Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
When you set out to make a new piece of music, where do you start?
With an idea?
With a simple tone?
With a specific technique?
I love asking this question, because there’s never one “right” answer or approach. I often hear from folks that even though they KNOW the tools and understand the techniques, being faced with a blank slate can be intimidating. That first step into a new creation can sometimes be the most challenging.
I’ve found over the years that a lot of that pressure can come from thinking that there is a “correct” way of getting started in a creative project. Or that “real” musicians just get these cosmic downloads with all their musical ideas neatly organized in their minds, ready to execute.
But for me at least? That’s not the way it works—at all. And hearing how other people approach the process of getting started in a new creative project has always been so liberating for me—almost like with each new idea I’m granting myself more and more permission to experiment and try something else.
So, I wanted to share some with you here, and to open up this conversation, in case it’s inspiring and helpful for you, too.
My first step in a new piece of music can look like:
- an idea for a specific sound that I try to create
- an accidental sound I create and love
- a walk in the forest
- pages of nonsense scribbles in my notebook
- a voice memo to myself with sung ideas
- improvising until something jumps out at me
- recording a patch even though I think it stinks, then coming back to rework it later
- researching something completely unrelated to music, like time dilation or butterfly wings
Here’s another Q:
Do you always start from the same place?
Would love to hear your thoughts! ❤️👇
When you set out to make a new piece of music, where do you start?
With an idea?
With a simple tone?
With a specific technique?
I love asking this question, because there’s never one “right” answer or approach. I often hear from folks that even though they KNOW the tools and understand the techniques, being faced with a blank slate can be intimidating. That first step into a new creation can sometimes be the most challenging.
I’ve found over the years that a lot of that pressure can come from thinking that there is a “correct” way of getting started in a creative project. Or that “real” musicians just get these cosmic downloads with all their musical ideas neatly organized in their minds, ready to execute.
But for me at least? That’s not the way it works—at all. And hearing how other people approach the process of getting started in a new creative project has always been so liberating for me—almost like with each new idea I’m granting myself more and more permission to experiment and try something else.
So, I wanted to share some with you here, and to open up this conversation, in case it’s inspiring and helpful for you, too.
My first step in a new piece of music can look like:
- an idea for a specific sound that I try to create
- an accidental sound I create and love
- a walk in the forest
- pages of nonsense scribbles in my notebook
- a voice memo to myself with sung ideas
- improvising until something jumps out at me
- recording a patch even though I think it stinks, then coming back to rework it later
- researching something completely unrelated to music, like time dilation or butterfly wings
Here’s another Q:
Do you always start from the same place?
Would love to hear your thoughts! ❤️👇
