All I'm doing here is sharing my thoughts & perspectives about what *I've* came to believe is really important in making good music.

I'm going to start at the end first, then go to the begining.

When a track has just finished, and it gave you tingles all throughout the back of your neck and head, what was is about that track that did that to you? How can a SOUND make you're bodys physical state literally change?

It could have been a sad melody, a happy one, or an angry aggressive track, but no matter what, when you hear a great track, all you heard was "beauty".
Because whether beauty is sad or happy, its ALWAYS beautiful. (bare with me lol)

How is something beautiful made? And what does something beautiful do?
1) Beauty is made by a beautiful state of mind, not a beautiful person, and again it can be sad or happy. Its a deep state that you have accessed before in your mind, and you wish to give other people access to.
2) Beauty makes us FEEL, it engages us, it FORCES us to feel when we might not have wanted to.

Look at your everyday life, how society has systematized you, routine, repressed feelings or emotions..
How does that help you become an artist?

And I've been asking myself that so much, WHAT THE HELL IS AN ARTIST?

To me, an artist is someone who knows how to see feelings in a vivid way or reconstruct them so other people feel that same beauty they saw at the moment in time.
Problem is, that beauty often gets lost in the translation.

And I think this, at least for me may be why.
I sit down in the studio, maybe a bit stressed, a long day, I may be feeling certain way, but I always approach my music almost systematically, a bit like my life.

Even if I'm in a good mood, if I can't find the right note or sound, I don't feel too beautiful lol, and most likely a bit frustrated.

So my goal has been when I sit down now, through every second I'm making a track, to feel NOTHING but something beautiful. And if I can't find something beautiful in my mind, I have no right even being in front of the keyboard/computer.
I know it sounds crazy.
But what always gets you off track is when you're hitting keys, making loops, changing sounds, and theres almost this mess of confusion in front of you.
How can you feel anything engaging or pure? How can you simplify your entire mind state to take that mess, and to make it into something great?

You need an image of beauty in your head.
If you can't do it, its because the image is not really there.

You need to define your current state of mind, and translate it without anything thats NOT beautiful accidentally tainting it.

I know I'm using the word beauty a lot. But recently I've been hearing so many damn tracks that just don't really get to my core, or don't really engage me on that deeper purer level.
I sat down today and it was like "no matter what I do, I am not trying to do ANYTHING but take what I can't see in my mind, but what I know is there, something extraordinary, something extravagant, and make it available so other people can simply witness it".

This might sound a bit like psychobabble. But I've actually noticed the more I work on my mood, or my state of mind before and when I'm mixing, the more I wind up with some sections of a track, or even a whole track that gives me tingles, and that I know will give other people that feeling too.
I still notice the image doesn't always come out perfect, like I'll see a huge potential for something powerful I just made, but its the organization in the last steps of the "translation" (of making beauty available to other people *clearly) where my mind state will change, and that gap kinda closes.
Then I get frustrated and how am I suppose to make anything that moves people when I'm frustrated?

Again not saying you can't be angry or sad and make something beautiful. I'm saying that I think a lot of this music making thing, after you get some experience, can really have to do with your mind, how you feel, and some of those less logical things some of us may ignore a lot.

I just don't see a lot of posts like this here, its helped me so I think it may help other people!

G/luck

Well, now THIS is a worthwile post. Pretty much agree with everything you've said here. Except, that even when your not "feeling it" - which for the purposes of this exercise we will define as being in a state conducive to good music - you can still create, in the sense that you can run through your engineering skills, keep them up to scratch by mixing a track you've already written etc. Feeling it is only really important at certain stages of the mix, when your actually mixing the track, its not always so crucial. That said, you still do have to have a good fix in you mind over what feeling you started with, or the original intention is lost.
Personally, I'm not really sure about the whole thing about modern society being ot so good for art, I really just think that sometimes the force is not so much with you Other times, you can crank out tracks like its nothing. Stress probably does have something to do with it, since you need a clear mind and plenty of time, without feeling like you have something you should be doing instead.

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my thoughts as far as this are to learn music theory and keyboard skills inside out, so that when inspiration does strike, you have the knowledge of how to convey that emotion musically.

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Robby I know exactly what you are saying! I see it right now with my music, I just got a new girlfriend and I am all happy and feeling great things inside and as soon as I get in the studio, I am feeling it in my music and I feel like I'm making the best music I have ever made. Then, when I am there playing around for a while it becomes repetitive, and my mind starts to forget that beauty that I was feeling and I start to feel that confusion and all goes to hell. Then I stop and play Battlefield

I feel like I am starting to get control over this issue, by just taking a break from it all, chillin with my girl or going for a ride or something, then come back to it later and slammin them tracks. Only problem is many times I lose that same feeling that I had and I cannot finish the track because I don't feel the same way anymore. It really is sad, cause I know I do it and it happens too often. I guess I need to get faster at finishing a track in like one day, then maybe I don't need to worry about losing that feeling.

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Make sure when inspiration strikes and you have "that feeling", you do not waste any time on mixing, levels, compression etc. It is important at this point to just get the basic idea and arrangement done.

As already mentioned, after a while at the computer, repetitiveness, routine and confusion can take over and the ideas begin to fade and you lose the connection you had with the track.

Don't start auditioning countless kicks, eq'ing basslines, compressing leads or perfecting that hi-hat. This is all stuff that can be done later and is not affected by the mood you are in. Even getting the right synth sounds can, sometimes, be left till afterwards.

Just make sure you get the idea of the track down, whilst you are "feeling" it. Then, work on the sounds, the automation, the samples, the mixing etc.

I know some people like to mix and have every sound just right as they go along and if it works for them, then great. There is no right or wrong way but if you are someone who struggles to capture the mood and feeling you had when starting the track, then I believe its important to prioritise what you work on in this way.

Personally, I find that by the time I am ready to mix the track, I feel very detached from it, having completely forgotten what I felt when I started it, but this detachment helps me to be more focused and produce a better mixdown.

___________________
Listen to and download all my tracks at www.gregnicot.bandcamp.com

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Robby Rox All I'm doing here is sharing my thoughts & perspectives about what *I've* came to believe is really important in making good music. I'm going to start at the end first, then go to the begining. When a track has just finished, and it gave you tingles all throughout the back of your neck and head, what was is about that track that did that to you? How can a SOUND make you're bodys physical state literally change? It could have been a sad melody, a happy one, or an angry aggressive track, but no matter what, when you hear a great track, all you heard was "beauty". Because whether beauty is sad or happy, its ALWAYS beautiful. (bare with me lol) How is something beautiful made? And what does something beautiful do? 1) Beauty is made by a beautiful state of mind, not a beautiful person, and again it can be sad or happy. Its a deep state that you have accessed before in your mind, and you wish to give other people access to. 2) Beauty makes us FEEL, it engages us, it FORCES us to feel when we might not have wanted to. Look at your everyday life, how society has systematized you, routine, repressed feelings or emotions.. How does that help you become an artist? And I've been asking myself that so much, WHAT THE HELL IS AN ARTIST? To me, an artist is someone who knows how to see feelings in a vivid way or reconstruct them so other people feel that same beauty they saw at the moment in time. Problem is, that beauty often gets lost in the translation. And I think this, at least for me may be why. I sit down in the studio, maybe a bit stressed, a long day, I may be feeling certain way, but I always approach my music almost systematically, a bit like my life. Even if I'm in a good mood, if I can't find the right note or sound, I don't feel too beautiful lol, and most likely a bit frustrated. So my goal has been when I sit down now, through every second I'm making a track, to feel NOTHING but something beautiful. And if I can't find something beautiful in my mind, I have no right even being in front of the keyboard/computer. I know it sounds crazy. But what always gets you off track is when you're hitting keys, making loops, changing sounds, and theres almost this mess of confusion in front of you. How can you feel anything engaging or pure? How can you simplify your entire mind state to take that mess, and to make it into something great? You need an image of beauty in your head. If you can't do it, its because the image is not really there. You need to define your current state of mind, and translate it without anything thats NOT beautiful accidentally tainting it. I know I'm using the word beauty a lot. But recently I've been hearing so many damn tracks that just don't really get to my core, or don't really engage me on that deeper purer level. I sat down today and it was like "no matter what I do, I am not trying to do ANYTHING but take what I can't see in my mind, but what I know is there, something extraordinary, something extravagant, and make it available so other people can simply witness it". This might sound a bit like psychobabble. But I've actually noticed the more I work on my mood, or my state of mind before and when I'm mixing, the more I wind up with some sections of a track, or even a whole track that gives me tingles, and that I know will give other people that feeling too. I still notice the image doesn't always come out perfect, like I'll see a huge potential for something powerful I just made, but its the organization in the last steps of the "translation" (of making beauty available to other people *clearly) where my mind state will change, and that gap kinda closes. Then I get frustrated and how am I suppose to make anything that moves people when I'm frustrated? Again not saying you can't be angry or sad and make something beautiful. I'm saying that I think a lot of this music making thing, after you get some experience, can really have to do with your mind, how you feel, and some of those less logical things some of us may ignore a lot. I just don't see a lot of posts like this here, its helped me so I think it may help other people! G/luck

some one is having themselvs deep and meaningfull thaught's with the biggist forse on this planit(music). so allow me to give my music hyposis. 99% of people who make music are given a gift,and there is the other 1% who have good engenering skills,who make music for the dosh,and hold no real talent what so ever.

you and everybody on this web page have that gift. the gift of not only making sounds for other people to listin to but the real gift of creating real emoshions. not only for your self but for the hole world. sounds out there i know but every time a track is made it's set in stone a pice of time if you like made to go on for people to understand and connect with.

every time a track is made a pice of you is attached to that track oterwise whats the point.dance muisc is made for one whole purpose to dance to.it's sole intenthion is to make you understand there's something in us that needs to be moved.

so going back to your post (if i cant create anything due to my mind state)then i dont diserve to be in the studio. is even more reason to be infront of your muisc software or hardware, because the second your finger hits a note or makes a sound you have every right to be there.not only for your self but for others because you want them to feal whatever it is your tring to create. A great little tip for making that music image in your head,is called mind mapping.
so try mapping out the key parts you feal belongs in the track first then let the rest follow.

and just remember every track you make is forever.

Weirdly enough, I have written my best, most emotional stuff at some of the most stressful and frustrating times in my life. It's like my feelings eventually boil over and can no longer be "contained" by the routines of auditioning a thousand different hi-hats and trying out twenty different ways of routing effects.

If you can create something that really moves you as you make it, if you hit on the right melody or chords and have that awesome feeling come over you that says, "Now I know it, this is how the track is supposed to be!" -- then there's a good chance it will connect with someone else as well. The tracks that people really love, the ones they return to again and again, are the ones that move them and speak to them in some way, just as they moved and spoke to their producers during the creative process.

I love that feeling, though. There's really nothing else like it for me, when I make a certain passage of music and I feel like that rhythm or those notes sounds were what I was really "searching" for all along, even if I didn't know precisely what to look for. When I have a "decent start" to a track, I feel like it's "missing" something that I have to "find" in order to step it up from another boring half-idea to something beautiful.

when i got this feeling, when i feel that this is that moment, i just sit in front of my piano and play it. i release my emotions with the use of piano. when i got whole melody lines and chords then i recreate them in sequencer and make 'that sound'.

its definitely a gift. i thanks my parents for my music education and i give thanks to God for my ears and that gift

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Robby Rox All I'm doing here is sharing my thoughts & perspectives about what *I've* came to believe is really important in making good music. I'm going to start at the end first, then go to the begining. When a track has just finished, and it gave you tingles all throughout the back of your neck and head, what was is about that track that did that to you? How can a SOUND make you're bodys physical state literally change? It could have been a sad melody, a happy one, or an angry aggressive track, but no matter what, when you hear a great track, all you heard was "beauty". Because whether beauty is sad or happy, its ALWAYS beautiful. (bare with me lol) How is something beautiful made? And what does something beautiful do? 1) Beauty is made by a beautiful state of mind, not a beautiful person, and again it can be sad or happy. Its a deep state that you have accessed before in your mind, and you wish to give other people access to. 2) Beauty makes us FEEL, it engages us, it FORCES us to feel when we might not have wanted to. Look at your everyday life, how society has systematized you, routine, repressed feelings or emotions.. How does that help you become an artist? And I've been asking myself that so much, WHAT THE HELL IS AN ARTIST? To me, an artist is someone who knows how to see feelings in a vivid way or reconstruct them so other people feel that same beauty they saw at the moment in time. Problem is, that beauty often gets lost in the translation. And I think this, at least for me may be why. I sit down in the studio, maybe a bit stressed, a long day, I may be feeling certain way, but I always approach my music almost systematically, a bit like my life. Even if I'm in a good mood, if I can't find the right note or sound, I don't feel too beautiful lol, and most likely a bit frustrated. So my goal has been when I sit down now, through every second I'm making a track, to feel NOTHING but something beautiful. And if I can't find something beautiful in my mind, I have no right even being in front of the keyboard/computer. I know it sounds crazy. But what always gets you off track is when you're hitting keys, making loops, changing sounds, and theres almost this mess of confusion in front of you. How can you feel anything engaging or pure? How can you simplify your entire mind state to take that mess, and to make it into something great? You need an image of beauty in your head. If you can't do it, its because the image is not really there. You need to define your current state of mind, and translate it without anything thats NOT beautiful accidentally tainting it. I know I'm using the word beauty a lot. But recently I've been hearing so many damn tracks that just don't really get to my core, or don't really engage me on that deeper purer level. I sat down today and it was like "no matter what I do, I am not trying to do ANYTHING but take what I can't see in my mind, but what I know is there, something extraordinary, something extravagant, and make it available so other people can simply witness it". This might sound a bit like psychobabble. But I've actually noticed the more I work on my mood, or my state of mind before and when I'm mixing, the more I wind up with some sections of a track, or even a whole track that gives me tingles, and that I know will give other people that feeling too. I still notice the image doesn't always come out perfect, like I'll see a huge potential for something powerful I just made, but its the organization in the last steps of the "translation" (of making beauty available to other people *clearly) where my mind state will change, and that gap kinda closes. Then I get frustrated and how am I suppose to make anything that moves people when I'm frustrated? Again not saying you can't be angry or sad and make something beautiful. I'm saying that I think a lot of this music making thing, after you get some experience, can really have to do with your mind, how you feel, and some of those less logical things some of us may ignore a lot. I just don't see a lot of posts like this here, its helped me so I think it may help other people! G/luck

Great post. I'll add that I think there are valuable tools to enhance this state, such as chemicals.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Shibby Great post. I'll add that I think there are valuable tools to enhance this state, such as chemicals.

I 'use' to do that but then I'd get hooked in a track, come back the next day, & it sounded like someone who was high made it.

I do agree though it can work for some people.

hey robbie, can you pm me a link to your most beautiful track to date?

i would really appreciate it. thanks

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Shibby Great post. I'll add that I think there are valuable tools to enhance this state, such as chemicals.

yeah the legendary dr A.Hoffman provided a great tool which really helps to figure out techniques & ways to do things from analysing other peoples work, it really has helped me alot, but everyone's different.

as for the other alternatives a steady mind stimulated by what needs to be right in your life can be reached from knowing & dealing with all your daily problems. my girlfriend has been gettin me down becos of my time in the studio. now i have gotten a good mic, thought of some good catchy lines & got her in to the producing idea with me. it sure has helped take the load of stress off things. the best work results is from team effort... so use your resources & stay healthy & you should be inspired for good lengthy periods.

another thing, naturally your daily job can become a distraction so once again you need to ask yourself what you really want in life? for me it's to live simple after getting all my equipment & be consumed in the music with no tyring demanding work. doing computer based pyramid scheme stuff such as web design & hosting etc... but i'm still learning the workings of pc's so it'll happen one of these days.

good luck with the focussing tweak heads.

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To all here on this forum, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for all of this info!! this place is the best!!!!

Last edited by sylenth on Sep-02-2008 at 09:06