Musical Boundaries And Creativity

Why is todays' music so classified and genred in a day and age when many composers and musicians should have learned by now there is virtually no limit to what they can express creatively?

Creativity in art or music can often be influenced by other art or music, but the influence should not be allowed to become a boundary by which the artist defines themselves. When that happens, you turn "influence" into "defluence", or plainly said, a backwards trend of re-hashing former patterns and styles; almost a conscious plagiarism of the levels of creativity itself.

Much of the music today suffers from this, demonstrating a lack of quality that might be termed "creative genetic fading". The same pattern replicated over and over again eventually loses its' original creative energetic power, and the quality of the finished product suffers from "mimeographic drift". That said, another problem arises from musicians often assuming just because they can play an instrument or sing, it automatically gives them instant creative ability.

True creative insight, whether it be with music or any other creative art, takes a dedication and a special kind of ethic to seriously work (and re-work) ones craft. Of course, oftentimes, creativity can be INSPIRED by a tragic or glorious life story, and many works of genius have arisen from the degradations as well as the ecstacies of lifes' experiences.

Music should be a creative liberation of ones inner psyche, and tapping into the musical creative bitstream can often be triggered by dramatic life events. Only when you venture beyond the endless genre boundary sets and sub-sets of commercial musical classification can you find genuine and true creative bitstream flow.

This is not to say that you should never write another blues song again, but opening up and expanding your conceptual approach allows you to escape the current thought that says everything that comes thru a composer creatively MUST FIT into the little holes called ROCK, or BLUES, or GRUNGE, or METAL, or CLASSICAL or WHATEVER GENRE YOU HAVE FALLEN INTO AND CAN'T GET UP OUT OF.

Instead of trying to fit every composition into one specific genre, let whatever comes thru express itself however it may. The seriousness and "manufactured angst" with which many hard rock and metal musicians approach their songcraft, for example, lead them to create only within the boundaries of what has been deemed "acceptable" in that genre.

Not to be left out, classical music has long suffered the same fate, with mainstream classical fans snobbily disregarding much of what falls outside the long established line-up of what this author terms "the dead masters catalog".

There is an endless supply of creative musical energy in the bitstream, and much of it has not ever been tapped. For those who enjoy a bit of esoteric theory behind where music really comes from and what functions it serves, it is amusing to see that many people still believe musics only function is for entertainment. More and more revelations about using sound and vibrations have been uncovered in the medical and psychiatric fields that show music is being utilized as an accepted form of therapy, and may also hold the potential to treat various health conditions. New groundbreaking research has discovered that using specific sound vibrations, certain simple viruses can actually be shaken to death while leaving the surrounding healthy tissue intact.

Of course, in the reverse, the correct frequency and volume aimed at healthy cells and organs are found to do considerable damage to the health as well - something one may care to consider before attending the next concert where one might risk exposure to increased decibel levels.

Remove the boundaries, open your mind and your emotions, and go into the chaos to explore the vast and endless creative bitstream that is there for anyone to find. Start where the "masters" went, and then dare to go further.

If you do, you may discover things there you never thought possible.