this is a wonderful topic. i had a composition teacher in college who was satisfied with my work as long as i regularly put in effort. it was less about quality and far more about promoting use of muscles. the point of it became that while inspiration is amazing, it won’t always be present…but… if you have the language and muscles prepared when inspiration strikes… well i think that can be called creative fluency. so you have your language, ability to use it regularly (are doing so) and then inspiration occurs and you’ll be learning how to regularly complete ideas in reasonable amounts of time. that was a powerful lesson learned and decades spent building into actual functional practice. balance and muscles.
some incorporated or related ideas:
- i have different voices i focus on. a few wildly different setups throughout the house:
piano in living room
rhodes/moogsource/drum machine/matrix mixer+fx/amp in back yoga/meditation/sun room
studio (has everything i need)
i write/explore/compose in each setting which can be routed via di (or the mic for downstairs on long cable run). i use laptop wirelessly control via network the upstairs studio desktop.
meditation is great. before after during. yes all and assuredly another whole set of threads/fora
making the time. creativity requires time. some other aspects of life will be compromised to some degree.
when i reach a wall i find i can limit approach, use directive device (read: implementation of rules or guidelines).
“practice instrument”
modular was a big composition stumbling block for me. i work best in modular concept by simply documenting experiments/patch explorations and then approaching years later as sample fodder for song construction but after i have lost most or all memory of patch. my best voices come from dedicated instruments and therein lays difficulty in modular context as an instrument suffers upon constant aspect change. fiddling= voice dilution. i found trouble with restraint regarding the availability of change to instrument. i’m not suggesting others have this problem but i had this problem and it has led me multiple times to get rid of the modular… that being said i love modular thought dearly and i do plan on a tiny modcan b series system for downstairs given the opportunity.
don’t overthink.
finishing as exercise is great even if “end result” isn’t pleasing.
objectivity. this can be hard to come by and is invaluable commodity. can be afforded by time between work on specific compositions. so it helps me to work on things concurrently. for instance: literally working on 5 albums right now not to mention various collaborations. very slowly but also quite clearly, with intent. it all helps to build so long as i don’t get overwhelmed (which i certainly do from time to time). if i find problems with progressing on one track, i move to another or take a break. i may not come back to that troubled track for weeks and that will help with decision making objectivity.
filling energy basket. some things will deplete my energy, so i have to find ways to get energy so that i have it for creation. finding personal sources/means to fill basket…can be as simple as sleep, eat, dream, love, talk, be silent, watch, experience, peruse, walk, run, breathe and LISTENx10
in the end for me it is dedication coupled with daily choice in action. every day is new opportunity. choices can and will be made. work towards what you want, be loving and forgiving of self…but pick the path when possible and allow refocusing towards said path when veering inevitably occurs. i’ve built my whole life (with beautiful help from my wife and parents) in order to be able to regularly create. i can’t state gratitude enough for this continued opportunity. there is nothing i would rather be doing than creating. no time better spent in life.
