Break it down
In a recent blog post I wrote about how I’d been trying to learn new skills and discover different creative outlets over the past few weeks. In part, this is because it can be tricky to enjoy personal creative projects when your job has become the thing you used to do for fun.
One of those projects was remixing the excellent ‘10,000 violins playing inside an otherwise empty head’ by one of my favourite bands, Plastic Mermaids. The band had made the ‘stems’ (which I’ve learnt refers to the files for the original component parts of the song) available to download as part of a remix competition, with the winning submission to be released officially by their label, Sunday Best. I didn’t win the competition - as I don’t have any experience as a musician or music producer, I didn’t expect to - but I enjoyed giving it a go.
The result isn’t going to set the world’s nightclub dance-floors on fire, but I’m pleased with it.
Perhaps more important than the piece of music I created, is the lesson I learned on the way. Namely, the benefits of trying to recreate something excellent. I’ll explain…
I used the free Garageband software that came as standard on my ipad. Without the means to record any real instruments, I made do with the included loops and the in-built fake ‘instruments’. Initially, I had planned to use more of the original stems, but I couldn’t work out how to edit the tempo properly, so I only used the vocal part and then chopped that down to one word, ‘violins’, which I looped on repeat throughout the piece.
When composing my remix, I had the music of Jamie XX, and Daft Punk’s ‘Giorgio by Moroder’ in mind. After all, why not try and emulate the best there is?
While I would never claim that my ‘10,000 violins’ remix is anywhere near as good as Jamie XX’s ‘Loud Places’, it was certainly inspired by it.
After playing my first attempt at ‘10,000 violins’ to Heather, my wife, she commented that it was OK, but boring - and she was right! I went back to my influences and tried to understand what it was about their music that made it work.
From ‘Giorgio by Moroder’, I took note of the changes in volume, style and instrumentation that occur throughout the piece. From Jamie XX’s work, I noted how he layers soaring synth sounds over the other parts to tie them in together and sweep the listener up.
Taking these principles into account, my second attempt at ‘10,000’ violins was a massive improvement on my first. It wasn’t boring.
Of course, this shouldn’t have been a surprise to me, as I do this all the time with my writing.
Every book I enjoy, I find myself trying to understand what it is about the author’s style that I like and why it works. The converse is also true. If I’m struggling with a book, I want to know why it isn’t working for me as I want to avoid making those mistakes myself.
As much as I like to think my writing style represents my own, unique, ‘authentic voice’, I’m in no doubt that a literary theorist or writing teacher could pinpoint my influences with a reasonable degree of accuracy. If they’re enjoying what they’re reading, I’m OK with that.
This process works in almost all areas of life, work, and creativity.
If you’re involved in a charity, which other charities’ fundraising appeals, newsletters, website, or social media accounts do you admire the most? (Top tip: Sign up to receive as many newsletters as you can so you can mine them for inspiration) What is it about their work that resonates with you and that you find so compelling?
If you’re a writer, which authors do you enjoy reading? Is there something about their technique or style that you can identify and use yourself?
If you have aspirations to be a leader in your workplace, which of your bosses has been your favourite? What is it about their management style, that won you over, that you can use yourself?
I’m not recommending that you actively copy them, but that you try to understand the principle behind why something works so well. Then, you can apply those principles to your own work and create something you are proud of, but that remains true to you.
This process - asking these questions of the sector leaders’ work and applying the answers to your own - isn’t especially difficult or a new, mind-blowing technique. The tricky part is remembering to take the time to do it. This isn’t always easy when you’re wrestling with an ever-growing to-do list.
Seeing as this is a blog post on the website I use to promote my services as a writer and charity fundraiser, it would be remiss of me not to mention that I can help you do this. If you don’t have the capacity to carry out this analysis of your business’ writing or your charity’s fundraising materials, please get in touch and we can have a chat about what you need.
You can email hello@jonathansbean.com, phone 07421 812 321, or use the contact page on this website.
PS: If you want to listen to my remix of ‘10,000 violins playing inside an otherwise empty head’, you can do so on Soundcloud. However, you’re probably better off listening to the original, which you can find on Spotify or on Plastic Mermaids’ debut album, ‘Suddenly everyone explodes’.