The Zen and Creativity of Lego

Believe it or not, this post isn’t going to be about Lego bricks.

I rewind back 35 years and remember building with Lego. The interesting and creative thing about Lego bricks is that they were just basic shapes, but you could assemble them in any way you wanted- sometimes in ways they weren’t intended. But the only limit to what you could build is how many bricks you had, and your imagination.

Today, there are every kind of Lego kit, with all kinds of special pieces, decals, and instructions. You don’t need any creativity to buy a Harry Potter or Star Wars Lego kit and assemble it. It just requires following instructions, and patience.

In the modern “Creative World” there are tons of people cranking out content, but there are precious few people that understand how building blocks of creativity work.

Let me explain:

Music, as we know it today, is made up of building blocks. There are certain fundamental parts to a song that you can assemble different ways, but in the end, they’re what makes something a song. Things like tempo, time signature, instrumentation, key, melody, lyrics, and such are uniquely identifiable parts of a song, but don’t make a song by themselves.

Writing is much the same way. If you’re writing a fiction story, say a sci-fi novel, there are certain things it’s going to have in it. Dialogue, main characters, secondary characters, plot, setting, and so forth. You can change out any of these elements and it becomes a different story- but it’s still recognizable as a story.

If you examine any one of these building blocks by itself, it doesn’t make up a complete work. But they’re necessary to make the whole. Continue reading “The Zen and Creativity of Lego”

Don’t Use Tools As An Excuse

Most people consider themselves “creative” in some form or another. It could be drawing, music, dancing, whatever. And a lot of those creative people use tools to make their creations- paint, instruments, dance shoes, and so forth. They’re the “tools of the trade” so to speak.

Truthfully though, a lot of people don’t create nearly as much as they could because they don’t feel like they have tools that are “good enough.” They might want to produce an album, but figure they don’t have the “industry standard” ProTools, or even a decent computer to run it on. No good studio microphones, no expensive tube preamps, maybe not even a decent guitar.

But defining your creativity by what you don’t have is akin to saying your knowledge is limited because there’s things you don’t know. At some point, you will learn things and expand your knowledge, but just because you don’t know something doesn’t mean you’re not knowledgeable about anything. And saying you can’t be creative because you don’t have the best tools for the job is both wrong, and counterproductive to your development as a Productive Creative. Continue reading “Don’t Use Tools As An Excuse”

Computerless Music Production

As I’ve recently expounded on, my brain is most creative when I’m away from a computer, and the internet as a whole. As it turns out, external influences mostly distract me from creativity, not inspire. Can I get inspiration from a video or song? Sure. But when I’m in the heat of creation, those things pull my attention away from what I’m actually making.

There has been a resurgence over the last few years to make “DAWless” music- i.e. recorded and edited without a DAW, or computer. I’ve seen quite a few Youtube channels using old Fostex and Tascam cassette tape recorders to make albums. If you go on eBay or Reverb, you will see prices for these long-in-the-tooth machines skyrocketing.

Why? Is it the “sound” of analog recording? There might be some validity to that, but what I think is more likely is this: people are learning how to create without computers again. Continue reading “Computerless Music Production”

Can Background Noise Boost Creativity?

One of the biggest challenges of being a Productive Creative is finding your creative workflow. There are many ways to do this, but one of the methods I’ve used, and have seen others successfully use, is mentally putting your mind in another location. You may have heard of this practice under such names as “Mind Palaces” or “Memory Mansions.” The idea with those techniques is that by imagining yourself in a very specific physical location (imaginary or real) it allows your brain to connect and remember things that it couldn’t otherwise. The brain’s ability to remember things works better with more senses attached to it.

Creatively, this works the same way. If you imagine yourself in the mountains of Alaska, it’s easier to paint them. Or if you are writing about an adventure in a forest, having those smells and sounds will bring the scene alive in your mind. Using all five senses allows your brain to be completely immersed somewhere else, where creativity can more easily happen.

Continue reading “Can Background Noise Boost Creativity?”

Comparing DAW Alternatives

As I recently wrote about, I’m looking at getting away from computer-based music production, for creativity’s sake. I’ve recognized that my brain just doesn’t come up with original ideas when I’m staring at a computer screen.

So understandably, my attention has turned to finding alternatives to making music with a PC. And I’ve discovered there are a lot of alternatives out there- which is both a blessing and a curse.

There is almost certainly a device out there that will serve anyone’s need for music production. But with so many choices, the problem becomes: which one do you choose? What style of device suits your creative workflow, when you don’t know what that is yet?

Continue reading “Comparing DAW Alternatives”

Analog Brain In a Digital World

Over the last few weeks, I’ve discovered something about myself: I have an analog brain.

By “analog” I mean that in the figurative, not literal, sense of the word. My brain functions by sending and receiving electrical signals, but those signals don’t really determine how my brain processes that information.

Interestingly, the idea of having a figuratively “analog brain” means that you think in analog patterns, and process information in very non-digital ways.

So what does that have to do with Productivity and Creativity? Everything. Continue reading “Analog Brain In a Digital World”

Idolatry in Worship

As I wrote about recently, I have come to the conclusion that the modern church has turned their worship service production into an idol.

Strong words, I know. But I can, and will, back them up. Strap in, kids: it’s Unpopular Opinion time.

First, some background. What we see in “modern worship” today largely came out of a small handful of churches, most notably Hillsong Church in Australia. I remember when Hillsong was new on the scene: the sounds were fresh, hip, and not stuffy like the old hymns we were used to singing. The words were mostly fluffy and filled with metaphorical imagery, but wow! They had passion and fire, and they loved Jesus! Before long, mega-church Bethel, in California, had joined in.

Fast forward 30 years: Hillsong and Bethel have both repeatedly touted false doctrine, been embroiled in scandals, and left the Assemblies of God association under questionable circumstances. And they’re raking in money by the tens of millions of dollars.

“So what does that have to do with church production?” Continue reading “Idolatry in Worship”

How Do We Make Hard Decisions?

Since I’ve been looking at all-in-one guitar things, naturally, I’ve done research and considered all the options. There are units going from $200 all the way up to $3000, and everything in between. But truth be told, even the cheaper ones are still pretty good. So what am I looking for in an all-in-one guitar/bass effect unit? How do you make a choice when there’s so many good choices?

I’m basically going to walk you through the decision making process of how to buy a piece of music gear- or anything, really. This is a lesson on how to wade through choice overload. This is a critical skill for becoming a minimalist.

What do you need?

Let’s say I’m shopping for a pedalboard upgrade. The first question I need to ask is “What am I going to be using it for?” And the second question is related: “What will this allow me to do that I can’t do now?” Because if it doesn’t do more than my current one, it’s not an upgrade, is it? Continue reading “How Do We Make Hard Decisions?”

Thoughts On Minimalist Music Gear (Again)

I was recently tuning in to a popular ambient guitarist’s livestream, and I noticed they had added a bunch of new stuff to their setup. I saw all of that, listened to the sounds coming out of it, and thought “Is that really all he’s doing with all that stuff? How much did all that cost, anyway?” And of course, I made the mistake of looking up the prices and figuring out how much money this guy had tied up into his board.

It was around six thousand dollars. For a pedalboard to make ambient music with. Six grand, just for the pedals… not including the board, wires, guitar, amps, or anything else.

This gave me pause. I haven’t even paid that much for a car in the last 10 years. And it begs the question: If I had $6K to drop on a guitar setup, how would *I* do it? Simple: I wouldn’t.

For that much money, I could get two Fractal Axe-FX 3’s. Or four Line 6 Helixes. And arguably, I could do ten times more with those than any collection of single pedals on a board.

Bottom line: is it worth the money? My opinion: No.
Continue reading “Thoughts On Minimalist Music Gear (Again)”

Being Outmoded

No matter how much I try to keep up with the hectic pace of life, I always seem to end up feeling like I’m stuck in the past. And not in the “Things were better back in the day!” kind of way. More like the “I feel like I can’t move forward in time” kind of feeling. I want to be a creator, to make things- music, videos, machines, whatever- but I am constantly kneecapped by the fact that I’m not independently wealthy, I can’t afford nice cameras and lights and computers and toys, and more importantly… I feel frustrated that I actually want those things.

What if I made it “my thing” to be okay with getting by with old cheap stuff? I see videos by Vulfpeck done all grainy and old-school, and it makes me wonder: Could it be possible for me to make video content that’s not in 1080p, and it still be good content?

Continue reading “Being Outmoded”