Always be willing to Try New Things and Go for the Knockout

So, I just heard from SoundCloud that one of the songs I recorded with a band I used to be in is nearing 1,000 downloads. I think it's pretty funny because it is just a recording from one of our rehearsals. It's not even a studio recording. In fact, we just set up the sound system, set a mic in the middle of the room and recorded it live.

It really goes to show that you just never know how something will be received. the song was just a cover version of a cheap Trick song called "The Flame." It was put up on the SoundCloud website so that people could here how we sound. The band has since disbanded and we all went our separate ways.

In all honesty, though,  I don't really think that 1,000 downloads is what makes for a hit. It's just that it was such a surprise that a simple rehearsal recording would be received that well. It has gotten many more plays than downloads as well. But at least 1,000 of the people who listened to it liked it enough to actually want to download it.

I think the lesson learned from this experience is to sort of keep your mind open for new ideas and be willing to try new things. This particular song was really just one of around 80 songs or so that the band performed. There were other songs that I would have thought would have been received better. But these sort of things happen with everything.

I have done some videos that were received better than other ones that surprised me. I have had some of my 3D artwork be received better than some of my other works. The same is true regarding my writing and my websites. You can never accurately predict which ones will do better than the others. At least I have never been able to do so.

I am a firm believer in the fact that a person should always be willing to try new things. Many of my successes resulted from trying something new that I wasn't sure would amount to anything.

Another thing to make a point of doing is to be willing to put in an honest effort. Sure, the recording I am speaking of was not a studio recording. But we did make the effort to get a decent quality recording with the assets we had. We did a few sample recordings and played around with the placement of the mic until we came up with a sound we were satisfied with. In other words, we made the best effort we could with what we had. We tried something new and we went for the knockout. 

Bob Craypoe

The image provided with this article is from the Punksters.net Punk Rock Comic Strip.
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