One of my favorite parts of my day is walking to and from work. It's a 30 minute walk along the canal in Ottawa, where I can pretend I'm not really in the city. This time of year is especially nice; the crisp cool in the morning helps to wake me up and in the evening I can watch all the people skating on the canal beside me. I take this time to either think about my day ahead at work, or to decompress and plan what will be on the supper menu. The part I look forward to most however, is listening to music.
I'm not overly picky when it comes to genre, but right now I'm completely addicted to CBC Radio 3. A few years ago I discovered Vancouver's The New Pornographers, composed of a few fantastic musicians, one of which is Neko Case. She had a new album last year called Middle Cyclone and I dare say it was one of my favorites of 2009. I'm not the only one to say this, as it hit many 'best of' lists in December. Generally, when I listen to music first (or for the second, third or forth times) I focus only on the melody and the beat, not paying much attention to lyrics. Neko Case has such a beautiful voice it wasn't hard to enjoy this album straight away. As my play count increased, I began to really listen and then I couldn't stop. How could I? with lyrics like 'It was so clear to me, that it was almost invisible' found on the title track (sorry no official video for the song, but this was the best quality audio link I could find). The more I listened the more I was interested, which led to reading articles about the album and how it was made.
If you've read any of these stories you probably know how she recorded the album in her farm house with old salvaged pianos; that she filled up the space on the end of the CD with the relaxing sound of singing crickets; or that a musicbox is a prominent instrument on the album. What I was most interested by, was how collaborative the album is. Nearly every song has a guest appearance by some other well known artist (people from Calexico, The Sadies, Sarah Harmer...). I really have no idea what the nature of the collaboration was, and just how much input each collaborator had, but by the feel of the songs, I suspect Neko was very willing to allow others to layer in and mix their influence with her own. It sounds like such a fun and inspiring atmosphere, don't you think? Perhaps one that some of us could learn from.
I think it must take a certain amount of selflessness to let go of a creation and let another elaborate on it. From a scientific perspective, collaboration amongst research labs is certainly not the norm. Ideas are closely guarded, to prevent getting 'scooped'. It's a ruthless game where the first to publish a result is the winner. Recently, there seems to be more of a push for collaborative efforts, particularly as we're faced with global problems, such as fuel shortages. I certainly hope that these collaborators eliminate the proprietary attitude and that they are as fruitful as Neko Case was with all her friends.
PS. I made this lentil soup the other day and it was delicious!
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Mmm... Lentils....
ReplyDeleteOk, and collaboration is good too - but difficult. Where I work, everything is about collaboration, because if we didn't collaborate we'd end up with a terrible, and likely unplayable, game. It's good. It is. But it's hard sometimes to let those ideas go and become something new under the guidance of someone else on the team. It's cliche, but you really have to check your ego at the door and remember that by sharing, your making it better.
I hope that you can find a place that does permit greater freedom of collaboration. I think you'd like it. :)
I definitely second Ashley's opinion on the game industry. I think you'd thrive in a collaborative environment like that too; you're one of the least selfish people I know ;)
ReplyDeleteSigh, walking along the canal. I know last year I was complaining about the bus strike and the freezing skin temperatures, but it's easier to forget that stuff and only remember how nice it was to skid along the canal in my boots at sunset. Oh, and it was about this time last year we skidded to Neil Sedaka and had Beavertails for an intermission snack! I've been loving the "winters" here but reading that bit of your blog was probably the first time I've been nostalgic about the winters I've grown to know and hate. I'm sure I'll get over it tomorrow ;)
Thanks for the comments guys. At some point I may pick both of your brains a little more about how the collaborative process works in the gaming industry. I would like to incorporate that mentality more in my day to day work routine. As much as I think it would be great though, I agree with Ashley that it would be a challenge. It's hard to let go of ideas, especially when you're particularly proud of them.
ReplyDeleteOh Neil Sedaka! I'm nearly having hot flashes just thinking about that concert :-).