Accidents

So I'm working my way slowly towards the completion of the, as yet un-named, To Kill A Mockingbird album! I have one track mastered, another is about halfway ready, and there is one more that I want to dive into here with this blog post.

I was reminded this past week about the influence/impact that the Accidental has on artwork.

let me start with a story.

i had an entire song recorded. i went to export the song. i then saved the export over the original tracks,(essentially deleting them) and erased any chance i had of reworking the song without re-recording the whole thing all over again.

this was an accident.

and frustrating.

but thats okay, because i think accidents/imperfections/problems give life to whatever work is being created. there is a level of excellence in every good work of art. be it a painting, a musical score, a sculpture, the building of a house, or the creation of anything. but could it be that the mistakes and failures along the way give more life to something created than if it had just come out right the first time?

mistakes make for good stories.
accidents make for new ways of thinking about things.
imperfections add detail to what could have been a very bland and perfect thing.

i have songs whose final recorded versions of  lyrics are the result of a breath not taken deep enough so that some words get omitted. words that i thought were essential. but must have just been weighing things down or else they would have not fallen off.

so losing the tracks i had worked for days on resulted in me taking a deeper look a what i had recorded and coming to the conclusion that i hadn't given it my all the first time around. i was trying to cover up a mediocre performance with lots of layers and effects that i thought would finally make the song click. the mistakes made there did not add to the song. they did nothing but make me realize how quickly i was trying to rush something good out.

none of this is to say that you should not strive for excellence or perfection in whatever you are creating or doing. but it is to say that the ability to look mistakes in the face, learn from them, include them, and celebrate their influence is a great opportunity for growth.

so im going to keep striving for the best i can play, sing, and record, but now with an appreciation for good mistakes.

ive begun a whole new set of tracks for this song. ive slowed it down, stripped it of extra needless instrumentation, set it in a new key, and simplified the melody. all of this work being the result of a simple accident. in the end, im feeling much better about the song.

i think you're going to like it too