My 7 Rules of Sound
1. Melody: The Soul’s Narrative (Lead, Main Theme)
Melody is a line that carves through silence, a structure upon which sound breathes. It exists as the essential thread, a path that draws one into the depths of music. Each melody carries a distant memory, a persistent echo, something that pulls with quiet insistence. Melody isn’t something to hold but rather to follow; it lingers, leaving traces like a shadow of the soul itself—a form that speaks, not to be held, only to be known.
2. Sound: The Raw Material of Creation (Timbre, Tone)
Sound is where music begins and ends, a canvas that allows for infinite possibility. Unshaped, sound holds nothing and everything; it is potential awaiting form, an elemental force. Sound demands no allegiance to genre or style, no restraint or excess—only that it be molded with intention. In its essence lies a power that can transform, each tone chosen not for effect but for necessity. Sound is purity; it waits for nothing, yet it allows all things.
3. Texture: The Layered Reality of Music (Arrangement, Layers)
Texture grants depth to music, the dimensions that unfold within sound’s layers. It is the subtle architecture, the balance of density and lightness, crafted to create immersion. Texture is what invites one beneath the surface, into a complexity that cannot be immediately heard. It holds a discipline of its own, a layering that gives sound its reality, its depth of field. Each layer adds a quality that becomes clear only with patience, a truth that reveals itself quietly.
4. Rhythm: The Pulse of Existence (Beat, Tempo)
Rhythm is the scaffold of time within sound, a pulse that requires neither permission nor excess. It moves forward, an unbreakable line that anchors and advances. Rhythm provides music with gravity, a steady pace that reminds one of life’s inexorable progression. It is what tethers sound to reality, pulling it out of abstraction and giving it a place within the cycle of existence. Rhythm is unwavering; it accepts no deviation, existing only as it is, neither asked nor explained.
5. Feel: The Invisible Touch (Groove, Swing)
Feel is the touch beneath technique, a mastery of restraint, and a subtlety that cannot be willed into existence. It is the control that leads each sound toward clarity, the measured use of silence, tension, and release. Feel is the invisible line that separates sound from mere noise, a presence that makes music unmistakably human. It cannot be imposed, only held in its place by choice. Feel is the invisible thread that binds notes into something deliberate, refined, and felt only by the listener who waits.
6. Emotion: The Resonance of Heart and Mind (Dynamics, Expression)
Emotion lies within the silence of music’s depths, waiting to rise, unbidden. It is what lies beneath reason, an expression that reaches the listener without mediation or explanation. Emotion demands nothing, it persuades without force; it is what remains when all artifice has been stripped away. Music that holds emotion transcends itself; it becomes the pulse that is heard without being touched, felt without being understood. Emotion does not ask—it remains, a resonance between sound and self.
7. Transmission: The Art of Passing Sound (Release, Impact)
Transmission is release. It is the moment sound leaves its origin, unattached, and becomes something beyond intent. Transmission is where music ceases to be personal and enters a state of pure resonance, a shared experience. In its release, sound no longer belongs; it is free to be absorbed, interpreted, or ignored. This is music’s final act, its ultimate transformation. Transmission is not the aftermath; it is the music’s entire purpose—sound cast forth, relinquished, and left to exist as it will.
