"Once we give ourselves permission to struggle, we can have the patience with ourselves that we need to truly develop an idea and take it to the next level" -- SO true, not only for creative pursuits, but for so much of life as a whole.
Schooled painter here, if you put more and more paint on, the "white" of the prepared canvas doesn't shine through anymore, less paint is more "air" and results in a fresher picture. This is especially true for oils, which is a bit like "painting with stained glass".
If you mix all coloures you actually get a vertion of perple not brown. When I wanted to start making complex cinematic cords and melodys I just imagined where the fingers would be would be and that's what makes piano sound real.
Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away & other Ghibli films ) can make your heart melt with like 3 well placed chords - proof that master composers don't need to shred to create a masterpiece. Fantastic piano playing in this vid btw!
"Do less, better" is the exact epiphany I had recently. I've been frustrating myself by throwing so much into a beat and having nothing sound good together, instead of honing in on every single aspect and giving it the attention it deserves.
I feel you! I was always pushing myself harder and harder ,because I felt that listening to what I did would be considered too ''stale''. This video helped me open my eyes to this weakness and what I must do, creatively, to overcome this.
It's so funny that I often forget that sometimes that I need to sit back and let ideas develop and evolve when it comes to my music writing even though I know that it's something that I actively actively doing my other artistic mediums like story writing.
That piano piece was fabulous. I could listen to it for hours, and most definitely will! Great video, I really like this new direction the channel is going for.
I feel that what melodies and notes the music *implies* is often just as important as the actual notes are there. How often have you listened to a song, and sung along to the melody, and just completely ad-libbed something else that fits with it? That's an implied melody... and that's where composition and arrangment gets really interesting for me.
This is why I listen to John Barry. Seemingly simplistic, but very moving emotional scores with melodies so memorable. His scores are what got me into composing since 2018. Thank you for this video.
I love the score to ‘Moon’ by Clint Mansell for this very reason. A simple recurring piano motif underscored with dissonant sound design. It conveyed very effectively and efficiently the underlying eerieness of what was unfolding.
Wow! How great that I just found your wonderful channel! I´m a painting artist who is singing and just starting to work on my own songs again that I wrote as a teen long time ago. I can assure everyone that what you are saying in this video about composition in MUSIC is absolutely the same as I experienced in VISUAL art (and I´m a "real" painter on canvas - not using AI but human intelligence - lol). Composing a memorable painting is so much more than just applying rules. - I´m excited to learn as much as I can from you to make my (simple anyway) songs as strong as possible. I know it takes work and I love it! Thank you so much for your free lessons. I will remember you and give credit when I publish music in future. Best wishes from Austria!
Genuinely needed to hear this at the perfect time. Just subscribed like yesterday and man your channel is a gem. Really appreciate the beauty and insight you share with us. It most definitely does not fall on deaf ears.
I feel like you wrote the script specifically to address my current challenges. Just discovered your channel a few days ago and already one of my favourite! Great job on the content AND on the realization! Thank you!
This makes me think a lot of the film scoring videos I watch. So much of film music is like, at most, three ideas. It is the arranging and accenting of those ideas that “disguises” the simplicity. That you can do a lot with what is basically just four part choral writing
This is so true. I have started to listen to old songs on my hard drive and I notice that many of them have something strong, but it is hidden beneath a lot of crap. It took a long time to just have confidence to trust your ideas. It also took time to understand what was good and what was not. It is hard to describe, but you really need time to get to know your own music
Good to hear your words on creativity and dealing with the oceans of theory currently available. I find that you convey the ethos of putting it all to practice in an objetive way - a very much needed voice on youtube music creative discourse. Compliments on your videos.
I might be rare, not sure, but I have NO musical training growing up and suddenly find myself learning in middle age. But with a real drive. Been listening all my life and now wanting to create and videos like this are just what I need. It helps me personally to learn things like this even while I am still learning chords and scales and all that - just like listening to grown ups talk helps kids even before they know how to spell.
@@michaelkonomos You’re not alone. It’s challenging to learn new skills when we’re older usually because our own egos won’t allow it. You’re self awareness and thoughtfulness are great assets, because we can’t learn what we think we already know.
I am so grateful that I have found a TH-cam channel with content that I am highly confident from my understanding for example of watching my son struggle to create his music career; is relevant and valuable to the viewer who is me.
This is probably the first TH-cam video I watched two times in a row. Fantastic. It is exactly the path I am trying to pursue for the last couple of months, so I connect with these thoughts immediately. I also have to congratulate your way of narrating, It's really pleasant to listen to and one can really concentrate on the message.
This spoke to me on many levels, and can honestly be applied to just about every facet of life. This is beautiful. And there's a certain magic to demonstrating the concept that you're speaking of by taking such a complex and nuanced subject and explaining it in a clear and concise way without decreasing the scope and weight of the subject matter. Respect 👊
Do less btter, make your initial idea so strong that people can't help but passionatly love and repeat it, and mix it together with the same passion! I love your insight man! Thank you for your wisdom!!!
@JamesonNathanJames you are a real gem. Thanks for this live stream and for sharing the project. And 35 is YOUNG trust me. When I was 35 I could not have imagined how it would feel for a granddaughter to give me a new name. You have so much ahead!
Love the video. I’ve benefitted by doing similar things myself - refining an original idea down to simpler versions to allow for more layering and growth in the arrangement. Really helps me escape my own 4-bar loop traps with more consistency. Oh and I love your piano playing. Great way to show the concept in action with a familiar instrument. Hope to see/hear more of it in the channel.
I agree on the 'more piano examples'. Great playing J. Do you ever take those piano ideas into a daw/digital/synth form? Your synth stuff seems to be much more... experimental? (No offense, I go from "crazy random", to simple melodies.)
Your insight is well appreciated if not fully agreed upon! There is something to be said of your compositional style as presented here... French AF in the best way
You resonate, Mr. Jones. I dig it. Only a sincere and lengthy struggle with oneself can bring about the wisdom you present in this video. Upon hearing your compositions herein it becomes obvious that you have slagged off many trendy concepts and approaches in order to get back to a music that can move a person, a listenable music that does not beg to be comprehended but felt, experienced. Rock on.
Why is it so hard to remember these things? I've written down the same kinds of notes so many times and always find myself realizing I've forgotten again. Incredibly helpful way of driving these aspects home, as usual
Thanks for these wise words. I've seen/heard some super successful producers have incredibly complex sound design and arrangements. I've also the most ridiculously simple melodies and arrangements do just as well. Not sure there is a rule either way. I think you hit the nail on the head with emotion. If the song creates emotion, it will stick. Your track may be either simple or complex and not moving the crowd. So get to adding or trimming! There is no golden formula; however, when YOU find the formula that works for YOU....stick with it! Create the templates, tool boxes, and go-to sounds; and start churning em out!
Possessing the instrumental skill of a well trained classical musician and the ear of an improviser is the ultimate goal, IMHO. I can imagine music that I am incapable of playing, which is the most frustrating thing in my life.
Absolutely everything in life is pointing me to be more minimal in my music - something I’ve already come to terms with in my art when I realised and accepted most sketches look better “unfinished”. When I’m playing alone I can happily play a monophonic or duophonic melody, especially in a wind instrument. But when it comes time to record it… my maximalism kicks in. I guess I can’t willpower myself out of that - only through practice can it be overcome.
Great video! I really appreciate honesty in your videos, no "this one simple trick will make your music genius" bullshit, only real thoughts on timeless questions. Btw if you're like to elaborate on term "musical idea", that would be great, bc after long search on internet I still can't grasp the meaning of it, scientific definitions just fly over my head. I think that one is tought for people without musical degree, such as myself. (sorry if english is bad)
Thank you! And no worries - I think I use the term “musical idea” because some people get bogged down if I use “phrase” or “melody.” A lot of my viewers are electronic musicians, so I try to make the terminology as genre-universal as possible. Sorry for the confusion!
@@JamesonNathanJones I enjoy watching your content. Im a producer/ rapper. You’re helping me change my perspective and that will lead to breakthroughs.
Contemporary consumption past 40 years music has become primarily vocal centric Such that a catchy verse and powerful chorus implies a set of lyrics Which is another beast of a puzzle.From an instrumental standpoint I find creating a thematic statement of notable character and a chorus or b section as a lifting progression easy enough (some times) Pre chorus is a stickler.Your point is spot on for instrumental composition .As an observation it’s been my experience that composition and songwriting although intricately bound to be of diverging elements and of alternative disciplines. So I believe a lot of your viewers may straddle the same fence .Nice playing
I haven't watched more than a few seconds of this video, just yet. But I think you're absolutely correct regarding the thumbnail. I spent years trying to be as clever as I possibly could regarding arrangements and melodic progressions. Jamming as much feeling and emotion as I could into every little section of the piano roll. The thing is, when you do this, it just gets messy. No progression has the impact you want it to because you're not giving the song time to breath. You can't catch someone off guard or "hit them in feels" with a shift if the whole thing is wishy washy. Less is more. I'm also a semi-professional drummer and this is very much comparable. A nice fill is only impressive (to normal people) if it compliments the greater arrangement in an unexpected way. If the whole song is FILLS, FILLS, FILLS, any impact they might have had in isolation is completely lost. Ted talk over. I'll watch the video now. Great content, sir 🎉
I taught myself how to play music by listening to movie soundtracks, because I liked them, and how they highlighted moments in films, and made me remember them. I never learned theory, and when I tried to, it just took the fun out of playing. However, once I started doing covers of songs I liked, in styles way different from the originals, understanding some theory did become real to me. From all of that, I found the nerve to create original work, and I am still doing it. Your points about the trial and error of making music composition work, really hit home with me, because I've been doing, and will keep making music using that method. Its just been too rewarding and fulfilling not too. Entertainment in our world, music or otherwise, is so bent on result and spectacle, that I think we've lost respect for what artists go through to craft - not just create - things that are memorable to us. Its human ingenuity that makes that makes good art possible and even probable, and I think your channel is guiding us through that, in a clear, concise and very fundamental way. Thanks, much, sir.
I began my music journey as a producer. I played and forgot how to play the trumpet as a kid, and my family are solid singers so I had a good grasp of what I knew I liked musically but I still had a ton of room to grow. exposure to other types of music and rediscovering and recontexualizing some music from childhood mainly from games, and finding my high school bought a copy of FL Studio got the bug in me. I haven't studied jazz or really any music, but this video finally made "Play the right wrong notes" click.
Wow one can tell you spend endless hours to get those piano skills. Wonderful! I agree with what you're sharing here: there is a good reason I love my digitakt so much: it's the limitations that pushes you forward. For the album I'm currently working on, I have set rules for myself. I cannot use more than 4 tracks, with the possibility of a fifth for effects. Everything is live played and a song cannot take longer thant 10 minutes. I am so happy with the results I'm getting, that I believe I'm discovering my type of sound so much better while working under those limitations. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and lessons. ❤
Hi Jameson, I'm gonna release some compositions soon on YT, I would be eternally grateful if you would give me some feedback on them when they drop. Any how great videos, keep the content coming! 😀
Yes man - 100% agree with you. I never even bothered to watch those videos for one very simple reason.. why would I make a song where one instrument does all that work? I'll add one caveat - when my piano roll does end up looking like that (because of a midi recording) - It's always with a ton of velocity changes so the right sounds pop out rhythmically.
Hey, Jameson, great job on this video, and Beautiful piano compositions! This is a great way on your channel here to Showcase what you are doing. Keep up the good work! 😀🎹🎵
When I was in my music study years - in the early 2000's, I wrote all the music for my 'Symphonic gothic Metal Band' and while being at it, I went straight across al boundaries and general expectations for that genre. On purpose. Because I liked it and because I felt like mingling around it, just to see where it would lead to. It was also because I knew that the (very conservative metal) scene delivered those boundaries and because of that I liked the idea of stretching what was possible to the limits, meanwhile making my musicians having to push their techniques and virtuosity also to new levels. The main motivation however, was always to explore music. To figure out new things. To broaden horizons. Nowadays (20 years later) I still see the creative craftsmanship as a gift that deserves exploration and experimentation and I am still convinced that it should stay far away from restricted rules and paved roads. So much more fun!
Another great lesson, much appreciated! I couldn't agree more about limitations. I'm a big fan of minimalism and Berlin School synth music and I mainly record stuff live with minimal or no post, which makes simplicity in arrangement a no brainer. Thanks for these great videos -- it's wonderful to get the perspective of somebody with your knowledge and background. Cheers! :)
Awesome. I’d contrast great vs ordinary rather than pro vs amateur. But it doesn’t alter the point. ‘Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.’
As years go by and I learn more ways to compose in a daw ir different techniques to use, all of those things become tools in my belt. But not every song needs every tool, especially not simultaneously.
Great as always. I try to focus on quite few instruments but really to perfect them. Im tweaking a sound on Quantum over and over to make it as playable as possible. I dont need so many sounds but I do want the ones I use to be near perfect. Thanks for making all these fantastic videos!
Very thought provoking, indeed. I will actually now go back to my tracks and re-examine them. I know what I like; I know what I like to listen to; I know how my music should sound; but I don't know how to do it. But actually, I do, it's just that I've not really put it the right amount of effort.
I think musicians should read about Bauhaus ideas especially what they say about contrast being the basis of visual design - this is so easily applied to music and when you realize that you can choose an axis for contrast among many options and that you can also have contrast of contrasts you start to get how to create meanings with musical language. E.g. your melody has that classic tension-release contrast between harmonically and rhytmically unstable first half and then very steady second half. When you see this as a structure you can think about which other structures could complement i.e. make a contrast with it.
![ร้อยพ่อพันแม่ - WanMai [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XY2pNYASEbg/mqdefault.jpg)
"Once we give ourselves permission to struggle, we can have the patience with ourselves that we need to truly develop an idea and take it to the next level" -- SO true, not only for creative pursuits, but for so much of life as a whole.
love when artists drop these little gems of advice.
I just Draw midi out of what I hear in My head, it's not difficult.
"Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties."
-Chopin
..simplicity is beauty ❤
“Don’t worry about playing a lot of notes. Just find one pretty one.”
- Miles Davis
Schooled painter here, if you put more and more paint on, the "white" of the prepared canvas doesn't shine through anymore, less paint is more "air" and results in a fresher picture. This is especially true for oils, which is a bit like "painting with stained glass".
If you mix all coloures you actually get a vertion of perple not brown. When I wanted to start making complex cinematic cords and melodys I just imagined where the fingers would be would be and that's what makes piano sound real.
In the same way a tattoo looks better if there isn't a bunch of other tattoos right next to it.
Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away & other Ghibli films ) can make your heart melt with like 3 well placed chords - proof that master composers don't need to shred to create a masterpiece. Fantastic piano playing in this vid btw!
"Do less, better" is the exact epiphany I had recently. I've been frustrating myself by throwing so much into a beat and having nothing sound good together, instead of honing in on every single aspect and giving it the attention it deserves.
I feel you! I was always pushing myself harder and harder ,because I felt that listening to what I did would be considered too ''stale''. This video helped me open my eyes to this weakness and what I must do, creatively, to overcome this.
This idea is the entire thesis of the book “Essentialism”. Great book
It's so funny that I often forget that sometimes that I need to sit back and let ideas develop and evolve when it comes to my music writing even though I know that it's something that I actively actively doing my other artistic mediums like story writing.
whewn you said "when everything is moving all the time, nothing is moving" gave me chills. subscribed.
more videos like this please!
More to come!
That piano piece was fabulous. I could listen to it for hours, and most definitely will! Great video, I really like this new direction the channel is going for.
Thank you!
I feel that what melodies and notes the music *implies* is often just as important as the actual notes are there. How often have you listened to a song, and sung along to the melody, and just completely ad-libbed something else that fits with it? That's an implied melody... and that's where composition and arrangment gets really interesting for me.
Magnificent video. Your composition and playing backs it up. Thank you for saving me from watching yet another video about a synth I don’t need.
This is why I listen to John Barry. Seemingly simplistic, but very moving emotional scores with melodies so memorable. His scores are what got me into composing since 2018.
Thank you for this video.
I love the score to ‘Moon’ by Clint Mansell for this very reason. A simple recurring piano motif underscored with dissonant sound design. It conveyed very effectively and efficiently the underlying eerieness of what was unfolding.
These videos of yours are a god-send for composers/music producers!
Wow! How great that I just found your wonderful channel! I´m a painting artist who is singing and just starting to work on my own songs again that I wrote as a teen long time ago. I can assure everyone that what you are saying in this video about composition in MUSIC is absolutely the same as I experienced in VISUAL art (and I´m a "real" painter on canvas - not using AI but human intelligence - lol). Composing a memorable painting is so much more than just applying rules. - I´m excited to learn as much as I can from you to make my (simple anyway) songs as strong as possible. I know it takes work and I love it! Thank you so much for your free lessons. I will remember you and give credit when I publish music in future. Best wishes from Austria!
Genuinely needed to hear this at the perfect time. Just subscribed like yesterday and man your channel is a gem. Really appreciate the beauty and insight you share with us. It most definitely does not fall on deaf ears.
Really appreciate that, and welcome! 🙏
@@JamesonNathanJones absolutely! Please definitely keep up the fantastic work!
The Rhythmic Nature of Jazz.
I feel like you wrote the script specifically to address my current challenges. Just discovered your channel a few days ago and already one of my favourite! Great job on the content AND on the realization!
Thank you!
This makes me think a lot of the film scoring videos I watch. So much of film music is like, at most, three ideas. It is the arranging and accenting of those ideas that “disguises” the simplicity. That you can do a lot with what is basically just four part choral writing
This is so true. I have started to listen to old songs on my hard drive and I notice that many of them have something strong, but it is hidden beneath a lot of crap. It took a long time to just have confidence to trust your ideas. It also took time to understand what was good and what was not. It is hard to describe, but you really need time to get to know your own music
You are so great at givning an amateur like myself the confidence to trust the process and that my musical ideas are worth working on. Thank!
Yes! Do less better! Well said. Couldn't agree more.
Good to hear your words on creativity and dealing with the oceans of theory currently available. I find that you convey the ethos of putting it all to practice in an objetive way - a very much needed voice on youtube music creative discourse. Compliments on your videos.
+1 for limitations leading to creativity! Love this video. Love the whole series. I am getting SO much out of this. Thank you.
Thanks Michael! Glad you’re getting something out of them :)
I might be rare, not sure, but I have NO musical training growing up and suddenly find myself learning in middle age. But with a real drive. Been listening all my life and now wanting to create and videos like this are just what I need. It helps me personally to learn things like this even while I am still learning chords and scales and all that - just like listening to grown ups talk helps kids even before they know how to spell.
@@michaelkonomos You’re not alone. It’s challenging to learn new skills when we’re older usually because our own egos won’t allow it. You’re self awareness and thoughtfulness are great assets, because we can’t learn what we think we already know.
This really resonates with me - thanks for expressing these ideas so clearly! 🙏🏻
Hey man, how are snare bombs made?
I am so grateful that I have found a TH-cam channel with content that I am highly confident from my understanding for example of watching my son struggle to create his music career; is relevant and valuable to the viewer who is me.
Absolutely. Keep it simple and focus on the basics. Your own flavor will come through in the smallest of choices.
💯 Agreed
6:45 - I love your playing here. Sounds like early Genesis.
This is probably the first TH-cam video I watched two times in a row. Fantastic. It is exactly the path I am trying to pursue for the last couple of months, so I connect with these thoughts immediately. I also have to congratulate your way of narrating, It's really pleasant to listen to and one can really concentrate on the message.
Thanks Pablo! Glad you found it helpful and really appreciate the kind words
This spoke to me on many levels, and can honestly be applied to just about every facet of life. This is beautiful. And there's a certain magic to demonstrating the concept that you're speaking of by taking such a complex and nuanced subject and explaining it in a clear and concise way without decreasing the scope and weight of the subject matter. Respect 👊
Do less btter, make your initial idea so strong that people can't help but passionatly love and repeat it, and mix it together with the same passion! I love your insight man! Thank you for your wisdom!!!
@JamesonNathanJames you are a real gem. Thanks for this live stream and for sharing the project. And 35 is YOUNG trust me. When I was 35 I could not have imagined how it would feel for a granddaughter to give me a new name. You have so much ahead!
The silence betwin the note are as important than the note itself
Id love them to explain madlib. Ultimate producer who displays less is more in a genius way
I used to have one shirt that was my favorite.
So much agree with you - to master is to simplify. And that is not only for music, but a lot of areas in life.
Your wisdom is a real treasure. Thank you for sharing.
@7:30 is a beautiful piece. Especially that chord with the b natural in the bass plus the entire B section. - luv it
Thank you!
Love the video. I’ve benefitted by doing similar things myself - refining an original idea down to simpler versions to allow for more layering and growth in the arrangement. Really helps me escape my own 4-bar loop traps with more consistency.
Oh and I love your piano playing. Great way to show the concept in action with a familiar instrument. Hope to see/hear more of it in the channel.
I agree on the 'more piano examples'.
Great playing J.
Do you ever take those piano ideas into a daw/digital/synth form?
Your synth stuff seems to be much more... experimental?
(No offense, I go from "crazy random", to simple melodies.)
Your insight is well appreciated if not fully agreed upon! There is something to be said of your compositional style as presented here... French AF in the best way
Genuine and insightful thoughts you express there. First time I see one of your video ...Thank you for this passionate willingness of yours
You resonate, Mr. Jones. I dig it. Only a sincere and lengthy struggle with oneself can bring about the wisdom you present in this video. Upon hearing your compositions herein it becomes obvious that you have slagged off many trendy concepts and approaches in order to get back to a music that can move a person, a listenable music that does not beg to be comprehended but felt, experienced. Rock on.
Why is it so hard to remember these things? I've written down the same kinds of notes so many times and always find myself realizing I've forgotten again. Incredibly helpful way of driving these aspects home, as usual
This is the content I’ve wanted for so long
You are a goldmine, thank you for sharing
This is so indepth. Im just blown away
Thanks for these wise words. I've seen/heard some super successful producers have incredibly complex sound design and arrangements. I've also the most ridiculously simple melodies and arrangements do just as well. Not sure there is a rule either way. I think you hit the nail on the head with emotion. If the song creates emotion, it will stick. Your track may be either simple or complex and not moving the crowd. So get to adding or trimming! There is no golden formula; however, when YOU find the formula that works for YOU....stick with it! Create the templates, tool boxes, and go-to sounds; and start churning em out!
Possessing the instrumental skill of a well trained classical musician and the ear of an improviser is the ultimate goal, IMHO. I can imagine music that I am incapable of playing, which is the most frustrating thing in my life.
I needed to hear this. Thanks. Also, your video style (tone, voice, etc.) is like Venus Theory. Thanks. I like the low-key, no fluff approach.
Absolutely everything in life is pointing me to be more minimal in my music - something I’ve already come to terms with in my art when I realised and accepted most sketches look better “unfinished”. When I’m playing alone I can happily play a monophonic or duophonic melody, especially in a wind instrument. But when it comes time to record it… my maximalism kicks in. I guess I can’t willpower myself out of that - only through practice can it be overcome.
Man, your last 3 videos are amazing! It looks like they’re hitting the bull’s-eye of what is really important!
I appreciate that! It’s been fun thinking more carefully about these subjects again in order to attempt to articulate them :)
@@JamesonNathanJones yeah, it's look like you have just sketches of ideas, but anyway it's good!)
Thank you so much! You gave me inspiration
Thank you Jameson.
Awesome background music around the three minute mark there. Oh ... and the video is great as well. I think I agree with you, probably!
Man, your videos are extremely helpful. Thank you for making them!
Great video! I really appreciate honesty in your videos, no "this one simple trick will make your music genius" bullshit, only real thoughts on timeless questions. Btw if you're like to elaborate on term "musical idea", that would be great, bc after long search on internet I still can't grasp the meaning of it, scientific definitions just fly over my head. I think that one is tought for people without musical degree, such as myself. (sorry if english is bad)
Thank you! And no worries - I think I use the term “musical idea” because some people get bogged down if I use “phrase” or “melody.” A lot of my viewers are electronic musicians, so I try to make the terminology as genre-universal as possible. Sorry for the confusion!
well, that turned out really well. bravo!! & thank you, jameson!! gotta watch & hear again in order to attempt to comment in any useful way.
These are great ideas, and exactly what I need right now. Thank you!
gah.. every one of your videos makes me get up. go to the studio. and start making music. Thank you!
Ah thanks man! The feeling is mutual!
I love your content. It's what I needed all this time I've been making music.
You said it, simple, memorable, and has some charm to it is the key
Thank you for teaching. It was no ego in this video. Pure education GOD bless man
I really appreciate that 🙏
@@JamesonNathanJones I enjoy watching your content. Im a producer/ rapper. You’re helping me change my perspective and that will lead to breakthroughs.
Contemporary consumption past 40 years music has become primarily vocal centric
Such that a catchy verse and powerful chorus implies a set of lyrics Which is another beast of a puzzle.From an instrumental standpoint I find creating a thematic statement of notable character and a chorus or b section as a lifting progression easy enough (some times)
Pre chorus is a stickler.Your point is spot on for instrumental composition .As an observation it’s been my experience that composition and songwriting although intricately bound to be of diverging elements and of alternative disciplines.
So I believe a lot of your viewers may straddle the same fence .Nice playing
The great thing about art is there aren’t any definitive answers - only more layers of questions.
Just discovered your channel. This is all tremendously helpful, clear and insightful. Thank you.
- Neil
I haven't watched more than a few seconds of this video, just yet. But I think you're absolutely correct regarding the thumbnail. I spent years trying to be as clever as I possibly could regarding arrangements and melodic progressions. Jamming as much feeling and emotion as I could into every little section of the piano roll.
The thing is, when you do this, it just gets messy. No progression has the impact you want it to because you're not giving the song time to breath. You can't catch someone off guard or "hit them in feels" with a shift if the whole thing is wishy washy.
Less is more. I'm also a semi-professional drummer and this is very much comparable. A nice fill is only impressive (to normal people) if it compliments the greater arrangement in an unexpected way. If the whole song is FILLS, FILLS, FILLS, any impact they might have had in isolation is completely lost.
Ted talk over. I'll watch the video now. Great content, sir 🎉
I taught myself how to play music by listening to movie soundtracks, because I liked them, and how they highlighted moments in films, and made me remember them. I never learned theory, and when I tried to, it just took the fun out of playing. However, once I started doing covers of songs I liked, in styles way different from the originals, understanding some theory did become real to me. From all of that, I found the nerve to create original work, and I am still doing it. Your points about the trial and error of making music composition work, really hit home with me, because I've been doing, and will keep making music using that method. Its just been too rewarding and fulfilling not too. Entertainment in our world, music or otherwise, is so bent on result and spectacle, that I think we've lost respect for what artists go through to craft - not just create - things that are memorable to us. Its human ingenuity that makes that makes good art possible and even probable, and I think your channel is guiding us through that, in a clear, concise and very fundamental way. Thanks, much, sir.
I began my music journey as a producer. I played and forgot how to play the trumpet as a kid, and my family are solid singers so I had a good grasp of what I knew I liked musically but I still had a ton of room to grow. exposure to other types of music and rediscovering and recontexualizing some music from childhood mainly from games, and finding my high school bought a copy of FL Studio got the bug in me. I haven't studied jazz or really any music, but this video finally made "Play the right wrong notes" click.
Wow one can tell you spend endless hours to get those piano skills. Wonderful! I agree with what you're sharing here: there is a good reason I love my digitakt so much: it's the limitations that pushes you forward. For the album I'm currently working on, I have set rules for myself. I cannot use more than 4 tracks, with the possibility of a fifth for effects. Everything is live played and a song cannot take longer thant 10 minutes. I am so happy with the results I'm getting, that I believe I'm discovering my type of sound so much better while working under those limitations. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and lessons. ❤
Lovely, lovely, lovely piano music
Thank you!
Man this was super profound, thank you and well done
Thanks!
You are truly spot on everytime. I thank you again with all my heart
Such an amazing Video 🖤 Erroll Garner was one of those pianist technically and emotionally just on point. At least for me! 😊
This means a lot coming from someone who has mastered an instrument. Thank you.
Great video treatise on creativity within constraints
Hi Jameson, I'm gonna release some compositions soon on YT, I would be eternally grateful if you would give me some feedback on them when they drop. Any how great videos, keep the content coming! 😀
Yes man - 100% agree with you. I never even bothered to watch those videos for one very simple reason.. why would I make a song where one instrument does all that work? I'll add one caveat - when my piano roll does end up looking like that (because of a midi recording) - It's always with a ton of velocity changes so the right sounds pop out rhythmically.
Hey, Jameson, great job on this video, and Beautiful piano compositions! This is a great way on your channel here to Showcase what you are doing. Keep up the good work! 😀🎹🎵
When I was in my music study years - in the early 2000's, I wrote all the music for my 'Symphonic gothic Metal Band' and while being at it, I went straight across al boundaries and general expectations for that genre. On purpose. Because I liked it and because I felt like mingling around it, just to see where it would lead to.
It was also because I knew that the (very conservative metal) scene delivered those boundaries and because of that I liked the idea of stretching what was possible to the limits, meanwhile making my musicians having to push their techniques and virtuosity also to new levels.
The main motivation however, was always to explore music. To figure out new things. To broaden horizons. Nowadays (20 years later) I still see the creative craftsmanship as a gift that deserves exploration and experimentation and I am still convinced that it should stay far away from restricted rules and paved roads.
So much more fun!
Those thumbnails always made me feel like I’m not doing enough in my mixing/ recording sessions
More stuff like this please. A series perhaps. Haven't found anything with this open and demonstrating approach.
My last four videos have been kind of building off each other in this area. Really enjoying making them, so more to come for sure!
@@JamesonNathanJones Great, thanks subbed!
Love your videos man, thank you🤝
Only just discovered your channel, really enjoying and benefitting from your content - thank you!
Thanks and welcome!
Another great lesson, much appreciated! I couldn't agree more about limitations. I'm a big fan of minimalism and Berlin School synth music and I mainly record stuff live with minimal or no post, which makes simplicity in arrangement a no brainer. Thanks for these great videos -- it's wonderful to get the perspective of somebody with your knowledge and background. Cheers! :)
Thanks Matthew!
Very well said! I agree 100%.
Excellent!
This video is a good meditation for me.
Awesome. I’d contrast great vs ordinary rather than pro vs amateur. But it doesn’t alter the point.
‘Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.’
Incredible video, loved the ambient music in the background as well.
Thank you!
This guy is so good, his channel deserves many more subs 🔥
🙏🙏
ok fine i'll do it
Thank you for this video.
As years go by and I learn more ways to compose in a daw ir different techniques to use, all of those things become tools in my belt.
But not every song needs every tool, especially not simultaneously.
I'm ready for your new concert album
Refreshing insights - subscribed.
Great as always. I try to focus on quite few instruments but really to perfect them. Im tweaking a sound on Quantum over and over to make it as playable as possible. I dont need so many sounds but I do want the ones I use to be near perfect. Thanks for making all these fantastic videos!
You are right. By the way People want to give tips about orchestrating like John Williams but still struggle with cadenes lol me just watching
Thank you for making this video ❤️
Very thought provoking, indeed. I will actually now go back to my tracks and re-examine them. I know what I like; I know what I like to listen to; I know how my music should sound; but I don't know how to do it. But actually, I do, it's just that I've not really put it the right amount of effort.
I think musicians should read about Bauhaus ideas especially what they say about contrast being the basis of visual design - this is so easily applied to music and when you realize that you can choose an axis for contrast among many options and that you can also have contrast of contrasts you start to get how to create meanings with musical language. E.g. your melody has that classic tension-release contrast between harmonically and rhytmically unstable first half and then very steady second half. When you see this as a structure you can think about which other structures could complement i.e. make a contrast with it.
I totally agree with this!