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October 4, 2024hrl

Day 278 Week 40 Q3 Friday, October 4, 2024

What do I mean by proper long-form structures, and why do we need them? Much of today’s music follows similar, almost algorithmic patterns, as if crafted by AI. Many producers in rock bands adhere to traditional verse-chorus structures that have been recognizable for decades. This conformity often raises the question: why is everyone so committed to these age-old frameworks? Do they fear that breaking from tradition will offend listeners? 

Throughout my life, I’ve often felt detached from the structures that seem to dominate the music landscape. I’ve never understood the necessity of learning the common forms that have persisted for 50, 150, or even 250 years. To me, music doesn’t require a linear progression—beginning, middle, and end. Reality itself isn’t so neatly structured, and the effects of the notes I play on the audience are unpredictable. 

So, where does this perspective leave me? I view music as a ladle dipped into an ocean, pulling up a unique spoonful. The beginning and end of a piece depend on where you dip and the waves around you. Context is crucial: what is the venue? Is it large or small? Who is the audience? Are they experienced or new? Understanding these factors is essential because music can have a life of its own, but it is also deeply influenced by its environment. 

Sometimes a piece of music requires a specific form to express the feelings it embodies. The chosen instruments, the order of their introduction, and the time taken to express these feelings should guide the structure—not merely the convenience of the musicians available or the venue where a gig is scheduled. The essence of music is to convey emotions, and sometimes this means inventing new forms that resonate with those feelings, regardless of traditional structures. 

Art is a living entity, seeking expression. To bring it into the world, we cannot simply pander to what we think will please an audience. If you’re focused on minimizing risk, you might consider joining a cover band or a tribute act. However, if you are a composer who hears sounds within you, let those sounds emerge authentically. This may mean breaking free from conventional endings and allowing your work to find its own path, even if it diverges from established norms. 

Don’t let the expectations of others stifle your artistic expression. True artistry demands a personal statement—one that cannot be borrowed. Just as CEOs might hire someone to draft a business plan, this practice often lacks authenticity. An audience can sense when someone presents ideas that aren’t their own. If you cannot articulate your artistic vision or create your own unique work, you might not deserve an audience. 

This perspective may seem harsh, but consider the reality: many musicians engage in cover performances, whether playing classical pieces from centuries ago or rock hits from the past two decades. For me, the effort invested in rehearsing and performing is only worthwhile if I’m making an original statement. Delivering someone else’s message doesn’t yield a sufficient return on the investment of time and energy required. 

This isn’t necessarily advice for everyone, but it is for those creative outliers who yearn to make original artistic statements. Don’t fixate on form or structure shaped by the past; focus instead on the present moment and the expression you wish to deliver. Your voice and feelings matter more than adhering to outdated conventions.

October 9, 2024hrl

Day 283 Week 41 Q4 Wednesday, October 9, 2024

When attempting to determine what behaviors make the most sense for you, they should be derived from your desired identity, not your aspirations. Aspirations to me are more like goals, and as such, they are not as directly connected to feelings, emotions, and who you really are. You are not only who you think you are, you actually are something. If you think you’re a basketball star in your 5’6″ tall you’re wrong. There was some slight chance that you could be a freak of nature who could jump a foot higher than everybody else height, but by large, statistically, this is not , the other hand, if you are born with some tremendous proclivity in any domain where it is much easier for you to operate than others such as drawing, music, math, and other things that children can do as well as adults. These are not aspirational. These are who you really are. If you were trying to create behaviors that are not who you really are and do it with the willpower to overcome what you were born with, well, some people can do that. Some people have tremendous discipline and focus, but this blog is not directed at them. This blog is directed at creative outliers who have an extremely large number of ideas and options, not just a huge number of dreams and aspirations.

It is easy to come up with dreams and aspirations. You just have to say it. Hard to come up with new behaviors because you actually have to do them, not just say them. Your behaviors are the real you, your aspirations and goals are not. They are dreams. And yes, you may make a very detailed plan about how you will get there and some people are really good at that and really get there, but most don’t, instead most beat themselves up because they did not get there.

The reason to focus on behaviors is because they taken to account you’re feelings and you’re feeling things matter more than what you think. You may believe that what you think is what you feel I don’t. What do you think could be have been poured into your head by others. By your parents, your superiors, your elders your bosses and society. And you may in fact be the product of all these inputs. But what about what you think or rather what you feel based upon who you really are if you pay attention you will notice there are some things you are a lot better than others, can you overcome them, these limitations? Well, of course, you can some of the time, but what about the things you were already naturally really good at? What if you deny those things and use your willpower to overcome your natural orientation, skills,loves and desires?

Well, good for you. You’ll have overcome everything that you care about and who you are and exchange for something that you dreamed of or somebody else more likely dreamed up than you. In my opinion, this is not psychologically beneficial. You will have thrown out the baby with the bathwater. Your soul matters more than your intellect. Your feelings matter more than both; your feelings are who you are, and what is emotionally relevant to you dominates how you spend your time, which dominates who you become in the world.

Don’t confuse aspirations and goals with identity.2024

October 14, 2024hrl

Not all days are created equal. Some have more problems than others. Some have more celebrations than others. And, of course, it is quite possible to have both simultaneously. The good news is if you have identified what behaviors are consistent with your identity aspirations and have then habituated them by creating habits from the derived behaviors, you can always be sure of getting on the path that leads toward your goals.

Not by focusing on your goals or aspirations but by focusing on your behaviors because behaviors are the only present-moment activities in your life as opposed to goals or aspirations, which are projections, not current realities. You only have one reality, which you are doing right now.
Therefore, if you can be doing the right thing right now, you can be sure that things will turn out all right. What do you need to do besides following your habits that can save you from your thoughts? It is also to be thinking at the same time. You can’t get away with just living in the present moment. You still have to integrate the past and the future into the present moment, which requires thinking, not just behavior. So, although your behaviors may be the priority, you can’t escape your thoughts.

There is a balancing act that has to go on every day. Although not always aligned, your behaviors and thoughts can be better integrated so that the alignment process takes less effort. And this is why your behaviors need to be derived from your identity. If you try to do things inconsistent with who you think you are and who you want to be, you will likely fail in those attempts.

How can you possibly know what to do and how to behave if you do not know who you are? You can easily do this if you are not being true to yourself. It is hard to be true to oneself because this requires self-knowledge. Not everyone takes the time to find out who they are. This is not a trivial exercise because they’re all always many people telling you who you should be and what you should do. And therefore, you have to tune them out, even though you would like to maintain relationships with them, or at least most of them.

Yes, you can be saved by your habits, but only if your habits are the right habits for you. And you can’t possibly create those habits without spending considerable time behaving in the manner you want to habituate. And you can’t possibly identify or derive those habits and behaviors unless you have taken the time to find out who you are. Some might feel like this is a luxury due to the many external forces impinging upon them.

It is not a luxury to find out who you are. It is imperative if you want to be true to yourself.

Day 296 Week 43 Q4 Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Back in 1993, when I first got involved with the internet, I had an optimistic vision: that we’d soon be able to triangulate the truth, thanks to the vast number of sources just a click away. I believed that more voices would naturally bring balance, with falsehoods canceling each other out and the truth rising to the surface. It seemed so clear to me back then. However, I underestimated the power of echo chambers and social media bubbles, where people end up surrounded by ideas they already believe, hearing their own opinions reflected back at them. Naïvely, I thought I could just avoid these traps by steering clear of platforms like Facebook and only seeking out diverse viewpoints.

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way. I didn’t anticipate how the internet could be intentionally used to manipulate people, distorting reality on a massive scale. Instead of the healthy triangulation I hoped for, we ended up with more manipulation and less clarity. It’s not just that false information exists—it’s the way it’s been engineered to spread so effectively. Yet, amidst this manipulation, there’s still a beacon of hope: the power of creative expression. Authenticity, especially in culture and music, can cut through the noise. In a world where manipulation seems rampant, the unfiltered creativity of individuals offers a powerful counterbalance. This is where the idea of “expression salons” comes in—what I call Positive Potentials Expression Salons. These gatherings create space for people to share their ideas and art free from the distorting effects of algorithms or outside agendas. It’s not about creating another echo chamber but about fostering a community where different voices can genuinely be heard and appreciated.

These salons wouldn’t just be for musicians. Writers, visual artists, filmmakers—anyone putting their authentic self into their craft—would be welcome to contribute. Writers can challenge, inspire, and comfort with their words. Visual artists—through painting, photography, or digital media— communicate truths that transcend language. Together, these creative outlets can form a collective pushback, offering a tapestry of authenticity against the constant barrage of manipulated information. What makes these salons so powerful is the diversity of creative voices. Everyone has their own way of navigating through the noise, and when these different forms of expression come together, they amplify each other. It creates a synergy that’s impossible to achieve in isolation. By coming together in spaces that encourage open and honest expression, we can resist the forces that try to bend reality into something else. It’s about finding the truth through creativity.

Ultimately, the way to combat the darker side of technological manipulation is for sensitive, creative people to gather and triangulate the truth together. Through shared expression, they can leverage technology in ways that empower rather than distort. A Positive Potentials Expression Salon is a place for creative outliers to explore this intersection of people power and technology, offering a real alternative to the misinformation swirling around us.

2024

July 20, 2023 HowardL

Composers have been around for a very long time, and as in all creative disciplines, the job changes with the times. Even if you are not a composer and you have nothing to do with music, there are lessons here that should be of value to all creative outliers, a group composer certainly belong to.

Hundreds of years ago, all a composer needed was a pencil and paper, which held until the last hundred years but has changed greatly in the last twenty. Now you need to understand not only where the page turns occur on the score pages or each player but also how to use a digital workstation, notation software, have a website and oh so much more.

One would think the computer makes everyone’s lives easier, but in some ways, it has multiple the number of skills we must have a passing acquaintance with. We were told by marketing people that the computer would make all of our lives much simpler. We would no longer need assistance creating documents, managing spreadsheets, keeping track of files, and more, but instead, we found ourselves doing several hours of IT every week. This is also true for everyone from architects to CEOs, not to mention artists, actors and writers.

At one point in time, some musicians were also instrument makers. Now they are also recording engineers, sound reinforcement experts and booking agents. This can be exciting if you are a super multitasker who thrives on running in twenty directions at once. It can also be overwhelming if you are not.

And then, there are the business models associated with the arts, which are changing daily. World-class orchestras need to use their venues to book pop stars to pay the bills and make up the deficits between what it costs to put on a concert and how much you can charge for tickets. What percentage of the population can afford to spend $500 for dinner and concert tickets? The percentage of musicians who can charge enough for their music work to live on shrinks every year. 

But parallel paths are springing up. Reputations can be made or broken online. 

It is not just presidential candidates who need to be telegenic to get covered. Concerts are now expected to have a visual component. Making it on the radio is no longer an option. Performing at dance halls or in restaurants no longer pays the bills and often is not an option for most kinds of music.

And like many other things, the new sound quality is sound convenience.   

Alternatively, composers do not have to constrain their creativity in composing music. Now they can compose platforms, brands, images, venues, and new groups of fans. And to be a contemporary composer, remember, if you want to hear your music, you had better be able to play it.

May 26, 2023Howard L

What do business models have to do with being a composer? Much of the time, nothing at all, which is why most composers do not have their works heard. Original works are imperative but where and how they are to be heard, has to be articulated in an emotionally relevant manner to target stakeholder including audiences. What’s that, you say? What do you mean by communicating in an emotionally relevant manner?

It is fairly straightforward. If your communication is not emotionally relevant to the people you speak to, they can not become emotionally engaged. If they do not become emotionally engaged, they will not have much reason to listen to you or your work and to take you seriously.  If they do not take you seriously, they will never pay the opportunity cost to become stakeholders for new risky endeavors. It is easier and safer for people to stick with what they were doing, then try something new unless they are failing, Then your messages can be very emotionally relevant.

To articulate your message in an emotionally relevant manner, you need to know who you are talking to, for clearly, one size does not fit all. I mean, even websites responsively adapt to at least the circumstances of screen real estate. They do not send the same information to phones, tablets, laptops and desktops. And I mean, you are smarter and much more aware than a website, right?

Adapt your messaging to your desired audience and it would help if you imagine some sort of business model that might work for both them and for you. If you can not imagine a business model for a particular audience, why are you talking to them? Remember, as any creative outlier, you must act entrepreneurially to get your ideas and pieces adopted. In other words, you have to sell yourself and your stuff. This means unless you have already made it big, someone has to champion what you have to offer.

And do not come back with, well, there is a music market. Markets do not pay for tickets or come and perform, people do. Imagine who you could shake hands with to know who you are trying to communicate with. It might even be worth writing a paragraph or two called A Day in the Life about this person you would like to be a stakeholder for your works and ideas.

Just saying Business Models are on the critical path to being heard.