"Creativity is not Deterministic"

[MikeRobinson]

Walk up to Michelangelo's David and run your fingers over it.  Here are three things that I promise you that you will never see:

• The slightest imperfection of texture, no matter where your fingers may roam.
• "Chisel marks."
• The slightest fleck of marble, upon the floor below.

 

But now, "here's to the crafts(men)(women) who worked for Michelangelo!  To the people who spent countless unsung hours patiently rubbing the stone with the finest of abrasives.  And, yes, maybe to the ones who counseled the artist as to what to do, when the block of stone they'd bought from the quarry "presented them with a 'surprise!'"

 

When we look upon this statue, or when we read a novel, or when we listen to a song ... as artists we must remember the process.  We of all people must never delude ourselves into thinking ... the very thing that we're happy to tell "our legions of adoring fans!"  That somehow it really was "magic," and not an endless series of decisions.  That there was no such thing as "committee meetings!"  "Editors."  "Producers."  "Publishers."  That we really did know what "the platinum-record record" was going to be, when we first heard the notes being discovered on our instruments.

 

Let's therefore remember that "creativity really is a craft."  And that "the stuff that we produce" is the consequence of ... utterly-boring decisions that are of no interest whatsoever to our "countless fans."  Yes, we should tell them what they want to hear.  But – don't believe it.  "Get to work!"

 

And ... do not delete the original recording/MIDI of anything that you ever make.

Edited November 17, 2020 by MikeRobinson

[MikeRobinson]

Lots of "famous fiction writers" (who should have remembered better ...) wrote plenty of books that basically told aspiring writers that the way to success was basically:  "pantsing = by the seat of your pants."

 

(Well, I guess they did know what they were doing, because they sold plenty of copies of those books – and lots of "writing workshops," besides.)

 

Yes – absolutely – when the creative juices are flowing you must capture them.  But, at the same time, "don't think that you're done."  Also:  "don't expect the angels to start singing."  Fact is, you might manage to produce many "commercially-viable musical products" from your brainstorm, if you're lucky. 

 

Anyhow:  The audiences who listen to your creations will actually be none the wiser.  Please don't even suggest to them there is "a process."  Don't tell them how the trick is done:  just do the trick.

 

I still like this lyric, which to me really does spell-out everything:  "We are here now – en-ter-tain us."

 

"If you're looking for 'affirmation,' stop looking."   There is no "right" answer.

Edited December 2, 2020 by MikeRobinson

[MikeRobinson]

As I use the term, "deterministic" either means "pre-determined," or, "there's only one 'right' way and so that's what you should be trying to find."

 

Geeks sometimes refer to "Tim Toady":  TMTOWTDI = There's More Than One Way To Do It.  Generally sage advice.

 

But also in the case of music:  They'll Never Know How You Did It.  (Nor do they really want to know – they just don't know it yet.)  So, when they ask, smile and make something up.

 

And:  Whatever you do, never throw away whatever you do.  Because you never know when you'll "run out of ideas" only to discover "the perfect idea" in something you did weeks before, even if absolutely nothing came from it at the time.

 

And last but not least:  "FISI = 🤡 it!  Ship it!"  Put shrink-wrap on that sucker and call FedEx.

Edited December 8, 2020 by MikeRobinson

[MikeRobinson]

I recently re-watched the great guitar documentary, "It Might Get Loud."  One thing that I noticed was that ... they all turned on a tape recorder.

 

"Grabbing an idea," and "turning it into a product," though, really are two separate things.

 

"Intermingled, of course."  Sometimes the pure-gold is in "take #45."

Edited December 14, 2020 by MikeRobinson

[GregB]

On 11/18/2020 at 8:29 AM, MikeRobinson said:

And ... do not delete the original recording/MIDI of anything that you ever make.

 

Be nice if it wasn't for the constant software/hardware arms race mismatch and the inevitable sudden dropping of support for old software, hardware and file formats  

[Clay Anderson Johnson]

On 12/2/2020 at 4:59 PM, MikeRobinson said:

Don't tell them how the trick is done:  just do the trick.

 

Magic is based upon heightening emotions and misdirection of attention. A good magician never reveals the trick.

[Glammerocity]

Thomas Hardy wrote in Tess of the D'Urbervilles that Tess had the classic beauty of a Greek statue, apart from her lips, which were a little too full, but this imperfection made her even more beautiful.

 

I've said before that it's possible to mix all the life out of a song. Necessity - studio time - has invented some marvellously imperfect recordings. Sadly, there isn't an imperfection plugin to counter our over-processing. I found the hardest decision in the whole process is saying, "It's finished."

 

I think almost every songwriter will tell you the best ones were written in ten minutes and seemed to flow, as if writing themselves. Lingering over it for months is no guarantee, though Bruce Springsteen spent six months writing Born to Run (the song, not the album). But he had a very specfic concept for that album, derived from his previous album. He never wrote that way again, though he continued to sweat the details. I'd tend to think if I can't make it work quickly, it's probably not worth continuing with. Hmm, maybe that's why I never wrote a Born to Run. See me in six months.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Glammerocity

[MikeRobinson]

No one really cares about the process.  Any more than anyone who appreciates Michelangelo's David wants to think about the employees who must have spent hours going over "every single [miserable ...] square inch of that [damned ...] carving" 🤠 with an emery cloth.  They just want it to be magic.  Therefore, give them what they want, cash your checks if any, and be happy.

Edited May 10, 2022 by MikeRobinson

[john]

4 hours ago, MikeRobinson said:

No one really cares about the process.  Any more than anyone who appreciates Michelangelo's David wants to think about the employees who must have spent hours going over "every single [miserable ...] square inch of that [damned ...] carving" 🤠 with an emery cloth.  They just want it to be magic.  Therefore, give them what they want, cash your checks if any, and be happy.

As you alluded to earlier… don’t ruin the magic, just perform the trick and give me that moment of wonderment. We care about the process.

 

It’s funny. I see artists posting on Twitter and other social media sites, desperate to provide content to get followers. They’ve heard that they have to give fans a behind the scenes view of what they do. They interpret that as an almost warts and all, unflattering view of their unfinished material and their process believing that that will impress potential listeners. All the while, without understanding how to engage potential fans, the unplanned relentless drip, drip robs the artist of any big splash and the ripples that might have been caused. Even more, they rob potential fans of that wonderment they might have enjoyed. Instead, whatever reaction they might have had is damped down, lesser. Diminished.

 

They have chased the wrong rabbit down the wrong rabbit hole. I do hope they realise it soon.

[MikeRobinson]

I don't want to see the marble chips or the emery cloth.  I don't necessarily even want to personally "connect with you as an artist."  I want to listen to a terrific new song and then add it to my collection – on a plastic disk, please.