Prefection Part To

Does anyone prefer to read prose that isn't proofread? I missed a couple errors in my last blog entry. Does that make me more "rock?"

One friend brought up the idea that editing should be used to correct great performances, not mediocre ones. I like this idea, and need to remember to keep that in mind.

Don Gehman, who produced my album "The Story So Far" noticed that the pitch center of the record was wide. I.E.: the variety of guitars and keyboards we used made it that notes that were not 100% in tune according to science sounded in tune, because it was in tune to, for example, the quirky Hammond organ. This leads to another discussion: time and practicality.

It is quick and easy to simply drop auto-tune on an instrument in the world of digital recording. Auto-tune pushes and pulls the pitch as close as you would like to "perfection." This does not take into account how in tune the rhythm guitar with the accidentally bent D string is.

It's more musical to listen to each vocal note alone with the guitar or piano and only adjust the notes that bug you. It's also significantly more time consuming.

Those of us who are pursuing music as a career are doing so at a time when people are buying less records. I am a full-time musician. I need the music that I make to create income for me. What's the best way for me to do that?

Lately I've been writing music with and for other artists. This is in hopes that I can find other people who will take the baton and find a home and a market for the songs we create. Is it in my best interests to write one song that I spend 80 hours making or eight songs that I spend ten hours on? That depends. If the artist is someone who is already established and I know their record is going to see the light of day, then theoretically I should spend the extra time on it. That doesn't necessarily mean that the song is going to turn out better.

This all comes down to taste. This is the job of the artist and the record producer.

In a conversation with Fitz, the singer of the band I'm touring with, he more or less said: "vibe is the one commodity that is still valuable in the digital age." Almost everyone has access to computers that can make your music sound huge and "good" in a subjective way. Creativity and finding that perfect sound, maybe you use a rickety upright piano, or a $15 garage sale casio keyboard, is the one aspect that still separates the women from the girls.

Knowing when to say when is enlightenment.

Let's keep working, but let's know when to stop.