why do you make music?

been meaning to start this for awhile but am feeling particularly unmotivated these days so it seems like a good time

"you do not choose music, music chooses you"

^ forget who said that, some russian dude I think

eh

SOME RUSSIAN DUDE

oh hey i was just going to suggest that you start this thread.

if you're unmotivated maybe it's time to take a break

recharge the batteries

or maybe a better question is something like "what do you expect/want to get out of continuing to make music for the foreseeable future?"

also inspired by the pirate bay thread, i thought there was some IMM thread about alternative ways to release & make money from albums but i couldn't find one. should i start a new one?

maybe start a thread of "things to do instead of making music"

because i love to make it, and then listen to it. because i love to sing. and i love music in a very particular way so i might as well make it myself.

also inspired by the pirate bay thread, i thought there was some IMM thread about alternative ways to release & make money from albums but i couldn't find one. should i start a new one?

― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Tuesday, April 21, 2009 3:47 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this definitely existed, not sure what it was called though

somebody made the good point on the pilates bay thread that many musicians in the back half of the 20th century lucked out in a major way by experiencing a modicum of financial success from their efforts.

on the other hand, I see bands today I think are fantastic that can't get record deals or live off their music, but guess what, it was the same thing back in '88. so the odds got worse at yr favorite casino, what are you going to do, not play? I don't think so, punchy.

making money/a living has never really stopped or inspired me to do it, i guess

well that's almost a different thread but i don't think it's necessarily a good thing for a band to be able to live off its music, or at least to have that as a motivation

let's not reduce this to "because playing music is fun". not to hijack the thread, but i think what i'm really interested in is everybody's personal pain vs. pleasure ratio when it comes to being a musician.

you'll always be able to play guitar and sing and fuck around with garageband in your bedroom, right? that's fun, and the risk of stress and failure is low. but i would imagine that most of us have an idea of success that falls somewhere between that and being a dollars n' coke rock star. since being a working musician at any level inevitably involves lots of things that are not fun, i think about this stuff a lot and i'd be interested to hear how y'all think about it.

xp

If I didn't make music I'd explode.

i like to think that i make music because it is my hobby; that it's what i do to be creative, to occupy myself productively and develop skills outside of work and school, to meet other people with common interests, etc. i don't know how honest that is though.

i reacted kind of negatively to "you do not choose music, music chooses you" because i have never felt that way. i've never felt that i have songs inside of me that need to come out (or whatever), always felt that it's something i have to push myself a little bit to do - which is good, because i'm naturally pretty lazy and if i didn't push myself to do things i'd just sit around watching tv all day all the time. anyways i feel like i did choose music, which is good, but i could have chosen anything else on a teenage whim and it would be just as important to me now

jordan is talking about what i'm talking about when i'm questioning my own honesty

like i say all that stuff but i could have music as a hobby without the fucking pain of booking shows, moving gear, paying rent on a practice space, etc. etc. by just playing by myself at home so i've got to have other motivations for dealing with the shitty parts

so jordan, you want to know why anyone would make music in a serious way, given how difficult it is to succeed in this arena?

i wasn't saying i make music just because it's fun, i was just saying i don't really think about making a living when i do it.

i can't really answer this question on the same level that you guys can, because i don't play shows or book gigs or whatever. but i still feel as serious about it as the next guy, if that makes sense.

totally. and i think at heart these are the really selfish, basic motivations that drive most people to do interesting things (ie wanting to be respected, loved, remembered, etc.).

xp to n/a

jordan this is the thread i was thinking about, don't know if it's the one you mean: Giving away your music, c/d?

one of many things to do in life in order to stave off death?

anyways i feel like i did choose music, which is good, but i could have chosen anything else on a teenage whim and it would be just as important to me now

― congratulations (n/a), Tuesday, April 21, 2009 5:03 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is not true for me.

personal pain vs. pleasure ratio

Well everyone wants to enjoy what they do, if it was all unending grind, why do it in the first place? But on the other hand I think that we can all accept some unpleasantness, if it's helping to work towards something we want. Those of us who are guitarists accepted the temporary pain of bloody fingers when we first started to play, because it was part of working towards something.

always felt that it's something i have to push myself a little bit to do

I feel this way right now. There are a handful of songs I'm working on that are really not working out. And I'd do anything rather than work on them - including hanging around on ILX, or even spring cleaning! But I know that there's a nagging feeling that's just going to grow and grow and it won't leave me alone until I sit down and start thrashing out chords and words again. And I also know that there's a transcendent (for want of a better word) feeling that I get when I get a song right, when it comes out the way I want, and especially when it comes out in some way that I didn't expect.

so surmounter, you're totally cool with being a serious musician for your own enjoyment, and not having many people hear your music?

(not criticizing you here at all, btw)

xxxxp

tom hanks said it best in a league of their own "the hard is what it makes it great"

no, i'm not. i'm putting together an album now and will "release" it to the best of my ability. but i have little to no idea how to "make it," so for now, until i have a demo ready to give out and maybe even then -- i don't have much of a choice. i have to be serious enough for myself.

but no, i will not be happy unless other people hear it at some point, in some way.

(and i meant "make it" as in "make it big," not make the album)

anyways i feel like i did choose music, which is good, but i could have chosen anything else on a teenage whim and it would be just as important to me now

totally agree with this btw.

really?? that's so surprising to me. i always felt like i knew, this was the thing.

in the same way i knew that i loved listening to music a lot more than i loved looking at paintings, or watching theater.

I think I would make music even if no-one else ever heard it. Conversely, there's a economic aspect where I would like to make enough money from music so that I could do it full time without having to have a "day job" to pay the bills. But that's far away from any rock star fantasy of coke and limos.

i've never ever had "making it" as one of my motivations for playing music either, but i'm not sure this has been a good thing. it would probably be healthy to have slightly more serious aspirations, even if i didn't meet them. the goal for my current band was to get popular enough to open for bands we like when they come to town, which has happened a few times but not enough to really consider the goal met

well i mean the goal in terms of popularity, outside of creative goals

that sounds like a huge accomplishment

i guess there's a question of: do you have the motivation to be taken seriously, as a musician. and i do, but i just haven't really figured out how to go about making that happen, short of doggedly recording and editing things i hope for a lot of ppl to hear very soon.

i almost feel like what you're asking, jordan, is the tree that falls in the forest thing. if no one hears you play, do you really count? kind of thing. it does seem like the recognition bit is very important to a lot of people, myself included.

okay surmounter, so say you put out this record and a small group of people like it but you don't really sell many copies or get anyone interested in promoting it for you. so you start working on your next album, and you think it's better than your last album because of your experience, but you still haven't "made it" (whatever that means to you). do your goals stay the same?

i'm not questioning anyone's persistence or thinking that anyone will stop making music, but i feel like i know so many musicians who are not where they want to be (and what i'm really interested is the "where they want to be" part).

it does seem like the recognition bit is very important to a lot of people, myself included.

and do you see how this makes your first post on this thread seem kinda disingenuous?

got it.

to answer your question: my goals would stay the same insofar as i can never stop working, all the time, whenever i can.

but yes it comes with a lot of crap. lack of recognition, time, energy. it is very trying.

you mean, saying that i don't think about making a living when i work on music, is disingenuous? yes, i can see that. it's more that i can't let myself think about it too much, or i would get too sad. i just have to do it to be happy, which is corny, but the way it is.

i meant this:

because i love to make it, and then listen to it. because i love to sing. and i love music in a very particular way so i might as well make it myself.

when you've said that there's really more to it than just making music for yourself.

btw, everyone on this thread should see anvil!: the story of anvil if you get a chance, it's the central issue of the movie.

i said in this in a review of it: The members of Anvil only bring up the idea that playing music with your friends is its own reward is after they've experienced some sort of crushing, Spinal Tappian setback. This never rings true - If they didn't cling to their innocent, slightly desperate hope that they're still going to "make it" and become rock stars, then there wouldn't really be a movie. It's this, the fact that they are still chasing the dream with the fervency of 18 year olds, that makes "Anvil" so poignant.

well, i think there are 2 stages to the "making." there's the actual composition stage. when i'm putting something together, i don't think i really think about anyone else. i think about what i'm getting out of it.

but then, like most work people do that means something to them, ya, i definitely want recognition.

but if you're asking why i sit down, turn my keyboard on and sing... it just feels like an itch, that needs to be scratched.

i don't really know how else to put it... does that make sense?

Fucking around with GarageBand in my bedroom is really the extent of it for me right now, and that's what makes it so great. That's what makes it possible, even--no one else ever has to hear what I make so I don't stifle myself worrying about whether it's shit or not (that nasty impulse has put a wrench in pretty much all my other creative endeavors). Of course, this probably has everything to do with the fact that it hasn't been a serious hobby for me for very long. As I start to improve little by little, I do feel like I want feedback/recognition from other people. I think as you raise the bar higher, it does become more than something you just do for yourself. But not giving a fuck is crucial to getting started.

i think there's a difference between making music to get recognition, and wanting recognition for what you've made.

good point

I'm getting a little emo here, but music saved my life in high school. some self-destructive tendencies were minimized once making music became an organizing principle for me. I guess that's the reason "music chooses you" rings true for me.

playing isn't a life or death activity today (which is good, aesthetic activities can't live up to demands like that) but there is a lingering feeling that I'm still paying down a debt to music.

nicely said

my enjoyment of making music is entirely gone.. i don't know when it happened specifically but i know pretty much why. picking up an instrument gives me an anxiety attack these days. i like being in the engineers seat still, which is something i guess, keeps my hand in... but i really don't know if i'm ever going to play music again. which feels sad.

1) Love of music duh
2) When I started playing guitar it developed into kind of an OCD thing and if I don't play for a few days and have weird anxiety / guilt / feel naked like something's missing
3) Something really physically satisfying about a really loud amp and hitting a chord or unison bend or whatever in a real hackslash primitive sorta way
3) Learning / coming up with something new=totally satisfying depression cure

eh and so on

Mostly it's about having a hand directly in something you really love (ilx quoted out of context).

^^considering #2 it's surprising how sloppy I am

(ilx quoted out of contest lol)

i've kinda grown up around music since my dad was/is a musician, but that only half explains it as my brother did too and he does not make songs. i'mma have to think about this one more. (short answer right now: potential for glory and recognition for being super rad).

:/

having more fun playing music at the practice space, writing songs, being creative; having less fun trying to promote the band and getting people to care

this is now just my default thread for being emo about band shit

you know, the kind of lol mostly sad aspect ive realized in the past year or so is that i stopped making music (for the most part) because of running the shop and being deluged with what a pain in the ass rotten experience it is for so many people. which is kind of the plumber doesnt get off work and go home and fix his own sink for fun parallel i guess, but it does bother me quite a bit when i put it in stark terms.

i should just probably spend too much on a new pedal or something to guilt myself into working on music again.

don't have time to read this whole thread, but: where does actual performance come into this? i love music, listening and playing, but the best part of playing was actually playing, in front of people, whether or not they gave a shit. mind, i wasn't very involved in the creation/craft of our music, but i think performance was always the whole band's favorite thing anyway

ie -- 'being super rad'

performance is the most fun part which is linked to some of the least fun parts (promotion, not getting paid, etc.)

i agree that performance can be the best part, though i think my bandmates could give or take playing shows. they're more interested in writing songs generally.

i have an unhealthy relationship with performance, and i don't do it. writing and recording seems to be enough for now but we'll see.