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STRATEGY FOR THE DAY: Move slowly.

I have been fretting about how much time it's taking me to remix my Water Falls Down album and get it ready for remastering. As I work on each of the songs over the days, hours or minutes I can give to it, each one feels like it slowly approaches some magical point at which I say, "It's there." But it's so sloooow! I get frustrated at the mistakes I make, the time I have to spend going backwards because there's something I need to learn, then I get mad at myself and think I have no talent. But I AM gradually circling closer to the Point at which it all stops and gets sent off to DiscMakers.

By a very circuitous route (I won't tell you how circuitous but it involved a radio blog called Afterlife FM and another called Radio Lab), I stumbled across a wonderfully appropriate web site this evening. I'm sure all you musically inclined Brits will say, "Oh yes. We knew all about that." But I didn't. The website is called The Long Now from a concept/phrase by founding board member, Brian Eno. It was inspired by his experience of the shorter, faster 'Now' of New York city as opposed to the longer, slower 'Now' he was used to in England. The web site has excellent essays and a series of projects that are intriguing. The stated purpose is to get people to automatically think in the long term instead of the short term we are all so used to. To that end, they are developing a 10,000 Year Clock! Gotta love these people!

So my point is, if I think in terms of 10,000 years, my remixes are actually proceeding at an incredibly swift pace. And if I think of this album as possibly, maybe having an afterlife beyond me, then it's worth it to spend the time to make it right... whatever 'right' is in the world of music and mixing. Anyway, it did make me lighten up a little.

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Read Notes On Songwriting by Robin Frederick for more information and insights into writing songs that reach out to listeners.

Copyright 2007 Robin Frederick. All rights reserved.