a sequencer or whatever. It's this element that makes it into something more - something ARTISTIC.

Tarekith

@RUST( i )K said:

ld like to hear about your Circuit iOS integration and complimenting one another and which one is the driving force in most of your work?

I don't use my iOS devices with the Circuit, they are both standalone though fill the same role. Just something to let me capture ideas, which I can later expand on back in the studio if I like them. Most of my songs lately have started with one of those two methods though.

RUST( i )K

@Daveypoo said:
I've been reading these responses, and I'm intrigued by the way folks apply their creativity around here.

See - I don't perceive any real difference between purposeful, deliberate creation and the magic of inspiration/the moment. To me they are all different aspect of the same thing, and I'm constantly switching from one state to another. I've always left room for happy accidents in any music I make because to me they just elevate the whole thing. For example:

1) I've played in bands where we've written songs together on the spot. Is it purposeful & deliberate: YES, because we all had the intention of writing something when we got together. Is it creative and inspired? YES, because the inherent nature of musicians playing together means that everyone is inspiring everyone else to make something new and exciting.

2) I'm composing background music for a video I made set in Italy. I need something generic & accordion-based, so I write something. Is it purposeful? Of course - I had a need to fill (background music) and I filled it by writing an appropriate tune. Is it inspired? ABSOLUTELY. Halfway into the track I got all sucked in, figured out a way to emulate a bass harmonica, added a theremin playing the lead in the middle.... it went WAY off the rails from my original intention, but was far more interesting and inspired when all was said and done.

3) I'm dictating a song I wrote on guitar to my band - a bunch of guys I enlisted to play my own singer-songwriter material. I give them the structure and the feel I had in mind. They introduce elements to their own song which inspire me to change the arrangement and feel to accommodate. Again, both deliberate and improvisational.

It's this combination that I use whenever I create music, in whatever format. VERY rarely do I either require another musician to play something exactly a specific way, or am I asked to do that for someone else's tune. Very rarely do I start a song and have it end up being exactly the way I heard it when I start. But to me, the essential aspect of music making is the unexplainable. It's this seemingly random or spiritual element that is what makes music more than just notes on a page, or in a sequencer or whatever. It's this element that makes it into something more - something ARTISTIC.

Thanks Davey

Very insightfuL!

SlowMotion

Music I intend to make: Creative, varied, and dense compositions that move people to tears
Music I make: a 4 bar loop I hammered out in a few seconds repeated ad nauseam. Reverb applied liberally.