I was talking to an artist at the end of 2017 and he was asking me a few questions about how he can dominate in the music industry in 2018. His opening line was, "I've perfected my craft so now I want to know how I can take it to the world". I was a little taken aback by how easily those words left his mouth. He had the confidence to say that he has perfected his craft without a hint of a stammer. To me, perfection is subjective, but I feel we can all agree that being perfect means that there is very little or no room for improvement. In my opinion, everyone is always improving and for one to say that one has perfected what they do means learning stops.
I want to make reference to two different studio sessions I had in 2017. In the first one, the artists had only been in studio a handful of times and there was initial nervousness and I had to explain a few things to the artists that I would expect a seasoned recording artist to know the session was quite bumpy, but we managed to finish. In the second session, I was recording people I deemed to be veterans in studio. I felt like I didn't have to tell them anything new. We were on the same wavelength at all times and the session was seamless.
Learning happened in both sessions, but the overall experience was amplified in the second session because everyone had a certain level of competence on entering the studio. The point that I'm trying to make here is that talking about perfection is only valid until you reach a situation where you're out of your depth. The first session's artists would have never lasted in a session with the veterans from session two. I'm sure there are sessions where the veterans themselves would feel a little out of their depth, but that ongoing willingness to improve is what will be the key to them learning and becoming even better than they are.
One last thing I'd like to mention about competence that lead to overall enjoyment of the second session is that the artists and I all knew what we had to do so we spent a lot more time telling jokes and having a good time which meant there was a more comfortable atmosphere which in turn meant that the session was way more efficient. The first session was full of starts and stops and this killed any momentum we were able to build up. The artists from the first session and I were a lot more tired after our session than the second session.
I think I should also mention that I'm not mad at the people from the first session. Everybody has to start somewhere, but I feel like learning never stops.
It really does pay to be at the top of your game and always ready to improve on your craft regardless of how good you think you are. Perfection is highly subjective and life has a funny way of showing you just how much you lack in a certain department just when you think you're at the top of your game. How you react to this event will determine whether it becomes a learning experience or blind denial of an inadequacy.
Regards,
SB