Make a box so you can play outside it

by rosiehardy

Creativity. It’s all about, you know, like FREEDOM, Maaaaaan.

Have you ever sat there, ready to just dive in creatively, and you end up staring at your computer screen/writing pad, or with your instrument limp in your hands, and nothing happens?  You’ve got Tabula Rasa – the blank slate – you can do whatever you want.  What a terror!

To get the juices flowing, I might take a look at the gear – maybe I turn on my synth to get some ideas flowing. Holy crap, I’ve got 6 kazillion patches – too much to choose from! Scroll, audition, scroll, audition (…six hours later… still no music written).  I’m looking for a fence but all there is is horizon.

Oh, the oppressive quality of limitless options. In Space, there is no ‘up’.

Or maybe, you don’t get locked into the above, but you go and create and boy, it’s the same old song and dance – you are working from your comfort zone. You are boring yourself.

Maybe it’s time to build yourself a nice little sandbox!

If you prepare your for your creative work by setting some limitations, you will find that it can give you a sense of definition, direction.  You start to make consistent decisions from an anchored point, and you are then able to work more efficiently and with flow. Also, you are ‘free’ to color outside the lines, because you know where the lines are – and so, surprisingly, limitations help you create work that is fresher!

A studio is an absolute labyrinth of possibilities – this is why records take so long to make because there are millions of permutations of things you can do. The most useful thing you can do is to get rid of some of those options before you start.

Brian Eno said that, the super-genius that he is.  He also goes on to say:

One of my mottoes is that if you want to get unusual results, work fast and work cheap, because there’s more of a chance that you’ll get somewhere that nobody else did. Nearly always, the effect of spending a lot of money is to make things more normal.

Cut it out!

Before you start working, try and think of a bunch of things you are NOT going to use, and ways of working you will NOT fall back on. The further you move from your comfort zone, the more unusual result you will get, or, the more CREATIVE a result you’ll get. You are going to force yourself to think interesting.

Parameterize!

Think of some unusual restrictions to put on yourself. This is one of the most interesting aspects of creative collaborations, especially in film music; it presents it’s own set of limitations – you are creating work that supports already created work, within the framework of the story, and the directors vision. I also love working with directors who have no, or only a limited knowledge of music. They will suggest things you would never have thought of on your own, maybe even crazy ideas. Run with it! And if you are working alone, on your own project, try and think of some things you can box yourself in with. Get rid of some of your options. Don’t use stuff you know will result in the ’same old sound’.

Check your options at the door – you are going to use ONLY a woodwind section, one synth patch, accordion, and a delay. Now go make an awesome film score. Think that sounds crazy? Check out the work Giacchino did for ‘Lost’ – his palette: small string section, trombones, and a harp. Pretty unique, effective, and memorable score, right? Or how about the brilliant choice to have Neil Young score ‘Dead Man’ with just an electric guitar, improvised live while watching the film.

Commit!

Be courageous! Print that effect! Lay down that track and stick to it! See if you can go with an open “It works – use it” mentality. Having pre-determined strategy for what you are ‘allowed’ to do will help your decision making tremendously. Does it fit within the framework you created? Good – do it!

Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.

- Miyamoto Musashi, the Dokkodo

Make it about your creativity and intellect, not about the gear. Avoid getting too many samplers, sequencers, plugins, synths, toys, gizmos and gadgets. Avoid the short-lived drug addicted high of buying new gear for it’s own sake, and using that as an excuse to keep you from being creative. Don’t get stuck in software learning curves instead of being creative. Too much gear can muck up your sound and serve only to make you sound like the latest thing – ‘hollywoodizing’ your sound.

These examples are mostly related in terms of music, but they apply to ALL creative fields, esp. filmmaking which is particularly subject to Option Overload (though usually constrained by budget). See how your options, techno-lust and safe-working-methods might be holding you back from being your creative best.

Cut a vital connection!

Do you have any cool ways of working? Let’s hear about them!