25 days and 25 pieces of music later and after letting the dust settle for a few months, I can reflect on this project. Why did I do it? What did I learn? Would I do it again?
First, I have to state that my goal with this project was to write a new piece of music every day from Dec. 1 – 25 and record a rough demo to post on my website. This creative challenge was not only to write new music, but also to push myself to expand the styles & range of music I create. All the while, sharing it with my listeners. Mission accomplished there.
The idea for the project came about as a result of feeling unsatisfied about how I had not been writing as much music as I had wanted. I had this feeling after a very busy year of touring, getting married, and all regular life happenings that created the excuses for my lack of new musical creation. I should footnote that comment by saying I had been playing a lot of music all year, it was just the act of writing new music that I felt I was not doing enough of.
I have always loved writing new music. That is my passion. I think that this project was a self-contrived kick in the ass to dig deeper into my process of writing music and really work on that craft. So what did I learn?
The biggest lesson that I took away from this project is simply this: creativity and hard work is what motivates me and what changes my perception of time.
Writing music for this project was what I imagine it was like for the Rolling Stones living in the South of France writing music for Exile on Main St. – albeit far less glamorous but no less invigorating. What I mean by this is that completing this project made me even more passionate for creating new music.
One thing that I did underestimate with this project is the amount of work it would be. No so much on the creative side – I new that it would be a lot of work to write a new piece of music everyday. That was a given. All the things surrounding and in conjunction with writing the tune and posting was what I underestimated. Writing the music out, recording the demos, quickly choosing chords and/or an arrangement, etc.. All these things combined added up to a lot of time every day. Time I just simply decided had to be made important.
Another thing that I walk away from the project truly appreciating more than ever, is the aging process of good art/music. Like a fine wine, it gets better with age and stands the test of time. And just like wine, there must be many iterations of creative trials (i.e. different arrangements, demos, etc.) before you can expect the wine to be something that is truly ready to be released.
Making myself accountable to the social media outlet to post the link to my new tune for the day also made me realize how important it is to give new creations time to be molded and so they are ready for the review, criticism, praise, mockery, interest or dis-interest of the public. Once your art is out there, it is there. That is the day we live in today.
So, after this little reflection I suppose the question that should be asked is will I do it again?
YES.
Karrnnel