Our "trick" is in being obsessed with a vocal form that not too many other
folks care to pursue (harmonic overtone singing). My tip is not at all
unique but it has worked time and again for us (Spectral Voices) when we
sing together. The emphasis here is on the word "time" and sometimes
"again" comes into play: in the water tower (or whatever space we have
played) we simply sing and sing and sing, completely improvising in the
moment with whatever comes. The important part is to forget about the
microphone and DAT recorder that's rolling and attend only to the gathering
of voices - to become completely absorbed in the sound and moment.
The "trick" for me to losing this self-consciousness and forgetting about the
recording is simply time/practice (lots of it!) so that the sound and
listening in the moment becomes all-consuming to our mind. The other
important part is to keep the tape rolling so if something inspired does
come - it is documented. Sometimes we find themes/structures that we really
like and want to repeat them so we listen to the recording and then try to
capture the idea "again." Most often this is a distraction - at least
attempted so directly: even though we can reproduce the sounds, the idea and
the spirit of the moment is never fully created again in quite the same way,
and usually the result is not worthwhile. I suspect that the musical ideas
eventually get incorporated and used at the "right" times over the many
years that we've been singing together.
You can imagine the editing nightmare this process creates! "Coalescence" was distilled from about 130 hours of recordings!!! "Sky" (our new release) however, was the result of
one night's musings edited down - this was the only session in the water
tower that such sustained inspiration and musicality - I honestly don't know
where it came from as we were much less experienced singing with each other
at that time and nothing like that session has ever happened before or
since.
- Jim Cole: Spectral Spiral Music
Limit your choices. More gear will not help you be more creative. If you
get stuck, creatively, create artificial boundaries, perhaps by recording
an entire album with only one instrument, or by recklessly erasing all the
presets in all your gear, forcing you to start from scratch with only a few
sounds of your own design. Creativity comes from breaking boundaries, and
all boundaries are self-imposed, so once you create a limited vocabulary
you will find yourself starting to break out if it, expanding into new
techniques. Also, make decisions as you go, rather than defering all the
decisions until mixdown. It's better to make a mistake that forces you to
think, than it is to wander around aimlessly without any concrete vision.
These suggestions run opposite to the trends in modern studio gear, which
derive from companies trying to sell you stuff you don't need by instilling
the fantasy of total control. Total control is often counterproductive. You
don't need new gear to make new music!
- Robert Rich:Soundscape Productions / Amoeba Music
Writing wise, if I think a little musical element could be better, I sample
it, dissect it on the fly, and allow my computer to randomise the pieces...
often a combination of the original and the savaged soundbites is more
exciting than a mediocre riff by a shoddy keyboardist. :-) More generally,
I think attempting to "deal with" accidents is one of the most exciting
things about writing music.
- Michael Upton : (a.k.a. Jet Jaguar)
Add some imperfections... some noise or sloppiness. Not too much, but a
little adds a humanness that is perceived as "warm."
- Sara Ayers: ambient artist
The only tip I can really give is to just LISTEN!! There is no substitute
for listening, not only to your own work during composition but to the sound
and energy of other's. Also, get to know your equipment and really push it
to it's limits - it is better to use a small set up to maximum effect than
to use an extensive set up to minimal effect. Providing you have enough
technical knowlege of the equipment you use then the rest should follow.
- Maitreya: Ambient Artist @ Council of Nine
add in loud bursts of noise to deliberately annoy whoever's
mastering your tracks.
also learn to unquantise.
- aspen: www.involve.co.nz
Pay attention to how important your interface/interaction with the
instrument is to your creativity. Squeezing low-tech instruments to their
limit to create cool sounds is much more creatively engaging than making
the same cool sounds effortlessly with high-tech gear. If you feel
creatively dry, conceive a new interface, or impose a new set of
constraints, or do something else that effects a paradigm shift.
- Seofon: member/producer with Ambient Temple
of Imagination and The
Archipelago
There's a lot of little things... I would say, "Play first, think later." Try playing first, and then thinking later as a maxim is a good one.
- Jah Wobble:30 Hertz Records
This kind of goes back to an answer I gave a few months ago to a question.
My biggest "tip" would be take the time to listen to a song/recording
project once it's done. No, this isn't a tip to help you MAKE music, but
it's CERTAINLY a tip to help you know what to release for "public
consumption". Live with the piece/cd project over a period of time. Listen
to it at different times of the day. Listen to it when you're feeling
different emotions. But let it "grow" on you over time. This is probably
NOT very popular advice if you're trying to be a very prolific composer, but
I've found that, for me, it's been invaluable in helping me decide which
music to release, and which to throw away or work on some more.
- Jeff Pearce: ambient guitarist
Let the sound of what you're doing take on its own life.
And practise, practise, practise because practise makes perfect.
- Nigel Ayers: of Nocturnal Emissions
I generally make records for myself. If I can compare favorably one
of my own records to another I hold dear on my shelf, I am happy with
the results of my efforts - at the very least I can then pull my own
music off the same shelf and enjoy it. If others enjoy the records
as well, I am even happier, for music is a form of communication
rather than a ritual of solipsism, but before it can reach anyone
else the music must work for me. Plenty of my favorite records by
others have been met inexpicably with poor reviews and negligible
sales, but if they have been made with a purity of emotion and an
honesty of technique then at least the musicians behind them can
enjoy having made them.
On the other hand, a record made according
to the demands - stated or intuited - of others (managers, record
labels, published taste arbiters, DJs, or markets), will leave its
maker feeling empty, even if its unlikely success leaves his or her
pockets full. Music is one of the poorest career choices and all too
often results in the impoverishment or marginalization of its
practitioners, but the one reliable fulfillment in this realm is that
experienced while midwifing at the birth of the music inside oneself,
and it is that music, the music only one can make, that must be
obeyed. So perhaps I should say that the best advice I can offer is
to take no advice at all.
- Joshua Maremont: Thermal / Boxman [hako otoko] label
The one thing I always try
to remember, involves the mix down process. Whether you've studied the great
producers or have been fortunate enough to have worked with them, the one
thing you notice is their sense of 'spatial placement of sound." Not just a
matter of panning, but more a three dimensional way of "seeing" the mix. Some
sounds should come to the forefront of course, but have the courage to place
the riff that you may think is the greatest one you've ever written further
into the distance. Don't be afraid to strip everything away and rebuild sound
by sound. I often find it useful to try completely different sounds than the
one with which I composed the track. For instance, if a part was written
using a very percussive patch, try playing the track with that part playing a
patch with a long decay. Experiment and don't be a prisoner of your own ideas.
- Richard Bone: ambient /electronic artist
I always have to be inspired by sound, so my tip is ,when you
begin to compose, start with a sound or patch or loop that really gets your
creative juices flowing (towel optional) ..the rest of the piece usually
writes itself...at least for me..
- Dino Pacifici: Music-Language of the Spirit
Whenever I get "writers block" - feel things aren't going well -
I go to the local pub with a paper and pencil and just sit alone and think
for a while. I get lots of Ideas that way.
- lk: (audiochrom)
I can only speak for myself, but I find that i'm much happier with the music
if I let it go where it wants to go, vs. trying to make it into something
_I_ want. I know this sounds strange, but I really don't consider myself
much of a musician at all ... i'm more of a medium I guess, occasionally
doing the will of a muse (or some part of me I don't know much about). I
just let the music come out as it wants to.
- John Michael Zorko: AdAstra Records
