{"id":10239,"date":"2013-10-19T18:16:06","date_gmt":"2013-10-19T22:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tm.org\/blog\/?p=10239"},"modified":"2013-10-21T07:27:19","modified_gmt":"2013-10-21T11:27:19","slug":"understanding-silence-making-music-rick-rubin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/people\/understanding-silence-making-music-rick-rubin\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Silence as a Basis for Making Music\u2014Rick Rubin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>RICK RUBIN<\/a> is perhaps the most important record producer of the past 25 years. His stamp on contemporary music is considered immense. While still a student at NYU, Rubin borrowed $5,000 from his parents to start the Def Jam label with Russell Simmons<\/a>. Soon he was working with the cream of the music world \u2014 Jay-Z<\/a>, Johnny Cash<\/a>, Neil Diamond<\/a>, Mick Jagger<\/a>, Sheryl Crowe<\/a>, U2<\/a>, the Red Hot Chili Peppers<\/a>, Adele<\/a>, Kanye West<\/a>, Eminem<\/a>, and the Dixie Chicks<\/a>, to name a few \u2014 transcending musical genres like no other producer before him. In 2007 Rick was named co-head of Columbia Records. That same year MTV<\/a> called him “the most important producer of the last 20 years,” and TIME magazine<\/a> included him in its list of the world\u2019s 100 Most Influential People.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rick has practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique for most of his life.<\/p>\n

Here are some excerpts from a recent interview with Rick by Annabel Mehran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe power of nature is what all art strives to be. The more we can get in tune with the harmony of the planet, the more our art can benefit from that relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Music hits us in a real emotional way. For me, it took me away in a way that nothing else could. It\u2019s just got a tremendous power, the fact that you can do it with your eyes closed. The creative goal of making music is the same as a rainstorm, just the way the waves hit the beach. There\u2019s a perfection that we try to approximate. It\u2019s the goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

It seemed like when most of the kids I knew [when I was growing up] started taking drugs\u2014it was out of boredom. They\u2019d finish school and have nothing to do, so they\u2019d get high. But I always had other stuff I was really interested in doing. First it was magic and eventually it was music. I\u2019d come home and listen to music and play the guitar. I was never bored. A part of it had to do with my being an only child. I learned how to entertain myself. I think another part of it is that I learned to meditate when I was about 14, and that became a big part of my life.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was very lucky. My neck hurt and I went to my doctor, who was kind of hip, and he said it was stress-caused and that I needed to learn how to meditate. So I learned how to do Transcendental Meditation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve found that the more you understand silence, [the more you understand] that\u2019s where the balance comes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I have had a remarkable run. It\u2019s been pretty amazing. I have gone through patches where I\u2019m colder. It\u2019s a normal sort of cycle. But it\u2019s unusual to have worked for so long and have had so many great \u2014 unbelievable \u2014 successes. It\u2019s hard to believe. The only thing I can attribute it all to is my not trying to be successful, but only trying to make good music. I\u2019m willing to do whatever it takes to make the music as great as can be. I\u2019m not at all lazy and I won\u2019t settle for just anything. I\u2019m a little bit of a perfectionist \u2014 I can be miserable if I know things could be better.<\/span><\/p>\n

People feel at ease around me. I think one of the reasons that the music turns out good is that I can make people feel comfortable and they can be themselves. I try to set up an environment in which artists can be naked and vulnerable, but still feel safe enough to really express themselves. I would say that my ability to put people at ease does play an important role in it all.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

———————————<\/center>
\nThis blog came from www.tmhome.com<\/a> — an international website dedicated to posting the stories of interest about the Transcendental Meditation technique.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RICK RUBIN is perhaps the most important record producer of the past 25 years. His stamp on contemporary music is considered immense. While still a student at NYU, Rubin borrowed $5,000 from his parents to start the Def Jam label with Russell Simmons. Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[57],"class_list":["post-10239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-people","tag-celebrity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10239\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.tm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}