Spring Sunsest

Nashville Day/Night

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Technology - Means, not an End

Don't get me wrong...I enjoy technology. I'm the nerdy guy who whips out his phone at a moments notice to find an answer. My wife sometimes refers to me as "Google Brain."

I also pursue productivity. So when I come across a new phone app or computer program that claims to be the next big thing, I'm tempted to look into it. If I'm honest though, I'm falling into the exact trap that marketers want me to believe: "If you want to do great work efficiently, you need this product (oh, and yours is too old)." It's a lie. The video below is a great example of the frustrations that come when the technology we own is all of the sudden outdated.



It's important to understand something when it comes to technology--it will never inspire us on the same level as real life and will leave us feeling empty. As songwriters and creators, we don't need anything but the basics to be profound. I've seen great songwriters write great songs using only a pencil and paper. Everything else is just a distraction from the craft, unless kept in a proper behind-the-scenes role.

Sometimes we put the cart in front of the horse by seeing technology as an answer. Auto-tuning is a great example. I believe it started with good intention, mainly fixing wrong notes so that the singer's track sounded a little cleaner. But when a tool like this gets in the wrong hands, all of the sudden anyone can sing. (In some intentional uses the voice is obviously meant to sound like a synthesizer, but I'm talking about between these two extremes.) There is a middle ground in which the human voice sounds not-so-human anymore.

I go wrong when my focus becomes more on how efficiently or productively I can streamline a task rather than on the task I am actually accomplishing. Take this blog post for example. I have a system of logging ideas (I started this draft three weeks before publishing), taking pictures on my phone with Instagram, uploading those photos to Flickr and embedding the HTML code. Once posted, I blast out a message on Twitter, which is synced with Facebook. Then I back up the text in a Word document and start planning the next post.

Technology should never be the end, but only the means to a meaningful end. And that meaningful end will be inspired by the messiness and realness of the world around us.

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Timeless Art in a Fast World

There is a fun app on my phone that allows me to take professional-looking pictures in almost no time. I can make the most menial object look epic, without having to pay a professional photographer. That's a blessing and also a possible hazard.

We live in a fast world, and we want high-quality things, quickly. A picture program like this is appealing because it cuts out cost and time. But that also means that a tool like this could potentially take away work from photographers.

What does this look like when it comes to writing songs? With professional-quality microphones and recording equipment cheaper than ever, anyone and their mom is able to get an album onto iTunes. The real issue when it comes to such available technology is that we are tempted and able to hit the recording button too soon. Instead of carving on and reshaping a lyric or melody, we attempt to make up for any deficiencies in the song by making a sparkly and shiny recording. But a great recording of a mediocre song is still only a mediocre song. Few will remember hearing it.

When more people have access to create timeless-looking art, the challenge is to encourage all to participate, while still preserving and passing on the integrity of the craft. The reality is that with everyone taking photos on their phones, we are potentially only adding more noise to the craft of photography. It becomes easier to be average, and more difficult to be exceptional.

In the end, time is what separates the good from the mediocre – in a photographer's photos and in a songwriter's songs. If we create something true and good, it will stand up ten years from now. But if we only write something that sounds like what’s currently on the radio, then it’ll just sound like that "other" song. And who just wants to blend in?

Keep writing,

Ben