RUINING my own music

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  • Опубліковано 22 вер 2024
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 240

  • @DBruce
    @DBruce 4 роки тому +743

    I don't know if I've ever met a person with more empathy for others than this man. That's inspiring in itself.

    • @monstrousmoonshine6082
      @monstrousmoonshine6082 4 роки тому +18

      I think No Compliments said it best in the comments to (holy crap this is getting meta) your video Ben references: 'dude you're purely enlightened!' Truth.

    • @BenLevin
      @BenLevin  4 роки тому +89

      Sometimes I can’t believe that one of my favorite composers is my pal now. Love you David!

    • @MattMusicianX
      @MattMusicianX 4 роки тому +3

      Playing in an ensemble, especially one where everybody plays something different, teaches empathy.

    • @EclecticSceptic
      @EclecticSceptic 4 роки тому

      @@monstrousmoonshine6082 Y, Z said it best about X in reference to Y's A which X references.

  • @gyhy6yh
    @gyhy6yh 4 роки тому +182

    Me sweating as Ben reveals to the world how I make lo-fi beats

  • @Simoneister
    @Simoneister 4 роки тому +131

    I love how you're just being honest and helpful and unpretentious and making fun stuff. It's really refreshing.

  • @rosefowl6498
    @rosefowl6498 4 роки тому +146

    I don't think I've ever related more to a song than what was played at the end, I'm actually crying a bit

  • @Jotun184
    @Jotun184 4 роки тому +88

    I heard Victor Wooten say once this is a thing he likes to do with his students to let them learn to jam, like he'd go "let's do the worst possible improv you can think of"
    This vid has the same message I feel and it's very good

  • @squiddlyd755
    @squiddlyd755 4 роки тому +93

    Now this is true quarantine content. Love it! Also the initial detuned piano stuff sounded really good imo

    • @jan_Travis
      @jan_Travis 4 роки тому +3

      It had a neat sound too.

  • @Jonathanloov
    @Jonathanloov 4 роки тому +244

    Is it just me or is the editing getting wilder by each video?

    • @GurdevSeepersaud
      @GurdevSeepersaud 4 роки тому +8

      i love it

    • @luviaengrafito
      @luviaengrafito 4 роки тому

      Idk, there are some real wilder than natgeo edits in some of his other videos

    • @MisterAppleEsq
      @MisterAppleEsq 4 роки тому +1

      Gene Wilder

    • @overand
      @overand 4 роки тому

      I mean, I think that we’re all going a little cabin wild at the moment.

  • @jacobscardino4330
    @jacobscardino4330 4 роки тому +21

    Ben, you have no idea how much I needed to see/hear/believe this video. Sometimes you know something in the back of your mind, but you just need that one person to speak it to you in their own way in order for it to manifest in your noggin and in yo soul, and that was you Ben! I have a goal of making a 3 album debut by the end of the year, and when I finish them, I will dedicate all 3 of them to you, cus frankly they might not exist if it weren’t for your help and guidance. Thank you so much Mr. Levin. Mark my words, my first 3 albums will have a dedication to Ben Levin. I hope you will see this.

  • @thepedalzone
    @thepedalzone 4 роки тому +12

    This is one of the most important videos on music creation and being an artist I've ever seen

  • @giorgiooliviero8554
    @giorgiooliviero8554 4 роки тому +54

    Honest as a man can be. I am in the process of growing up with your music, Ben: I don't know who I am going to be but I know you will have had a say in it.

  • @EduardoMunguiaMusic
    @EduardoMunguiaMusic 4 роки тому +61

    I wonder if I will ever know where Houston at

  • @Symphonicrockfran
    @Symphonicrockfran 4 роки тому +21

    The Zappa Method 1:21
    When George Duke was in the band, Zappa asked him to play some nice melodies. Frank ruined those arrangements and used them for making new songs.

  • @LeSpulch
    @LeSpulch 4 роки тому +15

    I'm very high and was very close to my tv watching this, that combined with the editing made me listen harder than I've ever listened to anything in my whole life...

  • @djtoolhead
    @djtoolhead 4 роки тому +1

    I've been working with it and it has helped more than I can put in a few words. I've tuned into things that I don't like to hear in my own music and started looking at them as techniques in themselves. Bad techniques. Ways to make something I don't like. Avoiding/removing them instead of ruminating for an eternity about what to DO next makes it less of a struggle. That and focusing on my own connection to the creative process and how it actually makes me feel; why I'm certain that I want to continue doing it. Thanks for helping to lift me up when I was tired and didn't know what to do. Today, I'm not feeling defeated and hopeless, but inspired. Thanks, Ben.

    • @BenLevin
      @BenLevin  4 роки тому +1

      You’re being your own hero right now. Not everyone is willing to really give something new and strange an honest try. I’m happy for you and grateful for the follow up!

  • @GreatFlamingEyebrows_
    @GreatFlamingEyebrows_ 4 роки тому +29

    This was a fantastic video. I always get a hopeless feeling when seeing how good other peoples stuff is.
    However I’ve noticed that your videos don’t give that feeling. They’re always so inspiring

  • @duncanthompson957
    @duncanthompson957 4 роки тому +14

    You gave me tears of laughter, and tears of poignant reflection... Thank you. That was beautiful.

  • @AdityaGuitar1
    @AdityaGuitar1 4 роки тому +14

    Your videos are just so uniquely positive & authetic. It's hard to describe. Please keep making these videos, Ben 😊

  • @BeastOfSoda
    @BeastOfSoda 4 роки тому

    The line about music giving you the endurance to navigate through hard times is very quotable and resonates with me. I started playing drums at 32 (been going at it for 6 years), and studying this new instrument became my reprieve from reality when I was having it rough. Now that we are traversing this new weird period and I cannot hit the studio, I've taken the opportunity to study bass instead, which I started mere months ago. It's true that music may not fix a broken system, but it definitely fixed me.

  • @falconismbot9370
    @falconismbot9370 4 роки тому +2

    I am so in love with this channel. Been buying a couple Ben Levin Group and Bent Knee CDs every paycheck the last few months. Getting the song writing course next paycheck, can't wait to see it.

  • @stuartcoyle1626
    @stuartcoyle1626 4 роки тому +1

    Thanks for reminding everyone that it's fun to play. Remember we are supposed to be "playing" music, not "working" or "toiling" or "struggling".

  • @ramonafrombarcelona
    @ramonafrombarcelona 4 роки тому

    7:13 "Music [...] can energize you, it can give you the endurance you need to push through the darkness till you get to the other side". And that is why I love music. Although I (mostly always) feel that what I do sucks, music keeps me alive and your words remind me to push through. ty ben

  • @shamsaliriaz5264
    @shamsaliriaz5264 4 роки тому +13

    I really love this idea! I only recently started appreciating what this does to help you feel more comfortable with music itself. I've found more cool little DAW tricks and interesting instrument techniques by having that reckless abandon and just messing around. And as a really awesome conclusion, I realized that art isn't about making a masterpiece, it's just having fun. Realising that really took doing it in order for me to properly understand it. Sometimes to have fun you gotta grab a piece of paper and scribble around!

  • @Azihayya
    @Azihayya 4 роки тому +4

    This is awesome, Ben. I could see the thoughts, "It's not good enough." coursing through your head in that song.

  • @Setri123
    @Setri123 4 роки тому +2

    "Let's make it really out of tune!"
    Me at 3:49: Ok, I loved this
    "Let's add a beat that has nothing to do with it!"
    Me at 4:15: Damn, this is.... even cooler

  • @SticktheFigure
    @SticktheFigure 4 роки тому

    This is a fantastic video. For the past four years a friend and I have had a collaborative soundcloud account where we do literally this exact thing. Some times we create garbage together and sometimes we do it solo but it's always a fun departure from the norm.

  • @leomurphy8271
    @leomurphy8271 4 роки тому +1

    this spoke to me; i feel more and more overhelmed by the process of writing and creating music so much that I don't even know why I'm making music at all anymore lol. thank you for your words, the struggle really seems to be the same for everyone after all.

  • @christopherandhobbes9846
    @christopherandhobbes9846 4 роки тому

    I swear Ben your videos are always just what I need. I was really down in the dark gray murky mucky messy land of self-pity and despair and it felt like every song I listened to just reinforced my own garbageness. Thanks for reminding me to just create!

  • @LiMCRiMZ
    @LiMCRiMZ 3 роки тому

    Honestly I do absolutely absurd shit all the time when I don't feel like working on something with singular the goal of releasing it. It's an incredibly therapeutic process that often ends with at least a few new techniques that I can apply later, and if not it definitely always ends with hysterical laughter that otherwise would've just been frustration from a crazy long and fruitless session.
    Keep musicking and making things that make most people say 'that is pretty wack stuff', not only is it healthy but there's an audience for it same as anything else.

  • @PSTroise
    @PSTroise 4 роки тому +6

    The only time I tried to write a terrible song, it ended up with people loving it. Every time I play it I think "here I go with the rdiculous song. " And people sing along. Go figure. (I wrote it for a puppet.)

  • @darrickrongholt4882
    @darrickrongholt4882 4 роки тому

    Dude, you are awesome, Ben. You inspire me to keep going even though I am seriously struggling with the recording and editing processs. Thanks for reminding us to keep music fun and real.

  • @awsmunicorn7488
    @awsmunicorn7488 4 роки тому +1

    thank u, I struggle a lot with this sort of shit and you're videos help a lot. a lot of your advice doesn't just help with music, either

  • @danielmoraes743
    @danielmoraes743 4 роки тому

    I always was into extreme kinds of metal and other fcked up musics that everyone else would see and find it trash. This quarantine i've been lazy-ly recording and mixing my songs, but then got depressed because of that "if no one else will like it bs". I'm really glad you exist Ben, you inspire me everyday just as others musicians did like Bowie, but in a diferent and warmful way.
    Love ya

  • @avedic
    @avedic 4 роки тому

    Gah....that ending. Jesus.
    You've seriously energized my love of music back to when I first started.
    I cannot thank you enough. I've watched a ton of your videos...but still haven't seen the majority. You have so much great content.
    Anyway....thank you. Please don't ever stop doing this.

  • @chippls9796
    @chippls9796 4 роки тому

    Honestly, you should release all the stuff you make on here in Spotify because I would jam to it everyday

  • @mattb4640
    @mattb4640 4 роки тому +3

    It's such a treat to be living on earth at the same time as ben levin. Seriously, what are the odds of that?

    • @zac1192
      @zac1192 4 роки тому

      for real, this guy is a real treasure

  • @jeremy_savo
    @jeremy_savo 4 роки тому +3

    love that you put "frustrated beethoven energy" on your chart 😂

  • @uniworkhorse
    @uniworkhorse 4 роки тому

    Thank you so much Ben. So much of the time I'm worried about making everything perfect that I stop having fun working on projects. You really are an amazing guy!

  • @nanayawberko3212
    @nanayawberko3212 4 роки тому +1

    I haven't made a beat in a month due to extraneous circumstances
    I felt lost and lacking when I got back in the saddle yesterday
    Thank you Ben I needed this

  • @Hacker_lyx
    @Hacker_lyx 4 роки тому +2

    Ben you put way too much effort into these videos. And they're amazing. Thanks for brightening my morning.

  • @MenacingMoppet
    @MenacingMoppet 4 роки тому +3

    Ben Levin is a treasure.

  • @aevillarreal
    @aevillarreal 4 роки тому +3

    Ben you're the most interesting person I've ever come across. I'm starting my degree in music next year thanks to you, I hope my music can reflect who I am as much as yours. You're an amazing person I love you thanks for doing this videos and inspiring others

  • @nelsonwalkermusic
    @nelsonwalkermusic 4 роки тому

    I'm amazed and inspired by your incredible candor, honesty, bravery, and vulnerability, particularly in sharing the song at the end. To publicly share such an intimate, emotional moment with thousands of people on the internet is unspeakably daunting and exposing, but the world is so much better for it. I've barely been able to write a note since March of this year, but every time I get to enjoy one of your videos, I feel a little better and a little closer to breaking through the dam and letting my creativity flow freely again. Thank you for the good you bring to the world, Ben.

  • @PaulHobbs23
    @PaulHobbs23 4 роки тому +2

    Makes you really think about our own egos and perfectionism. A great message from a great person.
    Keep it up Ben.

  • @GeekyGami
    @GeekyGami 4 роки тому +2

    It's interesting the faces we make when we realize we didn't quite hit the pitch we wanted to

  • @luker.6967
    @luker.6967 4 роки тому +1

    That piano piece is really incredible, it builds so well! (The original one)

  • @monowavy
    @monowavy 4 роки тому +2

    you help me a lot ben
    love when you upload

  • @persistentpedestrianalien8641
    @persistentpedestrianalien8641 2 роки тому

    When you compare, you despair

  • @LostSoulAscension
    @LostSoulAscension 4 роки тому

    Brokenness in the most beautiful ways...

  • @surveil3548
    @surveil3548 4 роки тому +5

    When he said BABY BABY BABY BABY My bro started to laugh lmao in the other room at something entirely different, but it was such perfect timing lmao Ben ur enlightened af and it shows 👍❤️

  • @wai6886
    @wai6886 4 роки тому +1

    Man I don't know either

  • @GabeMillerMusic
    @GabeMillerMusic 4 роки тому

    This video is an actual work of art, about making art.
    I definitely find myself getting inside my head when I'm not "productive", but a lot of the coolest stuff comes from tinkering and trying weird ideas.

  • @terrellworrell8005
    @terrellworrell8005 4 роки тому

    Beautiful song at the end and fantastic editing throughout. Great video!

  • @mateoluppi7913
    @mateoluppi7913 4 роки тому +17

    0:50 anthony fantano diss

  • @captainclipy6236
    @captainclipy6236 4 роки тому +1

    The animations Ben makes for his videos makes me visualize music in a new and exciting way

  • @aidanlogan4384
    @aidanlogan4384 4 роки тому +3

    I've been doing this lately and joking to my friends that they're experiments in sound garbage, it is actually unusually fulfilling

  • @MarioC42
    @MarioC42 4 роки тому +3

    So I just wanted some jokes and bad music instead now i love myself and others around me a little more. Goddamit Ben

  • @publicsaar
    @publicsaar 4 роки тому

    Thanks Ben!

  • @Justleonyuri
    @Justleonyuri 4 роки тому

    Ben, your videos are really helping us all to go deeper into what is being a true artist, that is, apart of all the extravaganza fed by industry and the competition of this shitty system.
    Thank you once again for these little pieces of priceless advice you've been giving us.
    We're gonna go through this together with art!

  • @levprotter1231
    @levprotter1231 4 роки тому

    I think the good, better answer for the question from the beginning is: The Dangerous Effects Of Reading.
    Read the blog post. The way to prevent inspiration from becoming its own beast is to limit the consumption of it.
    ( blog.davidtate.org/the-dangerous-effects-of-reading/ )

  • @ThomasKobrick
    @ThomasKobrick 4 роки тому

    Every new video is my favorite one. Thank you, Ben.

  • @punpunpunyama9271
    @punpunpunyama9271 4 роки тому +3

    7:42 is just every crywank song at half speed

  • @thetrickster42
    @thetrickster42 4 роки тому +1

    Wow, everything on this channel in the past year has been really invigorating!

  • @fertyndrembaby
    @fertyndrembaby 4 роки тому +1

    This is a really good piece of advice. Even though i make visual arts i feel like it could apply

  • @scratchrepeat
    @scratchrepeat 4 роки тому +2

    Thanks, Ben. It's easy to forget that making music can actually be important, even if it won't change things.

  • @ScoreFollower
    @ScoreFollower 4 роки тому

    Love what you do!

  • @katnax3059
    @katnax3059 4 роки тому

    I recently was trying out ableton packs, I had Harpsicord that was used for Massive attack Teardrop. I put reverb on 60s 100% wet, and put sosig on it. I made some wierd chord progression and i love the sound. I got 2 versions, one with heavy clipped signal, and other with clean signal. Both sounds good and i will use them

  • @LoBattery01
    @LoBattery01 4 роки тому

    The song at the end really reminds me of Peaer's music. Amazing content per usual!

  • @watcha-doin
    @watcha-doin 4 роки тому

    This channel is honestly the only thing worth watching on UA-cam anymore

  • @avedic
    @avedic 4 роки тому

    Ben's...videos...need...more recognition.
    Really.
    But....I can't imagine how that won't eventually happen.

  • @lincolnmmitchell
    @lincolnmmitchell 4 роки тому

    I wanna see DJ Lance Rock and Ben Levin create a tune together!

  • @kiwipiraka
    @kiwipiraka 4 роки тому +2

    it's the producer equivalent of that old school pc destroying mini-game :D

  • @OVXX666
    @OVXX666 4 роки тому +3

    ben, teach me how to feel again

  • @DANKZI
    @DANKZI 4 роки тому

    The problem here is that pretty much anything Ben does is pure gold.
    Fuck!

  • @ethanprescott4683
    @ethanprescott4683 4 роки тому

    this made me cry a lil bit. i love you ben. thank u for being.

  • @tdchewy
    @tdchewy 4 роки тому

    I love your editing style

  • @LoraCoggins
    @LoraCoggins 4 роки тому +1

    "Write a tune that really sucks.
    Write... a tune that really sucks.
    I said, write a tune that really sucks.
    And then duck."
    -Bill Wurtz

  • @famitory
    @famitory 4 роки тому

    really the question is how to constrain your own vision to have realistic expectations for the messy conversion process between the sound in your head and the real world

  • @Sunburst42
    @Sunburst42 4 роки тому

    That piano piece was incredible Ben, it's inspiring watching your videos

  • @Brian-sh5ne
    @Brian-sh5ne 4 роки тому +2

    3:19 thought I was hearing Bury a Friend for a second

  • @Dawidsu
    @Dawidsu 4 роки тому

    Wow, the song at the end is really good! I'd like to hear it in a finished version.

  • @WizardOfArc
    @WizardOfArc 4 роки тому

    You are an inspiration Ben!

  • @dylanmiley5642
    @dylanmiley5642 4 роки тому +1

    I love you Ben. Thank you for being a source of inspiration, always.

  • @xXPlayer2
    @xXPlayer2 4 роки тому

    I understand...

  • @METAMITO
    @METAMITO 4 роки тому

    I can't believe how underrated your channel is Ben. Much love! Thank you for this video

  • @Encysted
    @Encysted 4 роки тому

    6:28 So that's how Amon Tobin made "Cashew Rhythm" by Two Fingers.

  • @quiiquee
    @quiiquee 4 роки тому

    Buddy your videos have been on another level! Love it!

  • @hmedhmed3520
    @hmedhmed3520 4 роки тому +1

    The reincarnation of Zappa

  • @liamsambrook3057
    @liamsambrook3057 4 роки тому

    Ben you make my day with ever video and stay consistently honest and refreshing. Thank you!!

  • @cottaging_womble905
    @cottaging_womble905 2 роки тому

    Fantastic video Ben! Also, I thought the out-of-tune piano sounded great

  • @DJGreenArrow
    @DJGreenArrow 4 роки тому +1

    It’s rare to find someone who’s willing to improvise a song like you did at the end. Curious if you’d talk about the catharsis that comes with this.

    • @BenLevin
      @BenLevin  4 роки тому +10

      There’s nothing earth shattering about someone being imperfect. But on social media, people don’t feel comfortable exposing their imperfections. This makes it hard to admit when you’re wrong or improve at anything. Online you’re either an angel or a devil. I find that pattern seriously disturbing and work to offer alternatives to a hyper curated online presence. I’m confused and changing constantly. Come see me fall.

    • @DJGreenArrow
      @DJGreenArrow 4 роки тому

      Ben Levin thanks

  • @RetroPlus
    @RetroPlus 4 роки тому +1

    I'm 100% trying this, that's genius

  • @jondis
    @jondis 4 роки тому

    its 5 am and rn im yelling " go and get it "

  • @dooshmagee2165
    @dooshmagee2165 4 роки тому

    i really enjoy watching your videos

  • @tonymccraw3853
    @tonymccraw3853 4 роки тому

    Thanks man. you just said what I feel every time someone asks me, "What are you going to do with that?"

  • @najeesimmons6648
    @najeesimmons6648 4 роки тому

    Super helpful. You’re a great teacher!

  • @RathCampbell
    @RathCampbell 4 роки тому

    Ben you are an amazing person and a very talented artist! I am very inspired by you and your approach to art and creativity. You have an awesome creative vision and I am lucky to see it unfold!

  • @IceGoldDev
    @IceGoldDev 4 роки тому

    Your editing vision is unnaturally unique

  • @musicacomida3666
    @musicacomida3666 4 роки тому

    ....the breath to continue making music one more day ...Un video que realmente eleva

  • @GabrielOliveiraTube
    @GabrielOliveiraTube 4 роки тому

    You are truly inspiring!

  • @Mezurashii5
    @Mezurashii5 4 роки тому

    I don't care about success. Other people's music can make me hopeless when *I* dislike mine in comparison.
    Still, the only thing I care about with this is fun. When I forget other people's music exists, I have fun making mine and pretending like it's good. Well, at least when I'm inspired.