I get distracted by tools. Everything a music producer/musician uses to help create a transcendent recording is a tool of some sort. Trust me – that’s a lot of tools. And in order to use a tool effectively, you must understand how it works and what it is capable of. This takes time – sometimes quite a bit of time. But learning how to use a tool is not the same thing as making something. Important distinction.
Now, it is perfectly valid to explore and learn your tools if creative ideas aren’t flowing. And it’s also true that in order to achieve certain sounds, you need to have (and know how to use) certain tools. This is one of the things I love about music – it presents a never-ending learning curve.
But tools can also become a distraction – a rabbit hole into which you drop only to resurface a few hours later going “WTF!?” and realize you didn’t make anything. It’s like those camera guys who get obsessed with lenses but never get around to actually making cool pictures. Sometimes I feel like I’m heading down that rabbit hole… Like I’m spending too much time playing with and learning how to use my tools and not enough time actually making music. Ouch – that hurts to say.
Sometimes the truth fucking hurts, but if we don’t face it we can’t grow…
Look – we live in an amazing time, tools are being invented to solve problems we didn’t even know existed. But I’ve got to remember that the tools are there to help me get somewhere…
AFTER I’VE ACTUALLY MADE SOMETHING!