The Relationship Between You and Your Music

Many of us creators create not just to sit and admire it, but to share our art so that others can enjoy it as well. Whether it’s for expression, for attention, to persuade or inform, we essentially put our fingerprints on whatever we create. That being said, if you value you, the relationship between you and the music matters too.

How do you make sure your connection with it is solid? Simple.

Before your hands touch the computer or synth or midi, stop and think for a second. What purpose are you creating for? Are you making a beat for a project of yours? Is this commission work for someone else? Are you doing it for fun? Locking whether or not it’s for you or someone else makes a slight difference on how you perceive it (but not really). If it’s for you, relax your shoulders and exhale a bit. You have no one but you to impress. If it’s for someone else, relax your shoulders and exhale! That client/customer likely came to you, because they trust and enjoy your sound. The ball is in your court.

Enjoy the process. Even the most frustrating points of it. It’s yours. You are the one spending your time out of your life creating it. People can witness the end result, but no one else can feel what you feel when creating the way you do. Own it. And while you’re at it, utilize some of that time to play your music for you. Before you press record, before you start perfecting it, look at your work the way a child does their own work. When they learn something new and create something on their own, they are fascinated with themselves. Proud. Amazed. Go in with that same mentality.

Before you go into critique mode, listen to your music with no judgement. This is you. You created it with your brain and ideas and vision. There are no business moguls or managers hounding you about this snare or that pitch/key, making up measurements and scales that doesn’t make sense. It’s just you.

Now ask yourself this: do you like what you hear? There’s no right/wrong answer. If so, great. If you made it to release, you’ll attract those with similar tastes to you, who will dig your music. And if you made it for someone else, the fact that you enjoyed the end result puts a high likelihood your client will too. And if you don’t like it, are you okay with the fact that you created it? That’s the more important question. We all create things that we may or may not like, but all finished work are accomplishments regardless.

Your art is a mirror. Not just for you, but for others who come across it. Even if it’s not up-to-par, even if it had a lot of bad critique, the relationship between the creator and their art is and should be much stronger than all of that.