PhilsMusic

Quora Answer : A lot of actors say they don't watch their own performances on movies and TV shows; Do musicians listen to their own music?

Apr 15, 2020

I listen to mine.

These days, frankly, it's what I listen to most. And it's my favourite music.

That's a failing ...

... I think.

The problem is that I'm not a good musician. (Or even any kind of musician, I compose on the computer). But I AM good enough to make the music that I want to hear. Music that has the right mix of elements (sonically, rhythmically, melodically) for me.

As I've said in another answer. I wish my music was better. Better composed, better tunes, more sophisticated, less repetitive, more varied, better mixed and mastered. But I don't wish it was different. I don't wish it was more like some other kind of music. It's the kind of music I want to hear. And the kind of music I want to make.

So I spend a lot of time listening BEFORE I finish a track. And while I try to be critical and fiddle about improving it. I'm also conscious that I'm accommodating myself to it. Rather than making the music better, I'm learning to better like the music as is.

And, increasingly, I'm finding that even once the music is "finished" and up online, I still like to listen to it.

And yes, some of that is "wow, aren't I cool for making this". But some is just that it's the right mix of elements for me.

And I'm also painfully aware just how hostage to subjectivity I am. The music is so fine-tuned to my tastes that I don't suppose anyone else will like it at all. And if I wanted others to like my music, I'd have to make an effort to make it appeal to that different, broader taste.

Consuming your own art is a dangerous thing. You have to do it to an extent, to make a critical assessment, to learn and improve. But you probably shouldn't do it so much you become your own fan. And many great artists hate listening to their own music, precisely because they want to continue to grow and improve.

Quora Answer : Couldn't you just make your own music, start the music "life" over and recreate it in a better clean sincere way?

Jul 12, 2020

I think that's increasingly what will happen.

Someone asked on Quora a couple of years ago who the artists I'd been listening to most was. And I realized it was me.

I listen to and enjoy my own music far more than I listen to and enjoy anyone else's.

Now don't get me wrong , I love and listen to a lot of music. The internet makes it easily accessible and I'm always discovering and loving new stuff.

And I don't think I'm a great musician.

But the truth is, even some of my favourite albums of the last few years I've listened to about 5 to 10 times, maximum.

That's partly because there's so much music to get through.

But equally, I've easily listened to some of my own albums 50 to 100 times. I've found time for that.

The issue is that I make my music for me.

Like I said, I'm not a great musician. I'm not really any kind of musician at all. I just make my music on a computer. Technology does all the hard stuff.

But I still like my music more than anyone else's.

Now I'm under no illusions. I don't suppose anyone else will like my music more than anyone else's. I don't expect to get rich or famous from it.

But this is all interconnected. I make my music for me. Fine tuned to exactly what I want to hear. No other music is better for me than mine.

And this is where I think music is going. Music is, increasingly, the sound track to our lives. And just as most of us don't get someone else to do the interior design of our rooms, or choose our outfits every day, I think more and more of us will choose not to get music made by other people, but will hack together something that suits us, with the help of intelligent software.

Of course, we design our rooms with ready-made pieces of furniture and other objects from Ikea etc.

We choose designer clothes and then mix them to our taste.

We'll make our music with sample loops and chord packs and plugins that increasingly offer entire sound-worlds in a box.

But many of us will assemble these components in a bespoke way, more fine-tuned to our taste than anyone else could make them.

Quora Answer : Music producers and artists, how do you choose what style of music you want to be know for making when you'd love to make many different and opposing genres?

Jun 13, 2020

I don't worry about it.

I don't know if I'll ever get "known for" anything. That's really up to other people.

Whatever genre I'm working in, I try to do something that

a) I like.

b) I think is interesting (and not quite predictable)

c) is as done as "well" as I can do it, within my limited abilities.

If I can do something that at least I like, then there's a chance that others might like it too. If I aim for something that not even I like, then there's a possibility that no-one will.