Approaching Music Like an Architect


I love architecture and find inspiration in the ways beautifully crafted spaces evoke emotion and can alter lifestyle. Music does something similar, it creates a sonic space where stories unfold. Both disciplines share a vocabulary: cold, warm, harsh, bright, dark, ect. These descriptors attempt to articulate instinctive feelings. I believe the music I aim to craft would mirror the house I’d design as an architect.

At its core, making a great record involves crafting the right sounds and placing them in the right spaces to convey the intended emotion. In architecture, imagine starting with an untouched plot of land. Even before building anything on top, the space already tells a story. Great architects, in my opinion, recognize the narrative within the landscape and design harmoniously to enhance it. Though, in music, we get a truly blank canvas, that allows us to design the space where our story and song reside itself.

Depending on the style, people may interpret the "house" of a song differently. In many styles, the lead vocal serves as the house. In others, it might be the drums or bass line. Whatever it is, it has to be right. If it’s off: confusing, flat, thin, muffled, muted, hazy, boring, or forgettable. No environment, no matter how beautiful, will save it. Just as the most stunning view can’t justify staying in a house on an unstable foundation.

An architect like Toyo Ito crafts buildings so engaging they capture attention even in breathtaking landscapes. Ito famously said, “There is no separation between architecture and nature; there is a connection.” The same is true in music. If you’re spending hours perfecting an electric guitar sound, testing every synth preset, or tweaking reverb options, ask yourself: Is all of this going to be let down by the house? If the answer is yes, then you haven’t found the harmony between your architecture and the nature being uncovered around it. Conversely, if the house you’ve built is extraordinary, it deserves an environment that enhances its beauty.

I’m not an architect, and I’m barely a musician. But what I admire most is the way creativity can be philosophically intentional.

Luke Girzadas

Approaching Music like an Architect