Hi, in this post I wanted to share with you my creative process.
Initially, the working title was “Autumn Morning,” and from the very beginning, the idea that was germinating in my head was related to the feeling of inner peace and love on a morning when the sun rises in the fall – just like the one I had outside my window at that time. The feeling that accompanied me during the creation was very important because it gave an invisible tone to the entire work. At that time, I listened a lot to Bonobo, Trip-Hop, and radiostation named ChiliZet, which I associate with this type of music.
I started the process of creating the song using Ableton Live and the Push 2 midi controller. I drew a lot of inspiration from studying under Damian Likus at the Academy of Sound Production in Jaworzno, where I learned about the whole production process of electronic music.
Once, Pawel Kurowski from Stone Sound told me that he would be happy to mix my electronic track. We knew each other mainly from music projects related to metal music, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to fulfill our mutual needs and create the final version of the track. It was a very enjoyable time for us to work on the mix and mastering, during which I learned a lot about his approach to work, and we could test different options to see what sounded best for the final version of the track.
Now we have a finished track, but what’s next? How to release it to the world?
For a long time, I have been thinking about this aspect due to my business experience and an overall approach to building a brand and product. First of all, I was thinking about how to best position this kind of music creation in my space, and I came to the conclusion that it would be best to use it to express my musical creativity in electronic music and share it with others. It is precisely this love of creation and vibrations that sounds give us that are crucial for me. I was verifying various names for this project related to my pseudonym “Ritchie” – “Riczi”. I was inspired by the name of my friends’ band “L3cter,” who used the number 3 instead of “e.” Wanting to create music based on love in this project, the name “Rich Love” appealed to me because it phonetically referred to my nickname. However, the name itself was too clichéd, and it was difficult to adapt it to social media names. Therefore, I decided to modify the number “33” and turn it back to back in logo design. I really liked this change, and the name also looked good in URL links. I always pay attention to making the name suitable from a marketing point of view.
And that’s how “CHOCAPIC!” was created – if you know what I mean. :]
Now, with the name in place, it was time to create a logo. I wanted it to refer to calligraphy and be animated. I really like Adobe After Effects because it provides large animation possibilities. At first, I created a simple animation, but I came to the conclusion that it would be better if the smudge effect was used when the logo appears.
I am also participating in a newly created course at the Academy of Sound Production in Jaworzno, focused on film editing, under the watchful eye of Piotr Skawski and Waldemar Karol Mroziewski. Their passion inspires me to gain practical knowledge, create, and take action. I started looking for the right material to reflect the music with images and emotions that were associated with it from the very beginning. The final effect can be seen on YouTube. The track is also available on streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal. Additionally, I created social media profiles, such as Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, where the plan is to share information about new creative projects.
It’s worth noting that the process of releasing a track to the market is just the beginning of the work on building a brand and promoting creativity. Further steps, such as concerts, collaborations with other artists, or promotion through media, require even more commitment and work, including the preparation of appropriate promotional materials and their distribution on various platforms. Key to this process are commitment, patience, and constant striving for improvement in one’s work and brand.
In summary, creating music is not just a creative process, but also a business one. It’s important to take care of your space and know how to build a brand that will allow you to express your creativity and share it with others.