magic from space

esoteric empathetic method: finding your unique compositional voice in ableton live

this can be applied to any music and relation to technology (or not). no requirements other than a seeking for growth. so, no need for ableton live (that just happens to be my chosen environment). just need minimum of your brain, ears, and access/interest to discuss.

nurturing your creative voice: growth within self as artist, working on a body of work, identifying goals (maybe finishing albums) overcoming hurdles in the path of those goals.
regular attention tends to produce better results similar to exercise with muscles, creativity as a muscle. practice is always going to get you to your goals and finishing tracks is the best on topic practice i know. process should be fun. if it isn’t, we can dig into what’s going on. if the feel is making you dance or manifesting in body movement then you are often onto something. i’m not here to give you a bad time (and neither should you!). leave guilt shame remorse judgement and comparison at the door. i do not approach any of this with an ego or with the idea that i am in charge or possess full mastery of any of these subjects, i simply have something i feel is valuable coupled with the time to be able to pass it/remind. my attempts are based on empathy, that is to say i seek to start from where you are, rather than fixedly attached to some preconceived goals that may or may not have meaning or benefit to you.

my background: music lessons through childhood leading to a bachelors of arts in music degree focused on upright bass jazz studies and improv. a four track when i was 15 started my recording experiments that never stopped. many releases later i began thinking about how i worked, my process began to clarify, how i could share with people... these days i see studio as my instrument using ableton live DAW since version 3 o r4. i love it and use it almost every day. I enjoy my studio using live 9 suite era hard and software but can help with later versions.

my method consists of a few main useful sections of focus/discussion and a couple side topics/exercises. upon connection, i’ll send over my discord info and i can email the syllabus as guide to proposed method (or you can copy /paste this here).

- this is active listening! chosen song analysis/discussion thereof. you are sent to find: instrumentation/voices, tempo, key signature, structural bones/roadmap and why the tune works/anything of particular interest. we will discuss and if it is too daunting, we will break down by sections and individual questions. i will often try to find questions about things i find worthy of note or provocative about your chosen pieces. if anything comes up and you have questions, ill be there to help, you just text me and we can navigate. sometimes i won’t even know the answer, especially if chosen tunes are particularly complicated. i like to let you choose works of interest but i can always pick if you find difficulty choosing. we’ll just share a youtube link to be sure we’re on the same piece. always best to start simple (i break this rule constantly in my own music, something about knowing the rules before you break them ;)
i can also generally recommend music to explore if you are seeking. we can happily explore theory/theory-lite® but the goal is an approach mostly using laymens terms english.

- developing your distinctive creative voice, your process through discussion, where do you find yourself creatively right now? what are your goals? what are you struggling with (sometimes in greater life)? often a lot of this can be self-identified but some aspects cannot. the focus is on your art and creative journey. we can be our own worst critics, also, often blind to both our biggest strengths and weaknesses.

- clinic (your tracks, i listen and we discuss). there will be honest open discussion and constructive criticism focus on growth, not negativity.

- ableton live integration (or general studio tools strategies) discussion. what are you working with? what are your difficulties? what are you struggling with hardware/software? fluency with your hardware/software setup (i focus on ableton live suite use but i can help with any tool set).

those prior are main foci but if you like to dig:

-  modular synth, we can discuss patching, systems and system planning.

- as a deeper exercise i do also propose a studio study set using the idea loosely based on chassols ‘ultrascore’ concept. this may not be appropriate for all skill levels. life presents endless music, opportunities for respectful sampling and musical interpretation, augmentation thereof. we can learn so deeply from this, in ways we would not naturally arrive at independently.

- if transcription begins to look helpful, doing so by ear may be a great step.

discord is a free, fairly agnostic and helpful app/program for use on desktop as well as remote/phone and is used as hub for text connection/discussion, link and stream sharing. see tier layout for desired services but you'll usually find me largely flexible to meet you where you are.

if you are just hoping to support the arts, my arts and attempts to build community with creative growth through active listening and work then feel free to SIGN UP to show that support! it all helps. the discord discussion can be as active or passive as you’d like. i’ll never push for your progress (unless i see something very close to epiphany looming).

what this is: i’m here to help you grow using your creative voice in any way that i can. my schedule is very flexible. we're here to create!

what this is not: i cannot discuss financial aspects of music, profitability, live performance or marketing. i don’t do youtube tutorials, i don’t do sample packs, i don’t do written guides or lists.