Hello, dear friends,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I've been rather \"quiet\" on the blog lately, and I apologize for that.
The reasons are several: on one hand, an uptick in \"bread-and-butter\" work (given the times we go through, when paid commissions come along, they're welcome!), and on the other, a focus on a few artistic projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But truly, one project has taken over almost everything else: the re-recording of \"Babel #1.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Babel #1: an ambitious instrumental project<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As the saying sometimes goes: \"If you haven't given everything to art, you've given it nothing.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n That adage is certainly debatable (and would actually be worth debating), but it does point to an operational truth of production: you often don't count the hours, or the toll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To be clear: in this case, it's NOT about fulfilling a commission within a predetermined time budget. Of course, there are lots of shades of gray between these two schematic poles, but in the end, the goal is always to deliver something \"good enough\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, in my musical work, I have no given client, and therefore no budget either \u2014 which, paradoxically, encourages me to pour disproportionate amounts of time into it. The goal is to produce music that goes well beyond mere \"good enough.\" It's more like a kind of quantum leap: music that is artistically accomplished, vibrant, and engaging (well, that's the ambition, at least).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The good news is that, in the end, there are still two ways to measure these efforts: by the time spent, and by the gut feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A production made in successive phases<\/strong> :<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this track, \"Babel #1,\" I have produced three versions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hardly dare tell you how much time I've spent on this track, because I'm (almost) ashamed of it. So, in the end, will the end justify the means? For now (while waiting for the recording and mixing to be finished), I invite you to compare the two versions and tell me whether it was worth it. Here's a passage just before the climax:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If it were, there would be two options:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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To give you a sense of scale: if this work were ever to be paid for, it would need to bring in at least 10,000 $ to make any economic sense!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It's still too early to say. Besides, who knows what this piece of music's life will, once it's out in the world?
Time will tell \u2014 but at the very least, I'll have the satisfaction of not having been stingy with my resources in service of something bigger than myself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n