MOTM

Well - I'm a recovering perfectionist myself - and "perfectionism" has
been the bane of my existence.  Too often an excuse for not risking
exposure to critisicm and my own self-consciousness.

Doug:
> Quite the interesting thing - do you hold out for some mythical
> "best" recording gear and then panic and only get a video machine's
> tracks?

Right exactly... I think you can have access to the best equipment in
the world and it all comes down to how you use it - and how good your
performance is... and how good your music is - I mean if your music
sucks nothing's going to make it better.

I've heard incredible instruments played incredibly well - playing
music with no soul - empty.  I've heard mediocre instruments played
pretty well  performing music that transforms me.  You can have access
to the best recording equipment in the world - limitless tracks - a
satellite to span the continent - and come out on the sterile side. 
You can have an old 8 track recorder and come out with a recording
that's alive and vibrant - has soul.  I've heard great recordings made
with SM-58s and Oktava Mics.  Of course, I've also heard great
recordings made with great instruments on great equipment with
phenomenal mics.  And, let's face it - those recordings are - well -
higher quality on the technical side - so, if anything, you can hear
the music better, fuller.  And let's face it - there is a point where
the instrument or recorder just isn't good enough - at least not for
release.

I've come to think that the mythical best is just that - mythical. 
And that what you've got to be after instead is magic.

It's the magic of that Chapin concert - the magic of PPM live - the
magic that happens when you guys get together in AZ and create that
music together.

The better your synth, the more flexibility you have, the more colors
you have on your pallet - well - the better you can do your human job
of gluing it together - your job of infusing the sound with soul. 
That's what makes it music, after all - at least thats what I've come
to think.  Like that - the better your recording equipment, the better
fidelity recording you can make.  You can't make the music better but
you can do a better job of technically recording it.

So my own philosophy has become to get the best equipment I can
afford.  Then use it to try to create and capture magic - if there's
magic to be captured in the first place.  If there's not magic, all
the snipping and pitch correction can't help anyway.  If there is
magic, too much snipping and correction can bleed the magic right out
- so I guess it's "do only what you have to do and stay out of the way
of the music."

Sound about right?

Bill