Jacob Collier | Music & Mindset at USC | 2022

Grammy-award winning musician and composer shares his creative mindset and songwriting process with USC students. Hosted by Vision & Voices and moderated by Professor David Belasco. Jacob enters at 9:08; Conducts audience at 11:40; How Jacob Composes at 40:38; Logic demonstration at 55:10; Ben Bloomberg at 1:10:00; Final Song Performances at 1:37:36 and 1:45:30
@TheLeapTV

[@TiffanySoulbird]

I love music but I've been burned out by life and in survival mode a long time. Watching Jacob speak and perform on YT has honestly brought something alive in me again. I feel like my teenage self who played french horn in middle school and wanted to become a songwriter. I find myself hanging on his every word, even the ones I don't comprehend. It's like magic. I'm so thankful. I wrote a song yesterday and that hasn't happened in awhile.

[@spacebunsarah]

This is so unbelievably relatable

[@coloskier88]

I feel the same way, and I ALSO used to play French Horn! 🤗

[@TiffanySoulbird]

@@coloskier88 The most epic brass instrument. 😊

[@kasia0tarasiuk]

This is exactly what I’m feeling. Let’s be hopeful and full of life again. It’s such a beautiful feeling.

[@TiffanySoulbird]

@@kasia0tarasiuk it really is! It's what keeps the heart alive and vibrant.

[@PiercingSight]

Give this man a children's TV show about music.

[@Zoew_june]

A tv show? 👴🏻👵🏻

[@kalechips5972]

​@Zoew_june Yeah why not?

[@shamiksenmusic]

I'm eternally grateful that I get to age with this man in this life.

[@DNS0875]

Music is medicine, healing on physical, mental and spiritual level. It’s how Source communicates through us, it’s what connects us and brings us in flow, in eternal togetherness. Jacob for me is here to remind us I think. He is here and now, like a channel for Love and connection. He makes me a better person and helps me overcome performance anxiety. Now I enjoy playing saxophone and singing when there’s crowd around.

[@dr.gregoryweisswassernd7251]

‘Nonsense frees you.” I just love Jacob.

[@aishwaryabyapari4178]

At how many seconds does he say so?

[@anditote]

@@aishwaryabyapari4178 Somewhere around 25 mins

[@user-vd9br4ho7i]

Yes, but is still nonsense music. I mean....random thousand of ideas, is like the ocean...great but savage.

[@GizzyDillespee]

That section blew my mind... he describes the situation presupposing a duality of "sense" and "nonsense". Do people usually silo the 2, like he describes? To me, it's always been more of, like, a Venn diagram, and I've tried to remain in the middle, artistically... nonsense that makes sense to me, sort of. As for why, maybe there was a Cheshire Cat influence, and also growing up in a cognitive dissonance culture, while staying sane... It seemed to be normal for people to accept that nonsense makes perfect sense, in so many areas of life. But Jacob described it as a dichotomy. I suppose he's trying to get people to go beyond their comfort zones, by this statement - try things that don't make sense TO YOU, assuming that you're coming from such a limited perspective that almost any branching out will be good. I think that IS the case, in many instances. I think it's an oversimplification, but he doesn't have the time for one-on-one mentorship of the students asking questions.

[@greencasestudy]

I just dedicated a page in my music journal to what he said. "Embrace the nonsense!"

[@robertbeger4275]

Over and over with Jacob's working with the audience, I'm reminded how powerfully emotional it is when we sing together.

[@davidfleuchaus]

26:58 “In some ways what other people think about you is not really your business. But your business is to be you to the fullest most expounded extent.”

[@sempopo]

This person is precious.

[@fiddlestix3025]

Oh my gosh… That choir intro moved me to tears. Jacob’s answers, so often, address the different questions in the same way, again and again: embrace your Weird, your inner fool, your child within. Him sitting cross legged on that armchair, wearing sox, and two different ones :) He has managed to free himself from all the constraints and expectations of society, and we’re all so lucky for it 💛 His maturity in how he’s been thinking and probing almost every question humanly possible, is mind boggling to me. I loved the flower analogy, makes perfect sense to me. And yet, with all this sophistication, there also is an absolute vulnerability, simplicity and innocence about him 🌸 Jacob the man and what he does, I feel, is all about love 💛 Love of people, love of music and love of life. Thanks for conducting and posting this talk. And yes, great and lovely questions, too! 🙏

[@j.a.i.6626]

honestly, one of the most amazing things ive been a part of. went to one of his shows in london and it was so good i booked another ticket for the week after lol. truly is the most beautiful sound when you hear it in person

[@fiddlestix3025]

@@j.a.i.6626 yes, to be there in person -heaven and inspiration plus… Those tix are money well spent, I’d say! :D 👍

[@morganhernandez297]

Music And Love. 💚

[@shelleymartin1451]

Could you time post the choir you're speaking of? I would love to hear that song.

[@fiddlestix3025]

@@shelleymartin1451 oh, it was just the intro, at about 10:50 to about 17:00, when Jacob ‘plays the audience’ :) I was imagining being in that audience, on that day, and the feeling of connectedness and being immersed in this musical spa, just got me… That’s just me, Shelley 😉☺️

[@ethanmathison9957]

JACOB IS the FIRST musician EVER to successfully CONDUCT HIS AUDIENCE. HE IS AN INSPIRED AND BEAUTIFUL MAN , AND A SUPERB MUSICIAN

[@Vocaldine]

Totally Awesome. Jacob should rewrite the music syllabus in schools! Seriously. So over the rigid nonsense. 💙💛

[@laraoneal7284]

I can’t stop smiling listening to Jacob.

[@heartsource417]

Jacob is a GENIUS!

[@tishanance4353]

The answer to all the questions asked of him is - It is all from his heart!!!! He gives his all to all of us straight from, purely from, his open heart!!! God bless him!!

[@Kobe29261]

My feeling exactly - I wish someone had asked him about his parents, he appears to have forgotten perhaps in his childhood what fear was

[@sir1920]

I love this guy. Started with envy tbh. Then more I learned about him the more I liked him

[@juansanchez8503]

Something about coming together and creating a vibration not just through our energies but with our voices. It’s very powerful that it brings you to tears when you’re just listening. This is one of the main reasons why I loved being in choir and going to camps because when we all come as one and create a sound so beautiful that resonates within the soul. This man is not only a music genius but is bringing people together to remember the meaning of why we’re here. To me it just goes deeper than singing together.

[@jamie9726]

Ya this dude feels the future

[@ran6394]

Mystics and physics say past and future isn't real - and Jacob says "Future and past is all an illusion", it feels good to be in the present moment!

[@LegendJRG]

There is no definition of real, locality and spacetime are relative only to the observer/observed. The light you see, the sounds you hear everything you experience even totally on your own are all technically from the past. The present is an ever constant probable reaction to the predictable past, they all matter the better you understand the past the more you are able to understand probabilities. Every moment matters which is what truly embodies living in the present to me at least, there is nothing wrong with spending those important moments in reflection just as there is nothing wrong spending them dreaming. As long as that is balanced properly and you don't get lost or focus on only one or the other you will find the harmony that lets you live in the moment as much as possible.

[@ShredderTainment]

I appreciate his playful wisdom and openness. Something that is rarely seen. 🤗

[@TheFendertak]

Absolutely mind blowing seminar, Jacob is only a beginning on what's to come, not weird at all but very very interesting and intelligent, he did what he wanted to do and how it makes him happy, no right or wrongs in life, be yourself, be different, Jacob your an Phenomenal guy..

[@paulcharlesworth9114]

Thank you for posting this. If you haven't been in Jacob's choir yet, go see his tour and join in 🙂. Extraordinary to be part of it. You feel lifted.

[@orffrocks5667]

let this never end

[@laraoneal7284]

Love this guy. Just found him today.

[@eldancer2]

Impressive how humble, genius and eloquent Jacob is, at such a young age. You can tell that he takes his time to think about music, but also about life, about how life and music are connected...so inspiring.

[@MattCouzensMusic]

It's wonderful to see one of the most talented musicians of our time reminding a group of academics about the idea of forgetting the rule and making things that are beautiful and excellent. Music school fills far too many kid's heads with fanciful ideas of making "important and interesting" music that often nobody but a tiny group of insiders appreciate. There's nothing wrong with writing music that speaks to only your soul and a select group of insiders. But an artist is supposed to *say* something with their work. And far too many kids come out of music school these days not saying much more than "listen to this wierd augenmuzik that will make you feel like you wasted 15 minutes of your time listening to (and like I wasted four years of mine)". And teachers, stop justifying your fetish with teaching music nobody wants to hear but a tiny group of cultists because you made the error of thinking that making music that sounds terrible and defending it with obscure and esoteric words makes you deep or enlightened. Make approachable music that people want to hear and stop flogging the corpses of the post tonal composers.

[@Kobe29261]

Thank you! Link your work if you're comfortable!

[@florenceriggs4317]

Your comments made me laugh out loud😂..."flogging the corpses of post tonal composers", indeed! Certainly we are ALL fortunate to be on our planet at this time to remember the beauty of our individual selves that Jacob Collier has incited within us to unify with each other through simply listening to his music & being in the magic of his super multitalented soul! In my opinion he us definitely like a messiah... that just being in the presence of his unique vibrational frequencies helps create our own realizations of why we are actually here & on our beloved planet at this time...to walk the path of unabashed heartful unconditional love leading to peace. Seemingly without consciously knowing it, Jacob has joined the ranks of Peace Troubadore Good Will Ambassador. How fortunate we are. And thanks, Mama Collier, for being the one that brought him into the world & gave him encouragement & free rein to develope his unique natural talented nature! Aho, and so it is, amen👏🎶✌️💫💖

[@joyceglasgow2356]

Jacob! Always brilliant, unique, joyful, inspiring, and authentic!💕🎶💕

[@mayasaktiishaya4452]

This old Soul. Bringing harmony of each soul from inside to outside. Coherence of sound transforming cellular structure. Opening hearts to the harmony we can live with together. Thank you young people in body and also very old souls. Multidimensional life of the human. Cross over into harmony, nonlinear sound made by each humans harmony

[@jamie9726]

This is poetry in itself 😊

[@luispinto-music]

We fuckin need Philosophers BIG TIME... in music and in life... this guy is a fuckin GREAT PHILOSOPHER ... GO ON Jacob, Thanks a LOOOTTTT

[@mayasaktiishaya4452]

What he says about embrace the nonsense is nonlinear thinking. The new way of spherical thinking that the new human ( usually young in body and struggling with the old patterns of linearity) is beginning to use. Holistic and whole- istic. The wholeness from the deepest part of you. The soul part. Eternal part. This new thought is made ( spherical thinking) to be reverse engineered. You will see the end product ( even in engineering) before you see how you got there. This is how old " problems" will no longer exist. A simple solution will come because nonlinear thinking ( multideminsional thinking) will be used. The mathematics of this music and the harmony is True, Real. So Beautiful to see it coming into form. May we embrace it in all facets of our life. Life. Lived.. NOW.

[@willene58]

What a voice.......................and style........the best ever ..... the future looks very bright ........bless you Mr Collier!!!!!!!!

[@dannywarnock8822]

I can't make you love me is one of the greatest songs ever written. Amazing rendition! Jacob is unparalleled!

[@shelleymartin1451]

Would you please time post when he does I can't make you love me? I'll listen to all of this eventually, but I'd really like to hear that first...

[@asiahthomas-mandlman2280]

1.37.38

[@willene58]

Too beautiful...and so deep and so jazzy and so classical and so sophisticated....

[@elizabethnott4076]

I love every bit of this...of Jacob, here, showing us how to truly be... "embrace nonsense", embrace making "mistakes", embrace the unknown..."make that little step" to make things moving, wherever it may take you... Thank you Jacob for reminding us of these old time wisdom that we often forget. And your music and personality also just says it all...such a great fresh breath of..everything! Thank you thank you thank you!

[@benjaminmoseslieb9856]

Thanks for posting. It's like mental and creative vitamins.

[@DaPaulPhilips]

I truly believe that we are blessed to share the planet with special people whom by their creativity, insight and their talent give us a glimpse of the impossible being possible, the divine, spiritual and heavenly being realised, so we all know the possibilities of our existence are far beyond what we only may allow ourselves only to see or to be. Jacob Collier is one of special people. Nuff respect Jacob. One Love bro

[@ernestoashermeng1627]

Genius but people also singing very good. I,m singing since 1982 Tenor in choirs. Makes my soul and heart very thankfull and relaxed.

[@willene58]

Crimpe!!!! just so big and honest!!! Lyrics is gorgious.... for the UK ..

[@nora1172]

Mind blowing 👌😁🎶beautiful. Love it 💖. Especially the challenging fact in being wired and putting yourself out there, while crossing the education guidelines we are told in years.

[@mikeg3439]

My opinion: society and companionship must rest on a foundation of interpersonal agreement. Harmony is, at a fundamental level, agreement, support, understanding, complementing, developing understanding on a purely auditory level. We then weave in melody lines that we remember (bolstering agreement) and lyrics to give it poignant meaning, and it's no wonder that the music of a culture forms a massive part of that culture's legacy, but even broader than that, the music of a culture, with harmony being so basically agreed upon, becomes a bridge between cultures. In a sense, it's a language we can all speak and understand and in doing so, interact with harmony, literally and then we hope figuratively.

[@QalinaCom]

I am watching this wearing non matching socks. I think I've got potential ;)

[@joannezzy]

thanks for posting this!

[@Upytech]

Thank you so much for this lesson, I need it

[@anampt]

Jacob is God in action. The Great Harmoniser.

Thank You!! So much good philosophy here.

[@gwgwgwgw1854]

Exactly, how beautiful a statement can I make?

[@morganhernandez297]

Music and Love

[@leifkarlsen1730]

Just love this guy.

[@ernestoashermeng1627]

Todah raba Grazia fich Grazie mille, Merci beaucoup,spassiba, shukran, vila dank Swiss Germann Dialekt.Multsumesc, arrigato, chaquje, Muchos grazias, Obrigada, Shalom to Jakob Collier from Switzerland

[@laurespriggs2935]

Listen in a star seed ! He beamed down!

[@davidfleuchaus]

Goal 27:33 “So I think that embracing the idea that there’s not necessarily one goal say to develop an idea I have or create is a crucial thing to bear in mind because the goal of your idea is within the idea rather than being within your intention.”

[@itsjustthatsimple628]

sOMETIMES

[@lisedonsgrnning6518]

Thank you SO much for sharing it all here🙏🏼💚🌱💫🌟✨ …. haven’t invented the right words, yet ….. but Thank You🙏🏼💜❤️💚💝🌈🤗.

[@grahamlyons8522]

Starts at 9:30.

[@udishemesh4171]

Magical

[@bulletfastspeed]

1:28:30 the next few minutes after this timestamp and question is the best part of this talk imo. For so many reasons.

[@davidfleuchaus]

Oo. I’m about to listen to that now. I had to pause my listening and was trying to summarize all the amazing ideas and perspectives he already spoke about or demonstrated and realized someone could just about complete a PhD level thesis simply by extrapolating all he said thus far and contrast it with common approaches to music education. Diving in now.

[@davidfleuchaus]

Edges. The perpetual search. How do you find the edge because the edge is where the goodness is. If you are in the middle of what you know, in the middle of your zone, then nothing is going to change. Nothing is going to move forward. On the other hand, if you are completely outside then you are lost because you don’t have the anchorage. Often the best ideas are found on the edge of your zone. How? You have to try. Something will happen What do you like? What’s important to you? You can practice. You can decide. Something will happen if it try. Take a step. See what happens. Dance with it. Quest. Like your life belongs to you.

[@joshuagharis9017]

"Often times the path is wiggly and wobbly" epic

[@davidfleuchaus]

24:24 Nonsense as a starting point is radical acceptance of yourself. Young children know how to play. They have no shame. They delight. Delight over their freedom to experience simple things like sunlight, a hop, a bouncy gate, a new detail seen. They know so little that they approach the moment with discovery infused by curiosity. We are allowed to do that too. Nonsense just unleashes us. But we are sensible. But we judge. We criticize and compare and evaluate. They call it playing music for a reason.

[@cherylsibson2529]

I'd say the Key of Jacob fit's Jacob and thank you for sharing your key!

[@FlorisVerbeij]

09:12 for JC

[@LordJesus215]

brilliant

[@MarlonSena]

tks

[@vocalsync135]

Wishing the audio signal was not clipping and cutting off so much.

[@mariobassposaune]

Porque no se puede poner subtitulos a este video?

[@razzerraw1108]

46:30 51:58 1:19:34

[@qopdob]

Music deserves Jacob Collier in the same manner that the USA deserves Hawaii.

[@prestigious5s23]

55:23 my god I've never seen a song with that amount of individual instruments before. Unbelievable!

[@lactomedam33]

To be fair, many of those tracks are tiny parts of the actual instruments you could say. For example, as a producer, many times you may layer several bass tracks to create a unique sound as a combination of the former. And not all of these tracks are played at the same time. Many of them, as he said in the video are vocal layers. And some more are just tiny details and textures that are almost imperceptible. It shows how rich in detail jacob's music is tho that he polishes his craft to this meticulous level, and it also shows how insane his computer is 😂

[@prestigious5s23]

@@lactomedam33 I produced trance music for nearly 15 years and spent time in the studio with some phenomenal engineers in that time and no song had as many individual tracks as this. Even when we layered kicks, synths for leads or basa, it would be nowhere near that amount. He must have well over 100 individual tracks listed. I suppose we did bounce everything to individual audio samples once layering complete and imported them back in, whereas it doesn't look like does that. Sound design for film is quite extraordinary as well. Creativity imo is far beyond any electronic dance music in film and what jacod does. We're honestly like toddler compared to what they do.

[@lactomedam33]

@@prestigious5s23 I'm nowhere as experienced as your are that's for sure, but I agree that amount of tracks is quite a lot. I personally use many tracks in my music as well (not as many as jacob) and I often have to bounce stuff together because my pc is trash.

[@darnitt4406]

At 1:40:40 he does a scooby impression.

[@ruben1427]

what's that song right before the first minute? is that Stevie Wonder??

[@jeudelaguerre4222]

@1:04:44 wow

[@hope42]

He is like what AI and they should be joining forces with Charlie Puth of course. The 3 mind mapped would be cool.

[@fuzzfaceflaco]

55:04 the Save button

[@jnb-iv6zu]

1:02:18 haha jacobs harmonized kiss 😆 funny how his brain works they probably had people with pen and paper in the audience wanting theory and hes like "KISS TRACK!!"

[@joshuagharis9017]

Note: the last guy to use audience as his orchestra is Bobby Mcferrin, just saying 😉

[@kchaynie11]

Just saw Jacob Monday night. I was thinking Bobby McFerrin. Similar kind of wild musical creativity!!

[@ShredderTainment]

I wonder how many folks in the audience/choir members were crying while it was happening.

[@OM-md6ki]

52:00

[@Hai-hihi]

40:41

[@papaix4387]

Land acknowledgment’s grrrosss!

[@Davo8915]

48:07 1:28:18

[@tomwilson7236]

someone clip 1:22:27 please

[@OM-md6ki]

53:47

[@justinzakariaie4345]

Belasco is a legend

[@TheLeapTV]

Great prep and questions by you!

[@ajithbharathvaajlr8364]

It starts at 9:05

[@davidfleuchaus]

21:32 Our brains have many areas, streams, foci. The Language part overstates it’s centrality and primacy but it is merely one part and it is not very good at a number of things. (Shh don’t tell it - it will react and take over again.) I have a couple dogs. Without language, but with great pack-oriented drive, dogs are consistently more connected to the emotional state of their human than are other humans. They excel at things and act more quickly than we do since we constantly need to put things through the language networking in our brains and our process is therefore less immediate than theirs. We cry with pitch. We moan and delight and exclaim and more with pitch and timbre and variations in volume. We pay attention to those details in every conversation we listen to. Music is like that. But it gets behind our language part and addresses us and frees us to be. Is it spiritual? It might be. Or perhaps spiritual practices include more aspects of humanity than modern culture acknowledges.

[@petercooper6546]

why is the interviewer on his phone!! Should he be doing this?

[@eviculum4518]

THAT ONE GUY WITH THE BEAR SUIT IN THE FRONT LEFT XDDDDD

[@placidoleone]

I Need subtitles in italian, please!

[@jay_adams__]

🧙👀

[@marcellobugagiar4770]

Se lui fosse nato nel 1500 oggi lo avremmo ascoltato assieme a Bach, Beethoven e Mozart

[@marvinraphaelmonfort8289]

ever slightly punk 🤗💗

[@bronney]

Thank god no one clapped to it.

[@GizzyDillespee]

48:25🤣 1:01:05🤣🤣

[@SuperMagicVoice]

why to add fake loop edited applause a the beginig? 9:10 , I don't get the point 🤷

[@SammiEnka]

Is that you Mr Rogers??

[@SammiEnka]

Or is Jacob an android programmed with all knowledge of music? 😅

[@Kobe29261]

He's also why we should end all exploitation and suffering. We - the world, perhaps doesn't deserve him - how we allow fellow humans to subsist. If I were the machine cranking out humans I'd take one look at life in many parts of the world and refuse to crank out a 'Collier' - why should I? May all beings find peace to flourish!

[@davecannon1523]

"Get in losers, we're going solfege"

[@willene58]

Kapustin style ....but also just Colllier too

[@davidfleuchaus]

9:40 Eb Bb/E Eb scalar flourishes ccccc bb eb f a f (EbLyd) Ab Eb F C/E D …. Dm7,9

[@termitolaus]

it seems hilarious to me that on a show that is all about audio, there lingers someone around the microphone taking pictures, fucking around with the setup... deeply distracting

[@daviddickey370]

At the beginning, instead of the invocation acknowledging you feel you stole the land, why not just give it back? Actions speak louder than words!

[@unholylemonpledge9730]

It was incredibly cringe

[@gotjuice9]

I'm pretty sure the person making the acknowledgement doesn't own the land to give it back.

[@i23intheplace2b]

The moment they realized they're tone deaf.

[@stoneyewilso8325]

Thank you Jacob . KZbin I will never buy your products , you have blasphemed again

[@sophiafakevirus-ro8cc]

The privileged class get all the breaks. The working class were busy thinking about getting food, that day.

[@peterjrmoore3941]

JC was incred lucky to have the mum he did and to have lived in a fairly well to do part of London. My mum chucked me and my piano out to prove she loved her roughly same age bf more than me - and piano/music was my only sanity.

[@sophiafakevirus-ro8cc]

@@peterjrmoore3941 She chucked you out cus you played badly, she chucked the piano out so that you wouldn't come back.