Do you ever think about unlearning?

[hydrogen]

That is the thing about dance music from the 70's and 80's, people could still play and write and it was expected of you.

Definitive, probably my favorite part about any tracks made back in this time. Truly incredible performances captured on tape!

[Ldizzy]

i just try to get good at pulling the right card at the right time.. if u get what i mean...

every single insistence i have on a particular skill, i feel.. is normal.. im just trying to let myself be what i am musically each day.. and it comes out as it is..

or i dont do so and my music sounds like sh!t, like most of the time

[oblioblioblio]

I neither see or experience the connection between knowledge/experience and a lack of creativity. To me it just suggests boredom maybe? People get stuck with the same ways of doing things in all walks of life and when some creative pursuit starts to get like a chore or repetative, creativity cant shine.

Theres so many ways to keep the innocent magic alive even by the simplest of concepts. Unless you are an amnesiac, you cant help learning and gaining experience, its the human thing to do so its impossible to use it as a reason for losing a creative spark.

Theres enough to learn in music for a single lifetime, you can never have learned too much and theres literally so much experimenting to do to potentially keep you creative until you die. Maybe people are just getting lazy and falling into ruts? You can constantly push your own boundaries of knowledge and so are in unknown realms and new territory, its nobodys fault but the individuals if things become stagnant because theres so many ways to keep things fresh.

I should have distanced myself from the term unlearning... that has some very negative aspects. And I do agree that there is never any particular reason to decide not to learn something... THis is such a multidisciplinary thing... anything can help... dancing... breaking stuff... reading any material... deciding not to listen to any music... whatever.

However, I do kinda believe that a lot of the skill in making music lies in funny hard to access regions of a person... this kind of untameable un(sub)conscious thing. I do agree that it isn't specifically the acquissition of knowledge that might get in the way of this, however.

[kdgh]

Don't think too much. First make, then think.

i disagree
can you come up with anything new if you don't use your brain. happy accidents will only get you so far.

thinking is good for you.

having fun leads to experiments.... try to different routings, crazy techniques, etc. Most of melodys, progressions and such, are already made... Now it's just do crazy things. Imo that's about having fun with your instruments. I don't think the pioneers which music ever thought about what they did. They just did!

[AK]

^^^^ see I totally agree with that but I view that as creativity and dont see the correlation between it and the aquisition of knowledge. For me, without knowledge and a degree of experience you lack the know-how as to how to apply it.

Take this analogy: somebody is showing a talent for fine art and produces a series of works which one could say contains, 'raw talent'. A few years down the line, they have discovered a fair few techniques in painting, using different media etc etc. Now that raw talent hasnt gone anywhere but through the gained knowledge of technique and methods of application, that artist is now in a much better position to mould an inspiring idea into the finished article.

[simonb]

I think there's a lot to be said about "beginner's mind" when you're not encumbered by techniques and your own expectations and just do whatever you want. However I think most really good producers manage to carry that attitude on, but add to it the skills and techniques to get the ideas efficiently from their head to their speakers and make it all sound great...

I wouldn't ever want to unlearn. I'd rather learn more and more technique while also learning how to let go of my ego (isn't that what it is at the end of the day that prevents us from just doing what we want, the annoying voice saying it doesn't sound "current" or like your favourite producer or whatever) and just make music

[Dusk]

Take this analogy: somebody is showing a talent for fine art and produces a series of works which one could say contains, 'raw talent'. A few years down the line, they have discovered a fair few techniques in painting, using different media etc etc. Now that raw talent hasnt gone anywhere but through the gained knowledge of technique and methods of application, that artist is now in a much better position to mould an inspiring idea into the finished article.

That's how it should work in theory.

In practice knowing "how things should be done" can directly impede creativity. Proven techniques can easily become a blueprint or formula. Its too easy to reuse them for predictable results.

[eggnchips]

Take this analogy: somebody is showing a talent for fine art and produces a series of works which one could say contains, 'raw talent'. A few years down the line, they have discovered a fair few techniques in painting, using different media etc etc. Now that raw talent hasnt gone anywhere but through the gained knowledge of technique and methods of application, that artist is now in a much better position to mould an inspiring idea into the finished article.

That's how it should work in theory.

In practice knowing "how things should be done" can directly impede creativity. Proven techniques can easily become a blueprint or formula. Its too easy to reuse them for predictable results.

This is what I was trying to get at also. For example the book says, no reverb on your kicks, so you learn never to put reverbs on kicks then all of a sudden somebody breaks the rule and puts a reverb on a kick then everybody follows.
The rule breakers are usually most original.

P.S. The kick example was just the first example that came to mind.