Sunday, April 14, 2013

Use Boredom as a catalyst for creativity





          Musician Mark Applebaum has been called the “mad scientist of music.” He talks about various roles he has taken in order to create, establish and support his creativity as a musician. The music he creates can be questioned. It is music according to society’s current definition of the term. He challenges the audience to consider their own crafts, instrument etc as they continue to perform, create and explore the world of music or any position or job for that matter.

Applebaum goes into considerable detail and provides examples of each role he has taken to make music more interesting and fun for him. He stresses the importance for each individual to look out for him or her when performing and creating music. Otherwise, boredom will set in.

Interpreter – This is where most of us as artists/musicians begin. We learn the technique, style and even artistry of other musicians. This music can be Baroque, Romantic, Jazz or Country. Pick your choice. The point here is that many of us learn music and merely interpret its meaning through our performance. No big changes are made. We play the music as we think the composer intended it to be performed. Nothing wrong with that all, but I’m sure you can already see where Appelbaum is going with this. This can get boring if you’re not careful.

Improviser – Additions are made to existing musical compositions in this role. Cover bands are formed to play and expand upon the music of others. Countless arrangements, transcriptions and various other forms of music are created to give musicians a sense of individuality or personality in performances. This role is extremely engaging but boredom can still creep in here as well.

Composer – To counteract the eventual staleness of improvisation, it seemed fitting to create music on his own. Applebaum; like many other musicians, began to write his own compositions. Unique compositions I might add. Many of his compositions have interesting notation. “The Metaphysics of Notation” is one that does not use standard musical notations such as: quarter notes, whole rests, etc but strange symbols and hieroglyphic type images. The musicians who perform them decide the interpretation of these symbols.

Inventor – What better way to enjoy music than to create your own instrument to perform it?

Visual Artist – This role turned out to be something done as an extension of his craft. He also describes this as an impulse that has come out of the bored experience from years of music study, teaching and lack of creativity and individualism. His compositions are unique. His scores are monstrous in length and even size. A few of his scores are over 180 pages in length and over 70 feet wide.

Scavenger – Whatever he thought would be interesting to create his Mouseketeer, he added to its structure. Items such as combs, doorstops, hangers, chopsticks, violin bow and many more items make up this unique instrument.

Designer  - Organizing these random pieces in a way that would fit the uniqueness of the instrument allowed his creativity and individuality to sparkle even more. Again, he challenges current musicians to figure out how their creative juices can flow even with what they do now.

Performing Artist – Applebaum is still a performing artist but now it is more interesting to him. He wanted to find a way to make performing more interesting and he did. Do not put a limit on your creativity. Allow it to flow naturally and you’ll be surprised what happens.

Dramaturge – His Concerto with Florist and Orchestra required actors to perform. In this case, the actor was a florist. He also composed a piece for three conductors and no orchestra. This effect was quite interesting. He said it “is based on the experience of watching two people have a virulent argument in sign language which produced no decibels to speak of but affectively, psychologically was a very loud experience.”

Choreographer – He demonstrates a piece of music, which requires performance through hand movements. Again, the interpretation of this is up to the performer. This is interesting because performer (really a dancer at this point) has to perform based what they see, not what they feel or hear

         The question of whether or not what Applebaum is doing is considered is not the question. There is no doubt that music is still being made here. However, the real question is what is the audience getting out of it? Does this meet the inventive standards of the creator? Is he or she satisfied with what is occurring? Can more be done? Ask yourself these questions and more as you continue in your craft.