Electronic Music 411 - Re-Kindling a Sound

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Re-Kindling a Sound

StoreTags: diatribe, starting over

Author: Bantam on February 05 2008

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People who enjoyed reading this: flies, jogn, daswesen, celibacyclub, Mesothelioma, Roshi, delete, sAMsKi, Unknownforce, soft, bla, subset, 11t1, breakscience, mlbot, license, monty

--> After a long hiatus I've made a concerted effort to start making music again. I've been ill for quite a while and it's been like an all-enveloping blanket; smothering the tiny spark of creativity that once burned hot.

A change occured a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't an epiphany or a sudden burst of inspiration - just a growing feeling that I needed to break out of the mental shell I'd made for myself. I think most people have an innate desire to create and I found that despite bottling it up for years, I still needed to make music.

I set about re-installing my old music software and finding my gear and within a day or so I was twiddling about with some old loops I'd found on my hard-drive.

My problem now is my lack of focus - an absence of process and design; not knowing where to go with my music.

They say it's all about the journey. I'd agree with that sentiment, but sometimes I feel that having a destination (or failing that a sat-nav) gives you a smoother ride.

As it is I'm chipping away at a rockface, hoping to get a tiny nugget of gold or a little semi-precious gemstone that'll fire something up inside my head.

I'm happy though. Despite my lack of musical direction, I feel like I have a personal direction. Something on which to focus my energies. And having fun with Reaktor destroying my tiny brain again.

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Re-Kindling a Sound (Tags: diatribe, starting over)

Comments

02/05/08 + flies

no focus, eh? Do you know what you want it to sound like? Having clear goals (e.g. make enough music to fill a 3" CD demo) will make finding focus easier.

Recent blogs: vector granulator, no thanks, grade school

02/05/08 + celibacyclub

i thought this said re-killing a sound

i go through phases of productivity and experimentation, these phases build off eachother i think.

Recent blogs: em411 vimeo group, cc's monome, quixit in irc soon

02/05/08 + Bantam

Yeah, I'm not really worried about a lack of focus at the minute. I'm just excited to be making em again.

I'm sure the structure will come over time.

Recent blogs: Re-Kindling a Sound

02/05/08 + Mesothelioma

I've never actually had much "focus" per se. I just twiddle on a synth and let the sounds take me where my confused little mind is convinced the sounds want to go.

Recent blogs: Concept Album, Michiganders?, Reaktor Pathces

02/06/08 + sAMsKi

3 cheers for bantam! long term illness sucks! glad you have worked through it to this point. keep it up, focus or no focus

Recent blogs: ATP - spare ticket, again..., chuffed to bits..., buy my house

02/06/08 + Unknownforce

long time no see - Get the loops out!
going off at a tangent - have you always lived in Manchester?!

Recent blogs: Cable complaint, Ever bumped into an old friend from school?, Stfu photos - finally!

02/06/08 + Bantam

Mesothelioma - I'm having great fun twiddling. With a bit of luck I'll something will come from it, even if it's an EP of four bar loops.

sAMsKi - Thanks a lot.

Unknownforce - Hey Uf! I moved in with my girlfriend about a year ago. Instead of living in Derby, I now live in an episode of Shameless.

Recent blogs: Re-Kindling a Sound

02/06/08 + soft

Bantam!! good to see you back in em41land.

where in manchester are you living?

also check out the hippocamp boards link .... you might be interested in the monthly night we put on at the greenrooms and other EM related gigs/stuffs/etc.

Recent blogs: stranded in berlin!!, STFU arrangements Heidelberg, i joined the darkside

02/06/08 + Bantam

I'm over in Ashton, soft. It's a bit out in the sticks but it's pretty easy getting into central Manchester.

The Greenroom stuff looks great. I'll definitely have to try and come down. Getting out of the house a bit more is something else that I need to do. Thanks for the heads up.

Recent blogs: Re-Kindling a Sound

02/06/08 + mlbot

glad yer better!

Sometimes I just try to copy someone else. If I'm feeling adventurous, I try to copy someone unexpected and totally out of my genre. I usually get boredand make enough mistakes that I find I am making a totally different sound altogether... but the sound is still new to me.

Recent blogs: Dumb Machine LP - Maces of Disruption, astroid vs jdg, Pies for jdg

02/06/08 + Spark

Me too.

A few weeks ago it was like something woke me back up. And was like "hey man, details details details"

Recent blogs: Sons Grave + Web Overhaul., Blow On It, Fun

02/06/08 + tantan

copying other people, even completely literally at first, is a great way to get started on something fresh. I second and third that idea.

Recent blogs: I hate being a manager, Palin Drome, LOL @ Fashion

02/06/08 + thehydrax

I suggest no destination. No goals, no outcomes. Just create for the sake of it and see what happens, this is a nice liberating way to work

Recent blogs: quitting EM, take me away fast!, Australia is officially Sorry

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