Some thoughts on the creative process.

My creative process happens through improvisation first. I will experiment with chord progressions and melodic ideas. When I find material that I find interesting I begin to develop those ideas through a number of different composition techniques. After that comes a planning stage; style, duration, time signature/s, form, instrumentation, key relationships, motive manipulation, theme distribution throughout the form, etc. Before I do any actual writing I already have a good picture of the piece in my mind. I use graph paper to plot out the whole piece. In my pieces I use a lot of prime numbers, and Fibonacci relationships within the overall structure. The "download" comes when I start the writing process. I am never set on the picture I have in mind, and often find that first ideas become shaped by an external force passing through me.

Recently I pulled out my Chapman Stick and have been relearning the instrument. After 40+ years I burned out on the guitar several years ago, and found that, because of performance and playing the same pieces everyday, I was just going through the motions with no real feeling coming through. Through this relearning process on the Stick I’m finding a new and different perspective from what I had 6 months ago. I will say that having the theoretical knowledge opens up a whole new universe of musical ideas. I tend to keep away from mainstream formulas and patterns and I’m always looking for a new dictionary. At the same time this becomes a hindrance since, as I have come to learn, searching for and trying to find something just pushes the discovery away.

This is a video of a talk I gave about the Stick back in 2007. Due to teaching and Classical Guitar performances it was set aside.

 
Musicinventor said:
My creative process happens through improvisation first. I will experiment with chord progressions and melodic ideas. When I find material that I find interesting I begin to develop those ideas through a number of different composition techniques. After that comes a planning stage; style, duration, time signature/s, form, instrumentation, key relationships, motive manipulation, theme distribution throughout the form, etc.
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That's good to have a finely honed creative system which you can rely on. Order comes out of chaos in my case, I have to tame wild thoughts and feelings and just whittle down things into something more tangible. Working with words seems easiest, drawing comes a close second, and playing keyboards a distant third, but it is the latter which interests me most these days. I found writing too intense, and I got bored of a drawing I was intending to do recently. What I love about the keys is that it's all laid out for you to discover, all those latent notes. And there's plenty of room for individual expression. I am interested in how I get into trance like states when drawing or jamming however. It's only happened on the odd occasion but it's been duly noted as unusual for me. It happened once when I was writing in my journal too, happened years ago, about 2006; I wrote a poem, about 40 lines in total, all in one fell swoop with no corrections or interruptions. It was a decent poem called "Sweet Lament". I'd just gone through a break up and had my eye on a new girl, naive times for me. Anyway nothing but one poem came of it, and I kinda matured slowly through what was a difficult time in my life. I think I was channelling something that evening when I was writing. I needed a bit of help, and my subconscious came along to help me out.
 
Musicinventor said:
My creative process happens through improvisation first. I will experiment with chord progressions and melodic ideas. When I find material that I find interesting I begin to develop those ideas through a number of different composition techniques. After that comes a planning stage; style, duration, time signature/s, form, instrumentation, key relationships, motive manipulation, theme distribution throughout the form, etc. Before I do any actual writing I already have a good picture of the piece in my mind. I use graph paper to plot out the whole piece. In my pieces I use a lot of prime numbers, and Fibonacci relationships within the overall structure. The "download" comes when I start the writing process. I am never set on the picture I have in mind, and often find that first ideas become shaped by an external force passing through me.
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Sounds like you have a pretty cool routine, it’s all about what works for us in the end.

I must admit my process varies massively … generally I will go through preset patches in a synth or virtual instrument until I find something that resonates, then I will tweak that sound and build from there. if I am paying guitar it’s very different, I usually just start playing and jam until I find a riff I like. When playing guitar I tend to write in different time signatures, lots of 7/8 9/8 etc but I don’t count it until I have the riff or sequence I like. Then I’ll record it and figure out what signature I’m in and what tempo and key. In nothing stances I have no expectations as to where the song is going I just play around until I find something I like. So it’s a combination of the sound texture, rhythm and key that just seems to speak to me. Other times I’ll sing a melody or write poetry or lyrics and then write a phrase to go with it. in the first or second instance I’ll usually just free form vocal melodies over whatever it is I have created and other times I’ll refer to some poetry I have already written and fit that into the melody. I have given up trying to have a routine with music, I just do what feels right at the time. I am lucky that I have both keyboard and guitar skills .. I also have a bass and my mate has an electronic drum kit so we jam on that too . I don’t feel as If I am highly skilled in any of these instruments but I think the combination allows me to create imo interesting songs that vary wilding from prog, metal, rock, electronic, world and even pop and acoustic ballads. I think its freeing to be able to create whatever you want and feel without having the expectations .. just let it flow and see what comes out. I wish I had that attitude when I was younger and doing music professionally, but we live and learn right!,

wow you definitely have some great skills there musicinventor! Love the vid. I have a great plugin from UVI called quadra that has a chapman stick in it .. such a cool sound, I’ve hooked it up to my midi guitar and had a lot of fun.. in fact thinking about how I create, I think for me it’s doing things that are not supposed too .. like playing a Chapman stick on a midi pick up guitar, or using a an electronic drum kit as a synth etc … and with sampling these days I can literally record anything and play it as an instrument, it’s such a fun way to get unique sounds. In the end it’s all about expression, not everyone is going to resonate with what you make and that’s fine, the ones that do will get something out of it and we as the creators will certainly too so it’s a win win…

keep creating my friends, and I look forward to hearing your creations!
 
Plenty of food for thought listening to Alan Moore, creator of the "V for Vendetta", "From Hell" and "Watchmen" graphic novels, inspiring countless film makers. Apparently he disapproved of casting Johnny Depp for the role of the inspector in "From Hell" the movie adaptation, because he wasn't grizzled enough to have lived that character's life. Most of the time he criticises the directors who take on his stories, but I think those film adaptations are actually good movies. If he'd been younger, I think Lance Henriksen would have been an ideal candidate for the role of the inspector, but it's all academic now.

He's a real English Original, a man who has played the game his way and preserved his creative integrity throughout his illustrious career. Here I share a 2 part interview with him where he goes into the creative process and how it manifests for him. He has an acute eye for detail, it's what marks him out in our fairly conformist UK culture. He knew he was different, probably at an early age, and he made that trait work in his favour as a creative figure. He's also a great raconteur, I'm enjoying listening to this interview now. Enjoy!:cool2:


 
Continuing the ideas of Alan Moore, here's a 2 part How To Academy interview from earlier this year. He delves into his creative process here again, and some pleasing musings on consciousness and the meaning crisis. What is reality? How do you come to know it, and how can you verify what you believe? He also takes religion to task in his usual offhand way. After listening to Moore I almost always feel inspired to do something, anything. He's like a creative alarm clock, awakening slumbering souls, giving them the tools to build their own futures. He's one of the greatest living British Artists for sure. He makes mention of Blake's golden quote, which I will share here;

"I must devise my own system, or be enslaved by another's".

Wise words indeed. He's kinda like a White Shaman actually, without any poncy airs and graces, and with a healthy ego. He's a One Man Revolution, and he does it by always strengthening and empowering the individual. I wish he was better known outside of cult circles and film/comics buffs. Listening to him makes me think of the psychogeography of Olde Britain. I noticed on an early jaunt around London back in 1994 that you can take a few side streets, walk a mile or two, and suddenly the landscape changes, and you could be in another world and time. It hit me on one occasion in particular, it felt like my soul was moved by experiencing olden age architecture. I was lost somewhere in the East End, feeling like Oliver Twist!:lol:

Art is literally everywhere, you just have to take the moment to stop and look. Britain is an ancient and benighted land nowadays, and we'd do well to ponder the 6d Thought Almanac that is the crop circle phenomenon. We live on a haunted land, and the future could very well be bringing us some shocks as well. It doesn't keep me awake at night, but it's at the back of my mind nevertheless. Moore senses the chaos and explores it endlessly, as indeed most of us on here do too, struggling to see the patterns in the chaos. That should be a priority in all decent artistic enterprise I think. Identifying the patterns, sensing the dynamics, seeing the signal amongst the noise. And of course understanding the objectives and motivations. Alan Moore gives me plenty to ponder this Sunday morning. Seeing reality as it actually is is the final destination, but with Moore at least you know you're not walking the road alone.


 
SlipNet said:
"I must devise my own system, or be enslaved by another's".
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If you’re searching for a means to do this, I highly recommend; “The Schillinger System of Musical Composition". After some time studying from this text, it became apparent, just how stifling the commonly used Western musical system actually is. There is a wealth of techniques, and procedures, to inspire anyone on their worst day. The included link is a pdf of the entire two volume text. If there are any questions, please, do not hesitate to ask!

 
As an example of an intelligent response to seeing the insanity of our world, I present a concise interview with the always interesting Frank Zappa. He was born during WW2, and lived through the tumultuous decades that followed. He's what I'd call an outlier; one who stalks the very edge of what's knowable in our culture. He was never a man who was going to trouble the mainstream, and thank goodness for that! And he certainly had no patience for fools either. We can learn from people like Zappa, how to preserve our sanity in in an insane world, and to pick our battles wisely, and always act strategically. A good listen this vid, I hope you enjoy.

Creatively I am just a hobbyist, but always in either my writing, painting or music I want to reflect what is real in the human experience. And as a hobbyist I have no censor, which is a great relief. I can just let rip with whatever is on my mind. I have no-one to please but myself, obviously that dynamic shifts when you attract an audience, there are certain expectations which must then be met in most cases. It's for this reason that I'm glad I just potter about in my own little hobbyist trip, no external pressures involved. There are few who engaged with the system as effectively as Zappa.

 
Musicinventor said:
A couple of interesting tidbits concerning Frank…


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Inside The LC: The Strange but Mostly True Story of Laurel Canyon and the Birth of the Hippie Generation: Part I

“There’s something happening here What it is ain’t exactly clear” Join me now, if you have the time, as we take a stroll down memory lane to a time nearly four-and-a-half decades ago –…
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Thanks for sharing; I have Dave McGowan's book "Weird scenes within the Canyon", it's the condensation of a good 3 years worth of articles from his website. I've read it but I've forgotten the bits on Zappa. I'm not sure about McGowan as a writer though, he plays it fast and loose with the facts for me, and his info on The Doors for example lacked insight and nuance. Perhaps I'll give it another once over, see what nuggets of info I can glean.
 
Just found this interesting feature on the inimitable genius, Jimi Hendrix. Audio is a bit rough, but it's worth watching.

 
Thanks for sharing your creative process; enjoy reading your colourfully eloquent posts, they do a good job at conveying your rich yet maybe a tad chaotic inner world (I can relate to some extent). So.. by that, I mean to 'slip' in (no pun intended ;) my understanding of where 'creativity' may originate, as in it is likely the chaotic (not order) to use a JBP analogy.

In my experience I have found it difficult to attach a process or framework to creativity. She (or at least A form of her) is a wild beast when manifesting in me, possibly because of my impulsive and somewhat primal nature (or I guess you could say my failing/ lack of discipline in the face of the passions as the Stoics defined them). By that I mean I get this storm or flurry of connections created in my mind, and those connections vary wildly and can be completely unrelated, from a snapshot memory of an image I've encountered on a walk, to that of a conversation I've had, to that of a feeling from a different moment, like melding of sensory activity I've experienced and absorbed. But they do in the end bring about new ideas, an open and creative mindset of sorts.

From what I can tell I'm yet to define a creative process for myself; creativity seems very elusive to me, impossible to capture and replicate. What seems to work though, what encourages it to happen, is a complete disconnect or non-thinking of the creative task I've set myself, so as to come back to it with a fresh perspective untainted by expectation and rigid left brain focus.

A couple of takes on the topic that resonate with me are Ethan Hawkes beautifully unpretentious TED talk and John Cleese's oldie but goldie lecture-style prez below:





*John Cleese has also several other interesting chats on creativity in recent conversations with Ian McGilchrist which you can easily find if you do a search.

Oh I was going to mention you have a fellow Zappa fan here, in terms of appreciating and understanding the music and the person/ outlook, in @Ben from what I remember
 
Rick Beato has recently interviewed rock producer and all round guitar genius Brendan O'Brien. If you came of age in the early 90's like me, well then those classic modern rock records you know and love were recorded and produced by this guy. He worked with literally everyone! I love Beato's channel, for anyone interested in the musical craft his interview playlist is an invaluable resource. This is a long form discussion, so watch in small chunks if you're interested.

 
Master craftsman John Frusciante is a rarity, in that he enjoys a dual career; As guitarist in The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and as a solo artist of great repute. Between around 2004-10 he was like some kind of machine, creating a plethora of solo records which featured many genres and different instrumentation. This is a rare chance to get a closer look at his thoughts on the creative process. Like many musicians, he rejects the "my brain done it" idea, and kind of hints that an artist is one kind of channeler of cosmic frequencies. I tend to think "ideas" of an artistic nature can be formed in higher densities and then funnelled down into the ether to be caught and picked up by a good human receptive antenna. Essential viewing for fans of his work.

 
The 1968 series The Prisoner is a particular favourite of mine. Below I provide a link to a very good 1977 discussion with its creator and chief protagonist Patrick McGoohan. You don't get intelligent TV like this too often today.

 
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