Everyone needs a creative project - Here’s why music productions the best to start
If you’re still suffering with problems like
Waking up depressed and anxious getting out of bed to do your first task.
Forced to work a job you dislike (or even hate!) to pay rent, with no hope of future escape.
Never able to know or connect with new people in a meaningful way.
Stuck in old habits and personality traits you wish you could change.
Lost and unsure of how you can make in impact in the world.
Then you 100% need a creative project.
You're being lied to
Our education and work systems need you to be less creative and more “productive”.
This means you're pushed to suppressing your innate creativity and desire for creative acts so you can operate in the “productive” workplace.
Those who have worked in corporate will tell you - there is hardly ever any meaningful creative outlets offered to employees.
The odd event here or there are for HR and PR requirements.
They don’t care to develop you and nurture your creative spirit.
Instead, it’s to suppress and downplay it.
You’re curious and creative thinking makes you a critical thinker.
Critical thinking means you don’t work as efficient in their system.
We must restore our childlike curiosity, wonder and novelty at everything around us. remove the jaded veil we now interpret our experiences through - Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
So we must choose a creative project to pursue outside of this system.
Something to sharpen our mind, our edge.
To return that spark of life back to us and push us towards solving all those problems we have.
I’ve personally chosen Music Production for my medium.
Here’s why a creative project and more specifically, music production is worthy to pursue.
1. You could blow up and make a banger
You’ve seen it before and it will keep happening again.
Almost every artist on TikTok has made one semi decent song and they blowup.
Attracting 100s of thousands or even millions of followers because of this.
Once you have this level of following, creating more art, content and even building out strategies to monetize your new audience is a lot easier.
Various opportunities like sync licensing, film/composition, sound design, royalty free, custom made beats etc.
All become a potential source of revenue should you want to pursue it in that way - there’s no rules to what you can do!
2. Mental Health
Your brain is wired to create new connections, skills and ideas.
When you practice a new skill, your brain strengthens connections between nerve cells, forming what you can think of as "pathways" for that skill.
The more you practice, the stronger these pathways become, making the skill easier to do.
By exposing yourself to a new field/skill - in our case music production - you're engaging and telling your brain to become more awake, alert and aware.
Ever think of a think of a red car and now all you see are red cars on the road when before you never noticed any red cars at all?
This is like learning a new skill.
Your brain will be engaged and on the lookout for new solutions to the creative project you’ve started.
This engagement is by far the best way to keep yourself mentally sharp and alert in all areas of life - not only this creative project.
You'll be a better thinker, speaker, writer and develop character depth since you’ve now actually “turned on” your brain for more than monotonous, uninspired work.
With music production, you're exposed to a ton of new skills like
Sound design
Songwriting & arrangement
Music theory
Mixing & mastering
And much more.
Of course none of these are mandatory.
But they are common and useful skills within the larger umbrella of music production.
3. Relationships
Art is a diverse field.
You’ll meet people from all different walks of life but with the same common artistic interest as you.
You’ll find a few people who you have that “chemistry” with (not necessarily sexual), that spiritual tie.
Where you and them are aligned on so many levels it feels as if you’re the same person walking two different paths and can share in each others experiences, good and bad.
Art allows people to digest your inner world and understand you more than words and conversations ever could.
4. Happiness
Making art is a serious matter. Harnessing creative energy from Source. Shepherding ideas into the physical plane. Participating in the cosmic cycle of creation. The opposite is also true. Making art is pure play. - Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
Art is fun.
I mean there are no rules, you can do whatever you want - whenever you want and no one tells you what to do.
Of course, there are requirements if you have a specific goal in mind but the basics and essence of art is simple.
This runs so much deeper than the surface level of “happiness” you think of.
It’s not laughing with friends, watching a funny video or anything related.
It’s a deep down feeling of content and “I am where I need to be and I am who I want to be” kind of feeling.
You may never have felt this way before - and thats fine.
Just know that it’s possible to feel ok about yourself and what genuine value you have to offer and to truly know and understand that within yourself.
Art is this case can be a solitary or group act.
You can create whatever you want to in your own little space and express yourself onto the song.
Or you can get together with a buddy and make something together, taking turns on ideas and sounds.
Either way, you will be genuinely connect with yourself on a deep level most never experience.
5. Consistency, Discipline, Dedication
Like any field, consistency and discipline/dedication is required for you to grow and become better at it.
With creative projects, developing and strengthening these soft skills is much easier because engaging in creative acts releases “good” dopamine.
By good dopamine, I mean the rewards you get when you are using yourself to create something more than yourself.
Like when you exercise, eat healthy, practice praying and fasting etc.
These types of dopamine are good because they transform you into something better.
Bad dopamine is when you destruct yourself, especially when in excess.
Drugs, overstimulation with phone (”doom-scrolling”), over indulgence in food etc.
This is a massive generalization but you get the idea.
Creative projects promote consistency, dedication and discipline because each time you perform the creative act/work on the project - you are releasing good dopamine which makes you want to come back to it again.
You’ll build this inner voice, kinda like the one thats reading all these words to you right now, that will compel you to keep coming back to the creative project.
Almost obsessively but in a healthy way.
Personally, one of the biggest reasons I decided to stick with music production despite thinking of switching and quitting it many times was because I knew I’d benefit from sticking it out and building consistency, dedication and discipline.
These soft skills would be invaluable since I can transfer them to everything else in life.
Like my:
Sleep, diet and exercise.
This newsletter, my website.
Content and personal brand.
Future goals and projects.
Courses, resources and offers.
These soft skills are in high demand today since hardly anyone has them or has cultivated them to a level which could create actual differences in their life.
The bar isn’t that high today either.
Look around… Maybe look at yourself.
If you put only 10% extra in, that’s all it would take to standout and be exceptional by today’s means since so many others just can’t do even the fundamentals.
Why I think music production is the best creative project to purse
You could say I am biased since this is my main focus right now but out of all the artforms I've tried, this one brought me the most benefits.
Music production is the easiest to start.
You don't even need a computer to make good songs nowadays.
You can use tools like Bandlab which run completely off your phone.
Production is rewarding too.
You can start with a simple element, add 3- 5 more elements, and you have an incredible and interesting groove to play back and listen to in a matter of minutes.
The closest alternative to production is cooking.
You grab ingredients, follow a recipe, do some chopping and boom - you have an amazing meal to eat.
Replace ingredients with sounds, recipe with genre and chopping with editing/effects = music production.
Its funny too since people always ask producers what they "cookin in the stu" ).
While cooking is good, it requires much more dexterity and physical skills which could time and practice to understand.
Music production is very low barrier to entry and easy to do since its just clicking with a mouse and dragging and dropping which everyone in todays world already knows how to do and are pretty much experts at.
With tools like Splice and other online sampling services, it's never been easier to get into music production and make good songs.
Music production has changed my life.
I've:
Meet new people and re-connected with old friends.
Started new business projects.
Able to monetize my music production.
Developed as a person, both soft and hard skills.
Built an active audience on social media.
Create music and art I am genuinely shocked I made at times.
How to get started with a creative project
Pick a creative medium to express yourself in. There are countless ( and you will eventually choose to dive deeper into more, trust me) but in our case we will start with music production.
Make a list of your top 5-10 artists whose songs you love. Include what genre they make.
Get a DAW or a free trial of one.
I recommend Ableton however any DAW (digital audio workstation) is great is to start with such as Fruity Loop (FL Studio), Logic (for Mac only) or even Bandlab.
Research on YouTube or blogs;
How to make a (genre from your list) song.
How to make song like (artist from your list).
(Genre from your list) from scratch.
How to use (DAW you have) for beginners.
Best free (genre from your list) sample pack - you can search for paid ones too, just remove the “free” from your search
Keep repeating the process and seek help when you are stuck.
Conclusion
So.
Take the dive into a creative project.
You'll be 10x happier, become a better person, connect with new and old friends and start opening doors for new opportunities in your life.
You'll
Wake up excited getting out of bed to do your first task.
Most likely (for the first bit at least) work a job you dislike to pay rent - but now you have hope of future escape.
Connect and meet new people in meaningful ways everyday.
Develop positive and successful habits and personality traits you wish you had 10 years ago.
Know what direction to head so you can make an in impact in the world.
Check these resources out when you are ready to dive into Music Production.
Peace - Vig/MA
All the tools necessary for developing a signature sound.
Unfinished to Unforgettable.
This is how I get producers creating release ready, clean, crisp&loud songs songs + grow their artist brand
How I Can Help You
