Mastering for Electronic Music

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Tag: creativity

  • Balancing Creative Expression and Discipline

    I have a bad habit of overworking my music. It causes my perspective to get skewed and makes it difficult to see things objectively. I keep tweaking and eventually lose the good thing I had going.

    Part of the problem is having too many options in the production environment. That’s why I prefer simple tools and raw aesthetics to avoid getting caught up in the details. Clean and technical is boring to listen to and boring to make anyway.

    The sharper my senses, the faster my workflow, the better I know my tools, the more focused I am… The better the chance of noticing important things, making the right connections and honing in on something special.

    I focus on getting the basic structure of a project fleshed out as quickly as possible, and then gradually pay more and more attention to the details.

    Collaborating helps keep me accountable and locked in on the important ideas. If I’m starting to lose perspective, I step away from the project and work on something else for a bit.

    But you know what? Sometimes the initial draft really isn’t great. Sometimes changing it is the right thing to do.

    The real challenge is in being able to see each situation as what it truly is.

    Some of my best work came from ideas that got flipped upside down. It’s just that it is a consuming way to work. Art is not supposed to be easy, but I’d still rather get it right the first time.

    Having situational awareness is key for making the right decisions. Don’t float blindly from one thing to the next; direct the creative process. Have the confidence to stick to your decisions — or not — depending on the situation.

    Sometimes it’s best to let loose and see what happens. Other times it pays off to stay disciplined and keep things under control. Over the years I’ve become better at judging these situations. It just comes down to doing lots of work.

    Still, there are always projects that don’t go the way I was hoping for. That’s life. With consistent work, the ratio of wins vs failures keeps getting better over time.

  • The Myth of Creative People


    Hearing someone say ”she/he/they are so creative” makes me cringe. You know what I hate hearing even more? ”I am not a creative person”. Then what are you? A stone?

    Talking about “creative people” is a common and misguided way of viewing creativity in our society. It’s a mantra we repeat without thinking. And then, we think it. It begins to influence how we define our identity.

    Many aspiring music creators are, without realising, hindered by this conception of creativity as an exclusive perk that only a few are lucky enough to possess. It can result in undermining ourselves or giving up too easily.

    Becoming good in making music takes effort. Becoming a professional artist is even harder. Giving up and blaming it on your lack of creativity? An excuse to not put in the work. Let’s look at it more closely.

    We all have our natural tendencies and personality traits. Some of them we are born with. Some are the result of influence. These things show in our music from the very first moments we try to make something. But creativity itself exists as a core force within all of us. It is what allows us to grow and learn. It is not something we can measure and compare. It’s pointless and harmful to talk about creativity in that way.

    To be human is to be creative. We are the masters of adapting and problem solving. It is why we have become so successful as a species. Life requires a ton of creativity to pull off. The results of our creative process aren’t often visible to others.

    Why then are artists often seen as ”more creative” than other people? Simply because in art, the result of our creativity happens to be a tangible product with a sole purpose of being observed, experienced and remembered by others. In other words, artists appear more creative than others because there is lots of public proof of their creativity. After all, it’s a huge part of the artist’s job to display what they have created!

    In the eyes of the public, then, successful artists become these magical ”creative persons”. It’s a classic case of confirmation bias – the tendency to interpret information in a way that confirms one’s prior observations. Our tendency to idolise, label, mystify and look for excuses plays into this perfectly. I get it. It’s very attractive to think like that, because it’s easier for us in that moment. It’s the path of least resistance, and the path of least truth.

    As a music creator, don’t be fooled by this myth. All the creativity you need already exists within you.

    Here are only a few of the things you are likely to notice when you begin to examine successful artists more closely:

    • They understand that creativity is a force that exists within us by nature. They don’t feel entitled about possessing it.
    • When they first started, they likely spent years grinding away with little attention from anyone.
    • They have become better at the actual act of creating by means of study, practice and defeating hardships.
    • Professional artists usually spend more time working and practicing than most people do in their day jobs. If they ever have holidays, they still find themselves thinking about work. It’s a 24/7 job.
    • On top of that, they are not wasting their resources pursuing things that won’t serve their goals. So they’re not only spending lots of time on their craft. They’re also consistently directing their attention to what matters most.
    • They are actively connecting to people or companies who can help them on their journey in various ways. Though it may seem they work alone, they also spend a lot of time connecting with others.
    • Whether sharing their process in social media, practicing for gigs or studying marketing related skills, they are putting a ton of effort into displaying the results of their creativity to the public.

    Can you really write all that off by saying someone is just ”so creative”?