Thoughtful

Philosophy 0.5 “Algorithms, fuelled by this binary logic, curate our online environments...”I’m no philosopher. Really! But every now and then something sparks my interested and I’ll write about it because it’s important to me. This is one of those things. It relates to music, art, and almost every other creative endeavour, as well as almost every other subject imaginable. We seem no longer to think of things with a scale, but describe our likes and dislikes in increasingly polarising ways....

When I was a kid, Silver Bullet’s - 20 Second’s to Comply was released; I was 9 at the time. As an avid listener of the UK Top 40 charts in the UK, I heard it hit the Number 11 spot and remember being transfixed at how this person could talk so fast. Naturally I waded through the copy of the nearest chart magazine and looked for the lyrics the following week. I wouldn’t say the lyrics resonated with me, but the skill and precision with which they were delivered left a big impact.

New year, new me! That’s the plan anyway right? It’s about this time of year that we decide we are going to become completely different individuals and then, if you’re anything like me, whittle down the list of things we commit to to the bare bones. I want to say this year is different, but I’m not sure it will be.

Music is something incredibly special… “Music has accompanied our most important life moments. It has comforted us, and been our fight song.”There’s something about music. Something innately powerful. I’m not going to delve into the history of music here because a) it’s hugely vast, and b) I do not know enough to speak about it at length or accuracy, let alone manage to condense it down into a succinct, consumable introduction....

When is an artist not an artist… There’s a draft sitting unfinished in the posts folder of my website. It’s titled I just want to be me. There’s little more than a sentence there, but I can remember clearly what I was intending to write. (I mean it was only a few weeks ago) Proof of the draft.... I wrote a whole post about streaming numbers and what to do when you don’t get the engagement you worked so hard for....

Education is important Tutorials are important. There is absolutely nothing wrong with gaining knowledge on subjects, and having someone explain the process you are trying to perform, be it in written form, or in a video, is extremely important and worthwhile. Lately though, I have found myself in a kind of loop. It’s almost like hitting the snooze button. Instead of ‘getting up’ and getting to work, I instead sat there consuming more more and more tutorials....

Nothing wrong with being perfect, am I right? “Would someone notice if I made this change or not? (Not, would I notice?)”Hi. I’m Cobey, and I used to be a dedicated perfectionist. Perfectionism, for me, wasn’t just something I did now and then; I was a serial perfectionist. Everything I did had to be absolutely pristine. I strived for hours on each project, sanding hair thicknesses off, trimming tolerances to the nth degree, all so that when I sat back, I could say, “This project could not be improved upon; at all....

“It's so easy to get caught up in the numbers game and to feel like you're not good enough or that your music isn't worth sharing.” A quiet void… As a new composer, writing and producing your own music can be an exciting and rewarding experience. However, it can also be incredibly disheartening to upload your fresh new track on Spotify, Bandcamp and the like, only to receive no plays, no shares, and no feedback....

Introduction As an amateur composer with a full-time job and family responsibilities, finding time to pursue my passion for music can be a real challenge. However, I’ve learned that with a different approach, it’s possible to make the most of my precious studio time. By taking a deliberate and strategic approach to the creative process, I’ve been able to optimize my available time and make real progress on my projects, even in the face of competing demands on my attention and energy....

When I was young… When I first started composing, I had already completed grades 1-5 of the ABRSM music exams for piano. However, I am pretty sure I had not taken the separate music theory exam. I composed largely by ear, with only a basic understanding of chords and scales. When writing songs, I usually chose a key, typically C or G, and stuck to the diatonic chords present in the key, occasionally adding a dominant seventh....