vinpous wrote:

Sure, what's his or her email address/phone number? And who shall I tell referred me his/her way?

Author of the highly-suspect "Testimony."

I'll shoot him an email tomorrow. I'm sure he'll be pleased.

Jim Wood wrote:

Tell that to Volkov.

Sure, what's his or her email address/phone number? And who shall I tell referred me his/her way?

Author of the highly-suspect "Testimony."

Then again, it might be a fool's errand to try to find or create meaning.

Well it seems we are hard-wired to find meaning. IMO the fool's errand is rather to believe that the meaning you created gets across (especially with music). There's an emitter and a recipient but finding meaning is a creative process, it's not just about receiving.

Devieus wrote:

It can generate emotion, but not necessarily the one the artist intended; certain linkin park songs make me happy because the sounds are nice, even if the lyrics are almost always depressing emo shit.

This is it precisely. It can stimulate feelings in receivers, but not necessarily the same feeling in ALL receivers nor what the artist was attempting to portray. Words assist this, as words are a far more communicative.

Yet the use of words offers no guarantee. I like to think that sometimes (as in "extremely rarely" - depending on emitter/recipient) music is more accurate.

Etheross wrote:

But it can convey emotion, and that might be meaning enough.

It can generate emotion, but not necessarily the one the artist intended; certain linkin park songs make me happy because the sounds are nice, even if the lyrics are almost always depressing emo shit.

This is it precisely. It can stimulate feelings in receivers, but not necessarily the same feeling in ALL receivers nor what the artist was attempting to portray. Words assist this, as words are a far more communicative.

vinpous wrote:

Unless you work with words, music is incapable of transmitting a message or meaning.

Tell that to Volkov.

Sure, what's his or her email address/phone number? And who shall I tell referred me his/her way?

Unless you work with words, music is incapable of transmitting a message or meaning.

Tell that to Volkov.

vinpous wrote:

Unless you work with words, music is incapable of transmitting a message or meaning.

But it can convey emotion, and that might be meaning enough.

It can generate emotion, but not necessarily the one the artist intended; certain linkin park songs make me happy because the sounds are nice, even if the lyrics are almost always depressing emo shit.

Unless you work with words, music is incapable of transmitting a message or meaning.

But it can convey emotion, and that might be meaning enough.

Inspiration for me is derived from emotion and external input. Depending on style it may be a matter of getting into the right head state first before laying down a track.

If you write dance music it is not ideal for you to be mopey.
If you write sad music it doesn't help to be happy.
If you just heard the best track you have ever heard and you seek to emulate that your emotional state will probably allow it.

External input might be learning a new way of doing things or a new style. It could be a new instrument or a new chord. It could be playing a few bars and getting an idea... These things can cause our emotional state to line up and create a space for intuition and creativity to work.

Some of the best technical works I have created never got released cause they did nothing for me.. and at the end of the day, I am seeking to be inspired.

thats my 2 cents.

As far as inspiration goes, I like to play. If you aren't having fun then you are doing it wrong. Often I will hear a short musical phrase that I like, stop the music, and then dissect what I just heard in as many ways as possible: chop it up, add or remove notes, play it slower or faster, in a different key, distort it until it's unrecognizable and stands on its own.

Everything is stolen, thoughts aren't original, they are just reinterpreted reflections of each other, so don't be afraid to draw ideas from other artists you like. Study music theory until you can listen to a song you like and articulate precisely what you enjoy about it. A lot of people want to sound like "this band" or "that artist," I think it's more beneficial to sound like "that one part of that one song that sounds amazing." If you like a certain song, try to listen to until it hits the point that speaks to you the most. Try to figure out exactly what it is you like about that one part and try to recreate it (for study purposes). I learned a lot about what appeals to me as a composer by writing out guitar tabs for my favorite bands.

Draw inspiration for everything, as in literally everything. I've written two songs inspired by specific farts I produced this month. Are the songs good? It doesn't matter, I had fun and I learned from it. Play and write music in your head everyday until you can't stop it from happening. Hear music in everything. This will drive you insane but will make you a better artist in the end. Be prolific, instead of spending a week or a month on a song, spend 2 hours or less, make song "sketches." Artists sketch and make gesture drawings / figure drawings, game designers participate in 2-3 day game jams, it is a universally known concept that doing something quick and often will build up your skill set faster than anything.

That's all I can think of from the top of my head, hope it helps! Obviously my advice doesn't apply to everyone, but it's worked for me so far .

how do you guys get inspired? most times, i feel incapable of making music that is "about" anything, and just shoot for whatever sounds good to my ears. makes me feel like a bit of a hack. i can try and place meaning on the tunes after the fact, but that's not really what i'm after.

Funny, what I like most about making music is precisely that it allows me to express things I wouldn't know how to say.