The Soundtrack of Our Imaginary Lives

Life is strange. You get caught up and focused on some things that you ignore or neglect something else. Then, when you lift your head up to have a look around you realise that more time has gone and wonder if you could have spent your time more productively or effectively.

It seems fairly typical of my creative patterns in some way – to start one thing, eventually get to the end of it (and I’ll allow myself some credit here – it may take a while, but I do finish the projects I start), then plough into some other kind of project straight afterwards that is perhaps on a completely different tangent to what I’ve been previously working on. I sometimes question how much of that is creative restlessness and a desire to explore new or unfamiliar ground, and how much of it is a form of escapism. Instead of sticking to one or two disciplines and mastering them, I fumble and play, I dabble with a number of things and don’t really master any of them.

I’m not sure yet.

But speaking of mastery, I believe this year I have put in at least a few more of the hours that will count towards clocking up the 10,000 hour minimum genius quota. Mastery of what, if anything, is a different subject.

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past year learning about recording and engineering sounds and music. What motivates me is the need to be able to record my own music on my own, at home whenever I felt like it, and to have those results be presentable in some way.

Part of this was brought into focus by putting out an EP earlier this year of punk/alt rock covers that were recorded mostly at home on my crappy soundcard and my old computer. I took it to get mixed by a pro, but it made me want to improve my home-recording skills.

 

To cut a long story short, most of the music I have been working on this past year or so has been soundtracks to short films. Like most other creative avenues I have dabbled in, film music is not something I had given much thought to or foreseen myself having a go at much before. I had done a piece for one of my brother’s film projects when he was studying, but nothing since then until July last summer.

I plan on putting down a few words in due course about some of these projects, but for now here is a little showreel I have put together of some of the music I have made for moving image.