When simply eating your cake is enough

Experience should not be vulgarized based on what is not experienced. Just as it should not be extolled when one has it and another does not. It just should be what it is, and appreciated thus.

The Ears are the Pathway to the Soul (Part I)

Previously I wrote about the transition of a sound professional from the field of film to music. In light of my recent domestic developments, home recording and mixing has become less of a reality. In its stead, I have rediscovered...this. The written word. Is it any mistake that an individual who listens to words as his occupation would eventually take to composing his own?

For the record, I wrote seriously well before I became involved in film. In fact, I received a bachelor's degree in nonfiction writing. The intention was a segue into a career in journalism...or perhaps documentaries. As it turned out, the doors opened up to reveal a pathway into long-form, scripted film, but as a sound technician instead.

As I have said before, a week's worth of drenching rain and mischievous mold conspired to kick me out of my house and away from my recording equipment, and what I thought was to be my most creative outlet, my number one mistress, my music.

The more steps you take to avoid your destiny, the closer you get to it.

Now, I don't know if I believe that...all the time, at least. But in this case, my old lady, the written word, is ringing me nonstop wondering where I have been. I tell her, "I'm here, baby. I never stray for long. Besides, you knew the deal going into this, my previous allegiances."

"Hmph," she says, as if she's heard it one thousand times. And she has.

Racking Focus: From Crew to Compression to...

Without a doubt, film is an incredible art form and an expressive creative engine. But not for everybody. While directors give in to every one of his or her creative indulgences, crew members all have to put their heads down and make it happen. The act of simply filling a role becomes devoid of inspiration and creativity. It becomes just a job.

I recently finished work on a film. It was hard. Just a two man crew (sound crews are usually three). As the boom operator, I did the job of two people, and under the circumstances, I did a fine job...WE did a fine job, at least that's what my mixer told me. We won't really know until the movie comes out. The last two weeks of the movie, the mood of the crew got worse and worse, but my attitude was more like senioritis. I couldn't wait for the time off when I could pursue my own creativity, not the director's (who in this case plays the role of the teacher). I had had enough of film for the time being. Now it was music time.

My music.

I knew I wanted to record a new demo. I've been recording at home for years, and at times to a certain degree of success. But this time I wanted it to be REALLY good. Meaning, well written songs and production that didn't sound like I recorded on a plastic, two-channel interface. So recording right away was not a concern. I decided to just focus on composing, and to let the songs grow organically to the point that they felt complete.

It's an interesting transition, to go from a social collaborative effort of a Hollywood movie where there are judgements coming from all sides and at most times I was merely a laborer, to the solitary job as a composer/engineer/producer. Both rival each other in the energy they demand, but the sources of those energies come from different places (as well as the pressures). Yet both require the pursuit of excellence, which I suppose is the ultimate and only demand that is important.

So far, I have the most basic tracks of two songs recorded. In the process of writing this blog, I travelled from work (hey! still got to pay rent), and had to temporarily vacant my home due to a mold infestation, which has thrown a major wrench into my recording engine.

The time (and lack of progress on this project) has allowed be to distill the theme of what I want to say. The field of sound is broad, and it offers one that chooses to accept it technical and creative challenges a number of different paths. And those paths are not always exclusive. That is the important thing. Not how good my Yamaha acoustic sounds recorded through a plug-in compressor. But that, one month you CAN work on a film, and just use your technical expertise to work towards a greater whole. And the next month you CAN be a musician, fulfilling your own creative impulses, or even other musicians' (if you can get work as an engineer or mixer or even ProTools editor). You CAN do this along as you have the energy to make those shifts and, perhaps more importantly, keep up your contacts in both areas.

The question for me now is what to do while my home studio is down. I keep composing. I keep writing, because composing words is such a valuable exercise for the mind. I keep reading on a number of subjects. And I try to expand my networking web everyday, looking for jobs on the film/TV side all the while making new friends on the music side with the hopes of creative insight and new professional opportunity.