As soon as inspiration hits, you want to make sure the idea doesn’t evaporate into thin air. I have talked about working on your skills routinely which will lead to periods of inspiration and productiveness. Everything feels like its effortless.
Make no mistakes, this is the direct result of all the hard work and sharpening your skills. Showing up regularly and putting in the time. As with anything you will get better with practice.
A lot of ideas get left behind. You simply don’t have time finalizing all these great ideas. It therefore makes sense making notes and sketches of all these ideas in a way they form the future working stock. For all the days things don’t flow effortlessly.
There are a lot of ways of locking in ideas for future use. You can write them down, record them on your phone, sketch the essence. The most important thing is that you can remember the initial idea and work on it later on.
I have had a lot of failures in getting a structure set up for getting ideas down for future reference. I settled for pen & paper, advantages over digital forms are the physical actions and ingraining it in the brain.
But when reading it weeks or months later a lot of the time I could not make out what I originally set out to do. Not a big problem as it always has a starting point in it somewhere. But it kind of took away the enthusiasm.
So I opted for a format, a standardized way of writing ideas down and making sure I knew what I had set out to do. I start with giving the idea a title. Then I write down the concept, and the technical side of things. Which tools to use and how to use them. Then I set the length , speed and other characteristics of the song. Last but not least I draw the song in a time line fashion, breaks drops and other things.
In that way I have way more detail and I can work on the idea while writing it down. I can then do preparations and recording later on with more focus.
It has greatly helped my creative proces, as with anything, this way of doing things suits my personality and workflow. It’s just to give you an idea what might work. It took a while for me to get there, bit experimentation will get you there and is half the fun.
Category: Music
The music journey – Making an album (week 29,30) the final report
Running behind is never fun, and whilst it has been fun keeping tabs om my ambitious plan on making an album this will be my last post in this form. I think I have written all there is about my ups & downs learning to use my musical equipment and subsequently produce an album. Which was a bit too ambitious in hindsight. The project will go on and one day the album will be finished.
But as I have said before, aiming high will get you places you don’t get too otherwise. And this is true. The end result is not here yet, but the work ethic & proces is. And moreover its a sustainable rhythm. I keep having problems some weeks with my cognitive energy and imbalance. That’s something I have to deal with on a daily basis no matter what I do.
It has been annoying at times, but this project gave me another thing keeping me busy for the long term, hopefully a lifetime. However fun hobby’s are, molding those hobby’s into projects makes them way more valuable. In experience, in learning and in focus. Hard things are enjoyable. And you can have fun doing it.
So I have 2 modes at the moment, working on my projects, and leisure time. The first category consist of hobby’s molded into projects, whether it be in music, sports or other ventures. The second consists of walking about, reading books , casual listening, visiting people & places.
That distinction makes it easier to plan, and get ideas out. It takes the work out of work and the procrastination out of the hobby’s. It might not work for everyone, but I am sure that if you find a few things in life you love doing, doing it with a bit more focus and working towards goals it’s will be indefinitely more rewarding.
In other words, you will never work a day in the rest of your life. This whole process has given me the insight in what I can do, aspire to, and dream about. It has set the stage for continuous work on my own terms and on my own pace.
In a nutshell this is what I learned to do, and these steps will help anyone wanting to get a hobby or any other pasion project further. So here is a list.
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- Plan your time consistently.
- Plan 3 or more sessions a week , at a minimin 3.
- Don’t overdo it in hours , you can only work with a high focus for so long.
- Write down all ideas. Take 3 at a time for further development.
- Divide sessions into playtime, learning, and finishing work.
- Aim high , you might not make it to the perceived goals, but you get further with it then if you aim for easily achievable goals.
- Always focus on the next step, don’t make the steps too big (that creates frustration in case of the lack of succes).
- Trust the proces and more importantly yourself.
- Be strikt not hard on yourself.
- Yes, showing up (consistently) is half the work.
- Take breaks and celebrate the little victories.
- Have fun, and focus.
- Keep a diary, it will help put things into perspective.
- And last but not least, record everything.
Just some things I learned, lot’s of them are obvious, the most important thing is keep working at your craft, build knowledge, make it a habit. It will not seem like much progress at first. But it all adds up.
This was it for this series. I will continue writing music related blogs on a weekly basis and will go deeper into workflow, techniques, and time managent in future episodes. I am still figuring out the form factor but I will get started right away.
Thanks for reading so far and see you soon!
The music journey – Making an album (week 28)
I am running behind on my blogs, didn’t have time too scribble about week 28, due to other activities, mostly out of the house. Week 28 has been a week with lots of difficulty showing up. Starting any activities regarding my music ambitions was very hard.
I really value the rhythm I have developed and letting go of that rhythm is hard. It’s the same feeling I get when I can’t run. And that’s not even factoring in the positive effects both have on my wellbeing.
Yet this week has been all about having a hard time getting started with any of the activities I can normally swap between depending on my energy levels. And when I got started I had to give it up pretty fast.
I know its a case of falling down and getting up again, this week however was mostly falling down.
I will write about the previous week at the end of this week, making sure I get some of my Rhythm back.
The music journey – Making an album (week 27)
Still going, this was a hard week. Most of the time showing up is not that hard. This week however it was. My cognitive state didn’t allow for much activity at all. Most of the time I am good enough to be able to switch between activities.
If reading is a problem, I switch to editing samples, making a patch or just messing about with loops. This week was different. I could not perform any of the tasks I normally do. I did however give it a go a few times. So I managed to read a chapter in this phenomenal book on ~gen in MAX MSP. It’s called Generating Sound & Organizing Time by Graham Wakefield & Gregory Taylor
I probably mentioned it in another post, but it’s recommenced reading. Even if you are not into Max , it’s just good getting an understanding of what this does in terms of musical ideas and seeing things in a different perspective.
It’s about working with the ~gen functionality within MAX and what you can achieve with, and it’s a lot. For me a bit difficult to get my head around but it’s really intriguing. And I will probably have to read it a few times and work with it to fully get to grips with it.
So it was a bit of a frustrating week and not what I had in mind. Eventually that is life as well.
The music journey – Making an album (week 26)
This week it was a week mostly spend on reading about music instead of making any music. I did however work on my Max MSP patch. And it slowly starts to click in my mind. It’s a really great environment to start some sonic exploration and go beyond the beaten path. The way of thinking about music and how you approach ideas also slowly changes. It’s an ever evolving way of building your own musical tools, without having to buy new equipment.
Just the thing which is such fun with modular synths. Building your own instrument which you can change over and over. Max doesn’t replace my need for physical interaction with instruments but its a great way for me too stay active with music and not producing any sound.
The physical part of twisting and turning knobs and sliders and patching cables is what fascinated me about synthesizers from the beginning, so don’t sell all your hardware just jet. But Max MSP is something I can recommend for anyone in music too really take a good look at. Just chancing your perception on how too approach music, the concept of sound design and controlling (or not) the outcome is fascinating.
It has a steep learning curve, which is undeniable. But the help function is outstanding. Also lot’s of very good video’s can be found online.
If you dive in it will reward you especially in combination with a modular , in my case Eurorack, synthesizer. With all available interfaces out there the connection between a computer and the Eurorack world is such you solve a need for a certain function most likely with a Max patch without the need to go out and buy another module. And just that is reason enough to learn Max.
Het blijft geweldig om de interactie met de knoppen te hebben en dat is wat mij ooit fascineerde aan synthesizers, maar Max MSP is iets wat ik iedereen kan aanraden om eens echt goed naar te kijken. Al was het alleen maar om je perspectief te veranderen en de manier van denken over geluid, het ontwerpen ervan en het controleren (of juist niet) ervan onder de loep te nemen.
If you are looking for an interface between your computer and Eurorack be sure to check out Expert Sleepers, very good modules which you can expand as your needs grow.
The possibilities with MAX MSP and a small Eurorack setup are endless. So is the fun to be had.
The music journey – Making an album (week 25)
This week I made a good start in building the sequencer for my Eurorack in Max Msp, for now it’s aimed specifically at the Morphagene and what functionality I need for that. Already done a few tests and still have a lot of work to do.
That’s basically it as far as progress goes. while designing the Max patch I got to think about how music touches all of my interests. It satisfies my technological curiosity, I can think about design concepts and I can dive into musical history.
From reading manuals, via biographies and watching documentaries. Without even making any music. So when I have a good day cognitively speaking I can read and think about music, and if I have a really good day I can make music. It’s an integral part of my life, and weekly activities. There is always something to do which drives me forward in the direction of my goals.
As I touched upon last week, getting those goals in to fruition isn’t always easy and sometimes an activity doesn’t seem to contribute anything towards the goals. But if you look at it from another and wider perspective there is always something in the things you do which moves you forward, inching closer to your goals.
The music journey – Making an album (week 24)
Another week done. Time sure goes pretty fast. Especially when working on fun things. So this week has been all about MAX MSP. Partly due to having problems this week with listening too sound over a longer period of time, and partly because I had it planned.
Besides learning the workings of MAX I got into learning short cuts, basic workflow stuff that’s all over this software. I am more and more seeing the use of memorizing all this in order to gain some speed in my workflow. With my limited cognitive energy it’s vital for me when I able too handle sound I can can get ideas out quickly. And finish them fast as well.
Muscle memory is key in that it skips thinking about were I can find a certain function, it becomes like riding a bike. It’s not the most exciting bit of this journey but a very essential one. Getting to know your equipment and making sure using it becomes second nature.
However learning these things is very straining, which I didn’t really expect. I know I have too get trough this phase of the learning curve in order too speed up the music making proces. To be continued. Onto next week.
The music journey – Making an album (week 23)
This week a more philosophical post. The whole proces of making an album from scratch is hard, for me it was starting all over again with making music. From getting back into learning how to use Ableton to more conceptual questions about how I wanted my project and ultimately my album to sound and look like.
At first I wrote a white paper of sorts too gather what I wanted out of it. Which was too learn as much as possible and also do as much as possible. The whole concept, which I will keep to myself for now as it isn’t finished, was pretty big.
Not just in the timeframe but also for my current level of knowledge and experience. That’s ok, and I will explain why.
First of all, it means the first iteration will most probably fail, as my project did in the timeframe I had set myself. The failure however is the goal in many ways. As reaching for goal far beyond what I can accomplish today will get me too learn a lot. A lot more than I would do when I set myself up for easy goals.
The trick is however, to set shorter term goals that are achievable, but contribute in a large part towards the big goal. The short iterations and tiny tasks will get you there. However this is for me at least pretty frustrating at times. As I am used to learning very fast, and put lots of time in a project. Which I can’t do anymore.
But by taking small steps I got a rhythm going, every week I spent a fixed amount of time on music projects , whether it be learning, researching, programming or making music every week I do something. No matter how little it is, I put in my fixed set of hours which I know I can put in. Also everything which is ultimately worth something to me is achieved by doing hard things consistently.
As a result I have learned a lot, it might not go as fast as I want, be as good as I want, but I am getting there. Consistency is key.
The music journey – Making an album (week 21)
This week my time was mostly geared towards learning a small selection of modules I collected with the Morphagene as the center of the setup. Which was my study object of last week.
I put all the manuals in a single folder en started reading them. I am always surprised at the level of fun I have studying and thinking about how gear works. At the same time I am always disappointed how much time it takes me.
Another matter I am thinking about is what to do with my music once its finished. Do I try and find a label or do I self release. One doesn’t rule out the other , but at the moment I am leaning towards self releasing. Partly because it appeals too my tendency to control everything, partly because of an underlying fear of rejection.
A fear that is based on nothing as I never sent any music to a label and thus never got rejected. Rejection is also just part of life, but in the back of my mind that plays a role in my decision.
Either way it’s good to know the process of getting music released, so that once you get work released on a label you know the steps and at what point in the proces some extra attention is necessary.
It’s also nice to have a to do list ready in case the music making isn’t feasible. Another way of keeping myself occupied with music related work.
The music journey – Making an album (week 20)
Another week done, which was a very productive week, with a focus. Learning MAX MSP. I have always had the goal learning to really get into MAX, and finally being a bit more fluent with it. It was also a big part of my original concept for the album.
I have already built a looper with the help of some excellent YouTube video’s. More on this in these blogs, 1, 2 .
Besides the Looper I have always had the idea of controlling my Eurorack via MAX MSP, and add some other things to the Eurorack. Like Oscillators and so on and record and edit the results.
The learning curve proved to be a bit steep and didn’t yield any more direct results which I could easily incorporate into music making. Besides that I frequently got distracted by other gear and options.
This week has seen a return to the original idea and the tasks at hand needed to get there. Starting with the excellent book Step by Step which covers the topic on building sequencers with MAX Msp. I have written about this previously.
And I have done a fair bit of reading done already, but in order to get to grips with MAX more thoroughly I need to work on it every week, not just a few sessions in between other sessions. So I need to plan at least a session every week. Otherwise I need te reacquaint myself every time, which is a waste of time.
Besides the work on Max I have taken some time reading music magazines and reorganizing my sample collection.
Time really moves fast on projects like these and I still need more time than I think I need and run out of it faster. This is not always easy, but I still have fun every time I get going, which I really enjoy.