Electronic Musing

You know what it’s like when music, sound, and the related equipment just amuse you beyond words?? You just want to sit there all day and fuck with it. You’re driven to spend hours and hours learning fiddling with obscure bits of software. You get ideas in the shower for cool new ways to use the sh101’s ext input (and feel embarrassingly nerdy for it). You’re unable to leave music alone; constantly pelted and harassed by unrealized ideas. The more you do it, the better you get. The better you get, the more driven are to do it.

However, if you need a slightly more concrete framework to lean on, try this silly little formula I made up:

FORMULA TO DETERMINE LEVEL OF MUSICAL BADASSITUDE

Variable A, time — how many hours you put into musics.

Variable B, efficiency — how well you make use of each hour. The more practice you’ve had, the more you know, the higher this is. However, other factors cause your efficiency to vary from day to day. Sometimes, you’re simply too distracted to concentrate. Other times, you’ll get “on a roll.” For instance: you take a two-week vacation from work, and write music every day. By the end of the two weeks, you’ll be hauling ass — your efficiency will be through the roof. Once you go back to work, though, and you’re not working on music as much, your efficiency tapers back off to its previous level.

Variable C, talent/imagination/vision/etc — you got it or you don’t. Some people have a lot more than others. Age and wisdom help.

A*B*C == Your Level of musical output/advancement, a.k.a level of musical badassitude.

Note that if any of these variables are zero, the whole equation is zero. You need to put in time, you need to use your time efficiency, and you need to have at least some talent. Get all that down, and it’s gravy.