Better Calibration Through Another's Eyes & Ears | An Artist's Feedback Hack

paradigmprospect (69)in #artist-struggles • 5 years ago (edited)

As artists, writers or musicians we tend to be blind for our own work sometimes. It's just too close to home, it has become part of us and often we have worked on it for so long that we cannot judge it anymore by "objective" criteria. We may have loked at it a thousand times, listened to our music in progress for hours on end or have read our manuscript over and over that we may miss the essential things we may have want to adjusted.

But there is a curious thing that happens the moment you do share it with other people, and their eyes and ears are on the work. And interestingly... this even works when noone has actually looked at it yet.

An energetic shift in quality

I still don't know exactly why this happens but I have recognized this pattern many times and have long started to make conscious use of it.
Whenever I build a track for example, I never quite know how done it is. Deadlines do help greatly yes, but in the end even when I have heard the mix of my song many times - even with a few weeks break in between (which does help spot flaws in the mix) I still find I can't quite tell what else needs to be remedied or "finished" - that is, until the moment that I put it online for other people to listen to.

There is a real sense of magic whenever someone else listens to your work as musician, even when nothing is said. I have had it happen often that just putting the track on and some of my friends sitting there listening was enough for me to jot down on paper a dozen things I instantly pick out in the mix that I would like to do differently even the track was exactly the track I had been working on so hard. When my friends then tell me those same things it's a great confirmation.

The funny thing is, this also happens in just making the track available online without any of my friends listening with me. No other ears and eyes present (as the view counter would prove), noone had received the link to the track or video yet. And still, the moment it enters the public space I get tremendous clarity in what the track needs.

If you are a struggling artist of any sort and have a habit of keeping your work to yourself for way too long, even to the point that it gets stale and you lose faith in it - do dare to put it out there. Even if noone has listened yet you will gain tremendous insights for what you need to improve upon.

Maybe it's that "no turning back" feeling that makes it happen, but as an artist all I really care about is that it works. And boy does it work <3