May 21sts

5/21/1997

Cold/windy, 50

It’s been such a cold spring that the birch trees don’t even have buds yet. 

[5/21/2025: As a melody. Lyrics can start anywhere--from anything. All prose has possible poetry within it if distilled to ideas. This also reminded me of the "Dust " track on Fleetwood Mac's Bare Trees album. Exact weather today as it was in 1997.]

 

5/21/1998

If that's all we had was one radio station and one TV station, it would profoundly affect the way our culture develops. The complexity of culture is the result of all the possible choices that we have.    

[5/21/2025: And here we are]

5/21/2021

Article in Scientific American titled, “You don't have to start young to be a great musician”. This goes back to the evergreen discussion about how early to start musical training. I didn't start playing an instrument until I was 17, which was typical in the Boomer and GenX generations because music and musical instruments were ubiquitous, yet unlike previous generations where instruments were "fixtures" like a piano or organ.  It doesn't necessarily have to be a fixture of the family home like it used to be. Those days are long gone.

It was very common back in the early 20th century for all homes to have some kind of an instrument like a piano. It was like a refrigerator–it was always there. Music has to be ubiquitous  and that's not something that we have a problem with anymore. After radio, TV, and concerts we're immersed in music, and in fact, we're always learning it even if we don't really play instruments as we used to. It’s something we're absorbing from the culture as the guitar in the corner that somehow calls out to be played–as it was for me. My friends all had instruments in their homes and I was always drawn to them. 

In terms of practice, of course you have to, but there's different kinds of music that don't require a lot of practice. Some don't even involve playing–it's just interacting with a controller, but still producing patterned sound, so we’re still within the definition of music. What I do in my own practice is that if there's something specific that I want to do then I'll do what I call “maintenance practice”, where I identify the weak areas and practice those things. It’s better than trying to do an hour of stuff you've done before. #riff    

5/21/2025

Your main objective as an AI music artist is to create a song you wouldn't skip over on a playlist. This is different from what a real songwriter does. The former is a listener to what other people have already created, the latter the listening to your inner voice and being guided by your sense of style. When I pick up a guitar or bass, I am playing it with my hands, not someone else's. But at some point, the songwriter is a listener and the mixing and mastering stage--if at all. Some artists let other people do those things. This is sort of what AI music is, but it didn't come from you.