1.3 Soundscape Critiques

http://mdia203blog.blogspot.com/2011/06/soundscape-project_27.html#comments

http://artistmdia.blogspot.com/2011/06/mdia-203-audio-reflection.html#comments

http://sh269608.blogspot.com/2011/06/sound-scape-project-1.html#comments

1.1 Who Influences Me

I am definitely a creative person in a musical aspect. Nearly everything that I do creatively relates to music in one way or another. Whether it is writing songs, trying to cover songs in a new way, or just jamming with friends, I am definitely a musically creative person. I like to write music about pretty much anything; I feel as though music is one of the few ways that I have truly been able to express myself. I try to portray how I am feeling at the time through my music through both lyrics and the mood of the music, whether it be happy or angry.

One artist that definitely influences me as a creative person is Jonathan Davis, the lead singer of KoRn. The music that he writes is so intense and powerful; it truly captures me as a listener. There is one song that he wrote, entitled Starting Over that he wrote after a near death experience. This song talks about how he nearly died and how God will eventually take him. The text of this song talks about how he is bored with happiness and how death would be relief. I interpret there to be a subtext in this piece. On the surface of the text, he talks about how he would almost welcome death as a change of scenery. However, having had a near death experience, I believe that there is a subtext where he is thankful for life, and now he gets a chance to start over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMPmVmW-WPw

Another artist that influences me as a creative person is the band Protest the Hero. This is a Canadian Metal band whose music nearly always tells a story. The reason that this artist influences me is for this exact reason. I love listening to music that tells listeners a particular story. Protest the Hero is very good at incorporating the didactic aspect into their music. They have a song called C’est La Vie that tells the story of several individuals who take their own lives. This song does a very good job at didactically telling viewers a story. There isn’t much development in the characters in a didactic sense, but the story that is told is still very intriguing. In this same song, the music video helps to actively tell the story to viewers. Viewers are actively taken through the story throughout the video and as the story of the deaths of the characters unfold, viewers are able to actively see what ultimately takes place in the story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKZ-eKBJ9dw

One more artist that influences me as a creative person is not related to audio, but film. This artist is the director of the film Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky. This film was very inspirational to me because it does an excellent job of portraying affinity and contrast. This film shows affinity in the sense that all of the major characters are related to dancing and perfection in some way. Throughout the film, Nina’s character is obsessed with being a perfect dancer, and when she confronts Beth and says that she just wants to be perfect like her, Beth says that she’s not perfect, that she’s nothing. This shows that there is an affinity between dancers and their obsession to obtain perfection. There is more contrast than affinity in the film, though. Contrast is shown through the characters of Nina and Lily. Nina is always dressed in light colors and she is uptight, whereas Lily is always dressed in dark colors and she is carefree. This use of affinity and contrast by Darren Aronofsky is a main reason why he inspires me as an artist. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jaI1XOB-bs

1.2 WAYS TO GET IDEAS

http://changethis.com/manifesto/49.06.14Ways/pdf/49.06.14Ways.pdf

14 Ways to get Breakthrough Ideas is an article written by Mitch Ditkoff, which starts off by discussing two differing thoughts on how to get creative ideas. The author then begins discussing the fourteen ways he believes a person could get ideas. The first is Follow Your Fascination; in this portion Ditkoff talks about a person's fascination with a new idea. He claims that an individual's fascination with a new idea is "nature's way of getting our attention." The author also tells readers that these fascinations should not be dismissed as trivial and should be given time to breathe and grow. Ditkoff's second insight on how to get breakthrough ideas is Immerse. This section of the article describes to readers how ideas often come at odd times and in order to develop an idea, an individual should immerse themselves in the development of an idea. The third section talks about tolerating ambiguity. In this section the author describes to readers how breakthrough ideas are often the result of evolution and trial and error. He encourages readers to accept ambiguity and discomfort at ideas not necessarily working out perfectly in the beginning. The fourth section, Make New Connections, discusses how in order to be really creative, a person should break out of what we already know in existence. The author then moves on to discuss his fifth section, Fantasize. In this section he encourages people to use their imaginations. Define the Right Challenge, the sixth section, discusses how an individual should create a question that shows what they are trying to make. The seventh section, Listen to Your Subconscious, discusses how when an idea that was in the conscious and then discarded to the subconscious, which then begins working on figuring it out. Ditkoff's eighth suggestion, Take a Break, which encourages people that if they are struggling with an idea, take a break from it and do something else. The ninth section of the article is entitled Notice and Challenge Existing Patterns and Trends and it tells readers to challenge existing trends and to change them. Section ten, Hang out with Diverse Groups of People, tells readers to spend time with new people they aren't familiar with to help develop ideas. Section eleven is entitled Brainstorm and it encourages people to think with others, not just alone. The twelfth section is called Look for Happy Accidents and it tells people to try and notice something new. Section thirteen is called Use Creative Thinking Techniques and it talks about different techniques and provides suggested links for readers. The final section is called Suspend Logic and it suggests to let go of the practical and to "feel" an idea.

Response to Ditkoff's Suggestions

Brainstorm: The section that discusses working with other people to develop an idea is a good section. Many times I find myself at a roadblock on an idea, whether it be for a paper or a song I am writing. Perhaps the solution is just to get some outside input. I could incorporate this suggestion into my creative life by working with other people on ideas. For example, when I want to try and develop an idea for a song, I could meet with other fellow musicians and "jam" on some riffs or something and see if pieces fall into place.

Take a Break: The section that tells readers to take a break when they get stuck on an idea is a good suggestion. Often I find that I get stuck at some point when I'm working on an idea and I get frustrated. I think that in my own creative process, when this happens, I could walk away from the project for awhile, put my mind elsewhere, and come back to it at a later time. I feel as though this method would greatly improve my development of ideas. 

Tolerate Ambiguity: This suggestion is probably the best one from the article for me. I tend to become very frustrated when things don't turn out perfectly at first. I feel that if in my own creative life, if i were to tolerate the fact that not everything will fall into place at first, then developing ideas would become smoother. If I begin to get comfortable with this concept, then I won't be so hesitant to return to a project that I have been avoiding because of being stuck on a section. 

Activity from Prompt: Prompt from Hang out with Diverse Group of People.

1. Dan Floyd 

2. Matt Hatcher 

3. Robert Bell

4. Casey Leigh

5. Nick Meidel

6. Corey Krauss

7. Kaitlin Keeton

8. Tim (can't recall his last name)

9. Jon Mikesell 

10. Joannah Tindagen

Dan Floyd is first to spend time with. I will do this when I get back to Athens on Tuesday, after the 4th of July.

my soundscape

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0JxioY5rj0


keep in mind that the timing of the audio and video got messed up when changing the file. try to ignore that. thanks