I remember it like it was yesterday.We say that a lot, but we’re never sure what it means until we feel it ourselves.I had a profound experience–an accidental breakthrough when I was about to leave a friend’s studio and come home.That day, I had just finished teaching several guitar students, and I was on my way out the door when the friend who owned the studio, Mike, happened to come in.We were catching up on each others’ lives, and, naturally, the conversation drifted to projects.I gleefully told him “I was so excited! I fixed some of the bad things on those two songs I told you about!”He gave me this wry smile like he was holding all the cards, and just sat there.So I go,“What is it? What’s so funny?”And he said this.“Listen. Do you know how many mistakes are on the recordings you idolize? The ones you really look up to? Thousands. THOUSANDS. And you don’t even notice them. Do you know why?It’s not about getting rid of the mistakes. If it was, our job would never end.When you listen to those songs, only ten or so things really grab your attention. There are about ten great things happening in those great songs.”He started waving 10 fingers.“Ten.”“That’s it.”I grinned as I began to understand what he was getting at.“Your job isn’t to get rid of all the mistakes. Your job is to get rid of only the mistakes that cover up those 10 things. Once you’ve gotten them out of the way so that the ten great things can shine, your fixing days are done.”That lesson continues to save me hours of heart (and ear!) ache.But he’s right.Make room for the ten great things, and let them bliss out your listener to the point where they hear nothing but perfection.It’s the deliberate act of being imperfect that makes art attractive.Leave a comment
