The Big Recording Rant

[j3ffr0]

I listened to your tune and then read your write up. As I was finishing off my coffee, some lyrics came that I started to write down. After ten minutes it might be the most compelling chorus that I've come up with lyrically. Thanks Bob!

I also love Dan Fogelberg btw.

[FrankHudson]

Originally Posted by j3ffr0

Man, I'm in a similar boat. A few things combined to help me reach a critical mass to make progress in spite of my perfectionist tendencies.
- A conversation with the great Stephen Bennett about composing where he told me that the ideas that come and stay.... those are the ones that deserve to be finished.
-Following the conversation I did some deep introspection on what finished means to me. I decided that it meant that I had a proof of concept level recording.
-Based upon that I made short term goals for myself to get this song or that song done by the end of the month. I don't always hit them, but it's been moving me forward. I always keep a handful of covers and originals that I'm working up t record that proof of concept. Whatever bubbles up the fastest gets recorded first.

The good thing, is that I've learned so much since I started this recording thing in October. My first few songs, I had to play clean all the way through or punch in, because I didn't know how to comp. I'm still getting better at comping... Thank god for comping! I can clean up my slop.

I'm learning more about how well I have to play something to record it. I'm getting better at knowing when I have something worked up well enough.

Recording and mixing improvements and knowledge improving rapidly. I'm reading books and trying new things with each recording.

Letting myself realize that I'm probably going to eventually want to re-do almost everything I'm doing now is allowing me to move forward and make progress.

I suspect most creativity "rules" work some of the time for some of the folks, so you get to pick and chose, mix and match, and even contradict your favorite rules. Sounds like that's what you're doing!

The "ones that stick" idea is a good one. I used to compose lyrics largely by composing while walking, biking, working, etc. Advantages: your physical feet can help internalize the metrical feet of your verse, you can short-circuit your ****ing critic if you keep it busy doing something else, and you can't really take notes or write it down right away. This means you apply the test "does it stick" to your own memory while composing. If you don't find it memorable, what's the chance anyone else will?*

You're also doing a much more moderate version of my self-imposed deadlines, set a production schedule, expect productivity/creativity practice that I've followed for about 5 years. I'm not sure this works forever, or for everyone, but your finish a song by the end of the month thing is a moderate approach compared to mine. Some folks believe they'll run out of ideas, or that inspiration is a scarce resource not to be overmined or expected--but in some cases, at least for some intervals of use,** I find that creativity expands as you use it, you learn new ways to solve artistic problems, and one things leads to another.

Some songwriters have a dozen or half-a-dozen good songs in them, and some can produce remarkable work fairly rapidly, by expecting creativity. Think Mann-Weil, Gofffin-King, and Bacharach-David in the Brill Building era, Holland-Dozier-Holland at Motown, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, etc.

And then there are songwriters like Guy Clark who write many fewer songs, but some of them are sublime.


*That doesn't mean you can't, nor that I don't edit, expand or condense what I composed "in memory" later.

**Burnout can occur when you do this, and many of those who have done this over several years do eventually exhaust their muse and creative resources. I'm unsure, but I may be reaching that point myself currently, though external forces are limiting me too. There's the Edna St Vincent Millay "First Fig" observation about burning the candle and both ends=lovely light. Would The Beatles (to use one example) have produced better work or more memorable work in greater quantity in a longer career if they had put out one album every three or four years? One can't say for sure, but I doubt it.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

Some songwriters have a dozen or half-a-dozen good songs in them, and some can produce remarkable work fairly rapidly,

**Burnout can occur when you do this, and many of those who have done this over several years do eventually exhaust their muse and creative resources. I'm unsure, but I may be reaching that point myself currently, though external forces are limiting me too.

For myself, I know that I have but a half dozen reasonable songs. And that will probably be it. But that is o.k. I accept that. My goal is not quantity but quality. As long as they come out the way I have dreamed they would come out, and they are reasonably well received, is all that matters. The big Question is if they are indeed worthy. Or Am I fooling myself? But even that matters least, as the music has to come out. Be it great, bad or indifferent, it just has to come out regardless cause there is no other feeling like it.

Burnouts? Or even worse, not being able to expand and by keep traveling down the same path over and over, Occur in any artistic profession. Rarely does one, not burn out either creatively, or emotionally concerning art . Especially if one works hard at it. I was a commercial photographer back in the 80's & 90's. My approach was to create photos that took hours to create and had lots of thought behind them. Sometimes I would invest 40 or more hours in thoughts, building props and working the design element. I burned out in that, and have no desire to return. I was also a Custom knife maker for many years. While I loved the end product...loved how people reacted to my custom knives...I began to hate making knives. The perfectionist in me...spent way to long making each knife to where it became to much of a chore. So I have long since retired. Right now I am making some knives for a special Raffle of an Traditional archery event that I started way back at the first year of the new century. I am very excited to be offering some of this pieces to my great friends...but I am hating making them. Especially since it is hot outside and it is taking away from music. We all burn out. That is a given. But hopefully with music, we will eventually come back to it. I did.

There are those rare examples, of artists that can keep it going no matter what. (McCartney.) But those kind of people are the rarest of the rare. I can think of only a handful of musicians who have stood the test of time and continually create new and interesting music.

When all is said and done, The Best we can ever hope for is to Enjoy the Journey. The Journey is often the best part of Art. Unfortunately we don't always recognize that at the time.

[rick-slo]

There is one way for things to go right, but many ways for things to go wrong. The perfectionist bane.

[j3ffr0]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

There is one way for things to go right, but many ways for things to go wrong. The perfectionist bane.

There are many versions of right, but the one guaranteed way for a project to fail is to not do it at all. --

I was thinking last night about yin and yang... extremes... Extreme perfectionism will keep most from ever finishing anything. Extreme half assedness will make anything produced a waste of time. I figure most people need a balance some where between the two to reach their optimal results. I know I'm a recovering perfectionist, so I have think about how to get over myself in order to get anything done.

I also reflected about the time when I first started playing the guitar and my mindset during those first six magical months... I sucked -- no doubt... but I would have recorded myself doing anything if I had the capability.... I really didn't but I tried and tried anyway using whatever I could get my hands on.... recording myself when I could barely play in time (if I could at all) That childlike bit of fun and discovery is what it's all about. No need to take myself so seriously as an old fart. Logic dictates that I should not be too worried about if someone thinks some of my recordings are lacking -- because they are... I'm still in proof of concept phase... The one thing I still have in common with that young teenage version of me is that I'm experimenting and learning rapidly.

Just trying to share a few thoughts that might help some other recovering perfectionist somewhere.

[SprintBob]

This is a cool thread, I love the insights and experiences shared here.

Believe it or not, there are many experiences in life that parallel the emotion and feelings we get from playing music. I was not a serious musician until 8 years (lover of music all my life). I have been a competitive outdoor athlete all my life most of which has been sailing and racing smaller high performance sailboats and a lot of windsurfing. In addition I’m an avid cyclist. There are many days I’ve had as a cyclist or waterman that elicit similar feelings and emotions described here.

Advice. In addition to music, have a parallel activity outdoors that can connect you to nature and bring out what we can feel and experience playing music. It will make you an even more passionate musician IMO.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by SprintBob

This is a cool thread, I love the insights and experiences shared here.

Believe it or not, there are many experiences in life that parallel the emotion and feelings we get from playing music. I was not a serious musician until 8 years (lover of music all my life). I have been a competitive outdoor athlete all my life most of which has been sailing and racing smaller high performance sailboats and a lot of windsurfing. In addition I’m an avid cyclist. There are many days I’ve had as a cyclist or waterman that elicit similar feelings and emotions described here.

Advice. In addition to music, have a parallel activity outdoors that can connect you to nature and bring out what we can feel and experience playing music. It will make you an even more passionate musician IMO.

Beautifully stated SprintBob.