The throbbing pain has almost spread to my right elbow now, can barely feel my fingers over the numbness that had long replaced the burn. I look up to find the stopwatch mercilessly taunting me with 57 minutes and 3 seconds screaming across the display.
To be frank, I did’nt need to maintain Jhala for an entire hour but like the 13 year old I was, I had to be the best , or else.
At this, the height of the technical age, our outlook has stagnated on a matematically quantitative approach. From this point of view , the singular goal of musicians becomes the coveted “top spot”. Musicians the world over, take to the stage with their reputations precariously hanging on the guillotine, with their only prayer being a positive feed back from the audience. After all, good performances mean more concerts which in turn means more money and with it the promise of a decent livelyhood. With so much on the line, music eventually mutates into the dreaded “w” word, “work”.
But this approach only adds to robbing music of irs essence. Music, like life has no definite destination at which to arrive.Soulfilling music is a byproduct of the act of playing music for the sake of playing music.Cryptic as it sounds, it is deeply unfortunate that this self fulfilling profecy never reaches the multitude of musicians even if they happen to learn from the masters themselves. The point in music is in the journey not the destination ( journey meaning, making music and destinatin meaning making a name for yourself)
The the most important thing separating good musical creation from the rest is the dissociation of ego needs from the act of creating music. Let me elaborate on this. When you use music as a means to fulfilling a need for distinction, money, fame or any such ego based desire, a fear of faliure creeps in the backdoor.You are scared that if you fail to impress , the goal will be lost. This transforms the act of making music from being an act of celebration into a means to an end . And before you can realize what is going on, you find yourself disconnected from the pleasure that music can give, which invariably affects the quality of the music produced.
Thus what artists need to do is detach from fear itself and enjoy making music nomatter how much is at stake. This , in essence is the game that artists must play.
Filed under: General
Adi,
what you say is so true. Music in this century is a commodity – recording labels, revenues from sales, patent laws – all of which are commercially driven ventures.
One’s success or failure is tied to record sales, concert ticket proceeds and parameters that are akin to running a business. While the definition of a musician has, without doubt, changed, its not a free lunch, cause that comes ar the cost of creativity, musical liberation, and to some extent, self expression and free will.
The definition of a professional musician, has changed. Or maybe not. Didnt Grateful Dead allow video recording of their live concerts and allowed people to share their music without attaching a price tag on it.?
Hello Adi !!!, (Babbit). Hope you remember me.
I could not resist from writing to you after reading your “Paradox…Perfectionism” . You have not only understood the purpose of artist (even in today’s generation), but also you have expressed it so clearly.
This clarity of thoughts is an amazing quality. Good luck with everything that you are doing.
Anupama
Thanks a lot Didi, Your comments and appreciation mean a lot to me. May God Bless you and your lovely family.