by ClaviSound » 21 Nov 2013 14:24
Although it's not really about making pony music and more about being a pony musician, here's a few things I've learned throughout my year and a half here in the fandom, maybe you'll be able to take something away from it:
1. Throw any illusions about being popular out the window. The best step to becoming popular, much like the first step to becoming wealthy, is to not want it. Don't make music for anyone other than for yourself, and for music.
2. It may hurt to be criticized, and you may feel like lashing out at those who do so, but sometimes you have to swallow your pride and admit you're wrong. It's hard - one of the hardest things to do, in my own experience - but you'll never get better otherwise, neither as a musician nor as a person.
3. Enter circles as a friend rather than as a pony musician. Ponies are ephemeral; friendships could last a lifetime. (It doesn't hurt they like the same thing you do, of course; just saying that being "all business" isn't really as fulfilling or fun.)
4. Everyone's a rookie at some point. Most skilled musicians you talk to once knew nothing about the kind of music they're good at, just as you do. And one day, you will be one of those skilled musicians. And when that happens, never forget those who helped you along your way, and treat those who wish to learn from you the exact same way you'd want yourself to be treated when you were learning. It's a long path, one you'll come to respect after you walk it.
((EDIT: I understand you're probably not unfamiliar with music, sorry about that. All the same though, teach and learn with the knowledge you can never do one without doing the other.))
5. Be careful not to let big numbers cloud your judgment. If you want to work with a musician, check yourself to make sure it's because of their talent or expertise (or just because they're a really, really cool person), and not because they happen to have a lot of fans. (I'd love giving the benefit of the doubt, but I tend to warn everyone, just in case.)
6. Wheaton's Law: Don't be a jerk.
As for music, it's true that instrumentals are a bit harder to define as being "pony", although throwing in leitmotifs in the show help for more melodic work. But people like Aviators have made pony-inspired music that have been deliberately ambiguous on whether it's a series of coincidences or actually pony related.
I would say just make music, and if it happens to be inspired by pony, then it probably deserves to be in the fandom. The inspirational source, I think, counts much more than any vocal samples slapped in the song.