Sunday, October 6, 2013

The Creative "I"- Defining Creativity


Interview Synopsis:

I interviewed Phillip Skulte my brother. He is a DJ in Minnesota and goes by the name DJ Phenetik. My brother doesn't create music based off of other artists songs. He develops his own sounds in his studio and enjoys putting smiles on his listeners faces for making something that is more unusual. He is not afraid at the fact that maybe not everyone will like his music; but he is willing to change peoples minds on the way they hear different sounds in music. I have always had an interest in his music and wondered how he decides on what sounds, rhythms, and techniques to use. This assignment gave me the opportunity to dig deeper into my brothers creative and interesting mind.

When I asked my brother to define creativity he said that, “creativity in music is evoking emotions in a listener that tells a story using a combination of sounds that you uniquely design.” My brothers songs are mostly representations of himself. It's like a story or message through sounds instead of words.

I then was able to find out a little bit more about my brothers creative process when he creates his own music. I wanted to know how he decided what patterns, rhythms, to use. Phillip states his songs start with a 4 to 8 bar drum loop that matches the tempo and rhythm he is trying for. After the drum loop is created he works on the melody or bass line that matches the feel he is trying to create in that particular song (grungy, aggressive, majestic, groovy). Phillip believes that percussion in a song plays a large role in how the overall song feels to a listener and this is why he always starts here when creating his songs.

Phillip believes creativity and the creative process is like solving a problem. He is always building new songs from scratch. One of the problems he faces is how does he make a song sounds like what he is thinking in his head. Through his music production software he uses tools that make millions of different sounds, crafting a unique sound that matches what he is feeling.

What I learned:

I learned a great amount from my interview with my brother. One of the important aspects to look at is when creating something you have to think about not only your own view, but how other people are going to view it. My brother also mentioned that even if his listeners close their eyes, or comment on his songs online, he knows he has impacted someone somewhere. I believe that moments like this are key to motivation in creativity. When I create a lesson plan and get feedback from others it motivates me to try harder. Phillip also mentioned in our interview that he loves that the average listeners doesn't realize how much time and effort goes into producing music. This is why he thinks its valuable for people to like his music because if they do then he knows all his hard work and small details have really paid off. This is how some teachers feel when they create lessons. The average person may not know how much time and effort goes into planning a lesson, but when a lesson is successful you do get a feeling of pleasure and relief knowing it was a successful lesson and then all that hard work has in fact paid off.

My brother also says the hardest part in his creative process is putting the sounds he hears in his head and making them come to life. I think many people struggle with this. However, if you are passionate and love what you do then you are willing to work that much harder to make those thoughts and ideas come to life.

Check out my brothers music at the following websites:

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