The Modern Recordist Podcast – EP: 004 Giving yourself permission to be bad at it – The 15 Minute Mixdown
This week’s episode of The Modern Recordist, episode 4, is another edition of The 15 Minute Mixdown. On this episode, I dive into the idea of giving yourself permission to be “bad at it” so that you can eventually become “good at it”
Go ahead and take fifteen minutes to listen now:
Many times when we are venturing into something new, such as songwriting, production, recording, or some other form of creative work (or even non-creative work), we can become self-conscious about our skill level as we’re just starting out. It’s easy to get wrapped up in all the ways that our art sucks, failing to apply the long-term thinking that it takes time to develop a creative skill.
When we’re consistently seeing people just “appear” out of nowhere as accomplished artists, it’s easy to let ourselves get stuck in an impatient mindset of instant gratification, and overlook all the hours they put in to get where they are. We can get hung up on searching for “perfect” and not allow ourselves to just live in the process of learning and practicing for a while.
The fact is that when just starting out, you’re not going to be “good at it,” and why would you? You’re just starting out, after all!
So giving yourself permission to be bad at it is an important frame of mind to keep, so that you can allow yourself to start at the starting point, acknowledge that you are making gains, and just give yourself space to enjoy the journey.
It’s scary and it takes courage, because you have to be willing to create art that “sucks” so that you can learn how to create art that does not “suck”
But in reality, you don’t get to decide how others perceive your art, anyway. So why allow yourself to get stuck assuming something “sucks” and never release it out into the world to actually find out? Decide you’re proud of the work you are doing, give yourself permission to be bad at it so that you can ultimately become good at it, and enjoy the journey.
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The 15 Minute Mixdown is the alternate episodes to our long-form shows, with a live in-studio guest. Every other week, host Jon Stinson takes a few minutes to explore an idea around designing and living your life as an artistic visionary, in a kind of monologue-esque format. These shorter episodes are fun and a little quirky, yet impactful and motivational.
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The Modern Recordist is brought to you by Jon Stinson (that’s me!), JD Tiner, and Parrish
If you’ve spent any time here on my website, you know that I’m a producer/recording engineer/mix engineer working out of Nashville, TN. I also blog and otherwise write about producing, recording, and mixing. Check out my resource on simple tips for recording drums here: Recording Drums 101
Check out my album credits here: Projects
And if you’re interested in making a record with me, get in touch with me via my contact page
JD Tiner is the main man behind Glass Onion Recording, the studio that is home to The Modern Recordist, as well as a great place to record or mix your next record. Glass Onion Recording features a great selection of vintage analog gear, modern analog gear, and digital gear – a super vibey spot in Nashville, TN. Go “Like” Glass Onion Recording on Facebook at:
www.facebook.com/glassonionrec
And check out JD and his work at: www.jdtiner.com
Parrish is the dude who handles the engineering responsibilities for this podcast. He is a producer/engineer, and involved in Villain Place, a recording studio, record label, production company in Nashville.
Check out Parrish at: http://jonathanpaulparrish.com
Check out Villain Place at: http://villainplace.com/
Thanks for listening and stay subscribed, as there’s more next week! In the meantime, go live your extraordinary life of an artistic visionary, and create something impactful in the world.
//Jon