{"id":11007,"date":"2020-06-16T11:31:25","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T15:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=11007"},"modified":"2025-10-10T12:08:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T16:08:09","slug":"making-functional-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/making-functional-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Making functional music"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p style=\"font-size:15px\" class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Illustration:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jordanemoss.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Jordan Moss (opens in a new tab)\"><strong>Jordan Moss<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When setting out to compose and produce, we don\u2019t always consider the function of a production.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>How will this music be used? When and where will its listeners enjoy it? Will the music accompany another activity, and if so, how might it enhance it? It\u2019s easy and intuitive to simply make what you feel like making, but the oblique goal of &#8216;making something good&#8217; is often an elusive target and can end up falling flat. It can be helpful for the creative process and the impact of your music to carefully consider its purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ambient music as a case study for functional music<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the 1970s, ambient music began to take shape with the innovations of British composers Delia Derbyshire and Brian Eno. In Eno\u2019s words, \u201cAn ambience is defined as an atmosphere or a surrounding influence: a tint. My intention is to produce original pieces ostensibly (but not exclusively) for particular times and situations with a view to building up a small but versatile catalogue of environmental music suited to a wide variety of moods and atmospheres. Ambient music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.\u201d Among the genre\u2019s landmark albums was <em>Ambient 1: Music For Airports<\/em>, which brought function right into the title of the record and presented four long-form arrangements made to enhance the atmospheres of airports and the experiences of its visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reflecting across industries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The worlds of design and film offer interesting glimpses into ways in which function is considered. A chair is designed according to its application, whether it supports a posture and sense of focus that lends itself to work, or promotes physical and mental relaxation. When a film is made, the intention is often set for it to make its audience laugh, cry, contemplate, or engage with a particular emotion. Reflecting on this level of thoughtfulness regarding purpose can be helpful inspiration for our music making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Examples of functional music<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Physical and everyday applications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of music&#8217;s earliest applications was likely as a means to dance and express oneself physically. It can also play a powerful role in other physical activities like exercise while bringing ease to everyday and domestic applications like waking up, going to sleep, eating, and cleaning the dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Abstract and cerebral applications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Music for many is a form of escapism or a vehicle for transformative experiences. It can also be a massage for the brain, offering deep contemplative listening or an aid in meditation. It almost goes without saying that music is a powerful tool for shaping one\u2019s mood. Some listen to happy music when they\u2019re sad, while others find catharsis in sad music when they\u2019re feeling down. Every emotion in the spectrum of feeling distilled through music can have a profound impact on a listener, and this is something worth considering when making music. You might already ask yourself how you&#8217;re feeling when sitting down to create, but try expanding that reflection to others: \u201cHow do I want to make other people feel?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Political activation and intellectual engagement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In some cases, it can be worthwhile to consider your political or philosophical beliefs. Bringing them into your work can give it a function beyond music for music\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Function within a larger musical context<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Artists have often described that before they finish their record, they think about how the music will fit within a specific place in their sets, or what role it will fulfill in an album\u2019s narrative arch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Zooming Out<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Zooming out from the song level, you can explore the potential purpose of an album, a project, and <a aria-label=\"even one\u2019s artistic identity. (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/finding-purpose-creative-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">even one\u2019s artistic identity.<\/a> No matter what the purpose, placing value on the function of a creative outcome brings heightened meaning and everyday value to its audience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let&#8217;s explore how thinking about music as a functional endeavor (as opposed to making music for the sake of music) can yield valuable results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":11041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1859,1696],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Making functional music - Blog | Splice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Let&#039;s explore how thinking about music as a functional endeavor (as opposed to making music for the sake of music) can yield valuable results.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/making-functional-music\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making functional music - Blog | Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Let&#039;s explore how thinking about music as a functional endeavor (as opposed to making music for the sake of music) can yield valuable results.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/making-functional-music\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blog | Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-16T15:31:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-10T16:08:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Functional_Music_BlogPost-1024x640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erin Rioux\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@splice\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@splice\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Rioux\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/making-functional-music\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/making-functional-music\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Erin Rioux\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/53a8cf19fb1baa319e324895573fef0c\"},\"headline\":\"Making functional music\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-16T15:31:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-10T16:08:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/making-functional-music\/\"},\"wordCount\":653,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/making-functional-music\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Functional_Music_BlogPost.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Inspiration\",\"Tips &amp; 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