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My music production philosophy

  • Published: 2023-03-24 22:51
  • Updated: 2024-02-21 02:05

“Everything’s connected.”

Low frequencies affect the perception of high frequencies. What’s upfront affects the perception of depth. The approach to making music affects the process, which affects the outcome.

On every level: Everything depends on, and affects everything. I painstakingly figured this out the tough way. That’s how and why these principles matter to me.


also: everything’s an envelope.

“You can’t cheat time.”

The differentiation between goal and result is key. Goal: I want the time I spend making music to be quality time. The process, or: how I arrive at a result matters most. The result does not.

I experience quality time as ‘being present to what’s happening now’. Close to flow. To acting intuitively in the creative space.

To stay in the flow, I listen to, and act upon my intuition. If it wants to play, I play. If it makes me create a mess, I create a mess. Because I value my intuition, I don’t judge it.1 It’s my door into, the air within, and the boundary of my creative space.

Stressing about results is the most effective way to đŸ’© results. Whilst having a đŸ’© time. Worse, I’d be in disservice of the very spark that makes me want to make music. Been there, done that. Can’t recommend.

There’s no >such thing< as time.

“Expect obstacles.”

Realistic expectations are a way of being honest with myself and enable quality time. To set mine straight, I differentiate between knowledge, understanding and mastery:

  • Knowledge can be as little as having memorized a disconnected piece of information.
  • Understanding emerges from repeatedly testing and applying one’s knowledge in the context of a process.
  • Mastery results from having tested and applied one’s understanding so frequently, that it became muscle memory.

If anything, I’m master of remembering there’s always something I don’t understand— YET. And don’t expect myself to overcome obstacles based on ‘what I know’. Especially in new contexts or genres.

As long as I run into obstacles, I create something that’s genuinely novel. To me.

“Prevent frustration beyond cause”

Expect obstacles.

Don’t try cheating time.

Everything’s connected.

If you temporarily forget to remember: That’s okay.

  1. Judging—berating self-talk “This sucks!”, “I’m stupid.”, “Why did I do that?” ↩