It’s all about that space, ‘bout that space — creating spaces that put us in a creative mindset

Part 5 — Designing and building a DIY home recording studio

The whole story — part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, part 15, part 16, part 17, part 18, part 19, part 20, part 21

Scribble scars covering my desk from years of writing music and taking notes for film projects and a whole bunch of just notes resulting from life. Even just looking at this picture evokes emotion for me that can more quickly get me to a creative space mentally. Lighting is another great way to affect mood and emotion. What methods do you use to spur on and trigger your creativity?

I’ve always enjoyed movies where a chain of key words unlocks a person’s hidden abilities they didn’t even know they had. As it relates to those of us working in the creative arts, we spend so much time, money and energy putting together these otherworldly, magical, serene, intense or super tech spaces to work in. But why? To what end? Why go through so much trouble perfecting our creative nests? Especially when the end user who is listening to the songs you’ve recorded or they are appreciating your beautiful painting will likely never get to see the space where the work was created. So does the look of the space even matter?

Sometimes we hear stories about creatives waking up in the middle of the night with a flash of inspiration. They quickly jot it down at their night stand or run to their studio to capture the idea. I’ve experienced this personally so I know it can happen, but it mostly is just a wonderfully romantic idea that makes for a good story line in a movie.

The reality is most of us have schedules and limited times available that we can use to create. Because most of us can’t just turn on that flow of pure creative juices, we have to find some way of opening that portal where the creative takes place. One way to unlock that door is to place ourselves in those spaces and environments where we are susceptible to feeling certain emotions. Those emotions become a starting point to feel other emotions, which if nurtured, can quickly snowball and even slingshot us into a place where like the sci-fi movie our creativity is suddenly unlocked and we can get to work.

My last writing/mixing studio — I used lighting as one way to help me get where I needed to be emotionally so I could compose for film projects.

I’m not sure what my next color scheme will be in the studio I’m building now, but there is something about the contrast of high-tech and wood that is really appealing to me and helps me get in the creative mood — so I ended up using quite a bit of that in my last writing/mixing room (top left). Beyond just helping me write more convincing music scores, I like bringing in musicians and recording their cool instruments to add to the vibe of what we are doing. Recording live musicians for the scores is one of the fastest ways to get me into that head space where I can create more quickly. Spencer Rainer (above) is holding a Nyckelharpe he played on Werewolf (3D/4D motion ride film by Emmy Award winning animator/director Justin Knowles — standing to the right of Spencer). You can listen to what he did here. He begins playing at 1:09. You can also listen to other music scores here that I’ve writen using the same process using different musicians. See if you can tell which parts are the live musicians vs the virtual instruments/sample libraries.

I hacked my old iMac and turned it into a lamp…just because. I found the idea online and just had to do it too. It took a long time to figure out how to get the power cord in properly inside the hinge mechanism, but the finished product was well worth it. Lamps, rope lighting, fairy lights and Edison bulbs are also really cool. Surrounding myself with different lights like that definitely help put my head in a different space. I’m really interested to see what design theme/feel my new room will end up having.

This new future studio space I’m creating needs to become that environment where I can very quickly get into that magical headspace where I can create. It will definitely look cool when I’m done with it, but unfortunately aesthetics are not my only consideration. Because it has to sound good too I have to actually start with the physics and then look at the cosmetic. Often the two can be at complete odds with each other and unfortunately physics will generally need to win. But….and there is a big but here. If I approach this with both in mind, I can more easily weave aesthetics into my physical structural requirements.

So, right now I’ve begun the process of immersing myself in pictures of places and things that nurture my creative juices. Sometimes the pictures which evoke emotion have nothing to do with music but have something about them that resonates with me. Maybe it’s a certain material like reclaimed wood or a certain fabric or furniture shape. Maybe it’s mood lighting like recessed can lights, track lighting or Edison bulbs. There isn’t any specific criteria to follow. I just know I’ve found something special when I see it.

To save the images I come across, I created a folder that stores all the photos with anything pictured which evokes emotion that I would want to incorporate into my space. Chances are most items won’t ultimately make it into the room, but they will have served their purpose well if they help lead me toward the final direction and goal of having a creative nurturing, inspirational space.

The whole story — part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, part 15, part 16, part 17, part 18, part 19, part 20, part 21