Musical Musings

2010-07-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

DREAMSHIP

Cherish your visions
And make the decisions
To be a dreamer now
It’s a magical day
When you can say
You’ve sailed on the creative scow

A ship so fine
That in its prime
Finds gold in the minds of men
Sailors on high
Reaching a sky
As mighty as the pen

Ideas do flow
As does the crow
From sea to shining sea
We all are joined
And new words are coined
From just our passion to be

We part the waves
For so many slaves
To the common and concrete
We set a new course
And are a force
For the abstract and new beat

Yes completing ourselves
Like magical elves
Is a thing you and I can do
We’re now recovered
And we’ve discovered
It feels so incredibly new

All do the same
We’re never to blame
For the ups and downs of life
We steer by firm hand
Until we see land
And the end of our stress and strife

So come on board
And bring your hoard
Of wants and hopes and dreams
We are never blind
In this state of mind
It’s all as fun as it seems!

J S

More poetry from Johnny is HERE!

CC Creative Commons 3.0 Non-commercial No Derivatives license

No Musical Boundaries

2010-01-18T18:56:00.000-08:00

Why does a song have to adhere to a strict formula?

Everyone in the world is connected by the enjoyment and feeling for music. This wonderful connection is lessened when we are divided by strict musical tastes to the exclusion of other people's choices.

Sharing the appreciation of multi-genre music is one way the world comes together and, for musicians, opens up many creative avenues.

Mixing styles invites more and varied listeners, along with creative communication, into our lives.

Songwriting is more fun when it interprets the whole world and all of its nuances both in lyrics and music.

JS

CC Creative Commons 3.0 Non-commercial No Derivatives license

Meaning

2010-01-10T14:14:00.000-08:00

1. Nothing matters. People are born, live a short while and die. There are a billion stars spinning in a billion galaxies continually blinking in and out of existence in a neutral clockwork universe. Nothing is permanent. We are “star stuff”.

2. I am therefore free to assign meaning to anything I choose. Nothing inherently has more meaning than anything else. There is only “relative meaning” in the human microcosm. Every concept from religion, science, and the Golden Rule, to fairness and how we treat nature is man’s mental construct.

3. I assign meaning to mine and other being’s pleasure. The pleasure of creation, of helping other people find their pleasure, and of using human constructs to encourage people to be the best they can be while respecting the Universe are ways of being I endorse. I am an enemy of pain that does not ultimately cause pleasure.

4. I recognize that this is one of many possible frameworks. I am aware that there are an infinite number of constructs and dynamic mental states of being. I will not engage in negative judgment and will respect and judge other’s ways of being only according to the amount of pleasure or pain they produce.

5. I must take responsibility, good or bad, for my mental and physical actions and the consequences that result from them due to my assignment of personal meaning.

I, therefore, assign meaning to the music and writing I create and to other people’s artistic and technological, benevolent creations.

---------------------------------

If pain and pleasure must co-exist then increase pleasure and/or decrease pain by the amount that results in the greatest good. Destructive pleasure usually does not result in the greatest good.

The pain-pleasure principle states that some pain is acceptable if the resulting pleasure is great enough. Some pain may be needed in order to appreciate the contrast and increase pleasure, keeping in mind the greatest good.

The isness and cause-and-effect of everything in the universe must be respected for this to be an effective “philosophy of being”.

Definitions

Meaning – Importance given to an object or idea that serves as a focus, point of reference, or goal in a human life.

Relative Meaning – The hierarchy of importance assigned to people, places, things and pursuits in human lives, in relation to each other.

Pleasure – Any situation, mental or physical, that causes one to feel stronger and healthier, adds to the enjoyment of life, increases self-worth, and brings out one’s most effective talents.

Destructive Pleasure – Pleasure derived from inflicting pain and destroying other people’s meaning and pleasure.

Pain – Any situation or state of being, mental or physical, that lessens one’s sense of self and worth, causes damage, and decreases one’s potential, temporarily or permanently, for being the most effective at dealing with life.

The Greatest Good – The state of being that results in the most pleasure for the most people for the longest amount of time, now and/or in the future.

Negative Judgment – Coming to a conclusion without knowing all the relevant and interacting facts, constructs, and frameworks involved.

Framework – The innate experiences, attitudes, knowledge, emotional triggers, cognitive ability, health, goals and current situation a person brings to the viewing of, making sense of, and interacting with “shared reality”.

Construct - A social group or idea built around a shared framework and value system.

Isness – The central beingness of everything from microbes, through humans, to the stars. The consistent totality of something and its cause-and-effect in shared reality.

END

CC Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives license

The Song Is King

2010-01-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

Whatever the song needs to get its message and emotion across is what you should let it have!

Creative products like songs, stories, surrealistic sculpture, etc, eventually take on a life of their own through the creative process. If you follow the direction of the piece you will end up with something unique. If you rigidly mold the creation and whip it into submission you will have a shadow of something already in existence.

Does the world need more of the same stuff?

Hold your censor back, twist your creation, then let it go and your own truly unique voice as an artist will be heard.

JS

CC Creative Commons 3.0 Non-commercial No Derivatives license

Sonic Diversity

2009-12-25T19:31:00.000-08:00

Boring!

That's how I feel when the same sound set is used throughout a song. I like to hear varied tones and frequencies that support the emotion and forward flow of a piece of music. I believe humans are made to respond to variety (whether it's sound, color, emotion, smell, or ideas).

I am a big fan of synthesizers. I love to hear an instrument that I can't identify and that isn't a standard part of an orchestra or band.

There are many possibilities these days for an expanded sonic pallet and unique arranging. I like songs where as much creativity has been put into the underlying music as into the lyrics.

JS

CC Creative Commons 3.0 Non-commercial No Derivatives license

An Orchestration of Sound

2009-12-23T19:32:00.000-08:00

Sound is a non-sentient physical thing. It doesn't care whether or not it's mixed with other sounds, how loud or soft it is, what you call it, or how you've used it. It is wonderfully neutral and pliable ( given the right software, instrument, and brain).

Freeing it from the usual emotional responses (I like it/I don't like it, that's noise/that's music) gives us a broad range of possibilities. We are not chained to "musical" sounds and can interweave the natural sounds of the universe with our own sonic agenda and then (with the artist in us) create a cohesive whole.
This gives listeners a chance to bring their experiences and emotions to the music unfettered by "genre" sterotypes.

JS

CC Creative Commons 3.0 Non-commercial No Derivatives license