Creativity, and Concentration.

If possible, before I begin, I try to "isolate" myself from all other forms of music other than the music I'm going to compose. The length of time for the "isolation" varies from person to person. Some think a few days is enough, other game musicians about 2weeks. And then there are people who don't do it at all. I'm sure the result is great anyway, but from my experience, "isolation" improves the result, but isn't necessary for all people. The "isolation" also helps you to avoid unconscious use of stuff you have heard in other music. Nowadays, you can get sued if something in your music reminds someone of a score done by someone else, like, maybe even 5 years ago. It's almost impossible to compose music which doesn't sound like a song composed by someone else, and people can almost always say like: "Hey, that sounds just like that song played on the radio last week".

Almost getting out of track here...let's go back to the importance of concentration. It is very important to keep 100% focused while composing. Not being disturbed or distracted by anything around you helps a lot! This gets easier if you:

• Get the equipment in order.
• Clean up the room.
• Turn off all electric equipment except the equipment used (of course).
• Take phone off the hook and make sure that you don't get interrupted by any sudden noise (That is, if you're not waiting any calls)
• I usually fade the light down just enough to see what I'm doing.
• Make sure you have all the things you need around you, so that your concentration wont be disturbed by having to go and get something in another room.
• Wear comfortable clothes!

When I'm in a period of composing (which I usually am), sometimes when I'm sleeping or just falling asleep, I hear great music. Maybe you're thinking, "yea, that's exactly what happens to me too!" ... and I would like to explain why this occurs. When you concentrate strongly on something in your daily life and you are brainstorming for some good ideas, you might have many good ideas, but somewhere you might encounter a creative block. Later, when you are falling asleep or when you are sleeping, this block seems to disappear. When you are asleep, your brain works at lower frequency. This grants you better access to your memory and thereby increases the possibilities for creativity and imagination. The brain works in four known wavelengths, which correspond to different states of awareness:

1. Beta frequency,(14.0-28.0 Hz) characteristic for activity, concentration, awareness. Human's day-to-day consciousness. Stress also occurs here.
2. Alpha frequency, ( 7.0-14.0 Hz) Relaxed state with emotional balance. Remembering things is much easier here than in the day-to-day consciousness.
3. Theta frequency, (3.5-7.0 Hz) Deep relaxation. The access to our subconscious "databank" is big. This state gives us better access to your memory and thereby increases the possibilities for creativity and genius. This is also called a hypnotic state. This is also the state were we can get aware of our dreams and so-called paranormal experiences. We are in this state just before we fall asleep. This can explain why we, when we are falling asleep, suddenly come up with a brilliant idea or maybe we hear some music in our head.
4. Delta frequency, (0.3-3.5 Hz) A state of unconsciousness or sleep. Unconsciousness state.

As we can see from above, our most creative state is reached when our brain works in theta frequency. A little trick is to keep a block and a pen or a tape recorder, near the place you sleep. As soon as you get music in your head, you just record or write it down. Usually, after an hour or so, this music you have in your head is lost, if you didn't write it down or record it!

These deeper states of relaxation aren't just reachable when falling asleep. Meditation and brainwave stimulators can help you reach these states.

Composing Steps