Trust your body
I was talking today with a friend, who had this to share:
I started writing a song yesterday and I’m 60-70% through a “first draft.” I have a verse, chorus, bridge, and some vocal melodies. And some fun drum parts. Lyrics are coming. I don’t know or care if it’s good — it makes me dance in my chair and listen back way too loud.
So, here’s something that I’ve realized is an ironclad rule, after far too many years ignoring it:
If you’re listening back to something you’re working on, and you find yourself dancing in your chair / cranking the volume / tapping your fingers uncontrollably / crying / any other physical reaction:
IMMEDIATELY STOP MAKING CHANGES FOR A MOMENT
Hit “save as” and save a copy of the session file
That’s it. It’s so simple. But: I cannot tell you how many times this has saved my butt. Because when I go too far down some subsequent rabbit hole and screw something up and realize hours later that I’m no longer wiggling in my seat, I can return to the saved version and try again.
You can always redo parts / EQing / mixing / whatever — you can’t generally recreate magic. So if you’ve stumbled upon some, don’t take that for granted — make a backup.
And, also, don’t judge it! This same friend followed up with this:
The thing is, in its current form, the rhythm is just being held down by a buzzy synth. Long single notes over drums, but something about it vibes. It’s hard to explain.
Here’s the thing: you don’t have to explain it. It doesn’t have to make sense. You don’t have to justify art, or make it fit into the same box your previous stuff has gone in, or anyone else’s stuff has gone in. It just has to work. And, honestly, the stuff that’s hard to explain is generally the interesting stuff.
So if you’re halfway to where you thought you were going, and it’s weird, but you realize you’re having a physical reaction, you should really stop and take note of that! Because maybe you’re done — or at very least much more done than you might intellectually understand.
Hips don’t lie — jamie