In every aspect of our lives, we deal with patterns and pattern recognition, from playing video games to recognizing that talking to your spouse about their weight is probably a very bad move.
And we certainly use it when mastering a skill, which includes music production of course.
Learning the patterns is what takes up most of the learning process: The more complicated the pattern, the longer it takes to learn.
What we often don’t realize however, is our subconscious is learning the pattern much, MUCH faster than our conscious brains are. Over time, it starts to give us hints and intuitions of what might work, and what probably won’t.
Let’s say I’m working with a newer synth, gradually learning it inside and out. Sure I’ve worked with the same controls on other synths, but even identical controls sound different with different programming. So the real fine details, the ones that change a good song to a great one, still elude me.
Over time though, by listening to what I’m hearing and how it changes when I push this button or rotate that dial, I begin to – consciously and unconsciously – learn the patterns of that synth. I begin to sense what has to be done to make something sound decent, sometimes even without listening to it.
I’ve watched Masterclass videos of Deadmau5 and Armin van Buuren, and enviously observed how quickly they can build a sound, without even listening to it. Except, I would bet money they ARE listening to it – in their minds. They’ve come to know their DAWs so well, they know exactly how the sound is changing even before they press play.
I suppose that’s the point where they say your craft becomes an extension of yourself, as intimately known to you as your own body. And if there is one quality I want with greater impatience than that, I sure can’t think of it.
It’s useful though, for me, and maybe others who really dig into the why of things, to understand exactly what is going on in our head during the learning process. It helps calm my impatience, replacing it with the faith that the pattern can be learned, like countless before it.
Deeply understanding the process of learning and developing goes a long way towards making peace with the amount of time required to get there.
Credits:
‘Man in Yellow Jumpsuit and Man in Black Jumpsuit Sky Diving’ by Pixabay from Pexels
‘Man Wearing Black Crew-neck Blowing Smoke’ by Tnarg from Pexels
‘Photo of Boy Using VR Headset’ by Julia M Cameron from Pexels