Good question.
If Foster's an example of dreaming, praying & "randomly choosing and clicking buttons" to make music (yourself personifying ...whatever it is you do to not make any), and I happen to want music? I'm afraid Foster (with his random buttonpoking & dark Gypsy magiks) is the only rational choice.
OTOH if copypasta-tier walls of text are the desired product, I'd be a fool not to choose you

 

You can't have it both ways, your analogy is a stinker, and no, not all doctors are tools. Capitalism doesn't teach doctors to prostitute themselves, just to trade goods and services for the local currency.

 

There are only a few questions you need to ask yourself and answer for yourself
1. Do you like what you have written? - Yes? Fabulous!
2. Does it matter how it is created? - No.
3. Does it matter what anyone else thinks? No, not if you are doing it for the pure joy of creativity.

Personally, I think regardless of where you go musically Foster, if you follow the path you now seem to be on you have created the music that you love. That in itself is one the most important reasons any musician should write or play music, for the love of music. Theory has its place but only if it can be put into practice because it is only a road map, it will never drive the car for anyone. That is something we all must do for ourselves.

 

@superliquidsunshine
This is interesting to me because I have done a reasonable amount of time in true improvised music.
Some call it: "Free Music".

If all of us humans were truly as smart as we thought we were, most music is free of constraints that is not targeted at making money.
I have experimented in different kinds of ensembles - acoustic instruments, electronic instruments, combinations of both, no set style and created purely on emotion, graphic music where a picture is put in front of each musician that is different to the others and they have to play the emotion generated by the picture (one has an explosion, another has a waterfall, another has a mother& child etc etc). This is an amazing musical journey because not two performances will ever be alike because the emotions one person might feel could well be different tomorrow. Almost like "The chaos theory of mathematics".

You get the general idea from that. I think you may have known all of that anyway. Ultimately people miss a really important part of improvisation and what it actually is. It is "composition on the spot". That can be to a form or without any form at all.
There is no trampoline when you fall off the trapeze, no strings attached. A musician in that environment has to play what they hear and feel. While theory can help them hear what the musicians around them are doing if their ears are trained to recognise it, that aids in communication without words. It does not however help them do their part, because that comes from deep inside them and a willingness to bear their soul.
This is not for the anyone that is afraid of who they are.
This has no ownership by ANY style of music though jazz has improvisation as a huge part of its core so it is good for that.
Anything composed and put out there for anyone to criticise takes guts and I admire that in anyone.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 24, 2018

There're no pre-specified goal, path, map and using tools (cars) for me. I can define the goal, make my own path and use whatever I want for reaching that goal. I don't even need 12 TET. For yourself.

Creator doesn't need to analyze other works for making sth unless they want to make similar products.
This tune took 3 hours to make. Knowing theory has never helped me and always been obtrusive. Music procedures are inside my mind and can't explain them by words.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 24, 2018

As I said which is obvious, if you are happy it does not really matter what anyone else thinks

 

Matters. A lot. But no one is able to convince me. I know theory more than you think about me but it's almost unconnected with the practical works. People make music through their ears, then score it and pretend they've used theory in its construction. It's a flagrant contradiction.

 

If it matters to you what people think of your own work then that screams that you are writing to please others. If so, then you need to try and make money from it because that is not art for art's sake.
The contradiction in anything is to deny the existence of something that contributes, regardless of how it contributes.
Some of the greatest Quincy jones arrangements were done in theory turned into practice equally with those he did by applying theory after the fact.
But opinions vary and it does not matter because something will be good or not no matter how it is created.

 

@foster911 care to explain your thinking behind such a statement?

convince you of what? that YOU are your owne judge and executioner?

also i've asked you before but you never give an answer.
why do you do music?
why not build trainmodels? why not write books?
there are many creative things you could do that maybe will fulfill you even more than music

 

My man! I really appreciate your hard works. I think if this thread is cultivated, all the problems will be solved.