Less than perfect.
"you played a good
hand"
"no, i played a bad hand very well,
there's a difference."
Before I made
records, it was easy to be critical of music that I deemed less than perfect. I
didn't understand that records are usually made under less than perfect
circumstances. With unlimited time, budget and a perfect team, I'm sure a lot
of records would be better. I'm not sure how many people get that, I'm thinking
it's pretty much only sting and michael jackson...
When I first went rappelling, while I
was in line to try it, I observed how everyone faltered at the first step, the
part where you stick your butt out over the 8 story drop. I resolved to not
falter, to cheerfully walk backwards right off the cliff face so as not to annoy
the people like me who were waiting for you to grow a pair and hurry up so the
rest of us could have a shot.
When it
came to my turn, harnessed in and ready to go, I got a good look over the cliff
face. Parts of my body that typically hang outside, retracted inside my body
from fear. I think I may have whimpered a little. I took as long as everyone
else to find the courage to step off the edge. It's easy to be critical when
you're not the one hanging your butt
out.
For the most part, you usually don't
have enough budget to hire the orchestra you wanted, you don't have indefinite
time to write that perfect 10th song and you would have an easier time herding
cats with a straw then you typically do getting band members and label staff all
on the same page. And that's on a good day. You're lucky if there's not at
least one christian bale class meltdown somewhere in the process.
As you get close to finishing your first
record, you start to realize that there's no button in the studio that makes
your humble efforts sound more like the records you loved and rather than
enhancing your performance, the studio only tends to shine a light on your
flaws. A bit like discovering that a good photographer doesn't make you into a
supermodel. You just get a nice picture of your funny looking face. (at least
that's what happened to me.)
So having
been through the humbling process of making a record, I now tend to be much less
critical of all art. I understand that usually, what I'm listening to, someone
worked very hard on and most likely, it is a gift from their heart. It's easy
from the back seat to say you could have done better, until you get a chance to
drive and you discover that man, it's harder than it looks. (a bit like being
married that one)
I was briefly part of
infuze magazine and the slogan there was "criticize by creating". I always
thought it was a great ethos. Rather than spending our energy lamenting the
lack of art we like, perhaps we should turn our considerable energy to creating
it.
get out there. make art. be gentle
with your fellow artists.
extra credit:
the opening quote is from the whedonverse. which show? discuss joss whedon's
fascination with strong female characters.
Posted: Tue - April 14, 2009 at 03:30 PM
