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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Where does the music come from in you?
Where does the music come from in you?
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XHarp
281 posts
Mar 12, 2010
1:23 PM
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OK, so this poppoed up in another thread. I want to get it out for discussion.
Its a deep topic and may be its really simple for you but it is more then that for me.
I think its so deep that its the reason why I am stalled in my playing right now. Not with a band, not with a duet, not even practicing. Reading and diggiing into other musicians right now trying to answer this question.
For me, its yet defined, but I do know that it is not from the music of LW or SBWII or Junior or whoever, its somewhere else. I love listening to the greats but it seems to be more then that.
What about you? Where does it come from?
I'd like to hear from everyone on this but particularily from the pros on this forum as well.
I'd really like to hear from Jason, Buddha, Adam, BBQ but in particular Waltertore who can manage to record 4 or five songs every day !!!!
Man where does that come from? Internally, what inspires you to do this and seek out the music?
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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Johnster
36 posts
Mar 12, 2010
1:47 PM
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I think it comes from within, from your souls if you will, as Eric Clapton said "it's a leap fo faith" I'm no pro and I could be completley wrong but to me, it's a feeling, it's an outpouring of those feelings with music as the vehicle. Some artists do it with paint, or clay or words, we do it with musical notes.
I don't think you can put your finger on it, and pull it out, it has to flow from within unforced and natural.
Just my IMHO!!!
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waltertore
264 posts
Mar 12, 2010
2:42 PM
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Hi XHarp: Thanks for asking my take on this subject because hardly anyone does.
Music comes not from within a person, but from the universe. I tap into the universe when I play. To do this one has to be detach from everything worldly like shame, expectations, acceptance, projections, preconcieved ideas, agendas, fears, hopes, etc. You have to be in nuetral so to speak-thoughtless. When you get there, the universe shows itself. If you are doing music, songs, words, experiences, dreams, etc, flood in. This is how I am able to do spontaneous music. I am a channel, not the creator, owner, or borrower, of the music. It is like trying to hold water in your hands. the harder you squeeze and try to hold it, the quicker it leaves.
The rest of my post and the next one kind of elaborate on how I got there and stay there. If I leave the above process, I am as far from spontobeat as playing got my mojo working note for note.
I have lived my musical and my non musical life on the outskirts. Since I was a kid I have been driven to do things. I have to do them to feel ok. Music was the one that really filled the bill. So, as I read about guys playing to please the crowd, try to fit in, emulate others, compromise, and in general not keep what is in their souls pure to their lives and music, I get confused. Life is a short trip and to spend it beating around the bush of your soul and passion, seems a sad thing. My music comes from the universe of past, present, and future. I discovered this as kid with daydreaming. I was constantly daydreaming to escape the violent upbringing I had. I was raised in the Newark NJ area in a very Soprano like world. It was violent, sad, and most were not living thier dreams. I hated school and would sit there and dream all day. I wasn't allowed to play music so I had to fantasize what that would be like. Anyway, once I touched an instrument there was no stopping me. I had to play. this is when I discovered I was a time traveler. The music was my vehicle. Until then, it was all fantasy. Now it is reality. I go into my songs and become them. That is a powerful high that doing thought out music has never come close to. The harp was my first instrument, then singing, then the guitar, then the piano, and last the drums. I learned all these to be free to make a band sound whenever the mood hit. Then I learned, am learning, how to record music. So now I am totally free to create/record music on my own terms. IMO one should live their life straight from the heart. Then all other things fall in place. I have had ongoing struggles with my head. My head has lots of fears, judgements, and worries, about going into the unknown. Yet when I play music I do just that. I walk into the unknown. to do cover songs, even my own, would be of no interest to me. This has hurt my worldy career to no end, but the feeling I get playing spontobeat is beyond anything the world could offer. If someday it comes around I will be thankful, but I couldn't change what I do to get there. I have gone from 200+ gigs a year to less than 30 because I won't play unless it is a good fit. I actually record about 150 songs a week but only post a few on the net because it takes too long. I would rather be playing. So after that longwinded response, I would say the key is to let your soul come out. Clapton has compromised himself to death, like most any artist that has made it or is trying to make it. I guess their goal is to be playing music, whether or not it is exactly what they want to do is secondary. I have compromised myself early on. It was part of the journey. I feared following my own road because there was no one on it and the road of the mainstream approach to music was full of my heros and ones trying to become somebody. Eventually I learned that being true to myself is what my art is about. I would always do spontobeat offstage and it would take up most of my waking hours. But when I got onstage early in my career, I did like everyone else until the fire hit me. Then I would spontaneously create the words. That got me in trouble and fired from several bands. Kind of like the trees blooming in spring, it is a short, but detailed process. That is what happened, and before I knew it, it was all spontobeat and my audience has been declining ever since but now I think it has hit rock bottom and popularity is on the upswing. I guess if you stick to something long enough, people will eventually begin to open to it. Sing, play, with childlike joy. that is the secret. As adults we get stiff and judgemental. There are no greats except the ones you hear and you should be one. I am my favorite artist. If I wasn't, I would quit and be content to listen to those I felt were. that isn't bragging. It is letting your truth shine and there is nothing more pure and unique to oneself than their own truth. Walter
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
2,000 of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Mar 13, 2010 5:41 AM
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harmonicanick
658 posts
Mar 12, 2010
2:58 PM
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Walter,
Please can you punctuate your posts by pressing enter after sentences, its much easier for us to read..
Thanks mate,
Nicko
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waltertore
265 posts
Mar 12, 2010
4:30 PM
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will do harmonicanick.
here goes.
I also would like to add that I made no concious efforts to become a 1 man band.
Things just come to me, much like when you have to pee.
It is a natural thing that you have to listen to or be very uncomfortable.
This is how we have moved so much (3 countries and 6 states), been drawn to jobs, friends, and basically everything.
When the feeling comes, we roll blindly and adventures follow.
Blind faith is the key to being a real artist.
commercial art is everything else, let it be blues or pop.
What you know as a player is a far second to showing who you are.
listen to the blues greats.
Their licks and beats would be considered elementary today. but if they were alive still, the people would still flock to them because they showed their souls.
Showing your soul is simply being yourself with no filters.
there is no musical formula for this either.
we each have our own unique soul.
technical ablities are a sideshow to this and lots of people get totally hung up on that end of the playing.
An example is Dylan.
He catches tons of flack from technically driven harp players.
But his stuff is emotional to people.
That is what moves them, not the harp playing.
Art moves people when done right.
Intellectuals argue over the technical end and always will.
That is why I will never say anyone is better than someone else.
It is all opinion.
So why not be yourself?
I believe the way we live our life is the way our music comes out.
One can't hope to be one way in their life, and another in their music.
I have watched countless musicians try to skirt that issue.
I am a school teacher and I often here "I have to remember I am onstage all day and act accordingly".
I am me onstage and off.
I am me.
Who else could I be?
Masks can't hide your soul with clothes, riffs, or cons of words.
A person that lives following their heart sees who you are.
Dream big!
I am currently sending dreams out to the universe that when I retire from teaching (hopefully 8 years or so) my music will have gotten enough attention that I can end my life playing good listening rooms and once again travel the country in a nice bus about 100 dates a year.
This time it will be with my wife and dogs and no more bandmates.
I will appreciate the little things that went right by me the first time around when I was more concerned with getting to the next level in the business than the moment.
We will see the country and call Sebastopol, Ca. our home base.
Judy and I met there in 1980 and spent 15 years there.
Whether this dream comes true or not is of no real importance.
It is the dream that gets things rolling in the right directions and your soul will guide you to the right destinations.
Dream Big!
Be kind to yourself, forgive yourself when you go astray and don't spend energy trying too hard to get to the next step. That will keep you stuck in disapointment and feelings of not being satified. Spend your energy in the moment, enjoying the sounds that you can put out. They are where you are suppose to be. the next part of the journey will unfold in its own time.
Walter
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walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
2,000 of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
Last Edited by on Mar 12, 2010 5:58 PM
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Kyzer Sosa
189 posts
Mar 12, 2010
9:37 PM
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I get it from my momma...
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Kyzer's Travels
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nacoran
1404 posts
Mar 12, 2010
9:45 PM
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I had a writing teacher once tell me that writers hate to write, that writers like the feeling of having written something, but not the process. I understood exactly what he was saying.
I don't get that feeling when I'm making music.
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Nate
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Diggsblues
227 posts
Mar 13, 2010
3:39 AM
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The ancient Sages tell us music is playing at all times.
They call it the unstruck music or music of the
spheres or the Celestial Haromonies.
This one aspect of the Divine that they meditate on
and attain oneness with.
Music is vibration and the whole universe is
vibrating.
Hey this is starting to sound like
Buddhas Garden LOL
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