What do you think when you hear about the creative cafe?I know we're not all marketers, but there's something to be said for presenting something thats cohesive. I see the whole event/community here as an exploration of creative lifestyle. a mini creative lifestyle blogosphere if you will, only each month we host an event. On the presentation side, I'm less concerned about 'branding' and care more about 'culture'. I see it almost like a 'brand of me' kind of thing, except instead of it being 'me' its instead a group of like minded people, together, accomplishing something very cool.
content what is it? Content is the stuff we post about in relation to the event. what is content used for? Content is used to connect with our audience and each other, to attract people in and build relationships so that people can get to know us and what we're all about here... So here's the challenge... Come up with 3 categories into which you can plan your content. for example, these are my 3 main areas of focus when it comes to creating content: 1- Music Mindset & Methodology 2- Songwriting 3- recording + production Diving deeper After you've got three niche areas, start thinking of some subcategories within that, these might mean individual post topics, pictures, or videos. 1- Music Mindset & Methodology
Capturing ideas on the fly... hope you have a pen and paper
Remember that great idea you had while you were out on the town? Neither did I until I started carrying around a notebook for scratching down ideas. Start collecting and stockpiling these ideas and before you know it, you'll have a deep pool of resources to draw from next time you sit down to focus on creating some new content, and the beauty part is, you'll never have to worry about running out of ideas again... What's the Point? To me, there is no single quick fix, no magic silver bullet to get you from where you are to where you want to go. I can't promise that this is your one-way ticket to instant fame and fortune. Success is driven by the desire and a willingness to never give up. while seeking challenges as opportunities and striving to overcome them. I believe that a group of committed individuals working together can aim higher and achieve more. That's why I'm doing this... seeking to learn from experienceI'm Here to try. To try and to fail Repeatedly, Unapologetically. To push boundaries, To open doors, To expand horizons Face fears, and to seek perfection... But not to expect it. I'm Here to have compassion to listen with empathy To stay humble To always strive for the best path Moving forward Making failure your main objective -
What happens when you're afraid you're going to be wrong? Speaking from experience with this one here because it's something I struggle with regularly. Constantly seeking perfection instead of jumping to it and figuring out the minutae later, one can end up seeking what may never come ending up in an endless spiral of preparation with no activity to back it up... The cure for imposter syndrome So what do you do? well, do something! Do anything! It's not like those people out there waiting to hear your music or hear your message are out to judge you, Sure some might be, but who spends their life worrying about trolls on the internet? If they do it should be like water rolling off a wax surface. Thick skin. Having such skin, you know, those nay-sayers were not the right people for your art anyways, so who cares what they say. If your message resonates, you WILL recieve confirmation that what you're doing is on the right track. Such is the nature of perfection It doesn't have to be all perfect all the time, Welcome to the realization of being human. We're here to experience, to grow, to try, to fail, to learn, and eventually achieve mastery over our pursuits. afraid to lose So do the costs outweigh the rewards? You've heard people say that you have to spend money to make money right? Well this is partly true for musicians also. Every step of the way from songwriting, to recording, to production, to launch. The same can be said for energy. How you spend it, the value it brings to other, and the return on the investment of it... Want to write a guitar song but don't own a guitar? would getting your hands on one help you achieve the goal? Want to record an album but don't have gear? would getting some help you achieve the goal? or would it be a more productive use of your time to go find someone to help you who is already set up? want to release that album to more people than friends and family? There are people who love your music, Would it be worth reaching out? would the effort be worth it to you? Or would you try learn the tools of E-commerce to try to do it yourself? worried about what others think of you If you're scared, why? If the fear is holding you back, face it head on. Many times you'll realize 'hey if this experiment goes absolutely sideways, I'll still be able to make ends meet. It won't be the end of the world if I do fail, and I'll have gained some valuable experience from the whole process.' Action is the catalyst for opportunities. Take action, screw fear. Sit down for a moment and ask yourself, what is the worst thing that could happen if I attempt this thing I want to do? count backwards 5-4-3-2-1 go... This is a guest post by Levente For one, devoting your life to any kind of art is not only honourable and good, but it is also very natural Like the more time I spend creating and playing music, the more that’s all I want to do Sometimes I get annoyed when Soso or or Lablah the bandees want to smoke weed for like 45 minutes when my brain is wanting to be submerged in playing music And that’s a voluntary activity But it takes away from what’s pulling my very existence On the other, life is here for the living and though there are so many facets of songwriting that you could indeed spend every waking moment on it and never run out of things to improve and create. ... If you don’t take the time to live life, and enjoy some of it, take in art whether it be in games, TV, film, books, or anything else, you deny yourself the possibility of any of those things expanding your creative mind and leading you to places you wouldn’t have gone otherwise Not to mention receiving art into your mind is a way of connecting with all the humans who made it, and therefor gives you practice at connecting with humans, seeing how other artists do it, and draw your own conclusions there. I’d argue that a great portion of art creation is sharing existence with other humans. You think the composers of yore didn’t have hobbies on the side? Tune in to Loosechange604 on twitch. Streams Most nights at Midnight PST
Let's start with the idea of Creating our own Reality. How might one take a pro-active approach towards a better tomorrow? One might start by considering the quality of information consumed. One might also consider the language used within the subconscious mind. Paying attention to day-to-day actions of the present moment. Or leading with the heart, from a place of love. Don't complain, Seriously, Stop complainingPlease don't complain that your gear isn't good enough, or that you're not good enough. Seriously, Stop complaining. Recording is one part artform and one part physics. You as an artist should be learning to trust yourself. That's right, not every project is going to be perfect. Get over it, It doesn't actually matter as much as you might think. Here are 3 considerations to make your recording sound 'good'1: quality on the input This comes down to your performance, and your overall sound. It's like this, if you practice your song. You will get better results. It also ties into the quality of your gear. Is your guitar set up properly? does it stay in tune? do you need fresh strings? do you have clean pre-amps for your microphones? 2: Put things in balance When you have your tracks, lets say you took 3 guitar takes, put them together in a way that blends smoothly. Lets say you've added some soft-synths? and some midi drums. Do they blend? did you put on your engineering hat and use your mixing tricks to make space so that everything sounds good? 3 Finishing touches. Adding embelleshments, automation, Final adjustments for dynamics, keeping the song interesting from start to finish. how you get there doesn't matterHere at Gene Media, we don't care how you get there. We recognize that everyone is unique in their own approach, or as a smart author once said, "we each have our own game." The whole point is putting trust in yourself, trust in your ears, trust in your process, and trust your ability.
Today's video is another sit-down and do it style practice. I didn't really have much of a plan going in - its nice to have a structure - so it ended up being a bit of Melodic Development over one of my favorite chord structures. - Daily Gratitude - When your reality isn’t what you imagined: In fact its so much better. Be open to the possibilities and receive your blessings of unlimited potential. Get a free song download - Join Cody Gene's Music mailing ListA song can be four chords. That's not wrong, but if your chord progression is simple, then consider the Principles of contrast to make your song POP. where do you put contrast in your song?Where do you put contrast in your song? What are your song's elements?
Song Structure Have you thought about how your song is laid out while the concept is fresh? I recommend as good practice to outline a few basic song-structures for the style of music you write. it could look like one of these examples:
or
Helps with efficiency to simply put things into a place where you dont have to worry about structure. Why use this approach? because it takes the struggle out of putting the songs together because that part is already done. Just build the pieces to fit and stick them in. Songwriting En-masse, just remember your Contrast considerations. Smooth transitionshow can you switch it up without being abrasive? So now that we're fitting the pieces in, I guess you'll need pieces first. This is where creativity and imagination come into play. During your daily (and i hope it's daily) practice, noodle around until you come up with something. Some folks like to play from scales or books for inspiration. others simply jam. The point is to come up with something that sounds good to you. Remember it's music. There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to this stuff. how can you switch it up without being abrasive Abrupt transitions are not always bad. To me it depends on the characteristics of the genre, some being friendlier to rule-breaking than others.
Practice vlog. I tend to not talk much. That's part of this whole experiment. Get over any nervousness around playing music on camera. At the end of the day, it's not so bad. In fact, It's a lot like those first couple times you go out to play your songs in public. It's a little nerve-wracking at first but eventually, you start to warm up to the feeling of putting yourself out there... Have courage to take the action and learn from your mistakes. Here's my Intentional vocal practice. Question. What did you notice about what and how I'm improvising? if you were practicing music in this way, what would you do differently? Comments here (or on youtube)
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Gene Media ProductionsCody Gene is an Independent Record Producer from BC Music Methodology & Creative Lifestyle
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