It's been not so long since Devin sounded pretty exhausted from the SYL tour and when he said that he needed a break from creating music. I think everyone understood that he wanted to be with Tracy during the last weeks of her pregnancy and spend as much time as possible with her and their son now.

What happened during the last weeks? First Hummer was released, and now Dev is already talking about a new project that seems to "write itself" and sounds very, very promising (although one could say that just the fact that it's Devin who's doing it is sufficient to make it sound promising).

That reminds me of Tool - no, I'm definitely not talking about the short time between new albums! - saying that the music they come up with is/ has already been there and that they're just the medium through which it sounds. And I'm sure that this is the way Devy must feel, at least sometimes, about his music as well.

Hm... What am I trying to say... Guess that the news from HDR just showed us once again that Devin writes all this music for the sake of writing music and that it's not certain things that come with being a musician and being famous, but that it's the creative output itself and the force behind it that keeps him going. And that deserves respect.

I'm gonna close this with a quote from Abba: Thank you for the music!

Well imagine having like 2 months or whatever without a job... then make your job your hobby/passion.

That reminds me of Tool - no, I'm definitely not talking about the short time between new albums! - saying that the music they come up with is/ has already been there and that they're just the medium through which it sounds.

Yeah I've heard that from a lot of bands, the guy from maudlin of the Well said the same thing.

He stated that "medium" thing in numerous interviews. He hears it in his head. Unlike for most of us, it doesn't go away. It stays, all the melodies, the harmonies, the rhythms appear in his head and don't go away. It's a blessing. Coming up with the music itself isn't stressful at all, it's shaping it into presentable form where the work begins. The music demands him to put it out. And he does it justice. I mean, I don't know what he hears in his head, but it can't be much more awesome than what we get on the CDs.

[JuZ]

Good God man, imagine if it was! If what we hear is only a rough approximation of what's in Dev's head.

Argh!

...can't... ...fully... ...grasp... ...magnitude... ...of... ...concept...


...

He stated that "medium" thing in numerous interviews. He hears it in his head. Unlike for most of us, it doesn't go away. It stays, all the melodies, the harmonies, the rhythms appear in his head and don't go away. It's a blessing. Coming up with the music itself isn't stressful at all, it's shaping it into presentable form where the work begins. The music demands him to put it out. And he does it justice. I mean, I don't know what he hears in his head, but it can't be much more awesome than what we get on the CDs.

i once got tons of ideas at once
like, 4 layers of music, at the same time, for 1 minute if i kept the concentration, and the idea evolved and evolved

then eventually i decided to shut that off cause it was too frustrating, not having a way of putting it out (i'm a drummer, so ), and that rarely happens nowadays. There are only a few ideas that stick to my head, it must be that kind of good-and-terrible-at-the-same-time thing having EVERYTHING piling up.

I often have musical things going through my head. But being only a bassist, and a poor one at that, I have very little capability to actually put it in motion; and of course I forget it all after about 2 minutes.

I can relate to that, but if it frustrates you, practice more! You'll eventually reach the point where you can make the sounds in your head a reality!

[JuZ]

This is why I'm so keen to practice and get my own lil' studio happening. All those wasted ideas... it'd be nice to have a chance to see if they really ARE something or just annoying shit.

I think it's very rare that you get someone who's got the whole picture in his head at the beginning. From my experience most musicians know how to take an idea and expand on it by messing around. What determines a good composer is someone who KNOWS when they have something worth using, and what flows logically in a structural sense (or for that matter, how to use lack of logic as a tool).

I've written a hell of a lot of music and that's how I work. The stuff I record is often near Devin-level production density, but no way could I ever imagine it all at once. The closest I ever get is hearing a guitar riff or something and imagining what a full band would be playing to it.

I really, really wish I had a way to effectively jot down or record the musical thoughts in my head.

usually i get cool random ideas when i'm drifting off in math class but i have no guitar around to mess with them on