Music

[sathor]

I wrote something really amazing over the weekend. Actually, the whole weekend was pretty amazing.

The song is here http://www.soundcloud.com/unmanifest/scars

Which is really classic trance-like in the way it mood shifts and rises and falls, but honestly, this is the best thing I've ever written. I've never written something that was produced so well (the low end might be a tad loud and a tad muddy, but it's tolerable on monitors and sounds perfect in headphones.) It sounds professional. I can only hope that such a trend continues because it might mean a professional album eventually, which might mean my music actually starts spreading around. I just want people to listen to it, to enjoy it as much as I do making it...seems like that end has always escaped me, however. There's always been a handful of people who did, here and there...but never any real lasting fans.

Friday night I was supposed to go out on Tionesta dam fishing but after work I opted to pass out for two hours instead. A couple hours after I woke up, Matt (a new Matt, not the old one) asked me to come down and drink with him at his place. It was pretty much awesome. I haven't had deep conversation like that in YEARS. I got VERY intoxicated which is a sign I was having a really good time, but I paid for it dearly the next day. Sometimes I guess I have to break the rules a little, though...and if I hadn't of done what I did that night, I have a feeling the music would have never came out of me.

Just for back story, I haven't written anything meaningful in over a year. The longest slump of my life. For "Scars" to come out of that feels pretty good, but then again, if I have to spend a whole year of nothing musically to make ONE good track, I'll never be published or even known on a small time level.

I sent a submission request to di.fm - I doubt I'll get a response since they are incredibly specific about their genres and what they contain (electronic music snobs, I guess) but it's alright. There's not a lot of room for experimentation in the world of consumer music...you have to really break out on your own if your art is different, or have a lot of money to spend.

Comments

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, that's quite impressive! Seems like it was worth the wait, and the good talk with your friend probably did indeed help bring it through.

Every musician, every writer, every artist goes through periods of creative block, zero inspiration, 'bleh' - and yeah, sometimes such periods drag on for quite a while. They're not permanent, though; creativity naturally goes through cycles. And as you've observed, it needs to be fed and encouraged by that which stimulates fresh thought and emotion.

Everyone I know who does electronic music has self-published, which apparently doesn't cost all that much, and after that, success seems to depend on promotion. A Youtube channel and 'professional' Facebook account don't require a lot of money, and are excellent tools for expanding your fan-base.

Here's what I wrote to an artist friend just the other day:

"The old saying about "don't quit your day-job" cuts both ways: if the day-job pays well, it enables one to do one's art freely, without having to think about marketing. Marketing is a huge pain in the ass, even if one has an agent-manager to make all the arrangements - if one doesn't, it's a full-time job all by itself. Nobody can work two full-time jobs and still have any 'spoons' left for art and family."

So to you, I say: just make the music, and get it out there where it can be heard. If commercial success happens, it happens; your concern is just to make the kind of music that you yourself want to listen to, as well as you can make it.

*hugsgrins* Nice work, young Jedi. I'm looking forward to hearing the next piece on the album.

[sathor.livejournal.com]

I guess I didn't think you would enjoy it! I apologize for the long wait on reply, too - I've been pretty exhausted/busy and just haven't gotten around to writing (now I know how you feel)

I was really psyched about this song, and a number of people have liked it, although strangely enough, most of the places I post to often (an audio-software pirate forum and a couple good ears I'm close with) didn't respond as favorably. One of my artist friends actually said it agitated him and he didn't appreciate it (granted he has liked a lot of stuff that /I/ haven't, but this seems to happen all the time...it's impossible to please everyone.) I've had much more terrible pieces get an incredible response on the forum, this one hasn't gotten any - it's very strange.

I still feel like it's one of the best tracks I've put together, but it's lost a bit of its luster from the negative feedback - I suppose that's just how it goes. My biggest problems are transitions and keeping things cohesive...and while I have my own "style" of doing things and this song definitely seems to embody that...it would be nice to figure out how to get my creativity to be a bit more conventional.

I think your words to your artist friend are pretty accurate...I think they also reflect why modern music has gone the way of smoke and mirrors. It's a lot easier to take someone who has some performance ability and is nice to look at, give them the best producers and writers, and pay for all the promotion...than it is to find an artist who produces good music relatively consistently...can meet all the promotional demands of a major label...can tour...and still write albums. S'why I feel like most of the really good artists aren't all that prolific (an album every few years) and they don't spend all of their time touring, either.

Yeah, writer's block is definitely a phasing thing, much like anything else in our lives (ups and downs and around and around.) The trick is (I think), even though I still struggle with doing it all the time, is to try to write and practice daily. That way when you're in the right phase, things might just come together. If you write sporadically, there might be days you miss where you would've been "hot" and days you put something together that's not quite as good as it would have been otherwise.

Have no idea when I'll have another piece together - not much good coming out of me currently - but I will keep at it. Scars definitely put me back on the right track, and I'm practicing guitar much more frequently as a result (and for whatever reason, that's much more inspirational than practicing keys every day.)

-hugs- Namaste :)

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

I do like it - it reminds me a little of talkingfox's 2DL and some of tchjdaedn's compositions. The lack of response you've seen might be a reflection of the ghost-town emptiness of Livejournal in summertime, rather than a negative reaction.

So true; popular music is largely a 'manufactured product' these days. There's still good music being created in the indie fringes, though.

Ack, my house is full of people again; gotta go. *hugs*