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When Things Get Difficult

There are times when you will go through the most unimaginable trials. These are the times when you find out what really drives you.

For the last 18 months, I’ve been going through wave after wave of difficulties, each one progressively harder than the last. I’m halfway expecting to come up on a “Final Boss” and win some sort of game, and then the credits will run and I can finally rest.

“Why so down?” you might ask. You’d be right in assuming I’m struggling with things- it hasn’t been easy. I’m currently writing this blog post on my phone as I wait to be allowed back into my state. We just survived Hurricane Ida, which directly hit my hometown. There’s massive wind damage everywhere. There probably won’t be power there for weeks. I have no way of knowing how bad the damage to my house is.

It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago we were evacuating for Hurricane Katrina. But 16 years to the day, and here we are.

Everyone will face some sort of storm in their lives, and I’m no exception. Mine are oftentimes physical storms, but the principal is the same- you find out what you’re really made of, and your deficits are quickly revealed.

Everyone has shortcomings. But most people are content to just admit they do, and go on with life, never knowing what they could do or be if they’d just admit they need help.

“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.“
Psalms 121:1‭-‬2

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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”

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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?”

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Why Productive/Creative?

You may have noticed my blog’s rebranding over the last few months. This obviously wasn’t an accident- so what made me choose the words “Productive” and “Creative” connected this way?

“Productive” means the ability to produce prolific output.
“Creative” means the ability to create something original.

“Productive/Creative” is the idea of creating something original, but with consistent, ongoing output. What’s the point of being creative if you can’t consistently produce things? And what’s the point of producing output if it’s just the same old stuff over and over?

Productive. Creative. Get it? Cool.

But how are they related?

Continue reading “Why Productive/Creative?”

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Death Of The Information Age

For years now, I’ve been writing about how the rapid advances in technology have backfired on us as our brains have been unable to adapt to keep up.

Creativity is simple- unless you obfuscate it with layer upon layer of unnecessary complexity. This is what the modern “web” has become- a nearly unusable mess of advertisements, cookies, javascript, and plugins. What’s worse is that the internet, as a whole, is rapidly becoming connected to every single aspect of our lives, whether we want it to or not.

When your entire existence is “online” then what part of it is real?

As I’ve said before, I’m not completely opposed to technology- just the way it’s being developed and used. Is there possibility of life apart from the internet now? What would that even look like?

I’ve been pondering that question for years. And I’m slowly (very slowly) having to admit that I am not compatible with the “Information Age” (not technology itself). I like technology when I need to fix something, or create something. They are good tools, in a lot of ways.

But as a lifestyle, “always connected” is not how I function. It’s not how anyone functions. We’ve become so addicted to it, we live in a constant state of limbo- trying to force our analog brains to assimilate more digital information than we’re capable of processing. Continue reading “Death Of The Information Age”

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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”

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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”

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The Importance Of Accountability

Years ago, when I was a young adult, “accountability partners” were a popular thing. Our church leaders would encourage us to find someone we could share our struggles with, and use that relationship to hold each other to higher standards- in a way that was private, but effective.

If you asked someone today who their accountability partner is, you might get a blank stare, a puzzled look, or even a scowl. It seems like people, especially church leaders, have forgotten what accountability is for.

Accountability is defined as “Explainable, answerable, an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.”

Throughout history, we see the effects of leaders who didn’t have accountability, and the disastrous effects it led to. But most people won’t accept a rebuke from just anyone; there needs to be a level of trust there that most people just don’t want to commit to. Continue reading “The Importance Of Accountability”

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Success And Failure

Have you ever felt like a failure?

I know I have. More than I’d like to admit, honestly.

And if you feel like you’re not successful in life, it’s easy to blame circumstances and try to absolve yourself of any responsibility. But you know who’s really responsible for your failures?

That’s right… you know who it is. Look in the mirror.

For years, I told myself I wasn’t a success because I hadn’t succeeded. I blamed plenty of things, including stuff that wasn’t true and didn’t exist. I just assumed the world had it in for me, and that no matter how smart or creative I was, I couldn’t succeed. Because if I could succeed, why wasn’t I?

So what’s changed? I didn’t just wake up and become an advice guru. Didn’t dive into self-help books and “your best life now.” I had to define what the word “success” meant. Plenty of people want to “succeed.” But what does that mean? Continue reading “Success And Failure”

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Reclaiming Your Technology

One of the biggest changes in technology in the last ten years is a shift from software being bought by end users to being leased by corporations. Almost everything has gone from “buying a copy” to a subscription-based model. Companies that have replaced licenses with subscriptions include:

  • Adobe
  • Microsoft
  • Apple
  • Autodesk (Fusion 360)
  • Avid Audio (ProTools)
  • etc.

Of course, there are many others. But simply put: the reason these companies have switched from purchase-based to subscription-based models is because they make more money that way.

And if companies are making more money with subscriptions, that means customers are spending more money. Continue reading “Reclaiming Your Technology”