One Thing That Sucks About Writing Music for a Living

This week I have been making a conscious effort to put music on when the moment takes me. And it got me thinking.

I used to listen to music ALL THE TIME. Every spare second of my time would be spent with music playing and it was awesome.

I don't do this so much anymore.

I know my life is different as I have a wife and children but I don't think they are the reason I listen to less music. I think the reason is that I pursued music as my job.

Because I spent all my time writing music I kind of wanted to take a break from it and either not have any on or just put music on that I could ignore and switch off to. For a very long time whenever I heard music, I began to take internal notes ("Oh that's an interesting rhythm", "Hmm, I wonder how they got that drum sound", "Oh hey, they have Omnisphere too!" etc.)

And that was fine.

But now I am spending more time doing work other than writing music (like this newsletter) and I am now able to listen to music whilst I do it and I am feeling some old stirrings.

Those stirrings are simply the joy of listening to music for the sake of it; not as a reference, not to analyse, just to enjoy.

I am not saying I have not enjoyed all these years of writing music (and very much enjoying that process) I am simply saying it is so nice to listen to music and get swept away in the emotion of it.

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The Quiet Whisper | Issue 38

One thing that sucks about writing music for a living

🎧 I’m Listening To…

I am having a bit of a flash of nostalgia at the moment and going back to some of my favourite tracks from different periods of my life. Water from the Same Source by Rachel's, Tracy by Mogwai, and M83's awesome album Before the Dawn Heals Us. It still amazes me how you can listen to music and immediately be whisked back to forgotten memories, feelings, thoughts etc. Music is amazing (obvs).

⚡️ I’m Reading (with my ears)...

Ramit Sethi's interview on the Diary of a CEO podcast was a refreshingly simple take on financial advice. I particularly enjoyed the part where he talks about investing in funds. He has such a great energy to him and his positivity and excitement are infectious.

📺 I’m Watching...

Watching GuyRitchie's latest movie Operation Fortune felt like he had taken these scenes from Spy, Robin Hood Men in Tights, Parks and Recreation and thought, "I'm gonna make a movie with those characters" and it was a lot of fun 🤣

🌟 Update From Rich

I have been making a content plan for the next 3 months. I am a huge fan of planning your work (then working on the plan). It really does let my brain switch off to know what work I am working on and when and to know that all those ideas are being fed (eventually). I recommend you sit down and think about what you want to achieve over the next 3 months and then plan it out week by week.

I wanted to share this piece of music that one of my former students, Rick Abbott, composed. It was a "demo" for ASTS but I think you should all check it out as it is fantastic!

ASTS Sound Design · Disarm - Rick Abbott

Rick also messaged me to let me know that some tracks he composed last year had finally been released with Warner which is great news. If you are a fan of horror music then do give this album a listen as I believe Rick to be a master of the genre!