Music in the Studio
Structures #95
©2008 Lisa Call
52" x 34"
Textile Painting (hand dyed fabric, batting, thread)
Music
Many (most? all?) artists are happy to talk about the music they listen to in their studio while creating art. I’m certainly no exception and have written about it before. Today’s post is a bit of a stream of consciousness and my music listening.
So now the confession – I’m not a big music person. It’s not that I don’t like music, it’s just I can’t be bothered to learn very much about it and there are days and weeks that go by when I forget to listen to it.
I like silence. I like the meditative quiet as I stitch parallel lines back and forth on my textile paintings for hours on end. Much self coaching and problem solving happens during this time.
But this post is about music, so back to that.
Music History
I have a nice sized CD collection, mostly the rock I listened to in high school and in my 20s – cause it’s what I know, I like it, it’s obvious, it’s easy. Stuff like The Beetles, The Gogos, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Leonard Skynard, Blondie. Pretty main stream stuff or at least it was in the 70s and 80s.
I listen to this music on the stereo I bought in graduate school with the student loan I took out to go on a ski trip and buy a stereo.
I actually have a pretty nice stereo because I was dating a guy (who I eventually married) that vacuumed his records with a nitty gritty record machine (if you don’t know what that is – it’s fine – just imagine a vacuum cleaner for records and people rather obsessive about sound quality from a piece of black plastic).
Music was a big thing for him. Listening to, playing, watching performances. A crappy stereo was not an option (hence the need for a loan).
We attended a lot music events in college and then in New York City when we were working at IBM Research. Almost weekly we’d head down to Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center from Westchester County to listen to folks like Yo-Yo Ma and The Berlin Philharmonic. I learned to love opera during these 2 years.
He grew up with music and his family is packed with musical talent. He inherited that talent and love for music.
I don’t remember a lot of music in our house growing up until my sister conned me into paying for half or her stereo (with an 8-track player – we were on top of the trends). When she left for college she took the stereo with her. I don’t recall being unhappy about it.
About the same time my mom moved out and my dad started listening to music. Even bought a nice stereo as I recall. I enjoyed the likes of Willie Nelson and Kenny Rogers with him. And PDQ Bach.
I owned a few albums so I listened to them over and over as it was all I had. Lots of repetition.
In the Studio
So now – back to the studio. As a result of having been married to a guy that was into music I have alot of CDs. Mostly rock – he kept the classical.
But what I listen to is extremely limited. For the last 18 months it’s been almost exclusively Christine Kane’s music.
The above textile painting was designed while I listened to She Don’t Like Roses on repeat over and over and over again for hours and hours.
Turns out I love repetition. Not surprising as I’ve created 111 textile paintings in the Structures series over the years. Could be how my brain is wired.
In the past a few other artists have captured my attention and I’ve listened to them repeatedly – just before Christine it was Johnny Cash.
The music I do remember as a kid was my brother listening to Johnny Cash over and over and over again. He was apparently into repetition also. My sister and I used to tease him mercilessly about it and he was smart enough to ignore us (or maybe he didn’t, but he didn’t stop listening to it).
After seeing the movie Walk the Line (about Johnny Cash) I bought a few of his CDs on my way home from the theater. Listened to them repeatedly for months and months. Bought my sister a CD as a gift, which she also liked.
We decided we should probably apologize to my brother for teasing him so much – he apparently had pretty good taste in music as a kid.
I try to remind myself of that when my kids are playing music in my studio (they bring their ipods and plug them into my stereo). Last night my son was programming (my 16 year old is writing an game for the iphone this summer) and came up to spend the evening in my studio while I worked.
We listened to Velvet Underground and The Horror from his MP3 player. Not bad but more on the noise side than I usually listen to.
PS – this blog post is also my entry into Vinyl Art’s contest: Storied Past. Barely squeaking in by the deadline.
What are you listening to in the studio?
Posted by Lisa in: About Me
Tagged: art making, Christine Kane, Music, working in the studio
The repetition thing is very, very important, especially if your working process is repetitive. I listen to the same music over and over in my studio – usually early music such as Hildegard von Bingen, performed by various women’s ensembles. I never get sick of the repetition – it goes into the work and feeds it. Sometimes I end up titling the piece after the music I listened to while creating it. Good post, Lisa, thanks.
Hi Lisa,
I love Christine Kane’s music, too. It’s a regular choice for me when I have music in the studio. I often don’t listen to music because I get too emotionally involved in it and it distracts me making creative choices.
I often listen to audiobooks. It seems I need to tie up that left brain a bit to free up my right side for creating.
In the studio sometimes I have the TV on just for company, but if I listen to music it is rock and blues- ZZ Top, Led Zepplin, Franz Ferdinand, Ozzy Osborne, Metallica, Bruce, Clapton, Ricky Martin for starters. I need to have music that makes my feet move.
I listen to my favorite radio station – FUV 90.7
I am thinking about an Ipod set up but I like Tracey’s idea of audio books!
and sometimes I just like the silence
I’m a Cash fan too, but I can’t repeat him much. I enjoy a Dutch radio station some, otherwise, classical music and opera! Often though, I need silence because of the drama and detailed planning in painting. Paintings often have their own rhythm.
Being a Landscape Photographer I tend not to listen to music while creating images in the field,yet I do listen to music on the way to location, kind of sets the creative mood, interesting to see what images are created when listening to certain genres. That said when editing and post processing , of which I do very little, I usually turn to Itunes and listen to one of the Internet stations, normally a Chillout station, sometimes classical it really is all dependant on the mood, image type. Now if I’m creating Smoke images I definitely have some from of music on, again Chillout.
Silence, except for the sounds of the landscape is always a must in the creative process when on location.
Great post and interesting subject.
Mark.
Music and my work intertwine. Looking at a piece years later, I can determine what I was listening to at the time.
When working on my “Women Singing” series, I would listen to a handful of songs over and over by the same artist until the piece was complete. I was obsessed with Janis Joplin when I worked on the “Janis” piece. I don’t think I have listened to her since.
My recent happy bird pieces have been accompanied by female singers and musicians — The Be Good Tanyas, the Wailin’ Jennys, Gillian Welch, Crooked Still — very folky sounding music.
I save the hard stuff (punk, heavy alternative) for when I have to do things I don’t want to do. Quilting in the ditch is one of those things.
I have no idea what I would create if I had to do it in silence. It could be good. I just can’t make myself try it.
I’m heading off now to listen to Christine Kane. I’m ALWAYS looking for new music. I’ve fallen into the black hole of iTunes.
Repetition is the key for me. I love music that has a very heavy drum beat – I can listen to Paul Simon for hours – anywhere – any time. Listening to the same music in my car (driving alone) I tend to revist my thoughts during my previous studio time. Many new ideas come to me during those drives. Back to the heavy beat of the Simon music I try to recapture that sequence in my work. Other favorites – the opening sequence to the “Phantom of the Opera”
- Bob Dylan’s dialogue – Cold Play
Great comments everyone. I got a few names for musicians to check out from your posts – thanks!
Just drove my kids to camp today – my son’s mp3 player was in charge so it was hard core punk time: Black Flag and Dead Kennedys.
Lately, Eric Hutchinson, Newton Faulkner, Chris Daniels and the Kings, and silence.
Mostly, I listen to podcasts – love,love, love being read to or listening to a discussion.
One of my favorites is The Splendid Table by Lynn Rosetta Kasper (a food podcast). A few more are Green Living Ideas, NPR (all their regular shows can be downloaded as a podcast), Bill Maher and a few others.
As for music, I have eclectic tastes ranging from Johnny Cash, Joss Stone, Nelly Furtado, Chaka Kahn, Newton Faulkner, R&B, Linkin Park & more. It really depends on my mood.
Funny thing is, I tried listening to my podcasts on the plane to and from Europe and I couldn’t do it. I need to be doing something while I listen. I can’t just sit there.
Lisa,
Thank you so MUCH for taking the time and thought to write this post for my contest. I know you tightly schedule your time, spreading it among many priorities, so I really appreciate it. I’d love to send you a thank you, so please let me know your mailing address!
Peace,
@vinylart