From: michael@NSMA.AriZonA.EdU (Michael S. Williams)
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
Subject: Re: Enhancing your creativity
Date: 18 Dec 92 20:35:08 GMT
Reply-To: michael@NSMA.AriZonA.EdU (Michael S. Williams)
Organization: Center for Neural Systems, Memory, and Aging

markp@noncomf.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca (Mark A. Pitcher) writes:
: ereidell@media.mit.edu (Evan A. Reidell) writes:
: 
: > > Well.... I'd argue that no instrument is going to "enhance" my
: > > creativity.
: > 
: > I found my creativity enhanced, or at least very inspired, by:
: > 
: > * my first drum machine (a Yamaha RX7)
: > * my first reverb/fx unit (an Alesis Midiverb III)
: > * the Digitech Vocalist VHM5
: > 
: > I could definitely see an improvement to the quality of my song sketches
: > after obtaining and using these creativity-enhancing _tools_.  Anyone
: > else see their output quality improve when they started using a new tool?
: 
: [...]
: 	But, although this is an interesting story, it doesn't
: coincide with my own feelings about "music" and how it should be
: made. To me, music should be done completely in the head, then
: painstakingly and accurately put in a more physical form. 
: [...]
: ------------------------------------------------------------------darkpark BBS
: markp@noncomf.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca (Mark A. Pitcher)
: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not to argue your opinion of "music", but rather to show a different POV,
I feel the opposite.  Sometimes when a song is completely thought out
in my head, it sometimes lacks a "natural" feel to it, whereas when
several of us get together, get ourselves in a particular mindset, and
start jamming out, we can come up with some pretty damn interesting
stuff (interesting to ourselves, at least :-) ), stuff that none of
us would have come up with by ourselves- yet it is still (obviously)
influenced by those ideas that each individual WOULD/COULD have come
up with on his/her own.

I guess that it's sort of the Gestalt of musicians: the summation
of the the musicians together is more powerful than that of the
musicians separately.

To me, getting together with other musicians is probably THE best
creativity enhancement around (though when by myself, a new synth/
effect CAN do a lot of the same, which in turn helps when we all
get back together).

Usually when we do something like this, we just start the tape rolling,
and listen to it later for the parts we all like, from which we
may be able to piece together a full song (or it already is a full song
without any futher moderation), or we find the raw components of
several songs (we usually come out of a jam session with ideas for
at least 2 or 3 new songs), or we may come out with absolutely nothing,
but we have a hell of a good time anyhow.

I guess there's basically two different schools of creation
(though I'm sure there are more):

1) Too many musicians spoil the auditory soup.
2) Two deadheads are better than one. 
	(not that we are influenced by the GDead or anything, 
	but it just sounded better).

and people probably just work better in one or the other.

All an opinion...

-Michael

<><-><--><---><----><-----><------><======><------><-----><----><---><--><-><>
Michael Williams, michael@nsma.arizona.edu
University of Arizona's Division of Neural Systems, Memory & Aging
344 Life Sciences Bldg, North
Tucson, AZ 85724
(602)626-2611
<><-><--><---><----><-----><------><======><------><-----><----><---><--><-><>
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth