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In A Perfect World The Balance Between
By joseexist in Musings On Muses
February 18, 2010

In a perfect world the balance between ‘state-of-the art’ and ‘seat-of-the-pants’ is the fertile humus from which endless ideas vigorously sprout forth into existence. Unfortunately we are all ‘live’ and ‘on-the-hi-wire-without-a- net’ most of the time. The scale with its counter of the former and the latter is a burden we must add to and subtract from as best we can. Having ‘top-of-the-line’ equipment or ‘cheap-stuff-that-works’, certainly makes a difference for professed ‘professionals’. We down in the echoic yet crowded halls of mediocrity simply have to ‘make-do’ with whatever equipment we can accumulate.

Every artist must budget themselves and I am no exception by any means. If I could afford the best microphones then indeed I would own some $5,000.00 examples. If I could afford the best guitars and amps then I would certainly own many. If I could afford the best studio then it would surely be a business all to itself. What little equipment I do have serves me well though. Some I was able to buy used while other things I was able to pay for in ‘loose’ installment plans from a well seasoned and trusted dealership.

What I like best about my meager set-up is how intimate and familiar it has become to me. Any new piece gains my confidence slowly. A tube pre-amp sounds great but I am still cautious about it as one button on the front could fry a microphone if accidentally pushed. Some ‘mics’ need what’s known as ‘phantom power’. This is a current sent to them to enable them to work. If you send that voltage to a microphone that does not require it, “ZAP!”

I have a small collection of ‘mics’ and just bought two pistol cases from Academy to store them in. The cases were about $20.00 each and work perfect for holding my entire collection safely. Next on the agenda is a patch-cord box to store cables in.

What’s all this got to do with music? Well, the more efficiently you use the space in a studio, the more productive you can be. For way too long, where my mics are concerned, I’ve had to fish each one out of its’ original box, use it, and then return it to that box. Now I have 2 cases I can label respectively and quickly retrieve the mic I’m looking for. Any time you save time in the studio you preserve the spontaneity of creativity.

I don’t have a ‘state-of-the-art’ studio but what I do have decently represents the current tidal wave of stampeding technology that’s so proliferate in the music making industry today. Then again, I don’t write and record ‘hits’. I just capture what dreams may come to me on any given day. I keep my big toe on the ‘wire’ and the balance of reality and dreams, ‘state-of-the-art’, and ‘seat-of-the-pants’ steadies me in the winds of my muses.