Skip to main content

Perfectionism: Pros and Cons

     I am a perfectionist when it comes to music. so much so that I am often displeased with minor details in my work. this can hider my enjoyment of when listening back. I know that getting hung up on the small things can distract from the big picture, which is what's important. An example of this is on a  when I hear a few spots in my recent album where my vocals were a little rough, my throat tenses up. But when I take a step back and think, when I listen to Artists like Dave Matthews and Pavement I don't listen the imperfections, I listen to the music, for its imagery, its words, its feelings. Anne Lammot has a quote that effectively expresses the biggest downfalls of this attitude, "Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft." letting small things hold you back will prevent the creative process from being a free flowing art-form.
     On the other hand, It comes in handy during the writing and recording process. I want the song composition to perfectly suite the song. I ensure that every track shines through its respective frequency range in the mix. I do a lot of the little things that bring a lot to my final product. When I feel that a section feels thin, I'll rack my mind until I find the right compositional component that will not just fill the space, but also bring something the the atmosphere of the song thematically.
     I believe I have found a happy medium between perfectionism and aloofness. It is perched upon the diamond tip of enjoyment. If i'm to self critical i'm not having fun; If i'm Too aloof I will be dissatisfied with my final product. balancing these attitudes is the key.

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 6, 2018 at 9:26 AM

    When I write I'm the same way. I try to be as perfect about it as I can. I knit pick my writing and try to make it the best I can. but when I read other peoples writing or watching a movie I try not to think about the grammar, just the way it is suppose to feel.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Recording and Mixing notes

the most important part of recording music is getting good takes with instruments and vocals. getting good recordings is the first and highest priority in the recording process. Once good takes are made you want to begin mixing. to mix you apply plugins such as compression, reverb, panning and so on. it is a good idea to listen to music you like, that would be a good example for your mix. I tend to listen to Dave Matthews band for this purpose. last night while listening I came up with some notes that I later applied to a song im working on called Aesthetic. I Equalized the alternating down beat shaker (used as a snare) to the root note of the key the song is in. a minor touch but I think it adds a lot to the mix. I also noticed how Dave's vocals cut through the layer heavy song; there was minimal reverb and decay, so I rolled down both of these parameters which yeilded positive results. It is like Anne Lammot referencing authors she enjoyed, especially her father, you want to read
Post a Comment
Read more

crazy time signatures and math

Alternate and odd time signatures are my bread and butter; working to make something so off beat resonate well with a listener is the most enjoyable challenge in my life. The above picture is a simple chart depicting a song I wrote for my band Beat Juice. The first line is the part I play and the one below is what Dal plays; as you can probably see, my part is divided irregularly making it nearly impossible to feel the pulse. to remedy this I wrote Dal's part in 4/5, this way both of us will play a total of 20 beats per phrase. by choosing common time emphasis to put over my part, the pulse of the song emerges. I like to compare this to Anne Lamott's experience with writing stories that may not have appealed to people and publishers, but she continued anyway, and that is the true nature of art in my opinion; push through the hate to create something you are proud of.
1 comment
Read more

Frustration

Over this last summer I recorded an LP. As I listen to the finalized mixes I am a little frustrated with my performance, especially with vocals. It sucks to look back and realize that there is no way to fix it. Fortunately my producer Jame McConnell is a beast and is doing his best to fix some of my sloppiness. I know now that I was singing without my diaphragm and have since learned to do so. It has dis-heartened me but at the end of the day I'm proud of the music I produced, despite it's imperfections. It is a snapshot of where I was as a musician the summer of 2018, and if you look past some of the mistakes I believe it is a fun collection of unique songs that at the very least will be an interesting listen. Like Anne Lammot says, you might think something is perfect at the time only to realize later that it could've used more work, but perfection is impossible and as long as you're happy with what you've written, then it is great.
1 comment
Read more