About me and this blog / Best of

Who am I?

My name is Kristian, I’m a twenty-something year old electronic music enthusiast from Norway. Making electronic music is an amazing way to share the strange and wonderful things I see in my mind; creating worlds of sounds makes me feel like a wizard with magical powers.

I also write occasionally for TranceFix.nl’s “columns” section. For those who are curious about how I got into making electronic music, check out my 11 stages of learning music.

The blog’s purpose: Daydreaming, rather than technology

Music production magazines and forums tend to focus on the technical aspect of making music. How to sound like someone else, which parameters to adjust, how to structure a dubstep track; step-by-step.

In one way, I think it reflects the focus on external and superficial values in today’s world. Just consider how much attention many people devote to their outwards appearance and belongings, and how unwilling many are to broaden their minds and souls.

Best articles

I always knew I was doing something different than the other kids who played around with Dance eJay 3. Only after starting this blog have I started to understand how very different my approach is from the quest for technical perfection that most people have:

Being a novice has never bothered me:
- Perfectionism vs. appreciation of current abilities

Using all senses is more fun than one:
- The visual aspect: Music is more than you hear

The absence of music is important:
- Silence (external link, trancefix.nl)

Electronic music is about communication:
- Music production vs. language learning

Being a music producer isn’t fun. Instead:
- Be a wizard

For even more fun, be childish:
- The lost art of play / Stuck? Make something silly

I have some thoughts about music education:
- Dreaming isn’t dead, it’s just been forgotten / I’m glad I wasn’t accepted into music production studies at university

Doing the same thing over and over is boring (and insane):
- Variety is the spice of life / Are genres holding you back?

When making music, does it look like you’re doing theatre or checking e-mail?:
- Body language in music production

I now turn off my computer as often as possible:
- Pen and paper (turn off your computer)

Tell your own stories, and follow my commandments!:
- Don’t re-tell jokes (+ the 10 music production commandments)

I’ve even written one article about useful technical music production knowledge, so in my opinion, I have everything covered. Instead of doing detailed walkthroughs of individual tracks and sounds of mine, I can just refer you to these articles, and they will contain the answer, the why.

I’ve always had fun with music, but after realising that music is visual, and the other insight on my blog, my music has gotten so much more meaning to me. My “pre-insight” music has little or no meaning, whereas everything I’ve made the past years shows up as wonderful images and experiences in my mind, and makes me smile. That alone is more valuable than 1000 step-by-step wobble tutorials.