Oblique Strategies No. 16
Go extreme.
Back when I finished my series of 100 oblique strategies, I was asked by various readers if I could create something that would show them a random one. Since I didn’t know then how to realise this within the structure of this website, I considered creating a Max for Live device, but never got around to it.
Well, now over two years later, I have the ability to create this as a this simple post. Every time you reload it, a new random oblique strategy will be shown. Bookmark it and whenever you feel stuck in your music production, open it up and see if the oblique strategy gives you an impulse for your music. You can take each as literal or figurative as you like. They’re all open to your own personal interpretation, which is the beauty of this concept.
The original idea was developed by musician Brian Eno and multimedia artist Peter Schmidt in 1975. I’ve put my own spin on the initially card-based method for fostering creativity. Each post offers a challenging task designed to you overcome creative blocks by encouraging lateral thinking. Most are quite general, others rather specific to Ableton Live.
I hope you’ll find this helpful. Please let me know in the comments below.