Interesting approach to how you view sound creation there, @Igor. I rarely make my own sounds, and often just adjust the filters or envelopes of existing sounds to get closer to what I think I want. BUT, I do understand your attention to detail. I’m similar with my coding. Very meticulous, with insane attention to detail. This can be a good thing, but most of the time (for me) it can be negative, as it blocks the creative process when I get stuck on small details (that may change anyway) and I end up losing sight of what the final goal is (in my case to create software, and in yours to create music).
These days I tend to think of the “end goal” more. With my coding, the end goal is to have an application that does X, Y, or Z. It’s an iterative process, often requiring multiple passes to get where I want to be. I get started quickly, but the code isn’t always very clean. But, along the way I’m figuring out where I’m going, what will work and what won’t. At the end I can work to polish things up and make them better - which I definitely do because I'm a perfectionist.
In the past I used to disappear down an “analysis hole”, where I’d plan everything for a few weeks and then start coding. This worked sometimes, but other times I found that I’d missed an important detail, my solution just wasn’t right, or I didn’t quite understand what I wanted at the beginning. This often meant I wasted a lot of time. By getting in there and just doing “something” now, I find it becomes a lot more creative and I end up in places I may not have if I'd focused on the detail and planning too much at the start.
It’s possibly the same with music. One of my friends writes tracks and when he has an idea, he just gets in there and puts stuff together. He often says that the tracks at the end sound nothing like he’d originally planned because of things that had happened along the way, just through playing and throwing things together. I think it’s all a balance, and similar with coding. I need to know the general direction, but I don’t need to get everything perfect before I start.
Don’t let your attention to detail block those creative moments, as unless you’re a sound designer, then YOUR end goal is to create music, right? I think this links in a bit with your “not forcing” creativity. If you just throw things together a bit more and play around, then often things happen and more creative ideas come out of just playing around - meaning you end up in places that you’d never have reached otherwise.
I liked your not giving up on people comment a lot too. Sorry to call you out here, @Owarh, but I could’ve made that exact mistake with you (I'm glad I didn't).
A couple of weeks ago I made a joke about @Igor in another thread and you commented on it. I took your comment negatively, but decided not to respond and just see how you acted on the forum. I could easily have made a negative comment in response to you, but that would’ve ended up with the pair of us arguing over something stupid, when I didn't even know if you were being negative anyway (it's hard to tell through just text)!
Instead, I waited, and to be honest I’m glad I did, as here you are wishing me both me and my mother well. This is a perfect example of not jumping to conclusions about someone and not giving up on them based on a single exchange. I did the same with you too, Igor. Due to the way you act and the things you say, it can be a bit of a shock at first. But, as we’ve had more interactions I’ve just had more fun. There have been moments where I’ve said FFS out loud but found myself laughing. It’s all good stuff.
I just need to learn to apply this to my daughter’s mother. I’m a single dad, so applying the lessons above is the true test!
And yes, I did read your whole post, @Igor. I liked the Arvo Part track a lot too.
