It occurred to me today that I should, perhaps do a little refresher on this blogs purpose. I’ve put a lot of work into the redesign and relaunch, and it would be good if that effort had a point. So what is Noise to Signal about?

In large part, the purpose of this blog is to give me a place I can think out loud about my music process, my tool choices and my workflow. Occasionally, I also post actual music here. While I’ve started setting up a new space specific to the gear discussions (more on that later) my focus here will be on the process of creating music, mainly weird electronic and ambient/industrial/space music (suggest a better name for what I do…please. I have no clue how to properly market this).

Now, a lot of people in electronic music circles seem reticent to let people know how the sausage gets made. I think this comes from an insecurity in that, for some versions of the form, it is exceptionally easy to create and the bar is set very low as to what you need as far as equipment in software. I find this protectionism elitist and stupid. My punk rock roots think anyone could do it and that everyone should create some form of art in their life. Even if they aren’t pumping out masterpieces faster than Steve Roach can shake a rain stick, it doesn’t matter. Culture is enriched when everyone takes part in enriching it, if even in a small way. If I’d thought differently, I’d have given up and focused on my IT career a long, long time ago.

So this blog will be different. I will make art and be very willing to discuss how I made it. I would also love to help others get started by suggesting tools or techniques they could try.

Creating art is so rewarding, personally. When I create something, for a few moments, I get to be the only sentient being in the universe who’s heard that particular configuration of sound vibrations interpreted by their brain into the music that I made. Then I want to share that moment with others (and hope they also appreciate it). It’s a rare and special moment that is uniquely ours as creators. Everyone should get to have that feeling. Everyone.

So that is my purpose here. Create music. Talk about music. Help others create and talk about music.

I hope you enjoy the ride.