- All Sapiens Design. It is part of what makes us Human- to have some idea in mind of a future outcome, and then set upon a course to make it so. As a professional Architect, I had the great fortune of three years in Architecture School where we studied the Architecture gods like Frank Loyd Wright and worshipped at the altar of Design Process. And I was then lucky enough to earn a livelihood and practice this art as a professional being paid by clients to deliver ideas that could be built, or sold to their clients.#
- Today I am realizing a long held dream of designing my own music, and am struck by the universality of the design process I studied to become a professional designer. Looking back, it is really a simple process. Beginning with a concept, one travels a paths from very loose general ideas to increasingly more specific ideas that are tested against the original concept. Then adjustments are made, sometimes starting over and traveling a different path. Rinse and repeat until you find yourself with a "solution" that is “good enough.” The hardest part is to just start down a path without assurance that it will lead you to want to go, but having the confidence in yourself to know that you will get there, eventually. What architecture school adds to this universal human process is the various tools of the craft that are unique to architecture; likewise computer science, engineering and all the other design arts.#
- These days, I am studying music theory and the various music gods I have enjoyed over the years along with the tools of the music craft. Much has changed since I learned the art of architecture. Back then we did everything by hand, and of course today- very little is done by hand. I am benefitting by access to great music software at little or no cost such as HookPad and GarageBand respectively. But thankfully, there is still a place for human craft in music and I am finding that the biggest limitations (and perhaps strengths) are my voice and guitar.#
- I have been working on my first song on and off for about two months now- and having a blast. Like my first projects in architecture school, it is very sophomoric and has a lot of room for improvement. But it is uniquely mine, and the simple act of designing/writing music is making me a better musician, just as the act of designing/drawing architecture makes one a better architect; by integrating theory and craft into real world results and learning from them.#
- In architecture, we have many options to integrate the basic systems of envelope, structure, interiors and services (mechanical, electrical, plumbing etc.) In music, we have a dizzying array of options with lyrics, melody, harmony and rhythm. Where does one begin? The answer for me is everywhere all at once! Nothing is precedent and everything has to be solved together- that is what makes design so challenging, and so much fun! #
- The last two months of trial and error have taught me a lot. Software tools have enabled me to learn and try out music theory ideas that are finally taking root in my brain. My first song has evolved from just hunting for chords that seem to work, into specific keys and an order of chords with a concept in mind. At first in G Major, but then shifting to C Major for the Chorus and its relative minor for the Verses. Three months ago I had no idea why I might want to do so. (Now I am puzzling how to transition between the verse and the chorus.)#
- Interesting to me also is the relationship between what can be accomplished digitally, versus the human body. I learned that using Hookpad and GarageBand I could come up with something that was fairly interesting musically, but very difficult to sing with my voice, or play on my guitar. That in turn provides real world constraints (as in architecture) that inform the evolution of the music, making it better and something that can be performed live, with an audience as the final judge- just as in architecture, when humans finally walk inside and experience the space you have created.#
- As with any design process, you go back and forth, refining and testing ideas. The trick is knowing how to guide this process, to let it unfold in an order that results in something that is full of “life.” This is exactly what the theorist Christopher Alexander was writing and thinking about in “The Order of Nature.” And the results are all around us in the great works of Architecture and Music (and the other design Arts…)#
- While my first song is still evolving, I am already dreaming about my next song… and thinking it will be much moodier, about one of my best friends that died in a whirlpool on a river- written in the Key of G, using the Phrygian mode, searching for the Spanish Gypsy / Spaghetti Western sound. #
- I feel like a child beginning Kindergarten all over again… :) #
- All Sapiens Design. It is part of what makes us Human- to have some idea in mind of a future outcome, and then set upon a course to make it so. As a professional Architect, I had the great fortune of three years in Architecture School where we studied the Architecture gods like Frank Loyd Wright and worshipped at the altar of Design Process. And I was then lucky enough to earn a livelihood and practice this art as a professional being paid by clients to deliver ideas that could be built, or sold to their clients.#
- Today I am realizing a long held dream of designing my own music, and am struck by the universality of the design process I studied to become a professional designer. Looking back, it is really a simple process. Beginning with a concept, one travels a paths from very loose general ideas to increasingly more specific ideas that are tested against the original concept. Then adjustments are made, sometimes starting over and traveling a different path. Rinse and repeat until you find yourself with a "solution" that is “good enough.” The hardest part is to just start down a path without assurance that it will lead you to want to go, but having the confidence in yourself to know that you will get there, eventually. What architecture school adds to this universal human process is the various tools of the craft that are unique to architecture; likewise computer science, engineering and all the other design arts.#
- These days, I am studying music theory and the various music gods I have enjoyed over the years along with the tools of the music craft. Much has changed since I learned the art of architecture. Back then we did everything by hand, and of course today- very little is done by hand. I am benefitting by access to great music software at little or no cost such as HookPad and GarageBand respectively. But thankfully, there is still a place for human craft in music and I am finding that the biggest limitations (and perhaps strengths) are my voice and guitar.#
- I have been working on my first song on and off for about two months now- and having a blast. Like my first projects in architecture school, it is very sophomoric and has a lot of room for improvement. But it is uniquely mine, and the simple act of designing/writing music is making me a better musician, just as the act of designing/drawing architecture makes one a better architect; by integrating theory and craft into real world results and learning from them.#
- In architecture, we have many options to integrate the basic systems of envelope, structure, interiors and services (mechanical, electrical, plumbing etc.) In music, we have a dizzying array of options with lyrics, melody, harmony and rhythm. Where does one begin? The answer for me is everywhere all at once! Nothing is precedent and everything has to be solved together- that is what makes design so challenging, and so much fun! #
- The last two months of trial and error have taught me a lot. Software tools have enabled me to learn and try out music theory ideas that are finally taking root in my brain. My first song has evolved from just hunting for chords that seem to work, into specific keys and an order of chords with a concept in mind. At first in G Major, but then shifting to C Major for the Chorus and its relative minor for the Verses. Three months ago I had no idea why I might want to do so. (Now I am puzzling how to transition between the verse and the chorus.)#
- Interesting to me also is the relationship between what can be accomplished digitally, versus the human body. I learned that using Hookpad and GarageBand I could come up with something that was fairly interesting musically, but very difficult to sing with my voice, or play on my guitar. That in turn provides real world constraints (as in architecture) that inform the evolution of the music, making it better and something that can be performed live, with an audience as the final judge- just as in architecture, when humans finally walk inside and experience the space you have created.#
- As with any design process, you go back and forth, refining and testing ideas. The trick is knowing how to guide this process, to let it unfold in an order that results in something that is full of “life.” This is exactly what the theorist Christopher Alexander was writing and thinking about in “The Order of Nature.” And the results are all around us in the great works of Architecture and Music (and the other design Arts…)#
- While my first song is still evolving, I am already dreaming about my next song… and thinking it will be much moodier, about one of my best friends that died in a whirlpool on a river- written in the Key of G, using the Phrygian mode, searching for the Spanish Gypsy / Spaghetti Western sound. #
- I feel like a child beginning Kindergarten all over again… :) #