Finding Creativity

Creativity has never been much of a problem to me.  I know a lot of artists who need to get away from their work and gain fresh perspective or energize their battery and that is fine.  We all work in our own ways.  Personally, I find that most nights, I create until my eyes are ready to close and start again moments after I wake and even in the shower.  I go until the last moment before I have to leave for a meeting or event and start again when I return to the studio.  Of course, I have to cook, clean, write contracts, return calls, texts, emails, and everything that comes with life.  Still, while I am doing many of those things, I am still creating.  I take time away but find that I end up working most of the time I go on “vacation.”  I simply love what I do.

But where does the creativity come from?  What sparks all these ideas?  What is so amazing it drives me to constantly want to develop?  The answer is simple:  Everything.

There is so much beauty and there are so many amazing things, people and feelings that I could live 5 lifetimes and still not create a piece for everything that inspires me.  As of this writing, I have composed over 850 songs and film cues.  Even with all that under my belt, I feel I haven’t even scratched the surface.

Some forms of inspiration:

Nature and things we see:

Being out in the world is an amazing source of inspiration.  Seeing the way a cloud casts a shadow on a hill or the way leaves on a tree are blowing in the breeze can spark all kinds of ideas.  But how about the flow of the breeze?  The smell in the air?  I once composed a piece based on the ripples of the water on a small lake on a windy day.   Beyond nature, how about the things we have built?  Amazing sky scrapers or the way traffic sits in gridlock on a highway are other examples.

People:

People are an endless source of inspiration.  This does not always mean people that do nice things or give of themselves, though those would qualify, but also the mean or insensitive things people do.  The way someone’s eyes light up when you surprise them with something or the way they seem to glide as they walk across a room can be inspiring.  Someone who walks through a doorway and doesn’t hold the door open for the person behind them can also evoke ideas.  How about the things they say and the way those things are said?  What about the way they shake your hand, hug you or gently put their hand on your cheek?

Feelings:

This is a topic I could write pages about.  Feelings are, to me, the most important part of music.  Regardless what your inspiration is, it had to be expressed in a way that the listener can understand the feeling the composer is conveying.  That being said, the topic is almost unimportant.  A song I wrote years ago, which was one of the first of mine that became known more publically, was composed about having the ability to fly.  Even now, when I listen back, I remember the visuals I had in my head of soaring over mountains, rivers and valleys.  I received a great deal of feedback on the song that ranged from being underwater to relaxing on the beach reading a book.  I found this fascinating and realized that it was not important the listener understood my vision but that they all related the music to relaxation.  The feeling transferred to the listener and they saw what their mind created.  This was an important lesson for me and very different from composing music for film where my job is to enhance the emotion on the screen.  Convey the feeling to the listener and don’t tell them what to feel.  Titles play a major role in this as the title can give away the visual but that can also be a fine thing to do.  Personally, I like it either way.

With so many sources for inspiration, it is easy for me to find something to write about.  Typically, I am simply drawn to something enough to take the time to express it musically.  These are just a few ideas that are the most common for me but even the way the lines flow on a cracked sidewalk or the way dust falls from a shelf when cleaning can bring an idea.  Sometimes, though, I tend to get wrapped up in the music and get away from the point and that is a topic I may cover in a future blog.

 

Thank you for reading and I hope you found something helpful in these words.  Have fun with this and create away!

Scott