A good friend of mine — not in this business — has recently started a new line of work that requires a high level of organization. This guy is smart and talented and — like me — less than organized.
Over the past several months, I have watched as he searches desperately for some tool that will give him the ability to pull vital information to the top of the mental pile whenever he needs it. Books, computer programs, Web sites, actual human mentors — he has seemingly tried it all and is still searching for that magic bullet. Searching for the key that will unlock his inner file clerk and turn chaos into organization.
He recently turned to another friend of mine who is in a similar business for advice and told him all about the books and programs and Web sites, and got an unexpected response. He was told that all of those things are great, but they are just tools, and that a tool without the knowledge of how to use it is pretty useless. Specifically, my friend, in reporting the conversation to me, said, “The problem is that if he is not mentally organized already, none of those tools will do him any good at all.”
Which got me thinking about my own never-ending searches for the magic bullet — that one key that will unlock the door to a perfect life of peace, fulfillment, great gigs with clients who don’t lie or try to grind you past the point of breaking even and plenty of time for friends and family and making music and, of course, lots and lots of great sex. And somehow, no matter how many times I run through the keys on my ring, the key to that door does not seem to be there. Hell, I can’t find the door much less the key.
On a more mundane level, what is the magic bullet you are looking for? A new line array? A fancy digital console? A bigger, nicer shop? A new truck? As nice as all that stuff is, none of it comprises a magic bullet. If you are struggling in a tough market, the new gear might make things eas-ier for a while, but unless you have the business chops, work ethic and ears to back it up in a year, you will likely be struggling just as hard, but now you’ll have payments to make on that nice new gear.
My good friend Larry Hall spent most weekends last summer out mixing the Spinners, in addition to keeping a thriving regional soundco up and growing.
We would talk pretty much every Monday about the gigs that weekend, and the rigs varied wildly. The Spinners carry no production at all, so it was P.A. du jour. The reason Larry got and kept the gig is because he understood that his job was to make the band sound great, whether he was on a PM5D with a VerTec rig or on a road-worn PM4000 and some beat up SRX boxes. Or even a beat-to-hell Flashlight rig driven by an old MI-grade console. No matter, you take the tools you have and figure out how to make it work.
Which is really what it is all about, no matter what level we work at. There is no magic bullet, and if there was, there is a very real chance of the thing ricocheting and coming around to hit you. So stop searching and just make it sound good. No matter what.
