The Final Iteration
I dug up some old hard drives a while back with a ton of songs and sessions on them.
My method back then was to open a Garage Band session, hit record and play whatever idea I’d just come up with…then hit stop, tinker for a few minutes, record the updated version on the same track, stop, tinker, record…and keep going until…
Sometimes the track would be thirty or forty five minutes of iteration after iteration of the same idea, and that doesn’t include all the tinker time in between.
But here’s the interesting part…Listening back to all those songs (songs I had long since forgotten about), the final iteration of each song is the one I still like best.
As creative people we develop a sense for when to push and when to pause.
Usually when we think we can make it better right now, we’re right.
Usually when we think it’s as good as it’s going to be right now, we’re right.
»» For those who have watched Get Back…Once Paul lands on the melody for Get Back it doesn’t change.
The A
The A on my computer is keeps coming off. I think one of the clamps that holds it down is broken…so sometimes when I press it with my pinky, the little square just stays on my finger.
Here’s the real problem…
It’s infinitely easier, faster and more efficient to buy a whole new computer than it is to get the key fixed. But I find it interesting that the easier, faster and more efficient choice isn’t the best choice for me in this case.
I’ll probably live with the wiggly A a little longer and then suffer through a half a dozen phone calls to Apple repair places to find out who can fix it for five dollars.
Unplugging From The Old Thing
You never have to anymore.
The former band, the former city, the former lover, the former season.
It’s just as easy to keep up with the past as it is the present. Reliving the pictures and videos and following the old accounts and keeping up with ‘where are they now’. There’s enough content for our past seasons to never have to unplug from them.
It used to be once you left town you were gone and all you had was your new landing spot. However, now you can be in your new landing spot but still be fully plugged into the old one. And even more…not unplugging from the old thing has the power to keep you from finding the new thing to plug into.
It would be easier to unplug from the old thing if there weren’t so many ways to stay plugged into it. You’re gonna have to pull the cord yourself.
Grace And Imagination
That’s what we give to the demo version. Or at least that’s the invitation when someone sends us a song title with (demo) after it. Forgive the mess and let the creative brain flow.
Demos are fun because we’re hearing something in-process. More exposed. Without as much insulation. I love demos.
Inviting someone (or being invited) into that part of the process is a true gift.
One More Seat
If you’re building a new theater it pays to add one more seat. That extra seat represents thousands of dollars in annual revenue. And to add one more seat you only need to down size all the other seats in the row by a half an inch.
So you cut each seat by a half inch and that gives you an extra seat. And since the math works in one row, why not do it to all rows…so now you’ve got an extra seat in each row. Now we’re making money.
You’ve squeezed a half inch out of each seat…but if each seat has two arm rests and you can cut a quarter of an inch of each arm rest, that math should give you ANOTHER seat in each row.
So now you’ve got seats that are a little narrower than normal but functional…and arm rests that usable but aren’t quite comfortable. But the cashflow is gonna be insane.
It’s a slippery slope…
What about taking out the arm rests all together? How narrow can the seats be without violating codes? Can the aisles be narrower in order to add more seats? What’s the minimum amount of leg room needed…maybe another whole row can be added?
At some point you have to ask…is anyone going to want to come to this place? Or even more so…is anyone going to want to come back…is anyone going to tell their friends how wonderful it was?
Eventually, adding one more seat is going to do the exact opposite of what you hope adding one more seat is going to do.