Linear vs Cyclical Process · Meta Mind Music

Alexandre Joyal

Apr 16 in 💬 General Discussion

Linear vs Cyclical Process

In most cases, we think in a very linear way when it comes to finishing music.

You start with an idea and start to force it forward into a finished song.

And let’s be honest, most of the time you’re going to get stuck along the way.

It could be in…

Idea creation - You start to hate your loop or you’re not impressed by what you’re currently making

Arrangement - You don’t know where to take your ideas

Mixing - You can’t make it sound great

It basically comes down to: we start ideas and try to finish them somehow.

The problem with this is it creates a lot of pressure by expecting a particular result. It also assumes that every idea is worth moving forward. I call this a "linear process"

A "cyclical process" is the opposite. Or as I like to call it: a pyramid process. Because why not lol

Pyramids start super wide at the base and get more and more narrow all the way to the top

At the very top, you have the pinnacle = finished songs

At the bottom of the pyramid, you have ideas. You want to create as many ideas as possible. The stronger your foundation the higher you can build your pyramid.

The key is you don’t have to force yourself to create an idea that has to make it into a song at any single point. It’s a more relaxed, flowy approach.

You'll find that some of your ideas are naturally stronger WITHOUT having to work any harder on them.

The next stage of the pyramid is to only choose the best ideas and turn them into rough compositions. Then guess what?

Only choose the most promising (or objectively better) rough compositions to turn them into finished songs (editing, mixing & mastering).

What makes a cyclical process so powerful? You're focusing on the phases of music production and allowing ideas to move forward instead of trying to force them.

It also prevents you from wasting a ton of energy trying to refine, edit and perfect ideas that are mediocre as best.

This creates a pathway to discover the music that is at the top of your current abilities while maintaining creative flow.

No more pressure, no more overwhelm, just making beautiful music.

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