Unlock Your Creativity Through Limitation

Tutorial | May 03, 2022

In this video, I discussed the importance of limitation in creativity. Limiting yourself to a certain set of options can help to minimize your load in the head and to relax the brain in a certain way to use it at important tasks. This can help to maximize learning and stimulate the brain to come up with creative solutions. It can also help to get to know what you already have and to become more creative with fewer resources. I also suggested that it may be beneficial to set up rules or sell your unused equipment to save money and get creative.

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Questions & Answers #

Maybe you dont watch the video, here are some important takeaways:

What are some of the benefits of limiting yourself while creating music? #

Limiting yourself while creating music is a great way to make yourself and your mind more creative. It can reduce distractions and help to minimize your load in the head, freeing up energy for creative solutions. Limiting yourself to the essential things can also help you to get to know what you already have better and make you more familiar with the devices you are using.

How can someone limit themselves when it comes to music production? #

There are many ways to limit yourself when it comes to music production. You could reduce external hardware devices, like synthesizers or audio effects, which can bring different problems with them. You could also limit yourself to a certain number of devices or modules, or even sell some of your fleet that you don’t use. Limiting yourself to the essential things can help to minimize your load in the head and to relax the brain in a certain way to use it at important tasks.

What types of tools can help a music producer become more creative? #

Tools that can help a music producer become more creative include mini beatboxes, small devices and music toys, and even Lego parts.

Transcription #

This is what im talking about in this video. The text is transcribed by AI, so it might not be perfect. If you find any mistakes, please let me know.
You can also click on the timestamps to jump to the right part of the video, which should be helpful.

[00:00.000] Hey folks, welcome back to another video. My name is Polarity and today it's about limitation.
[00:06.880] Limitation is one of the most effective ways to make yourself and your mind creative.
[00:12.480] No matter how long you play music or how good you think you are, it works equally well for everyone.
[00:20.080] Can it be confirmed by any creative person? The last options the brain is offered,
[00:25.680] the more it can occupy itself with available options. There are many things that can be
[00:31.920] limited in the producers everyday life. Often people talk about the reduction of external hardware
[00:37.920] devices, like synthesizers or audio effects, which bring different problems with them.
[00:45.120] Anyone who has ever owned or has hardware will be able to confirm it.
[00:50.480] Where do I put the devices best? How do I get to the buttons best? Do I want to get to
[00:55.600] the device from the computer at all? Or do I want to move a ray from the computer? How do I wire
[01:01.760] everything? How do I wire everything so that it makes technical sense for recording?
[01:07.600] Do I create latencies? Do I need additional inputs to record devices in parallel?
[01:13.520] Do I need preamps? Which Urec module do I need so that the Urec module I bought the other day
[01:19.840] for a lot of money makes more sense? Which device do I sell so that there is more space for new ones?
[01:27.040] There are many things that need to be decided, so the fact that your own hardware can occupy
[01:32.320] your brain in many ways at any time. Not to mention turning it on when you're in the mood to make
[01:38.880] music. Why isn't this simply rocking or why isn't there a clock signal coming in? My controller
[01:45.200] isn't sending media anymore. All of this can kill creative energy in the start. The best thing
[01:51.280] is to have as little as possible standing between you and the first draft and to feel comfortable
[01:58.240] in the environment you're working in. And there's special sweet spot for everyone
[02:03.280] that everyone has to find on their own. Limitation to the essential things can help to minimize
[02:09.840] our load in the head and to relax the brain in a certain way to use it at important tasks.
[02:16.480] It minimizes the pressure to make decisions and frees up energy for creative solutions
[02:22.720] with a limited set of options. And relaxation and creative output is what most people are looking for
[02:29.520] after day of tedious and boring rock. Another effect of limiting is that you get the note
[02:35.760] things you limit yourself to better. By having to deal more with what is available,
[02:41.840] by having to find solutions, the brain is creatively stimulated. How can I build a bump out
[02:48.720] of a paper clip and an apple? You bring out your internal megawa and let the brain do what it's
[02:54.880] made for. You divert the energy from deciding to creating. There's a reason why experienced
[03:03.040] musicians or any musician at all like to buy small devices and music toys. Imagine going into
[03:11.600] the woods with your little beatbox or sitting on the bus and finally getting really creative with it.
[03:17.600] But then you usually don't, but the idea is absolutely right and also tempting. Basically,
[03:24.720] you don't need a device or any particular software. You just need something that makes noise
[03:30.320] and the will. When I was younger, I didn't have any Lego because we grew up in East Germany.
[03:39.040] When I got a mini Lego space vehicle, the gift from my aunt, I built everything imaginable
[03:45.920] from these 30 Lego parts in two weeks. I only had these 38 parts and got creative with them.
[03:53.520] There were no limits to my imagination and each of these 30 parts could be combined with the
[03:58.880] other 29 parts in different ways. Enough possibilities for everything. The more parts I got later,
[04:06.640] the less creative I became with individual groupings of parts. Completely normal process.
[04:13.040] And who doesn't know it? Musicians who have a fleet of devices often don't know exactly what they
[04:19.360] could do with individual devices. If they had spent one year only with this device, things would
[04:25.600] look different. The sentence I didn't know it was possible but this device is often heard.
[04:32.080] That's not an accusation, it's just perfectly normal. So if you want to know what a certain device
[04:38.160] can do, look around at people who only call the device down. Do you want to know which devices are
[04:44.480] good? Look at producers who make good music and only have a few devices to call their own.
[04:49.520] Usually these devices are the best and most versatile. Often you see producers in their huge studios
[04:56.960] sitting in front of many, many synthesizers, but the music comes out of the computer itself
[05:02.960] or was even written on it. I often notice this in Deadmouse live streams and there's probably a reason why.
[05:11.200] And this is simply an observation that does not always apply.
[05:14.400] Once I announced the beat battle the other day, I got the following message.
[05:19.520] I decided to give this a go and came up with a few interesting techniques that I'd never
[05:26.560] have tried if I wasn't looking to save space. Using a constant selector in a bunch of mod
[05:32.160] outlets to control the node quantizer opens up some real possibilities.
[05:36.640] And this one underlines exactly my point. Due to the limitation in the rules,
[05:42.880] the mon here got creative with what he had. There was no other way to break out than to solve the
[05:49.680] puzzle somehow. Rain can reach peak performance here within certain limits.
[05:55.920] The deadline is Friday and you all invited to participate. Join the link is in the description.
[06:03.280] It's also not by chance that new bands or just starting producers due to the lack of money
[06:08.960] and therefore equipment take off more easily. Or at the pause of time or define the trend
[06:16.080] than longstanding experience in fully equipped producers. They have the experience
[06:22.720] but are often less creative. But maybe that's just a subjective perception of my part.
[06:29.360] No matter which creative experienced person you ask, you will always hear a story about how
[06:35.280] they became extremely creative by selling equipment, tools or reducing options. It is one of the
[06:43.280] most effective tool ever. And even if you use Bitwig, limit yourself to four or five devices
[06:50.960] or modules and try to do something with them. After one or two days you have mastered them.
[06:58.000] Sometimes I wish you could unlock levels in a door that give you limited access to devices,
[07:05.280] a kind of a gaming mode. The beginner you only get a sampler maybe and an EQ. And with that you
[07:13.200] can actually do almost everything. After that you unlock a compressor or maybe distortion.
[07:19.600] And that could be pretty exciting and it could maximize learning.
[07:25.120] So try it out yourself. Set up rules, limit yourself or sell your fleet that you don't use
[07:32.800] anyway. Save money, get to know what you already have and get creative.
[07:39.120] That's it for today. Subscribe to the channel, leave a thumbs up if you liked the video and if you
[07:43.840] want support me on Patreon. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time. Bye.