Category: #FailBetter

Patience, Grasshopper

I’ve been working a little more slowly lately, as I try to process the mountain of information that is the Alchemy synth on Logic Pro X. I figured I would start with a trial run of that DAW, since it’s closest to Garageband in it’s UI. It’s still like drinking from a waterfall though.

Fortunately, that doesn’t scare me as much as it used to.

In my last business, I made the mistake of working too hard. I wanted to be turning profits now, or preferably months ago. I loved the idea of traveling the world, living off passive income generated by my wildly-successful online courses.

What happened was I became exhausted and burned out.

It taught me an important lesson, one that runs contrary to the words of motivational coaches, successful CEOs, movie stars, heavy-weight champions, and others.

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Quick Update

First of all, I’m officially passing my 300-hour mark today! Booyah.

I’m closing in on finishing the structural elements of my latest track, which I’ve renamed “There Will Be Dragons” (when you hear it, you’ll know why). Hoping to wrap that up today.

Once that’s done, I think it’s time I researched and invested in a proper DAW. Garageband is great and all, but, well.. you know.

I’m pretty anal about decisions like this, so expect an extensive spreadsheet with the pros and cons for each to be posted here in the near future. Cheers.

New Song: Motivation

Hey folks, song #2 is officially uploaded to the “free music” section. It’s about seven minutes long, so get cozy if you plan to listen straight through. I’m taking a short break before I start the next one to learn some things.

A Non-Comprehensive List of Temptations

Today, I’m finishing my first song built from scratch. It’s been surprisingly fun to do so – I dunno, I expected it to be.. harder? Surely any time now someone will laugh at my childish attempt at music, and point out no less than three hundred things I’ve missed.

We shall see.

Regardless, it’s SO MUCH FUN learning new ways to mess around with sound. I’m like a kid building with Lego blocks, and I keep finding new ones strewn around the floor (which is the standard place to store Lego, I believe).

Excitement aside, I remain wary of my progress. I got farther than this before in an entrepreneurial endeavour before burning out – and I almost got sued too, but that’s another story.

To help make sure that doesn’t happen again, thought I’d write about the self-sabotaging habits I’ve spotted so far.

Continue reading “A Non-Comprehensive List of Temptations”

A Series of Yesses

The time to nurse an idea is at the time of it’s birth. Every minute it lives gives it a better chance of surviving.

Napoleon Hill

About three days ago, I started work on the first music track that I will be able to call wholly mine – no unmodified presets, no proprietary loops or effects.

It’s been a somewhat terrifying experience at times, but it’s also given me some perspective on my creative process.

Continue reading “A Series of Yesses”

1% Checkpoint Reached!

Most of us have heard that mastery in any craft requires 10,000 hour of deliberate practice.

Today, I’m excited to announce that I have completed my 100th hour, or a whopping 1% towards that goal! Woot!!

In celebration, I’ve uploaded my chart of my hours so far to the site (you can find it under the “My Progress” tab) and will try to update it at least once a week. Check it out from time to time! Slightly more exciting than watching grass grow!