The
internet
is a forgiving medium. Music videos aren't. Here's what I mean by
"music videos
aren't". Here's what I mean by this.
As the writer of this
internet
series of
Conversations For
Transformation,
I'm not constrained by any particular expression I make. It's more than
that actually. It's I'm not even constrained by any particular
version of any particular expression I make. To be sure, I
don't announce any new essay until I can live with it out there,
open to the world, unprotected. But even so, the genre of
my writing is what I call
"glass walled
studio":
I post each version of each essay (in fact, each piece of each version
of each essay), to the
internetas soon as it's written, even if the entire piece isn't yet
complete or not yet what I deem "perfect" (I call this
approach
"glass walled
studio"
because you can see what I
createas I
create
it). Then I'll read each piece of each essay over and over and
over again, sometimes as many as a hundred times or more,
until I can read through it from beginning to end without one single
interruption, without anything calling me to change it.
Only then is it complete for me. Once that point is reached, I may
never read it again.
This is what I mean when I say the
internet
is a forgiving medium. This is what I mean by the
forgiveness of the
internet.
I'm not constrained by this medium to deem any particular version of
Conversations For
Transformation
to be the final version. If I see something which needs to
be changed, I can change it - at any time, from now into perpetuity. In
this way,
Conversations For
Transformation
on the
internet
exist in a soft, malleable medium.
with
Alexandra
- Twelve Thirty (The Mamas and The Papas)
Not so with
music videos.
Once a version of a
music videos.
is produced, it's a complex undertaking to make even simple
corrections. It isn't easy to change just one section. It
isn't easy to change just one expression. The thing is what
it is, whatever it is, once it's out there. Without its
medium being soft and malleable, I get to live with it - regardless
of the form it's in.
That's why with the making of a music video (unlike with the
writing of an essay), I'm conscious of so much more in
advance which won't be easy to change after the fact:
profiles, lighting,
backdrop,
sound quality, camera angle, volume (both control and direction),
and more. In fact, there's so much going on with the making of a
music video that there's a very real risk all the
concern for getting it right can and will
overshadow the simple joy of playing and enjoying the music in
the moment.
What I've learned about Life from making this
series of music videos with my
daughter Alexandra
is a lot of it is in the preparation - actually,
there's no excuse for not being prepared. But once the
venture is under way, once the record button is pushed,
once the first piano cord signals the start of the song, then it's
time to go full tilt, flat out, full on, balls to the
wall (so to speak).
In the end, it's not the profiles - although they're important. It's
not the lighting - although that's important. It's not the
backdrop
- although that's important. It's not the sound quality - although
that's important. It's not the camera angle - although that's
important. It's not the volume - although that's important. Nor is
it the harmony or the melody or the accuracy of the phrasing -
although they're important too. And it's not even the quality of my
voice,
such as I can muster it to powerfully go for and hit
those high notes which The Mamas and The Papas hit
with ease and aplomb - although it's also important. No, it's
none of the above. So what is it, then?
This is what it is: it's
Alexandra and I making music
together.
That's all it is. Plain and simple. Not the profiles. Not the lighting.
Not the
backdrop.
Not the sound quality. Not the camera angle. Not the volume. Not the
harmony. Not the melody. Not the accuracy of the phrasing. Not the
quality of my
voice.
What it is, is the thing in itself:Alexandra and I making music
together
... and the "thing in itself" is always complete,
flawless, faultless, beyond needing any correction.
If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video speaks a million
words, and a music video speaks a billion words. Music, in and of
itself, is awesome. To be fearless playing it with
my darling Alexandra
without holding back until all aspects of it are "perfect", is one of
Life's sublime, worthwhile pleasures.