Musician Diaries

After giving it some consideration, I've decided to discontinue the podcast (at least by the moment), to focus my efforts on other areas, where they will be more useful. I don't regret having run this "experiment"; it has not only generated a lot of learning about my current situation, my environment and my skills (and lack of thereof) in different areas; it has also fulfilled the purpose of helping me get through the worst part of the winter, which was one of my motivations when I started this side project, so in that regard the experience has been successful (because I'm still here, haha...) Once you get the "knack" of creating standard work processes, a new era of creativity and development opens for you. I've gone through the "valley of tears", I've put down the hours, and I'm now able to create basic stability in a new process quite simply. My big error, perhaps, was underestimating the effort required. Standard work conque...

I like to listen to whole albums -I have radio streaming for when I don't-. I like the way an album works as a unit, as a little "country" full of regions, as a movie with scenes, as a house with rooms, all different but with a connecting feeling of unity. There is also the convenience of knowing you've "solved" what you're going to listen to in the upcoming 40-60 minutes. I like to pick my moods and moments, and with the randomness/algorithms of streaming... well, you never know. It can go right or be "one of those days". Perhaps the best moment when you're listening to an album you enjoy and keep coming back to, is that "sweet spot" where the music is no longer brand new for you, you start to be able to recognize passages or hum parts of melodies, but it still hasn't all sunk in as familiar. Depending on the style and intricacy of the album, it can take 3 or 10 listenings, but when you get there it is usually a very recogniz...

In today's episode: I challenged myself to write a song in 5 hours, and here's what happened... Interview with Neil Young mentioned in the episode Theme song: " Hey " by Juanitos (CC BY-SA)

I once heard in some podcast (and mentioned it in some entry of this blog) of this technique a DIY musician had to differentiate his different "roles" or "personas" when making music; using different caps to signify he was in "musician mode" vs "producer mode"; quite a trick to make physical the difference of mindset, remembering the things to focus upon are different in each case... I'm 99.98% sure that the cap that appears in the background of this Yamaha promotional video means that someone has taken that concept one step further, customizing a cap that you can wear in two very different positions, each with a different color. I'm even willing to bet that the producer/engineer (the one with the focused, singleminded approach) gets the position with the visor, while the willy-nilly musician, son of chance and whims of muses, gets the most informal one... (He is also probably the one who wanted to buy a cap like this in the first place...