Left side vs right side of the brain

[Stargazer]

Quoted from Hi End "Is hardware dead or dying"
This gave me the impulse to start a new thread.

Originally Posted by Jeroleen

TO ME THERE IS AN UNFORTUNATE ASPECT TO THE TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION. Years ago I only worried about the music, now I have to be half an engineer. I was perfectly happy to leave engineering to engineers. I would love to see that some back. Then use whatever the **** you want, analogue, digital, bug spray, balloons, condoms. who cares, just get the sounds the musicians make.

I love making music, its such a great place to be. But engineering and screwing around with gear, wires, programs, compuiters etc. what a drag, what a bore, what a waste of musician time. We need engineers to engineer and musicians to make music.

Peace.

I started out as a musician, never thought I would be working with computers!
Nowadays I find myself struggling with soft-/hardware most of time.
Constantly expanding my project studio, where I'm supposed to be creative, which leads to new outboard configurations that has to be dealt with.
Ergonomics, acoustics etc etc
It's endless!
Part of the problem is I like everything about it, though I know I'm trying to do the work of 4-5 fulltime professionals.
I enjoy learning more and more in different fields, and I want as much control as possible over every aspect of it.

How do you fellow gearslutz deal with this?
Do you have a life?


Maybe it's time to decide which side of the brain you're on.

[Sqye]

Nobody has a life now - almost EVERYONE IN ALMOST EVERY BUSINESS is moving in this direction. I even met a LUMBERJACK with a laptop and NUENDO running, so he could FRIGGIN TRACK THE TREE FALLING IN THE FOREST AND PROVE US ALL INSANE

'Course, you fr&gg&n slutz would probably be like, "Yeah, right - I fr*gg*n sold that dude a copy of my Big Fish 'Trees Falling' collection".

Then I'd have to start ALL OVER AGAIN.

Don't worry, I'm signing up for Philosophy 101 at EL DIABLO VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE this semester. I NEED A NEW PERSPECTIVE, SLUTZ !!!!

[chrispick]

Originally Posted by Stargazer

Maybe it's time to decide which side of the brain you're on.

If you're a musician, I don't think you have any choice but to be simultaneously left and right brain. Music has always required calculative and intuitive skills. It's both mathematical and abstract at once.

I saw a documentary on musical savants wherein they showed that listening to music activates nearly all parts of your brain. They postulated that was how some people with significant mental deficiencies can still be brilliant musicians. It's one of those whole-is-greater-than-the sum phenomenons.

Anyway, I know that wasn't the point of your post exactly, but I thought it was worth citing.

[Sqye]

Originally Posted by chrispick

They postulated that was how some people with significant mental deficiencies can still be brilliant musicians. .

So....basically what you're saying, is that we're all a bunch of brilliant idiotic lunatics??? Sounds about right.

[Stargazer]

Originally Posted by Sqye

Nobody has a life now - almost EVERYONE IN ALMOST EVERY BUSINESS is moving in this direction. I even met a LUMBERJACK with a laptop and NUENDO running, so he could FRIGGIN TRACK THE TREE FALLING IN THE FOREST AND PROVE US ALL INSANE

Which forest, what chain (no pun intended)?
I'm working on a library recorded in the scandinavian forests, with different mic distances, user-configurable weather etc.
It's gonna be available the 3rd quarter of 2006 in the usual suspects formats.
We're in the last stages of developing an algorithm modeling the ambient sounds (winds in the leaves etc). We have at an early stage decided not to use sampling for that. All for the sake of realism!

[midnightsun]

Ambient forest sounds--- What will you do with the sounds. Seems like an interesting project if for no other reason it gets you out in nature.

[Sqye]

Originally Posted by midnightsun

Seems like an interesting project if for no other reason it gets you out in nature.

I learned another good trick - I moved to the middle of nowhere. And now, my wife and I can get into nature by opening a window, or stepping out of a door

Growing up in NYC, my soul was slowly disappearing over the years .

Of course, I still go into the city to sell crack , oh, and inhale the pee in the subway : )

[Bob Ross]

When I was in grad school George Russell, inventor of The Lydian Chromatic Concept Of Tonal Organization, had the audacity to tell me "you're the perfect example of someone who does too much left brain thinking!"

Sure, George...

Here's my take: You can't have one without the other. It's like Yin & Yang, Light & Dark, Good & Evil... And, like those artificially postulated antipodes, "Left Brain" and "Right Brain" are man-made constructs that simply make it slightly easier for us to identify some quality of an idea or process.

But you don't *need* to identify which side of this (arbitrary) line your idea falls on in order to use your idea. You just need to be certain that it's a good idea.

So yes, making music in a recording studio does involve tasks that are both Left Brain Oriented & Right Brain Oriented (at least as far as conventional thinking identifies those processes). But the minute you concern yourself with whether a thought process is one or the other, you've missed the point.

Just do it.

[wallace]

Right/left brained is one way to look at it, but in my opinion that's kind of become a cliche. I think you can use both sides at the same time. It depends what you're trying to do though. I like writing. I also like ispiration (kind of like epiphanies), which can come from places other than you're brain (the cosmos some say?). Eastern philosophy and lots of famous songwriters talk about ispiration coming to them like radio waves and all they do is tune in. Basically, you can believe whatever you want, and you can find evidence to support anything if you search for it. I'm all about inspiration, knowing my direction, and searching and discovering. And sometimes I use technical/ logical ways to get there.

[robot gigante]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

When I was in grad school George Russell, inventor of The Lydian Chromatic Concept Of Tonal Organization, had the audacity to tell me "you're the perfect example of someone who does too much left brain thinking!"

Sure, George...

Here's my take: You can't have one without the other. It's like Yin & Yang, Light & Dark, Good & Evil... And, like those artificially postulated antipodes, "Left Brain" and "Right Brain" are man-made constructs that simply make it slightly easier for us to identify some quality of an idea or process.

But you don't *need* to identify which side of this (arbitrary) line your idea falls on in order to use your idea. You just need to be certain that it's a good idea.

So yes, making music in a recording studio does involve tasks that are both Left Brain Oriented & Right Brain Oriented (at least as far as conventional thinking identifies those processes). But the minute you concern yourself with whether a thought process is one or the other, you've missed the point.

Just do it.

Right!

I only know a bit about psychology (ok, I have read a bit of Freud, Lacan, Deleuze & Guatari etc) but I do know that the whole right/left brain thing is only what could be considered 'pop' psychology, or in other words a complete load of grade A BS.

Not only is the idea a man-made construct, but it's a fairly shallow one.

Manichaean dichotomies like right/left brain, good/evil and so on are not a healthy way to think. I don't think we need to depend on that kind of false logic to orient ourselves in today's world. In fact, that kind of thinking has been used as an ideological tool to justify all sorts of terrible things in our past history.

So, as Bob says, forget about what category you would like to shove yourself into and consider the ideas on their own terms.

[JP11]

Originally Posted by Stargazer

How do you fellow gearslutz deal with this?

It ain't easy....at all....(what is?)

Do you have a life?

No....(not a normal one anyway...don't really want one either)

[u b k]

Originally Posted by Stargazer

Nowadays I find myself struggling with soft-/hardware.

what exactly is your struggle?

here's a gem that'll unleash your creativity and productivity, assuming that's what you want: compose and write your music exclusively in headphones, preferably something like 7506's where everything sounds fantastic no matter what. this will keep your focus on the song and the music rather than the tones and the balances etc...

don't switch to monitors until the song is complete, tracked, and ready to mix.

get an analog mixer into your rig and mix thru that, and when the mix is done, zero all the faders and eq's. to hell with recall: move on.

tweaking is a habit, and a distraction at that. make writing the music your primary focus until tracking/mixing, then switch gears and get the song done.

lather, rinse, repeat.


gregoire
del ubik

[simonv]

I think we have to be goal-oriented.
If the goal is to make an album within 3 months, then there's no time for learning to use gear, sound card drivers, latency settings, VST instruments, MIDI outboard, fake drum programming, EQing, mixing, tracking, mastering, duplicating...etc: The goal is to have an album in 3 months.

The shortest way to get there is: Write songs, get money, hire band, pay studio time.

The decision to do each and every step of the way (like I'm doing too btw) is not necessarily the best option for everybody. You better not be technologically challenged or you'll get stuck. I'm an IT consultant in the day time, so that part of things isnt a concern. But I know many musicians who decide to get some gear because "that's what everybody does", and get hooked and don't write any songs for 2 years while they learn everything.. I warn them everytime, but it happens everytime nonetheless.

I find that my life works in 2-3 months cycles:
-a few weeks of great inspiration and rough tracking
-a few weeks of polishing, finding a sound for the new material, playing with the technological possibilities
-a few weeks of real tracking, with album-quality intentions.
-a few weeks of listening
-a few weeks of sports, webdesign,etc... no interest in music at all.
-a few days of "damn I'm a lazy ass I need to work on my music"
-a few weeks of great inspiration and rough tracking
etc..

I find that if I'm feeling like webdesign and sports, it's no use trying to mix or record songs.. I have to respect my cycle and not try to force another mindset than the one I am in. In the end, things progress. That's what matters.

[Sqye]

Originally Posted by simonv

I find that my life works in 2-3 months cycles:
-a few weeks of great inspiration and rough tracking
-a few weeks of polishing, finding a sound for the new material, playing with the technological possibilities
-a few weeks of real tracking, with album-quality intentions.
-a few weeks of listening
-a few weeks of sports, webdesign,etc... no interest in music at all.
-a few days of "damn I'm a lazy ass I need to work on my music"
-a few weeks of great inspiration and rough tracking
etc..
in the end things progress - that's what matters

Strongly agree - all these interests outside of music help to create balance in life, as well as inspiration. I think a lot of folks, including me, forget to breath and live. We are humans, first and foremost - before musicians or gearslutz. My processis similar, but not qiute so compartmentalized into the 3 month schedule. Nowadays, music IS basically IT, as is almost EVERYTHING, so I thinkn creating without la machine, as Zappa called it, would be roughly the equivalent of creating art with a pintbrush and canvas - people should do what makes them happy.

I just find old formulas uninteresting - for example - what the f*ck is a DRUM KIT - and why do SO MANY PEOPLE USE THAT SAME FR&GG&N formula over and over again. And I don't buy the agument that millions of people do it. Millions of people also watch Lifetime and TNT, and eat canned food. Just because millions of poeple something, does not make it RIGHT, good in quality. If I have to listen to the same friggin high hat or ride cymbal through an entire song or concert, either the player better be fr%gg^n AMAZING, or I'm going to leave - this is just NOT an interesting combination of percussion instruments IMHO. It's like watching wrestling to me. OTOH, if ELVYN is playing........ahhhhhhh. At least there's a CHANCE. Well, I've got 2 drum sets in my studios, and it's fun to play, or have real drummer come in and play - but if I had my way, I'd turn them into a triceratops, or something a bit more interesting sounding.

Anyhooo, just my rant for the day.

[JP11]

Originally Posted by Sqye

We are humans, first and foremost - before musicians or gearslutz.

That is madness...

[kevinc]

Originally Posted by wallace

Right/left brained is one way to look at it, but in my opinion that's kind of become a cliche. I think you can use both sides at the same time.

Exactly.

Put down the guitar for ten seconds, plug in some cables, play a little more, plug some more stuff in, twist some knobs, read the manual when you can`t figure out where the on switch is, crank it up and press record an play again.

What`s so difficult about that ? Are you afraid your going to tire out one side too much and your heads going to tip over ?

Most thought processes in ANY kind of work require both anylitical and creative thought so use the break to rest your fingers and your ready to go again. You`ll probably play BETTER from getting a little break and doing something different.

[joeq]

Originally Posted by kevinc

Exactly.

Put down the guitar for ten seconds, plug in some cables, play a little more, plug some more stuff in, twist some knobs, read the manual when you can`t figure out where the on switch is, crank it up and press record an play again.

What`s so difficult about that ? Are you afraid your going to tire out one side too much and your heads going to tip over ?
.

While I don't subscribe to the silly brain-hemisphere theories, I must say that this particular task-jumping or gear-swithing can be a bitch. Overdubbing alone, I can handle, but tracking dates....

I am a drummer and engineer. While I am running around setting up mics and figuring out why headphone channel 6 is not working, everyone else in the band is warming up and reading their charts. When I sit down at the drums after a couple of hectic hours of that, I look in my hands and wonder what these two wooden sticks are for.

My solution is to get as much as possible set up the day before tracking so I can feel more like a "player" I also teach audio classes, so its usually easy to get a student to come in and help out.

[kevinc]

Originally Posted by joeq

While I don't subscribe to the silly brain-hemisphere theories, I must say that this particular task-jumping or gear-swithing can be a bitch. Overdubbing alone, I can handle, but tracking dates....

I am a drummer and engineer. While I am running around setting up mics and figuring out why headphone channel 6 is not working, everyone else in the band is warming up and reading their charts. When I sit down at the drums after a couple of hectic hours of that, I look in my hands and wonder what these two wooden sticks are for.

My solution is to get as much as possible set up the day before tracking so I can feel more like a "player" I also teach audio classes, so its usually easy to get a student to come in and help out.

Yeah that does make sense.

When your running around setting things up while the bands sitting around drinking beer and chatting it can be kind of tough to instantly settle into a groove. I usually just try to get it done as fast as humanly possible and try to take it easy a few minutes before jamming or recording.

[chrispick]

Originally Posted by kevinc

Most thought processes in ANY kind of work require both anylitical and creative thought so use the break to rest your fingers and your ready to go again.

This was sort of my earlier point. I wasn't really purporting theories about right and left brain divisions exactly. I was saying that creative enterprises of all sorts require combined skills.

I do sympathize with the time and effort it takes to work on project studio stuff where you're writing and tracking and mixing (let's say just to put together a demo for others to extrapolate later).

What I do:

When I'm songwriting, I use my DAW like a simple tape recorder. I mic my acoustic and my voice and lay it down fast and sloppy. I rough draft it.

Then, I make general song construct and tempo notes (i.e., add a bridge, slow it down some, create a new intro, etc.). And I rerecord again, voice and acoustic only, roughing out these changes.

Once that's to satisfaction, I tack on some rough instrumentation to work out basic arrangments.

Then, I re-track with attention to recording quality. Then I mix.

So, I do sort of compartmentalize the intuitive work from the technical work which helps some.

[ProFool]

you should read Mixing with your mind from Michael Stavrou, an fun book and explanation off left and right brain activity during sessions...

grtz

[cramseur]

Originally Posted by simonv

I find that my life works in 2-3 months cycles:
-a few weeks of great inspiration and rough tracking
-a few weeks of polishing, finding a sound for the new material, playing with the technological possibilities
-a few weeks of real tracking, with album-quality intentions.
-a few weeks of listening
-a few weeks of sports, webdesign,etc... no interest in music at all.
-a few days of "damn I'm a lazy ass I need to work on my music"
-a few weeks of great inspiration and rough tracking
etc..

I have a similar process

-new gear acquisition
-learning to use new gear
-song ideas formulate (inspiration)
-record/refine/mix/re-mix
-rest/recover
-repeat.

The cycle takes about a year to revolve, and 10-12 new songs come out of it. But there's always the new gear...ALWAYS!

[pan60]

not to up on the left brian right brain thing but i did read recently that almost all artist's, ( not just music, poetry, or painting ) suffer or suffered, from some form of mental instability.
knowing that i feel much better!
i find just turning the computer on in-itself just drastically saps any inspiration i had at that moment.

[starseed]

Originally Posted by Sqye

We are humans, first and foremost - before musicians or gearslutz.

Speak for yourself...

Elf-descendant Space Brother, more like