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OT: Do You Make The Music You Want To Hear?
How does your musical vision manifest? Can you control it? How did you get there? Advice on how to make it happen? Is it important? Is it problematic for you? Should that be a concern?
So many questions....
Comments
I try to... There is a bit of a gulf between my aims and the end result though.
Ideally I would like to combine originality with catchy melody. It's a nice idea, except for two small problems: writing catchy melodies is extremely difficult, and so is finding an original sound
The sound I'm currently aiming for is a hybrid between ambient soundscapes and indie rock, a bit like shoegaze but less guitar-based. It's so easy to think that everything under the sun has already been made, but I was trying to think of soundscapey albums that also had beautiful vocal melodies on them just yesterday and surprisingly I couldn't think of that many, apart from Dark Side of the Moon and maybe some Cocteau Twins/This Mortal Coil stuff. (edit: Sigur Ros would qualify as well)
@richardyot nailed it with the two small problems. With age I get better at spending more effort on distilling melody and meaning. And as the melting pot of "bands" grows less prevalent in the creative process I get closer to realizing the sound in my head. But the paths toward the familiar are well worn...
I have to say the older I get, the less inclined I am to collaborate with others. I know it goes against the received wisdom, but there's always some friction (as well as occasional serendipitous magic) when you have to come up with stuff in a group. I would rather than just do it all myself these days.
That's my aim too - just need to find an Elizabeth Fraser to do the vocals...
I got kicked out of my last band (I played bass) after a year of hard graft, time, and money, because I said I didn't fancy doing one, half hour free gig and the rest wanted to do it. My concern was the four hour round trip across the mountains here, late at night, in November. As it turned out the road was closed anyway due to storm damage.
That propelled me into putting more effort into my solo stuff, and I'm enjoying myself immenseley.
I make exactly the music I enjoy making, and listening to, and enjoying using all the new tools and gadgets at my disposal. Their new bass player is shit anyway lol.
Ever since I was a kid, I fancied myself following in the footsteps of my favorite musicians (As many do at that age) and from a very early age just got in the habit of improvising along with my favorite music (mostly in my head) letting it flow in a natural direction somewhat related but as different from what they wrote as I could manage. I found myself always thinking in melody (and eventually hearing it materialize in my head like a radio was left on) throughout my teens and young adult years, but until recently, was too lazy and distracted by life & personal tragedy to really dig in and learn an instrument & related craft so I could express the creative energy bubbling over in me in a form other than humming out tunes that were materializing in my head...
It’s hard to explain how to make that inspirational magic manifest when you’re sitting down, trying to force something to happen. sometimes I feel like the resovoir is running a little low, where I can’t get in the zone no matter how hard I try..and others, I can literally feel a physical sensation, when I’m overflowing with creative energy (sexual energy is the closest analog I can think to compare it to). The times I don’t try to force it but just let it happen are when I’ve been able to capture my best ideas. Set no artificial limits on yourself and try to get yourself out of the routine mindset. (some use drugs, though I find meditation and other exercises help even more)
Now I’m just trying to finish getting to a competent level in all sides of production so I can polish my ideas into a cohesive, ready to publish whole, looking forward to releasing my work relatively soon. concentrating on keyboard , synthesis, mixing, mastering, etc — its a lot to take in with no formal training, though each step making progress toward the goal is exciting me enough to continually up the amount of time and effort I put into it.
‘Do you make the music you want to hear?’ - yes
‘How does your musical vision manifest?’ - I just naturally do what I like with the tools I have and feeling how I feel. Sometimes I will look at images of abstract art, retro scifi illustration, surrealism, visionary art etc
‘Can you control it?’ - I just have to be honest with it. Sometimes I will get it in my head that I should nail a specific goal, pursue an external style or an agenda that isn’t really ‘me’ but I wake up pretty quick from that. So yah, it is like a lucid dream at best where I am aware of it and can dabble in aspects of controlling the flow but ultimately to control it too much breaks it. It is what it is and when I serve it rather than expecting it to serve me things just turn out better.
‘How did you get there?’ - it is about being honest with myself and the music. I am who I am at the moment I make what I make with what I have. Any progress will be ever so slight and incremental with each new track being less than a step forward but still forward.
‘Advice on how to make it happen?’ - for me my music is more like personal decor. Most people are not into that and have external goals involving other people so they likely don’t need/want my advice.
‘Is it important?’ - hearing what I want to hear is what it is all about
‘Is it problematic for you?’ - no. Tools and timbre do play a big part of it and I am happy with what I have to play with now and knowing that things are advancing the way they are on this platform i can just relax knowing everything I ever wanted should be here soon enough and they are pretty darn good now.
‘Should that be a concern?’ - the times when I did not like what I heard made me miserable, so yes.
Do I make the music I want to hear? - yes. I'm ashamed to admit how frequently I listen to things I've been a part of, but I always thought "why make something I wouldn't want to listen to later?"
How does your musical vision manifest? Ideally it just drops from the sky and consumes me, but that doesn't happen as often as I'd like. Mostly it stems from noodling - if I find something that grabs my ear I run with it.
Can you control it? Nope - and I don't try. Letting it have a "mind of it's own" is half the fun
How did you get there? Many many many many many many years of hard work - studying, schooling, practicing, gigging, complaining, trying again, reinventing myself, failing, starting over, etc.
Advice on how to make it happen? All I can say it to just DO IT A LOT. Time spent on any given task is the most sure-fire way to improve. You're going to suck when you start like 99% of us, but it will get better/easier.
Is it important? Music is essential in my life. I dry up without it.
Is it problematic for you? Of course - my love/need for music has gotten in the way a lot in my life, but I always find a way to make it work.
Should that be a concern? Only if you want to be a giant wrapped up ball of stress all the time. Worry about the things you have direct control over - they're the only things you can fix anyway.
Hope that helps muddy the water some, @LinearLineman
I just go with the flow. I have zero to little musical talent so I just make loops for the most part and sometimes I like what I created and others I’m like wtf is this.
Over the years I’ve made a few things that I really like and still amazed I made, but for the most part it’s been a way to escape reality.
There is a song I wish to sing
Unwritten, it’s initial chord stands
suspended in the breath of all,
as Gabriel’s horn yet to resound.
In the air, it shimmers.
In the light, motes dance to its preternatural form.
It percolates in the humus of the earth,
but crumbles to white, before the order of its shape.
It is unresolved, though the chorus of its longing
fills every verse.
It’s root is long and deep,
with no mode to contain a note transubstantiated,
heavier than death, lighter than the word.
— Me
My problem has always been to take my music in different directions. While that's fun, it also confuses the hell out of listeners and it is hard to establish a decent fan base. Unfortunately most people identify with couple of genres and wouldn't touch others. These days I listen to everything apart from metal and cheesy latin music albeit find it hard to keep a bit of the latter out of my stuff
Well, as trite as it may sound, this is why I strive to simply do it for my own edification. It's hard - everyone wants to feel like others like what they do, and I am no different. But yeah, the ultimate goal is to do it because you want to and screw anyone who doesn't dig it.
By being able to capture the moment with as few obstructions as possible.
That's how I came to iPad music composition. It started with KORG iElectribe, Nanostudio 1, Genome MIDI and later Auxy.
I can only control the technology, not the intution nor the ideas.
By listening to great music, by practicing and sharpening the tools - and by staying strong to resist trying out new tools all the time.
Find your way!
And never rely on machines when it comes to ideas and creativity.
I do think it's important to focus on making music if what you really want is to make some music. Lifetime is limited and I think everyone should arrange the available time slices wisely
But yeah, the ultimate goal is to do it because you want to and screw anyone who doesn't dig it.
Hell yes. And happily, this gets easier to do with age/wisdom.
Yup - the more crotchety I get the simpler it becomes to yell "GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!"
It is 100% of the time.
If I hear a sound during the day as a piece of metal falls and hits the ground....record it.
If I am listening to mix cloud I sing to others DJ sets beats. Usually I open another app like Voloco and record vocals for later looking at.
I wake up at 4:00 am every day and make music.
Last thing I do before bed is init set up Circuit session and come up with an idea within 5 minutes.
See wake up statement regarding what is done with this.
I buy samples. Yes.
I think too many people use "their OWN" samples or presets....cool.
But it limits me anyway. I find using other peoples' tools as a huge source of inspiration. '
Inevitably my flavor will be there.
RECOMMEND:
Pick 1 or 2 apps only.
Don't over complicate workflow.
Use like Gadget and stay with it.
Don't be afraid to buy a Launchpad or Blocs wave IAP.
Use someone else pack and make a tune that works with it
Sometimes working on a song of someone else helps jump start creativity.
Let me think.
yeah, that's the ultimate goal and I want it carved on my gravestone but in the meantime I'd like to infuse and put my stamp on it as opposed to defuse and get lost in gazillions of tangents that can't be glued into an album.
I definitely make the music I want to hear, that's the main reason I make it. Not at all ashamed to admit I listen to my own music all the time just because I enjoy it and am proud of what I was able to create.
Over the years I've learned that the music I make that resonates the most with other people too is the stuff I'm most selfish about. Something where I wanted to explore a different idea from my usual stuff, or maybe got totally over indulgent with certain aspects (too long, too weird, too noisy, etc). Following those sorts of paths is what gives us our artist voice, and people pick up on it when you're true to that voice I believe.
That said, Ive also learned that just because I start a song with a lofty goal in mind, doesn't mean that I have to stick religiously to that. Most of the time after I start getting into a song the original idea no longer works, or I go off on a tangent and find I like the result better than my first idea. Be focused, but be flexible too.
Reminds me of my favorite Bruce Lee quote:
“Art reaches its greatest peak when devoid of self-conciousness. Freedom discovers man the moment he loses concern over what impression he is making or about to make.”
No, I don’t really listen to the kind of music I make. I guess my brain works in a certain way and I take inspiration from stuff I like but the thing that I want to produce/perform is different from the thing that I want to consume. I don’t find it at all problematic. I make my music for someone else to listen to and I try to give them something interesting and hopefully new. But I don’t have a target audience, I put it out there and if five people give a listen, that’s fine.
How to make it happen? Keep at it I guess, and ”don’t sweat the technique”. I spent the first 15 years making utter garbage, and the next 10 producing very sporadic ”good” ones, then very slowly I started to develop consistency and now I can kind of trust that I can solve a 3,5min track fairly well by my own standards. So control is something that builds over time and effort. It helps if you’re talented, I wasn’t. I just loved it enough.
I make music that few, if any, want listen to. I can listen to it but after a couple of weeks it's a complete mystery how or why it came into being.
Some stuff sticks. I'm sure there's a saying around that notion..
I had a hard time finding music I liked to listen to years back, so I said well I guess I better do it myself. So yeah I pretty much only listen to my own stuff, it is the majority of my musical life. Catchy electronic instrumentals that sound like they belong more in the living room as opposed to the club is what I aim for and mostly succeed at to varying degrees. It’s fun
Generally, yes. As with several others it sounds like, I just "follow the music". I don't typically set out with a destination in mind, but once something catches my... ear?... it can propel me to complete the track. But that element or loop has a voice of sorts, so I listen to it, and then run with it. Sometimes I'll challenge myself to add a different element in, or a different app/synth or effect, etc. to mix things up.
Just one, of many, reasons I'll never be a money-making musician with a fan base. No consistency!
That said, many of the tracks I've finished in the last several years (which aren't that many tracks, really), I sometimes listen to and wonder how the hell I ever made them because I love the way they sound. I get so sick of every track, some more than others, by the time I make, mix and master them since I hear them hundreds of times week after week. Definitely takes some time to pass by and heal that. And then I usually end up liking them a lot again.
I don’t actually make exactly the music I want to make. It turns out a little bit too normal, too mainstream and too ‘acceptable’. What I really want to make is highly experimental and extremely abstract music which nevertheless is nice and pleasant and commercially popular. I don’t think there really is such a thing. In my mind I want to be creating music that defies and ignores normal notes, keys, octaves and scales and all that sort of cryptofascist imprisoning capitalist templated rule-adhering normal music stuff. I want to be making works of sonic importance almost as a parallel to some of the most ludicrous rule-breaking confrontational thought-provoking world-changing landmark art in the contemporary art world (except it’d be music). Instead I end up making stuff that sounds more like a cross between Kraftwerk, JMJ, Ultravox and Human League, only much better of course, which is a total failure of commercial success over artistic integrity if you ask me. I think the world of visual arts has far more latitude of expression than the strait-jacketed world of so-called music, if that is it’s real name. And I’d have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for those pesky kids.
For EDM/Pop, it all starts with a great melody and killer chorus if it's a song rather than an instrumental. This comes easy to me. The verses however? Yeah, let's not get into how tough verses are for me. In a verse, I can create decent chord progressions and layer mundane melodies on top, but trying to tackle the words is where I often fall short. Rarely they flow through to me from the stratosphere. Often it's a fucking struggle, either from writer's block or procrastination.
For Ambient, it starts with AUM and Rozeta. I know, stereotypical of a lot of us ambient lovers here.
I rarely use samples in Ambient unless they're speech samples which I garble up and insert as part of the atmosphere.
For Musique Concrete/Found Sound, it's as simple as a trip to freesound.org and browsing samples at random. (Right, there's a reason I don't use Splice/Noiiz/Sounds/etc, because they NEVER have inspiring samples for this genre, and what EDM/Pop samples I do have are more than sufficient.) When I find a sample I like, then I use that as the theme of the piece, whether I even end up using that sample or not.
In any case, aside from writing verses (GAH!), I can make my musical visions manifest just fine. I'm not sure what advice I could give really as to how to make it manifest outside of "make sure your musical vision is strong and clear". Each person does that differently in their own unique way, and with me, I just do that by mucking in Beathawk and finishing in Nanostudio 2 for Pop/EDM, in AUM with Rozeta and polishing off in Nanostudio 2 for Ambient, and freesound.org to find "found sounds" and Nanostudio 2 to craft Musique Concrete/Noise music. (Seriously, that spectral loop function in Obsidian lends itself to Ambient and Musique Concrete flawlessly, at least for my tastes in the Experimental genres.)