New website. Finished that a week or so ago, but wanted to make sure everything was all set.
Same stuff, with more to come.
blog
Finding my way
There are a lot of times where I'll hear a song — often far outside of the "guy with a guitar" genre — and just know that I have a "way in": that I can do a cover version in "my style" (whatever that is). But even more often, even a fairly straightforward song seems out of reach.
"There is no try; only do." — Yoda
What I've found is that so much is possible if we just forget what is "impossible" and do it.
The Truth
Music is the best thing and the worst thing.
It creates. It destroys. It heals. It kills. It fills. It empties. It forgets. It never, ever forgets.
The truth is that I'm comforted and haunted by the sound of your voice. It echoes in my mind like a song that's been stuck in my head.
I'm afraid that it will stop. I'm afraid that it will never stop. And even the silence carries your song.
I have arrived.
Received my first YouTube copyright notice. I guess the Everlong (Foo Fighters) video will have ads now. That didn't take long. lol
Thoughts on music
I love it.
That was going to be the entirety of my post — sort of a glib attempt at humour, while acknowledging this important fact. I guess It's a defense mechanism.
Declaring one's feelings is always incredibly risky. Talking about something intimate like that either results in affirmation, apathy, or rejection. Two out of three of those are very undesirable. Apathy may as well be rejection. Anyway, what am I talking about, music or relationships? They're one in the same.
Music is a virus.
Tonight something incredible happened: I inspired someone. It never really occurred to me that such a thing could be possible.
Sound versus sound
A big part of the reason I haven't recorded often in the past is that microphones irritate me — on so many levels. But instead of complaining ad nauseum, I'll talk about the problem of sound in a more general sense.
I had a great conversation about this once...
The sound of a live instrument carries so much more with it than something reproduced by speakers. That's why I prefer acoustic, and why recording is an exercise in frustration: I can NEVER get the sound I put into it out at the other end. Some people will read this and think I'm nuts, and others will be upset that I'm not using the correct scientific term for this aural phenomenon.
"The message sent is NEVER the message received"
A professor used to say this, and I think that applies here as well. We can come really close. A good microphone setup can sound so similar when played through good speakers or earphones. But it doesn't FEEL the same.
Good News, Bad News
That should probably be the name of a really great song — "Good News, Bad News" — but I haven't written it. Sorry. Perhaps I will someday, but it's too soon.
I didn't plan for any of this.
I can't take credit for this website existing in its current form. And I certainly didn't plan on writing any blog posts. Two weeks ago there was little here. It was a relic of the past. Yet today I'm looking at a string of posts that I couldn't have imagined in before. I'll try to keep it up this music-related, but no promises. But I'm definitely going to keep it up.
TL;DR
Good news: I'm going to keep posting music.
Bad news: I'm not posting any today.
I had hoped to announce an exciting collaboration. That isn't happening now. But this works for me, so I'm going to keep doing it, posting more music here on my own as often as I can find something to play, if not original, then at least in an original way.
Beginner's mind, expert's skill.
I think that's something to strive for. Maybe this is something you'll disagree with. But while having a beginner's approach leads to discovery, it's limited by one's ability to execute.
This is a balance I've always struggled with. Not being an expert, I can't effortlessly produce the sounds I want to. But also not being a beginner, I perceive sounds with a great deal of bias.
On Mortality
I have never known someone who died. Until now. I'm not really even sure how to process it.
People talk about things like 'god' and the 'question of suffering'. I'm not even going to try to tackle that; not now. This is similar, but a little different.
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