On First Drafts (April 12, 2022) (Patreon)

I just listened to the first drafts of four tracks from the album. I’m happy to say that we’re headed in the right direction. It’s mixed similarly to Reflections on Moonlight & Poetry. I wouldn’t want to depart from that sound too fast. It’s clean, and yet raw. I hear the hard work we put in, and sometimes even the weariness that comes from recording after a long week of work. I am happy with it.

Is it perfect? Not at all. Will I be willing to release this at its current state? Of course not. It’s a draft. It still needs work. When I listen to it, my mind is still at work, thinking, “How can we make this track even better?” And I’m glad these are the questions on my mind, because it means that I am hopeful that this track can be taken to another level. When I look at this unfinished work, I see a possible masterpiece.

Excellence should not be rushed. This kind of thinking is new to me. Back when we did album one, I expected excellence from the start. When I received the first draft for that, I panicked and showed it to several of my music friends, asking for specific ways we could improve the sound. Should we increase the volume? Should we mix the instruments a certain way? Et cetera, et cetera.

That panic became my downfall. The numerous revisions ended up prolonging the work. Later on that year, the files were deleted, and I was left with so much regret. If I were more content with that first draft and worried less, the we could have been done months earlier, and I would have gotten the files before they got corrupted.

I won’t make that same mistake this time. I’ll keep my expectations real and respect the process of refining my work. Perfection happens step by step. And in this journey, I’ll be faithful with every single one. Step one was a success. On to step two. I wonder what’s at the end?