I am about to tell you the secret to all of my designs. Each and every one of the designs that you see on my website has been somehow created by music. Yes, there are usually a set of inspirational circumstances that come together for each particular piece, but by and large all of my designs have come about from the music that I listen to whilst creating them.
I have fairly eclectic tastes, actually. Everything from classical symphonies, to hard rock, to world beat- and everything in between. It’s like that old Johnny Cash song “Get Rhythm when you get the blues…” I get rhythm as a way to move productively through the day, but not just for energy’s sake.
Examples are clearly required.
If the day is gray, instrumental piano might blend with Michael Buble but if the day is sunny, 60’s Oldies could stream over my workspace. The day is hot, Classic Country wends it’s way through my day. Late evenings are times for Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong. Sultry Afternoons are Salsa numbers and African beats. Three Doors Down is fabulous for forging, while Santana is awesome for soldering- the list just goes on and on. No one style is better or more effective than another. The music just has to resonate with me as I work that particular day.
It’s the way that music is so visceral that ties itself to my work, I think. The appreciation of Music and heart’s passion seem to use the same portion of one’s soul. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked a piece to completion with a symphony pouring endlessly through my mind long after the track was over. The crashing chords of a sonata echo in soundless magnificence, and weave themselves into the flow of the piece. Like so:
Can’t you see Bach’s Prelude in G?
I’m sure I’m not the only person to work like this. Shop radios are common equipment, and the ubiquitous iPod is even encouraged in most workplaces. But what about you? What kind of music do you work to?
I love how you worded this. When I worked in mental health with preschoolers, two of the activities I liked to do with them was to have them draw or paint their feelings and to draw or paint to music and let them see how their work changed acccording to the music. Now, as a potter, I find the music (or the sounds of the birds singing) guide my works also. Likewise, since I work outside, the sounds of lawnmowers and grass blowers are disturbing – time for music!