The definition for 'genius' reads as such: 

1. exceptional intellectual or creative power or other natural ability.  
"she was a teacher of genius" 

2. a person who is exceptionally intelligent or creative, either generally or in some particular respect.  
"one of the great musical geniuses of the 20th century" 

I'm pretty sure most people would define a genius as "really smart" and regard that person pretty high in our society. I guess that's pretty close to the definition. However, there's a few words that stick out to me in these two definitions: "natural ability" and "in some particular respect". 

The first definition states "natural ability". So they were born this way? They didn't have to do anything to nurture this ability? Does that make them smart? I really think this label gets thrown around too much. Most of the highly regarded musicians and composers would scoff at the idea that they didn't work hard to achieve their status. Some might've worked even harder without getting any notoriety for it. But the geniuses just wrote music that they heard in their head. One could say, genius is natural and automatic therefore it is not an achievement. 

Some contemporary musicians and composers who have studied at some of the most prestigious colleges have regarded the rapping rhythms of hip-hop music as genius. Was there a well thought-out procedure to procure these intricate rhythms? I would agree with this statement pertaining to some rap artists. But what the hell is a musical genius then? Somebody that is naturally creative at the right time in pop culture? 

Geniuses are rare. Having six toes is rare too! 

I bring this up because a lot of people talk about their favorite musicians as "a musical genius". We're talking about music here, everything is subjective! If nine people told me that Frank Zappa was a musical genius, the tenth person would tell me his music is terrible. Sure, he's creative, but is he genius? Years back, I once argued with a friend that Trent Reznor has been regarded as a musical genius and therefore I should check him out. He thought that it was a waste of his time because he didn't hear any genius in his music. Sure, he's influential, but is he genius? 

To me, a "musical genius" is an oxymoron. How can a personal taste qualify as being intellectual or "smart"? What do you think? Is there such thing? And if so, who are some of these musical geniuses? What did they specifically do to show high intellect or creativity?

This is a short tutorial on how I create an original audio sample loop from scratch. I use this approach whenever I need some creative inspiration to start a new track. When using this method, it can get very complex by using multiple sounds and splicing clips but I kept this video simple so the concept is clear. It's simple and effective and you can do it all within Ableton Live. I have also provided a printable "step-by-step original sample loop guide" if you want to save this for later.

During the mid to late 2000s, EDM and DJs were taking over the world. EDM, as general as that term is, was exciting and it had a bit of everything for everyone. It seemed like the edgy kids could still jam to dubsteb EDM while the trendy club jumpers could still dance to their 120 bpm dance music as soon as the bass dropped. It was definitely the most popular genre in the US and in most other countries. And let's face it, there's a lot of cool EDM out there. I could finally hear some of the weirdest and coolest electronic "extended techniques" of the most sophisticated 90s techno in almost any top 40 song now. I thought it was pretty cool! But, as the technology advanced and the tolerance of experimental electronics found it's way into mainstream, I also noticed a lack of something else: human feel. 

Now let me explain. I love instrumental electronic music and I realize there are rarely any human elements in the music itself. That's fine. I can like music for what it is. I'm actually not complaining about the lack of human traits in the music at all. I'm simply just noticing it. I am always one to embrace new technologies all the while paying my respects to the history as well. Give me a chance to explain where I'm going with this. 

Just like the highly-produced, image-driven, 80s American music scene, it was bound to change. In the 80s, pop music was mainly driven by MTV music videos and the image of the bands. This kept the human element while losing some of it in the music. All the records were produced with more synthesizers, more reverb and more gain! Everything was just more. During this time, the best selling album of all time, Michael Jackson's "Thriller", had drum machines driving the songs. It was commonplace. And all that was awesome too! I love a lot of the music from the 80s. 

The thing was that the next generation would want something of their own. And like any pop music shift, they would go almost completely in an opposite direction: Grunge. The image changed from drag queens and bikers to people dressing like they were homeless. The music was still loud, but it was raunchy. The singers were yelling, or yarling or whatever the hell they wanted. The production quality went from pristine and shiny to dingy and garage-y (grunge). It was like the grunge movement went back to basics and embraced human emotions, mistakes, and imperfections--also a great musical movement in my opinion. 

So with that movement in the history books and teaching us a little something about ourselves, where did that bring us after the EDM storm in the early 2010s? First of all, this is the storm that not only brought entire songs of completely synthesized instruments except the vocals but infected many other genres as well. Even in genres that have always been driven by live musicians! I have heard albums in country, hard rock, metal, and even folk genres with perfectly pitch corrected vocals, pristine drum replaced sounds that are aligned to a rhythmic grid, and guitar parts that no longer have feel or character because they were played too perfect and mixed into an oblivion. 

The significant change I noticed in 2012 was from the one group that was led by actual robots (allegedly ;-). They released an insanely popular electronic/pop record only they had a live drummer on every track. Daft Punk's album Random Access Memories was not only on every radio station but it also won "Album of the Year" at the Grammys. It's as if the populace wanted a bit more of a human feel to their music. 

Now I see a lot more groups adding live musicians, not only to their live show, but to their recordings as well. Even despite the expensive studio costs in recording live musicians vs programming the parts. It seems obvious to me that this shift is happening. Do you see it happening? Do you disagree? What do the most popular albums of 2017 and 2018 so far reflect?

This was a great percussion featured track! I really enjoyed working with Raphael Fimm on this. He needed urgent, African drum, "chase" music for the film "Zulu Wedding". So, I built this track up with real, handmade, traditional African drums and percussion from Ghana.

I would like to give a special thanks to Sowah Mensah and David Schmalenberger for teaching me this music and for the direction in purchasing these drums and percussion.

Here is an article with a traditional African song and more information on the drums and percussion here: This World Music: Gahu African Drumming & Dance.