My creative colleague
recently shared a list of ten creative rules that he
incorporates into his creative practice.
Here are mine. As Keith suggests: use them, bend them, break them, make your own.
1. Change the process to change the outcome
Change what you're doing in order to arrive at a different result.
It sounds very obvious, but in practice I've found that it takes a little
bit of discipline to remember to do.
Maybe it's your software. Maybe it's your ink. Maybe it's your desk.
Whatever it is, you gotta know when to give up on trying to get your tools to do something that they don't do very well.
3. Do it because it hasn't existed before
Bring something into the world that didn't exist before.
The scale upon which that is measured is subjective, but it's still a huge guiding rule for me.
4. Trust your taste
You know what's good and you know what you like.
5. Plant seeds, be a gardener
This is borrowed from Brian Eno.
Striving towards a specific outcome is often a frustrating and
fruitless journey. I have more fun when I try things and then
see where they lead without a destination in mind. As things
grow, prune and guide them, but let them find their way.
6. Juxtapose
It's an old creative strategy, but it's huge for me. Take two things that
don't really belong together and put them together.
7. Subvert expectations
Whatever the listener is expecting, do something else.
8. Kill the ego
Don't worry about whether the album will sell. Don't worry if you can
top the last performance. Don't think about any success.
Just make the thing.
9. An audience of zero to one is ok
It's OK to create something that doesn't really have a place
in the world. It's OK to create for yourself. See #3 and #8.
10. Do the work
Borrowing more from Brian Eno and Rick Rubin.
You gotta put in the time and effort. Inspiration is always out
there lurking, ready to hit you. But if you aren't working, it'll
never hit.
I've been thinking about density in my compositions
a lot. In particular, how do dense rhythms and
complex sound design come through on a PA system?
It's easy to get excited about a wild idea
in the studio. But will it translate well to
the audience during a performance? Will those
16th-note drum patterns sound good in a big room?
Complexity and density in a live setting can be
fine, but I also think some compositions are
better suited for headphones or at-home listening
rather than on a stage, on a PA, or in front of
an audience.
I'll be performing on the first evening, with
Sebastian Camens
on visuals.
Thrilled to be sharing the bill with these fine artists
over three days:
Carl Lostritto,
Catty Dan Zhang,
Char Stiles,
Chia Amisola,
Claire L Evans,
Codie,
crobo,
Daniel Temkin,
Deli Kuvveti,
Gábor Lázár,
Kara-Lis Coverdale,
Keith Fullerton Whitman,
Luisa Mei,
Lee Tusman,
Nathan Ho,
nnirror,
R Tyler,
Ruaridh Law,
Sebastian Camens,
Tom Hall,
tsrono,
William Fields,
Wolff Parkinson White
I deleted my Meta accounts. I don't really post anything any more, but
I feel compelled to have an outlet where I can write and share info.
I thought maybe I'd use Signal for that, but Signal isn't ubiquitous
and not everyone wants to use it. Signal is more of a direct-messaging
app anyway.
So here's a blog, and an RSS feed, that anybody can
get to.
