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Author: tylth on November 24 2007 Viewed 4537 times. 24 people liked this blog. You can rate it below if you haven't already.
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this is about a little crisis i have recently concerning my ability as a musician.
you may know i solely use a laptop and software to make musik. and audo samples. so far that is nothing special because a lot of "musicians" do that. i've put musicians in quote signs here because that is where i have encountered my problem.
how dare i call myself a musician, let alone an artist? fact is, i can't play keyboard for shit let alone read notes on sheets and random monkeys at the zoo are more educated in classical music theory/knowledge than me.
i think it's bold to call mere preset swapping on vst synths and sample arranging from the latest hip-hop / techno sample cd/dvd an artistry. isn't that like making wack trance "songs" with magix music maker?
that is the problem i have so far. but i want to make original music by choice not by chance. i want to express myself and not by material someone els prepared.
the question is now, where to begin. it it enough to put for instance a lfo'ed lp filter over a library breakbeat and call it my own "work"? would that be a part of expressing myself honestly?
should i instead of using a kickdrum from a sample cd make my own with appropriate applications? is that enough? or should i code that application entirely by myself to have it honestly original? by then, would i be even a musician anymore or rather a programmer? what is enough?
how would i think about that if i am using hardware machines to make music? would i encounter the same questions and get the need to circuit bend everything in order to make original music?
so far i backuped my entire sample collection, erased it from my hd with the plan of sounddesigning my own sample collection. i'll see how that turns out.
i could write on and on but i'll spare you that. boring enough so far.
instead i ask for your thoughts and opinions on a topic like this and maybe one or two useful tips (on sounddesing, original artistry, opinions on sample cds, presets) will materialize.
thanks.
alex
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11/24/07
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Dizzygotheca
if your unhappy with your own aristry then change it so you challenge yourself...
the end result should be the music, not the process you took to get there ( unless the art is all about the process and not the end result )
i was in the same boat recently, i still do not consider myself a musician.. BUT i have an ear for music even though i wouldnt know my g sharp from b flat...
i try to tackle it from the perspective of an artists rather than musician, and therefore my music is less about melody and more about layers and sounds... works for me...
11/24/07
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dach
hahahah, shit.
11/24/07
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dach
there isn't any answers dude, just go make some tunes
11/24/07
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mulletballet
Seriously -- people learned how to make music by using things around them to create sound... that's how instruments came to be, from drums to string instruments and wind instruments and so on -- we just happen to have a whole lot more around us to make sound with. The music you make IS your own creation, you're just using less 'traditional' instruments, but then -- what is a traditional instrument in the first place? At one time, I'm sure a guitar seemed quite strange to people.
11/24/07
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dach
That kick drum sample aint original till you go out and skin yourself a goat. Using a skinning technique invented by yourself with the help of a knife that you made from a sharp rock.
11/24/07
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energygiant
dood, just use your hands....get a guitar or a melodica or something that requires physical contact.
luckily those 'real' instruments dont give a shit about how many rectangles you can cram into your piano roll, or that the amen break is mapped across 36 keys on your midi controller. they dont do anything that you cant do, and thats why i love em!
11/24/07
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energygiant
also, great blog!
11/24/07
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delete
how are the answers to your questions going to affect what you do? i don't consider myself a musician either, i just do what i want to do. i don't know if the end result is good or bad or if it's music or not (who cares anyway?). the way i see it it's a good way to spend my limited time on earth.
even if i was living off my music i wouldn't care about how much of a "musician" i am. if i liked my tunes and if i could pay the bills, everything would be just fine.
11/24/07
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tylth
energygiant said: "dood, just use your hands....get a guitar or a melodica or something that requires physical contact."
that is the thing leading to more thoughts on the topic. i've had guitar lessons when i was around 12 or 14 years old. and oh boy it sucked, the teacher sucked (he went off to africa for good after a couple months) and i sucked at playing too.
if it weren't for computers i wouldn't been into making music. i like them and it is great having the best work on audio algorythms, visualising daw and vst guis and spitting out sounds.
and that is still a problem pc generated music is suffering from, the "soullessness" the work of a machine, not a human.
for me it is time to develop a musical personality, like a passionate country singer that plays the guitar and sings along with all his soul. your hear and feel the dedication in his/her performance. that is what i want to achieve, putting a piece of my soul into sound and personality into tracks. that is something not likely to be achieved using premade loops and "funky hits" and synth presets i think. that would not be "me" in an authentic kind of way!
delete said: "how are the answers to your questions going to affect what you do?"
the questions itself already affect what i'm doing!
11/24/07
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deltasleep
I kind of got over this hump by doing a lot of physical activities with my music, to bring the world outside of the computer into it.
I: Sampled LPs from junk bins, plunked around on a $50 guitar, and made every Christmas gift for 5 years be junk musical instruments. that kind of shook this burden off my shoulder.
My dad's a classical guitarist, and he once told me that at 20 he wanted everyone to think very highly of him, at 30 he didn't care what anybody thought about him, and at 40 he realized nobody was thinking about him in the first place.
11/24/07
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dach
use some 'Yeah!' samples, or perhaps some 'acid-acid-acid'
11/24/07
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utofbu
do what I do, get a mic, get a portable recording unit, break into a warehouse and throw shit around while screaming like a banshee.
havent done that in awhile.
but seriously. the theory helps but it is also a prison wall to many. My advice to you is that you should see that there isnt any real specific way you are supposed to write music.
be concerned with what YOU want to hear in music. The other shite will kind of fall into place.
11/24/07
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mirm
hmmm...
an artist or a fraud?
realize that you are your own worst critic.
don't have an esoteric meltdown and enjoy the process.
Or start taking guitar lessons again.
You are never too old to learn something new.
Or you can just admit you are a fraud and move ahead--
I did that.
haaaha
11/24/07
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yghartsyrt
of course these are valid questions.
a little bit of egostroking is appreciated by everybody i guess, especially when you are doing some sort of art/music/whatever. but in the end it's just the fun h´you have while you are doing it. and if it is running a break through 20 beatrepeat and stutter plugins. at the end of the day it is yourself you'll have to ask, if you enjoyed the lst couple of hours.
and of course there are other peple who seem to be more talented o more successfull. but that doesn't mean anything. chances they are gonna make a living out of it are quite slim.
i've been through this lots and lots of time and will aso always have that feeling. but on the other hand it's the feeling you stil haven't done everything possible that keeps you trying again and again
11/24/07
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Hikikomori
deltasleep -
My dad's a classical guitarist, and he once told me that at 20 he wanted everyone to think very highly of him, at 30 he didn't care what anybody thought about him, and at 40 he realized nobody was thinking about him in the first place.
that's brilliant.
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