Evolution

No, don't worry, I'm not about to start a massive argument on the origin of life.

Rather, I wanted to reflect on how creative ideas sometimes take shape.

In my last post, I stated that I'm working on a tune in the vein of a Black Sun Empire or Noisia type of sound (a dark, heavy drum and bass sound with big drones and rough synths). It made sense to me to pursue such a thing because I really like listening to that dark, technical kind of music. I can even sometimes hear those ideas taking shape in my head. This, up until yesterday, had me convinced that "my sound" would have that dark, techy atmosphere.

Visit the following for an auditory representation of what I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gr5pZ99HII

But as I was working on that new piece, I could feel my mood suddenly take a nosedive. Making music was suddenly turning into a chore again, an assignment I was subjecting myself to rather than a way for me to enjoy myself. However, being a runner at heart, I've learned to push through the frustration and pain, if only because there's that slight hope that there's sunshine at the other end of the tunnel.

And suddenly, things started to turn around, but not in the way I expected. As I was toying around with a virtual synthesizer, I found what I now like to call "the sound". Once I heard it, I could almost immediately hear the piece that I could build around it. The tune I was working on before? Gone. Put on hold. No need to look at it for a while now.

I started a new piece immediately, based solely around that one tone I pulled out of the synth. And unlike that other tune I was working on earlier, this one started coming together quickly. As of now, only 24 hours after I started it, It's already 75% sequenced and is already prepped to be mastered.

This got me thinking about the creative process and what it takes to create "that" piece. I used to think it would take a lot of effort and a truly momentous inspiration to get the juices flowing. But it seems to be more specific than that:

It all starts with the mood; if I can't be bothered to make music, why try to force myself into it? Anyway, my reflections have shown me that as long as I'm slightly bored and a bit angry at the world (which occurs at least once a week), my time with the keyboards will be at least somewhat productive. But for that successful idea to come up once I'm sitting in front of the screen, I need "the sound". Actually, the only thing that should start me off is "the sound", as anything more seems to cloud my mind (I think too much). Once I can find it, the tune almost evolves from it, growing exponentially from a series of sine waves to a complex, lush piece of music that can make you stop and think or make you dance like a lunatic (preferably, the latter). And I've realized that when I've gone through this process a few more times, I'll have my own mental library of "those sounds" that have inspired a piece... and then, maybe, I'll be able to define "my sound", the holy grail when it comes to finding my creative self.

But this also leads to a slight conflict between what I feel works for me and what I know to be a tenet I must follow. In a previous post, I stated that one of the most important pieces of advice I was ever privy to was the idea that to make a truly successful piece of art, you have to be able to emotionally detach yourself from it. And yet I feel that this methodology of waiting for that right sound to appear is, in a way, drawing me into a closer relationship with the music, close enough to endanger is completion.

Maybe this is just me, who knows.

A return to normalcy

If you've been keeping track of Soundcloud, you'll notice that I have embarked in a mission with my partner in crime Danielle to revamp my creative juices through a "found objects" exercise.

Each day, Danielle specifies a BPM, a duration, and 7 everyday household objects with which I have to make a tune.

Only two tunes in, I can already feel the difference it makes; now when I return to synthesizer design within Reason, I can hear the more subtle undertones of each voice, I can imagine the resulting combination of voices. I'm already able to make better judgements about what to use in a piece and what not too.

Even my effect usage has gotten better. Through my experimentation with recorded sounds, I've discovered many new techniques to achieve the sounds I can already hear in my head.

Things have turned around so well that I've already started a new piece in the vein of Black Sun Empire and Noisia that may actually be a heavy roller.

For now, I'll keep up with the exercise, keep posting to Soundcloud, and see if I can finally add more synth-driven tunes in the near future.

Is the world against me?

In an attempt to clear my creative roadblock, I enlisted the help of my good friend Danielle Riendeau, an incredibly gifted artist in her own right, to assist me in a rehash of an assignment I did during my freshman year of college.

Each day during this week that I'm preparing to go to England for study abroad (prashantuktrip.blogspot.com), she will give me a time limit, a BPM, and 7 everyday household objects to make a tune.

Funny thing is, the first challenge wouldn't be to get my recordings done... it was to save my computer from the brink of almost certain disaster. At some point this morning, a light mist from a pan I was drying hit my computer's keyboard and shorted the computer out entirely.

Needless to say, I was stricken by fear of having ruined the device that holds my life (pathetic, I know) as I could hear that hissing sound that could only mean the motherboard was slowly dying.

In a last ditch attempt to save it, I completely dismantled it, all the way to isolating the motherboard.

I then used a hairdryer for about 20 minutes on each part, put it back together, and voila! Restarted!

Now I'm still being a bit cautious, but if this worked, then it's a lesson for me and a good tutorial for anyone else who accidentally spills a little something on their Macbook.

Anyway, looks like now I can start. Hopefully, a 1 minute and 27 second long piece will be on Soundcloud tonight.

Inspiration

Found myself listening to "Quiet Moment" by Teebee this morning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2C3X21xUSc

Very minimalistic with a beautiful vocal on top. I think this is what I may in fact need to recharge my noggin.

Now I'm gonna go find some good vocals.

Restart

First outpouring of the mind... here we go...

After a few weeks of not being able to write anything (Reason panicked until I could come home and reinsert my install DVD), I'm back in it and ready to go.

But for some reason, everything is feeling stale and mediocre again. I can hear ideas in my head, but transforming them into audio is proving to be beyond difficult. Looking through my library of sounds, it becomes obvious why such circumstances have arisen:

As of today, I have 163 gigabytes of synthesizer patches, samples, and effect configurations. Far too many for anyone who isn't a professional producer with a well-stocked studio to make the most of those resources.

Even more mind-racking is the irony of this situation; Liam Howlett of The Prodigy (greatest band ever), when asked how he wrote The Prodigy's fourth album "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned", he spoke about how his studio had become so packed full of keyboards and other modules that he simply couldn't put down the ideas he had. It became so frustrating that he locked up his own studio for almost a year and proceeded to buy himself a laptop running Reason. Using this standalone, minimal workstation, he was able to start with a fresh slate and concentrate more on the music rather than the technique behind it.

And yet here I am, taking this "minimal" piece of software and fattening it up like I'm about to eat it... it may be time for a change in how I do things.

Intro

Hey, it's Prashant here...

A few of you may know that whenever I can find time away from the mundane, arduous facets of life, I like to write music. For the past few years, my material has mostly been for myself, putting down tunes that I felt only I could appreciate.

But as time has gone by, my mindset has started to change on how I choose to share my creativity (or lack thereof, your call). I remember reading a forum interview with a favorite drum & bass producer of mine, Skynet, in which he stated that the most important lesson he took away from his career is to never become to emotionally attached to your music; once you've started to invest more than just good vibes into a piece of art, you'll never be able to shy away from the tendencies of a perfectionist, constantly adjusting to no end.

This really hit home and made me realize that I might as well take what I have, put it out there, and see what happens. If people don't like it, so be it. If they do, who knows, maybe I could make a few bucks off of it to pay for college.

www.soundcloud.com/straightaway

Feel free to comment and be brutally honest. As time goes on, I'll use this blog to comment on how the creative process is going and give insight as to the stories behind each track.