Cuttings

When I was little I was sort of obsessed with taking cuttings from plants. Especially money plants.

I loved the fact that you could take off one of the leaves and leave it in water and eventually, it would grow its own roots.

I would then take that leaf, put it in its own little pot of soil, and then watch as it became another plant.

A tiny little tree.

Over the years, I stopped taking cuttings. I still have my money plant, well a cutting of the original anyway but my attention went to other things; music, career, making money and family.

As the years went by my money plant has gone through many iterations.

The one I am looking at right now is tiny. A mere memory of my original money plant.

I sometimes feel sad that cuttings don’t interest me anymore.

I sometimes miss that excitement I had in seeing those roots form.

But this is the funny thing about life.

My initial enjoyment of cuttings is still very much alive. It lives in my creative work.

The simple act of taking inspiration from everyday life in the form of an idea. Taking a cutting from life.

I take each idea and feed it some water, well, attention and energy in this analogy.

As each idea gets the energy it needs it sprouts roots and becomes something viable. It becomes a self-sufficient thing in and of itself.

So actually I am still taking cuttings and growing things.

Instead of growing plants I am growing ideas.

And I absolutely LOVE it.

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The Quiet Whisper | Issue 33

Cuttings

🎹 I’m Playing Around With...

chordchord.com as an AI-assisted chord pattern generator. I was just thinking how rubbish chord generators used to be and thought to myself, "I wonder if they have got any better?" I am pretty blown away, to say the least. Even if you just take this as a starting point this is so much fun and as I sit here on my phone it has got me feeling excited about composing!

⌨️ I’m Loving...

TypeLit. I found this site when I was checking out the site of one of my readers. I have had it on my radar to improve my touch typing for years and have finally managed to get a bit of muscle memory going but up until now, I hadn't found an interesting way to practice. This site has solved that problem and also meant that I can finally read 1984 in the process. Genius!

😆 I’m Laughing at...

Awkward Family Photos. Who doesn't love a hilarious family photo, especially from the 70s and 80s? My favourite has to be Double Snot Shot!

🌟 New From Rich

I am often converting my audio files into MIDI to create more unique playable instruments for my tracks. Here is how I do it in Logic Pro X.

🏝 How to Stay Inspired

I received this wonderful email from one of my readers, Paul Searles, about his 3-step process that has helped him stay inspired during his 15 years writing music for ads:

Don't write for anyone but yourself.
When I am lost I listen to a lot of music, as you've mentioned here. I go exploring with Spotify suggestions and ride the wave for hours on end, to the point where I feel like a glutton. Then I sleep on it, I don't demand anything from this time spent.
But the most effective for me is going somewhere new. I live next to a national park, so I will wander down a path I've never taken before. I'll find somewhere secluded that I imagine no one has ever been and meditate. New streets, cafes, towns and countries as well. I have to do this alone. Eventually, my head is cleared of the daily grind and new neural connections start to form. My head will start to fill with music again. When my head is emptied it is always music that starts to fill it again. This is when I'm reminded that I'm born to be a composer.

(Check out this beautiful song Paul composed for his new project, The Soft Lights)