Tag Archives: creativity

Thursday 19th April 2012 – Self-Sufficiency and Honesty in Your Work

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Bands have always been an interesting endeavour for me. However, I have never been drunk with the delusions that musicians in bands often get; the chance of making money in a band is very slim, especially if you want it to support you. For this reason, bands have always been something to forward my musical skill, have fun with and develop ideas with. Of course, that isn’t to say I never wanted to take things further; I would still put the work in to take things as far as they would go but I think the realisation about how things really work should be central.

It seems that most of the time bands never work out because there are just too many people involved. Without the threat of pulling income away, people shy away from accountability. Also, with bands being non-earners for extended periods, people will always put their money earners first, along with their security. People will also tell you all about how much they are looking forward to being creative and working with a band but when it comes down to action, the rest of their lives influence them more and all of a sudden they are constantly taking the inferior easy option and/or being unreliable. All fair enough really, we all need to eat and have roofs over our heads!

Anyway, for these reasons I have actually started work on a new project, which will go ahead at a leisurely pace but will be an exploration of basic sound and creativity harnessed with myself as a boundary. I plan to write and perform everything myself, using my own acoustic instruments all recorded in my own space with my own equipment, each instrument having only one role.  For example, if I layered three or four guitar parts, it could sound luscious but if a group of musicians visited my flat without their own instruments it would be impossible to play, as I only have one acoustic guitar. I have actually talked out against people setting themselves creative boundaries before and it’s a little controversial but I still stand by those sentiments. It’s all about context in my opinion: Using only specific tools really does help, but why limit your ideas..?

These ideals are really at the forefront of my thinking at the moment, as can be seen with my project, Secret Soundtrack. Minimal tweaking, using what you have, not over complicating things and using natural ambiences. This is all just to see (or prove) what can be done without getting all excited about the myriad of technologies available. Musicians often want to use all the latest kit (influenced by marketing, no doubt) to give themselves a great sound but my experiences in recording have proved time and again that natural is best. For example, your living room will not sound as good as Studio 2 at Abbey Road, but it will have it’s own personality and flavour which you shouldn’t be ashamed of or scared to use. If you do use it, don’t do this under the premise that it is inferior, work with it’s natural personality to produce something different.  Tinkering too much will easily destroy the integrity, and therefore communication of the output as your aim will be to ape. Also, you do need to improve something that is just different (and therefore not inferior – embrace what you have).  So, to be creative, you need yourself, your ideas and whatever is around you. Of course, it won’t sound like Abbey Road but that’s only an issue if that has been specifically requested by somebody paying for your food and shelter…

If you like the ideas in this post, you may also want to read an earlier post: ‘Working With What’s Natural’.

Thursday 3rd March 2011 – Audio Branding and it’s Use in Film

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Audio (or sonic) branding  is a very interesting idea that is actually quite established even though you may not have heard of it…  we are exposed to it every day but you may not even realise this.  Audio branding is the use of sound or music in creating a brand image for a company,  the most obvious examples being the Windows start-up sound, the Intel Inside noises on the TV adverts and that annoying  WeBuyAnyCar.com tune (for those who have had it inflicted upon them in the UK).  The idea is that you drum a tune into the public’s collective head and combine it with a product to make that product more memorable.  Think Pavlov’s dogs…yes, humans are easy to manipulate too.  On a more sophisticated level, the sounds can actually convey an emotion which you then associate with the company in question.  I’m sure, being a music fan, you are fully aware of how powerful the possibility of creating emotion through music is… People like to be happy; if a brand makes the public feel happy then that brand is in a very good position.  You could say the Windows start-up tune is having a stab at this last point. In the unlikely scenario of you not having heard this before (considering you are using a computer to read this!), the start-up of their software is heralded in by a brief but jubilant fanfare…

 

For me, this is all very interesting; I have an interest in Psychology (I took a degree in it), I am interested in creating atmosphere with my music that immerses the listener in a world of my creation (in a fantastical way, of course, rather than sinister…) and I am also looking into how different sounds make you feel and think.  Also, in a career-oriented way I have always been interested in creating a stamp for myself in all the music I make.

 

Is it possible for me to directly make money as a musician through audio branding?  Well I don’t know really, but I suspect that this sphere is way beyond the independent types.  As far as I know, only big companies really use audio branding so it is therefore probably taken care of by their advertising agencies.  However, saying that, it would be instructive and fun to work on small scale ideas for anyone out there wanting an audio-stamp…  Such an opportunity would obviously be great for me but I also intend to use these ideas whilst exploring the more art-oriented music/sounds I make; carrying these ideas in my head whilst I make music and also exploring them will help me to grow as musician. The net result may even help any career that I can make for myself…

 

So, how else is audio branding being used?  Well, Wikipedia says Bentley Motors recently looked to create a brand experience by replacing all interior mechanical sounds with sound that had been created for their Continental GT car.  A very cool idea.  You can imagine how a submersive atmosphere could be created by assigning a sound to everything in an environment.    The sounds could all be part of the same story as the environment or be completely at odds with it; depending on your aim this could all get very interesting indeed….

 

On a more mundane level, people actually use these ideas every day without thinking about it:  People like personalised ringtones as they feel it shows off their personality to the annoyance of the middle-aged (and me). And are music fans therefore using audio branding as a form of self-expression?  It could easily be said that is exactly what many teenagers do when they associate themselves with a kind of musical movement.  The music can even be secondary to the image for such teenagers although you cant deny that certain sounds effect certain people in different ways; it would be foolish to say that the music doesn’t matter at all…

 

The article here lends a somewhat sinister slant to these ideas; there will always be some one that will play with ethical boundaries to make some money.  The author of the aforementioned article talks about how it is believed that audio branding is now being used subliminally in songs.  This may be to communicate brand values or even to re-iterate a company’s slogan… An example cited is Pharrell Williams’ 2005 song ‘Can I Have It Like That’ (featuring Gwen Stefani), with the chorus which apparently echoed the Burger King advertising slogan ‘Have It Your Way’… sinister eh.

 

All that aside though, recently the use of audio branding in a film really got me thinking.  All films use music or sound in some way and it is common knowledge that this use of music is there to heighten the experience and story-telling.  Music is also used stylistically in film through life-style music too; hip, cool teen films correspondingly use hip, cool teen music to appeal to their audience.  I talked a bit about the use of film sound in a more experimental sense during an earlier post about (An)Other Irish Cinema;  sound can be used to enhance the feeling that picture is creating or it could be used to disorientate the mind and the senses.  Anyway, back to the film I saw (not for the first time though!):  I don’t know to what extent Sergio Leone meant to strategically use audio branding  in ‘The Good, The Bad and the Ugly’ but if you have seen it you will know exactly what I mean.  The wailing melody used throughout the film has even become somewhat of a western genre cliché as every time some one wants to reference a western stylistically, this music can be used.  Every time this happens it actually strengthens the film’s brand or even acts as an advert.  But the use of sound here even goes beyond this.  The music in this film is a work of art in it’s own right; it uses conventional instrumentation as well as some ideas that aren’t so conventional.  Like many films, the music really sets the atmosphere wonderfully but the sound-direction really does play a part in this too.  For example, the use of silence to create tension ready for it to break into action and louder sounds really draws you into the film’s stylistic ‘brand’.  These ideas may not be direct advertisements for the film but they all work as brand-strengtheners over time.  I therefore put it to the reader that this kind of sound design in film has yet to be fully exploited. As I always say, I’m no film buff but I can’t think of many examples where this has been done so elegantly (please feel free to correct me in the comments section below).  As a musician it is possible to create mood for a film whilst giving it a unique stamp that strengthens the film’s identity amongst it’s rival products and peers, becoming an altogether more complete and confident beast in the process.   However, there is so much more to explore beyond style, genre, orchestral swells and aggressive rock music… and film-makers that realise this seem to make their films stand out as unique, interesting and all-immersive as well as finalising their work as a piece of art.


Thursday 14th September – You can actually make a difference

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This post mainly relates to the changes currently happening in the music industry but I feel the power
of the internet and current thought against those with money/power make this relevant to anyone with a yearn for change…


So…..at the moment, what do I see around me?


I work for people that openly put their own needs to climb corporate ladders above the basic needs of their colleagues; I see people working for banks that justify their heinous greed, take handouts from those they screwed and then effectively go back behind the bike-sheds for a smoke; I see governments built on democracy fueled by the interests of career politicians making terrible decisions; Charity street teams are hired to collect money for the profit of private companies; People are famous for being famous, justifying self-promotion at any cost which is seen as a path to riches and adoration; Extremists use religion to vent emotional rage; I see lots of suffering at others’ expense…


Hold on though…… there’s nothing new about that right…..?


Office politics is nothing new; greed has always influenced the powerful and it certainly isn’t new to abuse political power. Money and power corrupts etc, etc. Same old….


Idealists and new age hippies complain that things weren’t like this when man lived off the earth and say these abuses don’t occur in less developed ‘spiritual’ countries……Nice thought…..  It might be easy to blame western society but who made it the way it is….?   Well, we did….Take ownership.  And are people from ‘spiritual’ countries any more enlightened and less likely to commit these abuses?  Check out the Thai government, for example. Pretty corrupt.  Don’t look to others for what’s right.


But this is all a bit pessimistic and misanthropic!  There must be a brighter side to human nature too…..?  Of course, it is also very true that good things do happen:  People do act with sincere compassion to help others even at their own expense.   I would say these acts occur all over the world. People can be very kind, even the rich and powerful…


So what then?


Well, people moan; people hide in their own moral cause mounted upon a rather high horse and just stay there. Up until recently this was me, but now I feel an urge to actually act upon my thoughts. I won’t be chaining myself to railings, or blowing up animal testing facilities, or even camping out on Parliament Square.  It’s no good annoying people with a ‘righteous’ message but to be effective you have to live your life assuming respect and mutual care are the norm.  Live life how it should be then maybe  a self-fulfilling prophecy will work it’s magic….


Personally, I will permeate positive ideals throughout my music, trying to create an enveloping atmosphere to carry them rather than just writing about my own problems.  No, I’m not the first musician with a desire to do this. In fact it’s actually quite a cliché as I’m sure you have realised.  But we live in exciting times; the internet and the arts have reached a point where the big players and searchers of wealth in these areas are slowly but surely having less and less power.   Independent musicians, artists, writers etc. are getting the playing field leveled.  More people have a voice.  But unfortunately this is at a cost…… These millions of voices still have no focus (if you’ve seen the plethora of bands on Myspace trying to get somewhere you’ll know what I mean). What is needed is a general support of morally sound values that seem to be bubbling in this crowded sea of voices.


I’m no expert or authority on anything but I do have ideas on how I would like things to be done, just the same as you who are reading this do.  The internet and the freedom of information currently revolutionising the music industry will hopefully allow people like you, and me, to help spread the nicer ideals in life.  If enough people speak as one, their ideas will become the norm and those nasty little self-obsessed ideals will be reduced to some weirdo dribbling in the corner.  Even if you have no desire to be creative with such ideals, you have something very important: Your freedom of choice as a consumer and the supportive or critical role that you can play with those that have something to say.  You have the power to agree with anyone you like as well as disagree, and the wonderful medium of the internet allows others to witness this.  Live life as if empathy and kindness are the norm, let this permeate through all your words and actions.  And just wait.