Although music plays an important part in most of our lives, making a life as a musician is not easy.
There’s a reason that the stereotype of the starving artist exists. When trying to make a name, lots of upstart musicians often end up working multiple day jobs to make ends meet, going into debt and generally feeling disillusioned. Still, when listeners discover a new artist with an inspiring sound, incredible things can happen.
One artist has made waves by uploading videos of a unique guitar style on YouTube.
Samuel Orson is an acoustic guitarist who plays with a finger tapping style.
Orson comes from Seattle, Washington and has long been a fan of the acoustic guitar. Though his finger tapping method of playing guitar is well known, he uses these techniques in ways that are all his own. He calls the music he plays an “experimental new age” style.
In the spirit of experimentation, Orson set himself a musical challenge.
To flex his songwriting muscles, Orson decided to compose an original song everyday—for 120 days.
In a post he wrote on Medium, he expanded on his creative process at length:
“I was tired all of the time, I had no sex drive, I would barely eat, and I was having trouble communicating effectively. Like I couldn’t speak in coherent sentences.”
Still, at the end of it all, Orson says he had an incredible discovery:
“I do feel it was a turning point for me to grow as an artist and a person. I was able to find a unique sound of my own.”
Fortunately for us, all of Orson’s process has been uploaded on the internet for anyone to enjoy.
The videos he uploaded during his 120-day project are often messy, long vlog-style videos like the one below. In the introduction, he explains his process, tunes his guitar and talks a bit about the structure of the song. In the middle he starts to play—and the results are amazing.
Each of the vlogs has a different sound as well. In this one, called “Roller Coaster,” viewers can see Orson’s process of using a loop pedal to improvise a lush and full soundscape! Still, part of the charm is seeing his experimentation and struggle.
For those looking for something more polished, his song, Giraffe, has more than 200,000 views on YouTube.
As viewers can see in the clip, Orson combines finger sliding and tapping techniques to create a gentle and comforting sound that is all his own.
Another of his compositions, Nikita, has a similarly calming vibe. In this one, he also incorporates some rhythmic tapping on the guitar in as well as a way to simulate drumming!
In all, Samuel Orson’s YouTube channel is a goldmine of artistic inspiration.
His approach to the creative process may have exhausted him, but it also left an incredible body of work for the world to enjoy. Orson’s journey is a reminder that all of us have creative gold inside of us that we can choose to mine.
If you’re anything like us, you might be exploring this channel for a while.
Support Orson by checking out his music on Spotify, Bandcamp and Soundcloud!
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