The Music Has to Open the Door

The Music Has to Open the Door

This is completely personal preference, but there are certain things I look for in music when I'm thinking about creating visuals for it.

One of the biggest is how the song begins.

If a song doesn't eventually lead into the meat of the music, it's usually a no-go for me—unless it's exceptionally good right from the beginning.

I want that feeling of "roll back the curtain."

I want to feel like I'm entering a scene.

Imagine you're climbing a giant hill in the early morning.

The sun is just beginning to come up.

You're walking toward the top, and as you get closer, you notice a group of trees forming an arch near the crest of the hill. Forest stretches out on both sides.

You keep walking.

You reach the top and pass underneath those overhanging branches. The leaves are bright green, illuminated by the morning light.

And then you start to see what's beyond them.

You peer over the top of the hill.

Suddenly, there's a huge valley spread out below you.

The sun is rising in the distance, slowly burning away the morning fog that is still suspended a few feet above the ground.

You stop.

You take it all in.

That's what I want music to do.

I want it to gradually reveal something.

I want the beginning to feel like the approach.

Then something opens up.

Maybe it's the beat.

Maybe it's the melody.

Maybe it's an instrument that suddenly changes the entire atmosphere.

Maybe the whole soundscape expands.

Whatever it is, I want that moment where the curtain rolls back and suddenly there's a much bigger world in front of me.

That's one of the reasons I can be pretty picky about the music I choose for visuals.

I'm not necessarily looking for something complicated. I'm looking for something that gives me somewhere to go.

There needs to be something interesting waiting on the other side of that curtain.

It could be beautiful.

It could be strange.

It could be peaceful.

It could be completely otherworldly.

But I want to feel like I'm entering somewhere.

And that's probably why I gravitate toward music that creates a sense of space.

There's something about a song that gradually opens up into a wide environment that immediately gets my imagination working.

I start seeing landscapes.

I start seeing movement.

I start wondering what's beyond the next ridge, around the next corner or on the other side of whatever is appearing in my mind.

That's when I know there's something there for me to work with visually.

Of course, not every song needs to do this.

Some music hits you immediately, and that's perfectly fine.

But when I'm looking for something to build a visual experience around, I personally love that gradual emergence.

Give me the approach.

Give me the doorway.

Give me the curtain.

Then let me see what's on the other side.

That's where my imagination really starts to take over.

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