My Bon Iver Experiment

[mattinbeloit]

I'm sure a bunch of you have heard of Bon Iver, if you have not heard of them go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrMmr1oMPGA and listen to that song. Basically what this guy did was he went up to his cabin in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin with a little mbox and shure sm57 microphone and recorded an album in his cabin over like a 3 month period. For those of you that do not know what an mbox or sm57 is, simply put it is an extremely simplistic recording setup that probably cost no more then $400.

The guy ended up with this beautiful album done completely by himself that is the epitome of simplicity, and I think it's beautiful. Apparently a lot of other people thought it was amazing too because it got great reviews and topped the charts all over the world. As a recording engineer and musician, this really kind of baffles and amazes me, but it does not surprise me. I've learned the hard way many a time by recording myself and other musicians that if the original source of a recording is not good, it does not matter how much nice equipment you have, it's really hard to polish a turd. Vise versa, it's not too hard to make a great performance sound great.

I'm kind of ashamed to say it but when it comes to me as a musician and an artist, I have cut a lot of corners recently. The recording engineer in me comes out way too often to the point where when I recorded a lot of my music back in Beloit, I tended to rush through my performances so that I could get to editing part quicker. I've learned a lot as an engineer, but I've really started to suck as a musician and artist, and seeing as I've had a lot of down time recently to reflect, I'm starting to realize that the artist part of me is probably more important then the recording engineering part of me.

Basically, I really need to do some reevaluating. I'm realizing little by little that my life and personality is starting to suffer as a result of me obsessing over the technical aspects of how I see music. I have made no serious effort over the past month to play my guitar or write because I've been obsessed so much about buying recording equipment (Long story short, I've been buying a lot of used recording equipment over the past month and it's been a frustrating and drawn out process that is almost over I think). It's almost like I would rather not play music if it means I can't record it, and since I can't record I'm not playing music and I'm turning into an asshole that is a total waste of life. I know it sounds like I'm being hard on myself but sometimes you have to kick yourself in the ass.

So, after listening to the Bon Iver album about 15 times tonight, it finally hit me: I need to reevaluate things. My recording equipment should all start getting here throughout this coming week, when I get it all together I'm going to pull a Bon Iver. My grandpa has 200 acres out here in Georgia that is isolated away from everything else and he has a little shack out there. I'm going to take everything out there for a week or two and tell everyone just to leave me alone. I'll bring along my little ProTools setup and 2 microphones and just spend a while writing and trying to focus as much as I can on the music.I almost told myself not to bring any recording equipment but I think I'm just going to have to accept the fact that recording is a really important part of music for me. Unlike the studio back at school though, I will not be running around between a bunch of rooms doing elaborate setups or anything, it's going to be about the music first and making that initial medium as great as I can before it's captured.

That's my plan, I'm headed to California in a week or so to see some friends and help one out with some recording and play a few open mics with him. Hopefully that will be a good first step at getting my head back where it belongs and will refresh me for my little experiment. Hopefully I can get started on this towards the end of March, so stay tuned!

[Banjobach]

Its sounds like a step in the right direction.

I was quickly heading down your path with the recording equipment about a year ago, though I doubt I have the sound engineering knowledge you do. however, I was putting way too much emphasis on the "quality" of the recording rather than the music being recorded. Unfortunately right now I'm way too busy with school to even write music, which is seriously pissing me off. But it's like this music that comes to me out of no where picks the most inopportune times to strike (ie when I don't have a guitar around or a way to record it).

The thing I'd recommend for you while you're out there and secluded is your ipod (of course) and anything that helps get the creative juices flowing. For me, it's my billy collins poetry collections among other things. Hell, if this place is out in nature, bring a beater guitar and walk around outside with it. Try to narrate what you see with your guitar. There are many ways of tapping into the creative membrane. The only thing I would tell you to be careful of is to not let this emphasis to create dictate your writing. If you force it, it will show.

I could tell you my little tricks to stay inspired all day long but what really matters is what inspires you. For me, it's when I get excited when I come up with something and I really can groove to it. I would bet everyone has that feeling to some degree or another. When I'm excited like that, I usually write my best stuff.

Good luck to you sir, and I hope to hear the results.

[mattinbeloit]

It funny how inspiration usually comes at the most inopportune times. When I was in school it never failed, I would be cramming for a huge test the next day and all of a sudden I would come up with an idea. When I was sitting around doing nothing or actually had time to play there were just too many distractions.

[RunsWithBuffalo]

I've found that inspiration comes in waves for me. Sometimes (like now) I write nothing. Then all of a sudden I can't stop putting my thoughts to paper. I think sometimes you just have to ride that wave out and then wait for the next one.

And with the recording stuff...yeah, I've wasted plenty of money over the years on recording equipment. Honestly, a 57 will record just about anything well. I can't say enough how important the room you are recording in matters. It's everything.

So good luck riding that wave.