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Author: tylth on November 24 2007 Viewed 3920 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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cbit
interesting post.
I think it's a mistake to shoot for a goal as slippery as originality, i think thats a recipe for disaster. Like dach and others have pointed out there is no way to draw the line once you start asking whether any particular element is as original as it could be, reductio ad absurdum.
I don't use sample cd's and rarely use presets. Not because i think it's somehow not 'proper' to do though, but because the sound design part is a big part of why i enjoy making the music.
11/24/07
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atum
being an artist is all about dressing interesting,having weird hairstyles and being a dick to strangers.
oh yeah and cigarettes, don''t forget to smoke cigarettes around people that hate them 
11/24/07
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fora
atum said: "being an artist is all about dressing interesting,having weird hairstyles and being a dick to strangers.
oh yeah and cigarettes, don''t forget to smoke cigarettes around people that hate them "
yawn...
11/24/07
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Jenoki
i can play a few instruments to an OK standard, but i don't consider my self a musician. i can't read music, but i can tell my computer what sounds to make, that's why i consider myself a composer rather than an musician. composers tell the other people what to play, i am telling my computer what to play, what i want to hear. (though occasionally getting sounds out of actual instruments). musicians play the music, composers make their own.
11/24/07
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breakscience
get a hardware synth! or something that will inspire you to program your own sounds. But don't look at it as you are building a library...look at it as having fun making new sounds. Dont try to make everything from scratch, you will be disappointed.
Thats what I am doing. I have a similar problem as you. It becomes so uninspiring to make anything, not fun anymore at times. I focused my attention on programming a new plugin (fm8) for a while and that got me back into it, but I need something hands-on that I can live with.
11/24/07
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astroid
it's humbling to set out to make something original and then have people tell you "that sounds like afx"! -almost equally humbling to have the opposite, to try to make something that sounds like everyone else and have people say that they can hear your 'voice' in it.
one thing about being original, you have to give up some 'quality'. more specifically, you have to disregard some rules of what is supposed to be good, so you can create new ones.
11/24/07
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atum
whats humbling mean?
11/24/07
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jdg
its a type of bee
11/24/07
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atum
fora said: " atum said: "being an artist is all about dressing interesting,having weird hairstyles and being a dick to strangers.
oh yeah and cigarettes, don''t forget to smoke cigarettes around people that hate them "
yawn..."
Electronic Music Production, MP3's, Live Shows, Blogs and Community,Do you know my dad?
11/24/07
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pillowtalk
It depends on what your motivation to make music was in the first place. If your goal is to be original, keep at it! There are no right or wrong answers and if you keep at it you will eventually get somewhere. I think for some people the process is the goal and some want to make something to show other people. Just do whatever you want and if it keeps you engaged, then keep doing it.
11/24/07
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atum
11/24/07
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atum
gonna leave me hangin man?
11/24/07
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astroboy
why are you trying to be an artist? why's that your ultimate goal? i don't get it.
there's no need to justify your creativity.
all people who call themselves artists are pricks anyway.
i know what i'm talking about, because i've been studying arts for some years now...
11/24/07
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sclr
dach said: "there isn't any answers dude, just go make some tunes"
exactly. forget about it. have fun.
11/24/07
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daswesen
if you feel you lack something because you can't play an instrument, the easiest is to learn one, and see where it takes you.
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