Silence

I read something two days ago that a musician wrote about needing to hear something "all the time." He said he would create a sound if he didn't hear something. He didn't like silence.

It would seem logical that a musician wouldn't like silence...right?

Well...not exactly.

As wonderful as music is, it can still "take up space in your brain." It takes a huge amount of energy for your brain to process it. 

Yes, this is coming from having been a psychology major, and studying cognitive psychology. I won't bore you with the details, but basically your mind periodically yells "Leave me alone! I need a break!", even from music. 

I often turn off music and the TV when I'm home alone. I also sit quietly during songwriting sessions, or when I'm drawing or painting. I don't want any "outside stimuli" then. I need to focus on what I want to do with a song, a drawing, or a painting. My mind already has enough going on then.

And of course, there are "rests" in songs. I always have to refer back to my music theory books to remember the symbols for rests, like for a quarter note rest, but I'm trying to learn to write rests into my music. My music is generally kind of mellow, but my listeners might still like a quick break occasionally. 

And "silence" is never really totally silent, is it? You can always hear the outside world when you're sitting silently, like traffic going by, birds chirping, etc. Your inside world seems to amplify then, too. Your thoughts can make your mind get pretty loud. So in those cases, silence is simply the absence of sound you bring into your surroundings.

So sound and silence go hand in hand for me. The "key" here is embracing both of them.