It's late and I can't sleep, so perhaps it's time to make a belated thank you to those of you following this page. The total number passed 50 some time ago, and I had intended to write this at that time... but things don't always work according to plan. It feels like just yesterday I was stagnant at 19 followers, but something about seeing how much it's risen just reaffirms my passion for the things I try to do. Thank you so much for any support you have given me, regardless of how small or "meager" it may be. 50 probably doesn't seem like much of a number when 5-year-olds can count that high, but I'm just an average dude with average expectations. To think that I have any person willing to listen to the things I do is incredibly humbling. I'm probably also just in that phase of life where self-awareness really starts to kick in, and I'm feeling the high.
Truth be told, I get discouraged every time I make a new track, because something about it just "wasn't right", or it didn't turn out "as planned". Every new piece feels like a step forward and two immediate steps back. More and more of the minutiae begins to swamp every facet of the work, until suddenly I've piled up articles upon articles regarding the physics behind the human vocal cords (Bernoulli's Principle is cool, kids), and books ranging from recording to the individual timbres and textures of every known instrument. It's an endless rabbit hole. All of this can be tough on the mind. However, though I say "discouraged", I always want to do more once all is said and done. I want to learn more about it. I want to write it better. I want to move more people. It's that sort of naive ambition that keeps driving me to write, and keeps my imagination from clouding. It's still pretty early in life to say anything about that won't change, but I hope to remain passionate about it for the rest of my brief existence. Perhaps it isn't a very unique notion. I'd venture a guess that many other artists, even on this site, have a similar ideology.
To have people who listen to that personal experience of life's progression in my music is something I am very grateful for. I remind myself often about how fortunate it is to be able to share it with such a talented and social community. I hope we can continue to share a lot more of life in our art, and that others can connect with and enjoy it.
So again, thank you for listening and making it worth something. :)
ChronoNomad
First off, you're welcome. Happy to listen to (read) your thoughts.
You know, I think that anyone who is passionate about the music wants to learn more and more about the world of music in general, and continues to seek for that holy grail, that piece of music that will ultimately become their magnum opus.
The funny thing about that is, even then we wouldn't be content to just sit still and rest on our laurels. We would want to one up that composition, as well! And so we would continue working and learning and striving toward bigger and better heights of musical attainment. It's in our blood; our very DNA. And so nothing is ever just right, because we know that we ourselves are imperfect, thereby making the music that we create equally imperfect.
Ultimately, we will always feel as though it's incomplete in some way, like we could have done more to convey what we were trying to get across to ourselves and our audience, but in the end it's important to leave one project behind in order to move on to the next. Because constantly moving forward is the only true way to live. Not to mention how we manage to amass such impressive repertoires!
Deemo-R
I definitely agree with you. There's always a "next time I'll do this" moment at the end of each project. Having a point where one's skill or imagination cannot go any farther is probably impossible. I think the idea of having lifelong development is really exciting, as well as having something that will last even after we're gone :)