Reading a newspaper, I saw a picture of birds on the electric wires. I cut out the photo and decided to make a song, using the exact location of the birds as notes (no Photoshop edit). I knew it wasn’t the most original idea in the universe. I was just curious to hear what melody the birds were creating.

Link: Birds on the Wires

In the mean time, here’s a few links I’ve been meaning to share.

New Brain Machine Improves Musical Creativity. Any tool that can help me clear the way for great music to happen is a friend of mine.

Cosmovox is an iPhone app, a music theory-infused theremin.

Korg is coming out with some really sweet compact USB-MIDI controllers. I’ll be first in line for the nanoKEY.

From Digg: Study: Musicians Use Both Sides Of Brain More Than Others. My favorite comment: “they can force their brains to do unnatural things in the pursuit of ass. hats off to all of you!”

Have a great weekend.

While I’m clearing things up, I used the word “expert.” The research supports the correlation between practice and expertise. Just saying.

If you “get” that spending lots of time practicing your craft is a good thing, then good for you. You’ll be happy with what I have to show you. If you don’t get it, then it can only be for three reasons that I can think of right now…

1. You’re resistant to, or afraid of, committing to your craft. If so, that’s a valid feeling and you’re not alone.
2. You’re lazy — unwilling to work or use energy — and have deluded yourself into believing that you don’t need to work at developing and mastering your chosen craft. This too is totally common and nothing to be ashamed of.
3. You just don’t want to be told what to do. If this is the case, maybe the timing just isn’t right for you. Maybe you shouldn’t commit just yet. I’m sure you have your reasons.

If any of those points describe you, heck, even if they don’t, read The War of Art. Maybe that will inspire you to break through the blocks and win your inner creative battles.

Enough said. Moving on.

Rescue Time is a free application (Mac,Win,Linux) that has become very important to my weekly GTD review. It’s helping me put some metrics to my writing goals.

Rescue Time tracks your activity at your computer. If you’re working, it logs it. If you’re slacking off, it logs it.

It uses application, category, and tag based tracking. This means you can track how you’re spending your time by the application, the tag you give to your applications and websites you visit, and by category.

You really start to understand your computer habits fast when you see the results of your time in a pretty bar graph. It can feel intimate. This is your life you’re looking at!

Here’s an example. Logic Pro is my main compositional tool. Within Rescue Time’s interface, it’s listed under the Audio/Video Tools category. I’ve also tagged Logic Pro with the keywords, composing, audio, work, mixing, music, recording, and creative.

When I look at Rescue Time’s data, I can see how much time I’ve spent using Logic Pro, or how much time I’ve spent in the Audio/Video Tools category, or how much time I’ve spent composing.

When you see how much time you’ve spent at something relative to something else — like composing vs. surfing the internet — you really get much needed perspective on how your actions line up with your goals.

So I’ve set up a goal to compose at least one hour a day. Every time I reach my goal, that is, when I’ve used Logic Pro an hour or more, Rescue Time sends me an alert.

I’ve even set up some negative goals. I’d like to spend less than an hour on Twitter each day. (a goal I’ve met ever since I started it, knock on wood.) If I were to go over my alloted time, Rescue Time would either email me or text message me, depending on how I set it up.

As you can see, if you would like to reach an hourly songwriting goal, tag the applications that you use to write songs and set it up in Rescue Time. It’s simple.

Back to the expert practice advice.

To reach 5,000 logged hours of songwriting, starting now (June 2, 2008) at 10 hours a week, you’ll get there on Thursday, December 28, 2017.

Looks like I’d better get back to writing now.

The idea is simple. Rewrite song titles.

Song titles are great starting points. Song titles are often the hook. Once you’ve got a great hook, just about any competent or interesting verse will complete the song. So starting with a song title or hook gets you about 80 percent of the way there.

I have many sources that I go to, various iTunes top 10 lists, Billboard charts, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, and many others. Even if you come up empty, it’s great practice and gives you insight into the songwriting of whomever you choose to emulate.

Take the following example, “I Will Dare” by The Replacements. If I begin by keeping the same syllables but looking for opposite meaning I get something like “You Won’t Dare”—keeping close to the original—or “You Won’t Risk.” Both of those titles give me ideas to develop into complete songs.

“After Midnight” by Eric Clapton becomes “Before Noon.” Beginning with “I Love Rock ‘N Roll,” first charted by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, you could change it to the shocked and rhetorical question, “You Hate Rock and Roll?!” Or keep the content similar but change the style of music to “I Love Dance Punk.” “Long Tall Sally” by Little Richard could become “Big Bad Brady.” I found that name using a baby name finder.

There’s no rules to this game. But you can set up some guidelines or directions to get you started. With “Long Tall Sally,” I tried to keep the song’s original alliteration. With “After Midnight,” I looked for the opposite meaning—even though after midnight and before noon refer to the same 12 hours.

I often like to keep the same syllables since most great titles come with a built-in infectious rhythm. Internal rhymes, alliteration, content, any literary device can be kept, manipulated, or left behind.

I like to do little exercises like this whenever I’m running out of ideas or I’ve got a little down time. They grease your creative gears and give you plenty of material to work with. And they’re pretty easy to invent. Have fun and let me know what you come up with!

I’ve used this technique constantly in my creative pursuits. Whether it be composing, arranging, or songwriting, the Oblique Strategies have helped to keep me in a state of creative flow.

I wanted to create a mobile version since I find myself sans computer a lot now that I have my iPhone. This online version of the Oblique Strategies will work on any browser even though it’s optimized for iPhone.

Check it out and bookmark it if you like it: Oblique Strategies

Start with a single note or single word

Play a single random note and just listen to your imagination. Does a second note enter the picture? Does a chord or harmony enter the picture? If so, then add what you hear to the mix and keep listening like that. Don’t think about it or edit what you hear in your mind, just dictate.

If you don’t hear anything in your imagination, then force it. Play a single interval up or down. Does that spark another idea? If so, then dictate. If not, play a different interval. If after a number of tries your imagination doesn’t take over, then force it even more. Play a pattern or a sequence that you are familiar with and build a melody around that.

The important thing to remember here is that your melody is not going to be perfect. It’s just a first pass. You can edit after you have 32 bars or so of material to work with. The point is you can’t have a melody to edit if you don’t start writing one.

You can apply the same technique to lyric writing. Write a single word. Use a random word generator or just pick a word from a book. What does your imagination tell you to write next? If nothing comes to you (which would mean that you really just aren’t paying attention) force it by just making stuff up. Rhyme comes later. Prosody comes later. Form comes later. Same as with music, you can’t edit a lyric until you have a lot of lyrics to edit.

An exercise like this should open your mind to the constant stream of ideas that is always occurring beneath the surface of your conscious mind. Just practice opening the aperture until you always have music and lyrics to write.

So how do you unleash your creative thinking? Well, the first thing is to become a human sponge. You should take in as much knowledge and learning as you can find. Read everything available — good and bad, and keep your mind open to the infinite possibilities in the universe. The more you know, the more you’ll want to know, and the more your faculty of wonder will be exercised. Prepare to be amazed at the little facts that add immense color to your life.

Focus on creative activities everyday. Yes, it does require effort. Even doodling is a creative activity. Don’t let anything stop you. Mindlessness may even be a creative activity, but for people who are just starting to unleash some creative thinking in their lives, it is helpful and encouraging to have concrete evidence that what you’re doing is getting somewhere. Practice drawing for a couple of minutes each day. Get out your camera and start snapping photos like crazy. Keep a journal and make a point to write in it religiously. A simple creative writing exercise is to describe something with your five senses. Try to avoid vague adjectives like “marvelous,” “amazing,” and “great.” Before you know it, you’ll have built yourself a large creative portfolio, and you’ll be amazed at the growth you’ve undertaken after amassing all those creative works of art. Who knows, you might actually like doing these creative thinking exercises everyday. Pretty soon creative thinking will become a part of you and you’ll be addicted to these creative exercises.

Thinking outside the box is just as important as it isn’t. Let me explain. Sometimes, constraints are actually a good thing. Limitations discipline you to work within a framework where you need to be more resourceful. Creative freedom is great, but sometimes too much choice is demotivating. Limitations enforce discipline.

Try new creative activities everyday and let your experiences broaden your perspective. Explore a new street in your neighborhood. Spend an afternoon in a museum you’ve never been to before. Talk to a stranger. Open up to the people around you. As you reach beyond your comfort zone more and more, your sense of adventure grows and so does your zest for life. Think about it. When was the last time you did something for the first time? If it’s been a while, you’ve been missing out on a whole lot of experiences that could have added to your growth, emotionally, mentally, physically, or even spiritually. Why don’t you try to move your body in a way you’ve never tried before? Think of something you’ve never thought of before. Feel something you’ve never felt before. Not only will you learn, but you will also have plenty of stories to share.

Embrace insanity. No, not to the point of being involuntarily admitted to the psych ward. As John Russell once said, “Sanity calms, but madness is more interesting.” Many creative solutions were once deemed insane by other “normal” people at one time or another. Luckily, that didn’t stop these creative geniuses from standing by them. The thing is, sanity or being normal confines people to think… well, normally. Creativity is essentially breaking through the norms and doing something new. Yes, this includes the bizarre and the downright strange. I’m not saying that you yourself should develop a creative personality. That might go haywire. An example of a creative personality would be George Washington, who often rode into battle naked, or James Joyce, who wrote “Dubliners” with beetle juice because of an intense fear of ink, or Albert Einstein, who thought his cat was a spy sent by his rival. It’s important that your creativity doesn’t get you detached from the real world completely.

The point is to start thinking beyond your “limits.” If you follow these steps, pretty soon you’ll be living a life full of curiosity, wonder, and adventure. Unleashing your creative thinking will bring about a new excitement for your life.

Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies

A Random Word

A Random Sentence

A Random Paragraph

A Random Web Site

You have to put something into your mind to get something out.

Image streaming is your doorway to the subconscious mind. This stream-of-consciousness visualization technique delivers spontaneously-generated thoughts directly from the subconscious mind as an answer or solution to a problem or simply to see what comes up. The image streaming process is especially useful for composing.

Here are the steps to image streaming:

1. Breathe deeply and progressively relax your entire body from head to toe.
2. Close your eyes and describe images aloud to either a live person or to a tape recorder. This step is important because describing images aloud and having a live recipient of those images creates a feedback loop which makes the connection from the subconscious to the conscious even stronger.
3. You must use all senses in your descriptions: Sight, sound, touch, smell and taste.
4. Describe in the present tense and don’t hesitate, stop or edit.

That’s all there is to it. It’s always the simple things that make the most impact to your life.

Here’s a couple of exercises to get you going:

1. Just describe anything. Take a good look at any object close by, close your eyes and start describing it. This will get you acquainted with the image streaming process.
2. Take a problem that you need a solution to, such as a new and improved opening song for your band’s set or the form of a new song you’re writing, and allow the images to spontaneously come. Let your mind take you in whatever direction it wants. Soon, you will have an extremely creative idea fall right into your lap.

As I said earlier, there’s evidence that image streaming increases your IQ by .8 with every hour practiced! Some other benefits of image streaming includes increased memory, better brain health, enriched experience, build your power of understanding and increased self-esteem. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

You haven’t? Me neither. And that’s why I write for the garbage can.

Johnny Mercer, the songwriter, said he used to write for the waste basket. When I first heard this, it blew my mind. After hearing a 3 minute song that seems so perfect, many people get the impression that it was written the way they heard it — in a short flash of inspiration. And even though we know better, we can be overly critical of work too soon in the process.

Writing for the garbage can solves this problem. Write just to write. Only edit once you have enough material to work with. I’m not trying to write the next timeless masterpiece anymore. I’m just figuring out what it is that I want to communicate and then writing, writing and writing some more.

Here’s 7 steps to powerful writing:

1. Know what you want: State your intention.
2. Collect the information: Get the facts or tools that will support your intention.
3. Just create: Silence the critic and go for it. If it’s a musical creation, don’t forget to record it.
4. Take a break: Get a way from the project.
5. Just create some more or start over: Either extend step 3 or start fresh.
6. Take another break: Take at least 24 hours off to let the ideas incubate.
7. Analyze and correct: This is where you get critical. Just remember to be nice to yourself.

within another system of minor thirds:

And you could repeat that entire pattern by another interval, thereby creating a system within a system within a system! Patterns can be extremely complex mathematically. Developing your own will help strengthen your creativity as well as your chops.

In a solo, use patterns as a starting point or as a connecting point between phrases. Exploit their repetition to increase tension. Winding down a solo with a descending pattern is an effective way to give the listener something recognizable to hold on to as they ease back into their seat. And, of course, you can use a super fast and complex pattern to just plain astonish your audience.

Get all of my TOP SECRET patterns for free:

A simple observation lies at the heart of the Exposure book: that as different areas of culture start flowing in digital networks, it becomes self-defeating for artists, publishers, labels, and also regular people to insist for control over the distribution of their own creations. Although the fact is simple, its repercussions are only starting to be understood in their full complexity. At Aula, we have referred to these economic, social and legal repercussions as the “exposure” of art, ideas, and everyday life.

Found via the future of creativity…?:

Thanks Hugh.

A major benefit to this scale is that you only have to learn it in three different keys since it repeats itself every minor third. Another useful aspect of its symmetrical and repeating nature is the use of scale patterns. Patterns can be a wonderful source of inspiration for solos as well as being useful in improving finger dexterity. And now for some practical applications:

In this example, the scale (whole step-half step) is played over a Dmin7 chord and ends nicely by leading into the third (G#) of the E7 chord.

This example is similar to the first but uses a different diminished scale over the same chord (Dmin7).

This is a nice long run over a G7 chord.

Here’s a pattern in the style of John Coltrane.

Get 17 of my favorite diminished scale patterns for free:

Ideas are in motion. And new technology is allowing photographers, musicians, designers, filmmakers, and artistic pros everywhere to blur the lines of traditional disciplines. Visit the new Apple Pro site and experience the projects and people that are redefining creativity.

Interesting new spin on creative professionals from Apple.

As it is now, it’s perfect for object writing and brainstorming. What other uses can you find for it?

Leonardo da Vinci was a brilliant musician. If he was alive today…

He would have an insatiably curious approach to songwriting and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.

Songs can be like problems or puzzles that we must solve or piece together. Asking creative questions can open the mind to new ideas. Keep a journal to record songwriting principles or insights. We can always learn something new.

He would have a commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes.

Write, write, write. Then write some more. After writing each song, reflect on how the song could be better. Learn what not to do next time. Put the songwriting principles you’ve captured to the test.

He would continually refine his senses, especially hearing, as the means to enliven experience.

Music is an auditory art. Musicians are alchemists of sound. Reflecting the sounds in our imagination into reality requires precision. Ear training to a musician is like tasting food to a chef. Without it, we end up putting ketchup on everything.

Leonardo da Vinci was a master story teller. All good story tellers know that to move someone’s emotions requires sensual detail. Emotions are experienced in the body and great writers know how to make you laugh and cry through sensual imagery. Lyric writing is no different. Show, don’t tell.

He would have a willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty.

Songwriting is 100% inspiration and 100% craft. You should only be concerned with satisfying your artistic vision and always write for the listener. Songwriting is absolutely never about the goal and always about the process except when it isn’t.

He would develop the balance between science and art, logic and imagination. “Whole-brain” thinking.

“Those who become enamoured of the art, without having previously applied to the diligent study of the scientific part of it, may be compared to mariners who put to sea in a ship without rudder or compass and therefore cannot be certain of arriving at the wished for port.”
-Leonardo da Vinci

He would cultivate grace, ambidexterity, fitness, and poise.

Let’s face it, our physiology has an effect on our attitudes and emotions and vice versa. Since our bodies are the instruments we use to create art, our art is directly influenced by the state of our physiology. Beyond basic health, there are many fun ways to embody art as well as develop a balanced body and brain. Try writing lyrics or picking out melodies with your non-dominant hand. You can also try using both hands simultaneously.

He would have a recognition of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena. Systems thinking.

Leonardo da Vinci would probably consider a song from multiple perspectives: first person, second person and third person. He would understand how it fits into the culture. He would contemplate the ephemeral nature of sound and how it relates to our social musical habits, like the music industry or the RIAA. (hint) Leonardo da Vinci would recognize how a single note changes the world.

“How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day” (Michael J. Gelb)

“New technologies rarely actually replace existing technologies. They tend to reposition them.”

Check out Mark Cuban: The future of the TV commercial is from the past:

I think the traditional commercial break will be the salvation of TV.

Crazy. How can I say that you say. What is my logic you ask.

Well, I would make one big change. I would make commercials live productions.

Thats right, live commercials. Straight out of the 1950s.

Its not a technical challenge. Its easy.

Its not a creative challenge.

It’s a positioning change. Brilliant!

“My future starts when I wake up every morning . . . Every day I find something creative to do with my life.”
- Miles Davis

Click here: WORDCOUNT / Tracking the Way We Use Language
(Found via Graphic display of quantitative information 2.0)

The technique is called Object Writing and it’s so ridiculously easy that you’ll be pissed you didn’t know about it sooner. I learned it from Pat Pattison.

Here’s how it works:

First, gather your materials. You’ll need tools for writing like a computer or pen and paper. You’ll want a thesaurus or dictionary or any book that you have lying around. Object Writing works best when you have a timer.

Second, open the book you chose earlier and randomly pick any word. Alternatively, you could write about any object you see around you.

Finally, write about the word you picked using the following guidelines.

• Write from your senses (touch, taste, sound, smell, sight). In other words, avoid abstract ideas. Keep it real.
• Write with a timer. Keep the time short. 2 to 5 minutes is best. 10 minutes max.
• Don’t stop writing. It doesn’t have to rhyme or be in complete sentences. Keep writing rapid-fire.

That’s it. It’s simple. Now here’s why it works.

Sensory language is what connects the listeners to your writing. It follows the writing principle “show, don’t tell.” If you want your song to speak to your listener’s emotions, then you have to use language that resonates in the body. Emotions are embodied. You feel emotions. Emotions aren’t ideas that you think about. They are experiences. And experiences are real. So keep your language real and concrete. This is especially true for verses. Choruses can be meta to your verses. They can talk about the verse or the idea of the song. But your verses are the blood of the song. They live and breathe and the language should reflect that.

Object writing is the tool to develop your unique perspective. Only you can make the connection between an orange maple leaf and the smell of your lover’s wool sweater. With object writing, you tap into your personal experiences and memories and find your own unique perspective about life and the meaning of things. Object writing comes from your heart.

When you need quick stimulation, object writing allows you to dive in to the depths of your experience and pull out the relevant details that will make your writing interesting. It’s instant. And it gives you more choice because you have a vault of wonderful details to consider on the other side of your 5 minutes.

Here’s what an object writing session could look like:

Object: Leaves
Crunching under my feet I look down and see leaves of gold, burnt orange, and blood red. I imagine nostalgic moments of youth in the fall – argyle sweaters and jean jackets. Walks meant to soak up the last of the luke-warm sun and to hold hands with a young girl. Football and underage drinking. Parties too cold to be outside but too much in love to care. The leaves fall from the trees and they seem to stop in mid air as I imagine a September wedding…time stood still…I look around at the guests and they’re motionless, smiling, frozen in a conversation, and I feel blessed to be alive witnessing this moment of wonder and awe at the gifts of the heart. It’s my wedding day and the woman who these people are here to help me celebrate with is hiding in the house. Perhaps she’s peaking out of a window and maybe time is standing still for her too. And I wonder if she was the girl that some lucky boy held hands with in the fall of her youth. I can see them happy walking among the leaves on the sidewalk. The air is crisp and fresh. The sun falls to the west and my heart rises in the east. The past is romantic and the future is hopeful. The present is transfixed in an absolute moment of this – a celebration of love and happiness. A union of leaves to ground and separation from the tree. The aging bark is flexible and sways in the breeze and the scene begins to move again…leaves slowly falling, voices laughing, glasses clink and hearts open to the possibility of forever and ever.

See how simple it is?

Object Writing Hacks:

• Start your day with 5 minutes of object writing. Once your inner writer is awake, it stays with you all day.
• Object write from all parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.
• Whenever you get stuck in a song, stop what you are doing and object write for a couple of minutes.
• The more specific the picture, the more emotion it creates.
• Before you begin, write your senses across the top of the page: sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, body, motion.
• Ignore rhyme, rhythm, and sentence structure. Your writing doesn’t have to be polished at this stage. Let it be ugly.
• Let the object take you wherever it wants. You don’t have to stay focused on the object. Follow the thoughts that arise.

Go ahead and take 2 minutes to do some quick object writing right here in the comments section. I’ll even get it started.

And I believe this even though my 34 years has shown me that, on occasion only, life can be extremely frustrating and stressful.

Today I hacked my creativity. I created six stress-free solutions for potential creative challenges. Maybe you can use them to discover some new ideas.

1. Take any piece of music, either audio or notation, and play it backwards, either by hand or with software.

2. Overtly mimic your favorite musician for 5 minutes. Use a timer.

3. Play your instrument in a new location–even if you play the piano.

4. Consider traditions.

5. Play accompaniment to a memory.

6. Emphasize your musical flaws.

What creativity hacks have you discovered?

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
– Maya Angelou, poet