“just make something”

Last week I wrote to you about giving your brain fuel for ideas and creativity.

And when it comes to making music. There’s no better idea-fuel than experiencing live music.

Recently I travelled to the small Belgium city of Eupen to attend Meakusma Festival.

The most inspiring set I saw was from a musician called: Maika Garnica

I only have one photo of her setup (before she started) because as soon as she started I got completely lost in her performance.

She had a few "simple things" which she used to build up a complex, organic, and hypnotic sound:

• Speakers inside bowls (which she would point at the floor to bounce white noise at us).
• Contact microphones on her body that she tapped into (figuratively and literally) for percussive sounds.
• A garden hose which when blown through, produced the most beautiful horn-like sound.

Each instrument she had was effectively very "limited"; often very, very simple, almost scarily so, but she pulled out so much creativity and expression from each one.

The whole audience was hypnotised (I definitely was). And everyone erupted in applause when she stopped.

After the performance I was thinking about how using something like Ableton Live provides us with endless choices of sounds.

All this choice can paralyse you from even starting.

Which I think is often the cause of the blank page struggle us musicians have to deal with.

Which is exactly why I’ve baked my “just make something” philosophy into all of the products I’ve been making for you.

I always build starting points into them, with clear focus, constraints and invitations to "just make something" and not look back.

Recently I heard once again some of the wisest advice I know:

“The first step is the hardest. But take that first step, and the next, and the next.”

Well, I've got a bucket full of first steps for you. They're fun and they work.

“I really like how you expressed the importance of only having a limited number of options. I know having pretty much unlimited sounds, instruments, plugins, and samples, has really kept me from finishing music and sometimes even starting! I still have a ways to go on finishing these courses but I am so grateful and excited that you’ve provided a roadmap to learning Push and Ableton to finish music.”

- Christopher Murphy

If you’ve been struggling with the blank page recently. And you’d like a fun way to get started, learn Push, and finish a track.

I recommend you try out my course: Finish A Track​

Think of it as a few "simple things" to build something whole:

• Ready-to-go Ableton Live files (I call them Playgrounds) loaded with hand-picked instruments, so you skip the endless browsing and start playing
• A clear five-stage process, from first idea to finished arrangement, using only Push
• Creative constraints to get you making something instead of overthinking (and me working through my own track right alongside you)

Built for complete beginners and for experienced users who keep getting stuck.

And if it isn't right for you, you’ve got a full 14 days to try it out (as long as you don’t progress past 30% of the course)

Check it out here: Start (and finish) your track​

Already own the course? Dive in again, or, give yourself 30 minutes of choosing some sounds, and use the same principles to finish another track!

My Warmest Bleeps & Bloops,

Andri