sharke
Frank Zappa never listened to any of his music again after he recorded it.

If I made the same music as Frank Zappa, I wouldn't listen to it again, either...
 

There was...I kid you not...an article in one of our local political/social/events/music and arts publications today alerting us that ol Future is coming here to perform his rap/poetry/mind stream for our enjoyment and general conscious raising. In said article the self evidently young author says he (Future) is THE most deep and incisive voice of his generation...or words to that effect. Gawd help them.

Sorry, but I can only believe one of your last two posts My 'Ol Pal. 

But which one?? It's a trick question.

To me you make a really good point.  Why make music in the first place?  And of course this applies to just about everything I guess...why write, paint, sculpt?  Seems like there is SO much out there already. I sometimes think that all the cool and unique beats, progressions, melodies and lyrics must surely all be taken by now.  For myself I guess the best answer should be that the process of creating music is enjoyable, gratifying yet potentially challenging, then when you're done, the sense of fulfillment, accomplishment and satisfaction.  Then after that, if you get feedback from others who've gotten enjoyment from what's been created.  I feel like something is missing when I go for long stretches of time without creating music, then when I do, it's like everything I do is better.
 
I wish I could get out of my mind the idea of music having to compete or even be heard and accepted.  I dread this mentality and ideally I think its just wrong.  For myself, the "why" is what I mentioned above.  Then other aspect I see is being commissioned to do things, or just working with someone else.  That brings in another dynamic.  In that case I personally just see how good of something I can come up with, so I guess the combination of the challenge and how you meet it.
 

Rain
I'm an old fart now. I've recently come to the realization that I don't need really new music and started questioning the mentality behind this form of consumerism. which seems to have been made even worst in the age of the internet. Why the need to always have new songs to listen to?  IMHO, that's how music becomes irrelevant. Me, I need to grow fond of albums, to let them become a part of my life.
 
Pop music is a relatively compact and somewhat restrictive format - it seems a bit illusionary to think that we can keep on piling up song after song after song, decade after decade, w/o the well drying up a bit.
 
I see friends of ours putting out record and I keep asking myself - why? Do you really have anything to say, or do you simply want to have your album, to take your turn?
 
Furthermore, a lot of the new bands I would listen to are actually recreating what was done in the past - they sound and even look like transplants form the 70s. That's fine but personally, I don't need new pseudo-old music. 
 
There's so many things I've never heard going way back centuries ago. I find it sadder to think that I'll never had time to really get to know this or that pice of music by Schubert or Mozart than the latest bunch of pop songs, which are often only as different as one from another as Burger King from McDonalds.

Something that many folks tend to forget or, at the very least, not think about when discussing making art as a vocation instead of an avocation is the time it takes to do it...and do it well.  Anyone can dabble in almost any endeavor that gives their life meaning and pleasure and a sense of accomplishment and purpose.  And that "part time" effort can often sustain and fulfill their psyches enough to re-energize them for their true vocations which provide them the income to put bread on the table and roofs over their heads. 
 
But a true artist is not just a 40 hour per week kind of person.  They are mostly 24/7 kind of folks who are consumed by their art and are constantly agonizing over it...constantly trying to improve it...and constantly trying to become more virtuosic at it.  Great art is not tossed off.  And if we as a society hope to have a plethora of great art around...which sustains those of us who aren't artists...we have to make sure that they are remunerated for their work.  Their art IS their work. 
 
But it's sho nuf gettin tough out there.  Sho nuf is.
 

jamesg1213
 
Without analysing too much, I just enjoy old stuff I've done as pieces of music. I liked them when I recorded them, still do. That simple really.

 
Same here ... you don't think I can feel exactly how I felt when I wrote "You are no longer a vision, or a poem!"???
 
As crystal clear as you can imagine ... but my hard-on and excitement about it is a bit different 30 years later ... and it doesn't mean I love that person any less, or can not get excited about having a minute with that person before I die! It (plainly) was something not destined to happen in this life ... and I'm OK with that, regardless. I probably never committed to anyone else in my life, because the series of visions and poems that lasted over several months (not to mention art works), is still very much alive with me ... just a different century, so to speak.
 
I loved it dearly, and still do.
 
But it was a different day ... and age ... and time ... and while it might appear I am sad because it didn't happen, I have her and the visions to thank for some of the prettiest poetry I have ever written and some of the best works I have ever created. But if all I can learn from it, is that "inspiration" is what this is all about ... and I am not sure, that is all this is about ... there is more, way more ... then I'm happy ... and thankful!
 
It's not an analysis for me ... it's reality! The story of my life! However, you could call it .. a dream that didn't happen ... but it was far more than a dream, I can tell you! But for a writer, musician and painter ... it is more than life ... it's your muse and only thing that carries you further than anything else!

sharke
Frank Zappa never listened to any of his music again after he recorded it.

I doubt it ... because he redid everything over and over and this is part of the problem with the Zappa Trust right now and not knowing how to address the 55 different versions of Farts in Regaglia ... !!! And many of them are totally different, as an example.

jamesg1213

Kalle Rantaaho
 
Doesn't work. You can not enjoy listening to your own music. You just concentrate on the things you might have done otherwise. It's like listening to a recording of your own speech in order to have someone to talk with.

 
I don't agree Kalle, I listen to my own music and collabs I've done over the years quite a lot, and enjoy it all for what it is.

You lucky man :o) I've never done any music I'm happy with...some lyrics, yes.
Then again, I only aim at "tolerable" as I don't have the skills required for anything better.

Kalle Rantaaho
 
Doesn't work. You can not enjoy listening to your own music. You just concentrate on the things you might have done otherwise. It's like listening to a recording of your own speech in order to have someone to talk with.

 
Friend of mine, that was in radio, used this over and over, to the point of creating different voices and practicing his acting craft ... he did great and he was not exactly Mel Blanc, but he could do so many others and leave you in stitches so fast, that it was scary. His hero was Peter Sellers, and what was he known for? ... switching voices at the snap of fingers ... he did it at the Goon Show for over 12 years, and listening to yourself, can be a great thing ... if you know how to work with it ... it's a lousy thing if you look at the mirror every morning and only see a monkey! 
 
I say, you need glasses, then! But I hear no sounds!