Innovation & Inspiration for Musicians
For every instrument, there could be 1 million great players out there in the world, but who is actually creating anything? I’m not a music critic, but it doesn’t take a professional to asses that we are obsessed with duplicating and replicating what has come before us rather than creating anything new. I’m a loud proponent of “stealing and incorporating,” but I think the incorporating part gets overlooked and then we’re left with just stealing. After all, stealing and incorporating is a great way to achieve an attractive sound, but then you have to make it your sound. Are there any patterns of notes left for us to create or discover?
Where are the people to replace Miles Davis, Harry Chapin, Robert Plant, and Sting? Is it you? Let’s take a look at a small sample of innovators and truly examine what it is that made them great. You can throw a dart anywhere in history and make a case for an infinite amount of innovators, but since I’m an American I’ll start with Benjamin Franklin.
Franklin was primarily known for his early civic duties as a politician and as one of the founding fathers of the United States, but he was also an author, satirist, political theorist, printer, scientist, inventor, and a musician. He played the violin, guitar, and even invented an improved version of the harmonica. Schoenberg was a painter and music theorist. Schoenberg is well known for developing the twelve tone technique and coined the term “developing variation.” John Cage was a philosopher, poet, music theorist, artist and print maker. He also collected mushrooms.
What’s my point with these particular people? These people were not bound by what came before them and more importantly: they all had other interests. Sometimes inspiration for innovation comes from music, sometimes it does not. I love music and it will always be my first love, but I also draw inspiration from other areas of my life. Believe it or not, I draw inspiration from food, from painters, and pondering the differences between bottles of wine. I also enjoy baseball, travel, spirits and cigars. Sources for inspiration are endless. Religion and poetry have inspired thousands of songs but what about rock climbing, philosophy, pathology, art, landscape, or cooking? Maybe it’s time to think outside the box. Just because you are a musician or composer doesn’t mean all your inspiration needs to be from music. Why not be the first to draw inspiration from a new place? I would venture to guess that Franklin drew some political and poetic inspiration from music, and Cage drew musical inspiration from Schoenberg as well as “non conventional instruments.” Be sure to familiarize yourself with Cage’s 4’33” and the Prepared Piano.
Try adapting some of their techniques. Try thinking in a new direction and open your mind to be inspired. Think about the rhythm or sound cars make when they drive over a particular manhole cover. Think about the frequency or sound the air makes when you drive down the freeway and open your window a little or a lot. Think about waves crashing over rocks and the tempo at which the water retreats. Sounds can become music, but it’s up to you to organize the sounds and then create the music. Inspiration will lead to innovation.
It’s okay to think about 8 bars of that McCoy Tyner solo that has been resonating since the day you brought home your first Art Blakey record, just don’t stop there. If music is driving the creative forces inside of you, go with it! But allow your ears to incorporate sounds that don’t sound like everything or everyone else. American Music (Classical, Jazz, Rock, Folk) is wonderful and it contains some of the best gems in the history of music, but don’t stop there. Check out the music of Youssou N’Dour from Senegal (Africa), Trilok Gurtu from India, or Seu Jorge from Brazil. We should feel guilty that we need Peter Gabriel and a full length documentary (currently playing in art houses around the US to audiences of 6 or 7 people) about Youssou N’Dour before knowing his story. He is the highest selling African artist of all time, and we should have known about him before now because his story and music are compelling. If you are looking to create something innovative and inspiring, I would recommend expanding your listening beyond what’s currently being played on your ipod, terrestrial radio, or even iTunes. Be curious, explore, and try something new.
Inspired? Energized? Before you purchase the entire home studio tab from the Musician’s Friend and set out to record the next In-a-Gadda-da-Vita, stop and think about a few things. Has it already been done? If you are going to rerecord something, is it going to be better or different than the original? Why are you doing it? Think about creating a piece of art, and focus on the music rather than buying the latest version of pro tools and which pre amp to use.
Recording music and carving a space for yourself in 2009 is difficult, but I’m convinced a spot will be set aside for you if you have something to say. Before writing music and targeting a particular demographic or audience, stop and think about why you are writing what you are writing. What has inspired you to create the music you are creating? Stop and listen to your music before you release it to the world. Is it interesting or just merely what you are capable of compiling on your computer right now at this moment? Are you shooting from the heart or are you just trying to sell a few tunes to your email fan base?
Like everyone, I have a small project studio at my house. It’s used primarily for idea development and to record drum tracks, it doesn’t look pretty and while I’m extremely satisfied with the sounds, my gear is simple and adequate. I’ve never had any intentions of recording an entire CD here all by myself. Why? Let’s aim higher. Use the home studio to your advantage, if something doesn’t sound good, go back and listen to it again. But try to record something that has an impact, that has a message, or that has a meaning to you. Are you thinking like the greats? Are you venturing into something different? Home recording is a double edged sword. While a lot of crimes against music are being committed on a daily basis in home recording studios around the world, I think an equal number of innovators are now able to put their music into a tangible and listenable form.
Innovation is not lacking in 2009 but it does need to be nurtured, developed and discovered. Sometimes I think music today could really benefit from a few more months “in the can.” In other words, it’s recorded and finished, but not officially released yet. Why do I say this? I think artists and producers need more time to evaluate what it is they’ve created and give it a good honest listen. Spend more time creating something worthy rather than developing a business model or marketing strategy (business and marketing are vital, but separate from innovation and creation). Drive around with it, could this be better? Is my creation fun to listen to?
Jimmy Page and Robert didn’t create Stairway to Heaven on a desktop arranging virtual sound trying to get things to “sound real enough” to sell on CD Baby or iTunes. They used a cassette recorder to record idea’s and Plant used Spence’s Magic Arts in Celtic Britain as one of the sources for the lyrics to the song. How deep is your music? Separate yourself from the pack, do something different, shoot from the heart, believe in what you are doing, and go for it.
Note from the Author: I hand selected about 12 people from thousands of years of music history. It was not my intention to unveil a formula, or a secret code to inspiration by making a connection between 3 people and mentioning 8 more. This is a concept article meant for inspiration and was not intended to be used as a historic reference. My observations could be applied to any number of the hundreds of innovators I’ve ignored for the purpose of this article. I also had no intention to summarize the history of jazz by mentioning Art Blakey and McCoy Tyner any more than I intended to summarize the history of Rock n Roll by mentioning Stairway to Heaven. The entire 110 years of jazz is an art form all by itself and is comprised almost entirely of improvisation. The jazz era created some of the greatest innovators of all time and they should be studied individually, in groups, and in depth. Rock n Roll has a similar history and should be studied with equal intent. Be sure to read up on the recording of Stairway to Heaven simply because you should.
In addition, it is ridiculous to summarize an entire country by naming the best selling artist from Africa, an obscure percussionist from India, or a pop crossover artist from Brazil. The music and rhythms from all countries should be studied individually and in depth. I mentioned a few names that I’m familiar with, that may serve as a starting point. Hopefully this article inspired some exploration and curiosity in spite of the abridged name dropping.
About the author
Great article. Cage has been a favorite of mine for a long time, destroying conventional barriers. Inspiration can come from many things non music-related, just like Olivier Messiaen and his bird fascination, leading to the incredibly amazing Oiseaux Exotiques (exotic birds). Being a student in college, I do notice that alot of people are somewhat close-minded on topics without apparent relation to their craft and instruments. Brad Mehldau has great writing excerpts on his website on how architecture and German thinking, as an example, influenced his playing during the “Elegiac Cycle” period.
Great article, again!
Andree-Ann
8/11/2009
great post … thanks for sharing :)
8/11/2009
I´m a foreign musician in NYC, still trying to get back my lost voice.
Since I stopped listening commercial radio and TV, I started to hear the first echos of it. I think that I´m getting closer. Thanks for your advice.
8/13/2009
creat intention; to cause the modern musician to look elsewhere for inspiration and creative muses outside of iTunes,ProTools,and business marketing strategies. many of the ‘greats’ stole (yes, stole) from other musicians or other artist concepts. What defines original? One can not redefine the wheel. I think now it’s about what we want the wheel to do for us, maybe even what more we can do for it?
9/3/2009
This was a great post. I really appreciate the examples you use to prove that the most powerful minds of our time were successful because they had interests outside of their area of expertise. I also think it’s extremely important for musicians to understand this idea that in order to be successful in this over-saturated industry, we must be creative, and think outside the box for inspiration.
10/12/2009
Thanks for posting this great article. I think you said a lot of things that most people would be afraid to say. Classical musicians especially could benefit from taking to heart some of your ideas on how to create something unique in the 21st century.
You’re also right that 12 people from thousands of years of history can’t provide us with a formula for success, but their examples are very thought provoking.
10/19/2009
I think it is really important to remember to give music that time “in the can”. I am always eager to show people my projects before I would consider them a finished product and that is a bad habit.
10/20/2009
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