When a group of individuals from different backgrounds come together to work on the same task the results are often either very good or very bad. When that group has worked together for a long time on many tasks then the chances of things going great increase.
Dave and I have been working in music together for well over 4 years now. And both of us have been working with Stefan for a year. Although it is still early days and we are always learning new things about each other, we are starting to get a groove on when it comes to writing songs together. Take a recent jam session for example.
We started off with no set plan, but soon found ourselves in the midst of a strikingly beautiful sonic experience. Then, after letting that idea develop as far as it could for the time being, we set it aside to work on an almost complete song that’s been a bit of a struggle to finish off.
The main complaint with the song as it was had to do with the chorus sections “just not feeling right”. We had already come up with a series of dynamic shifts that appeared to solve the problem, but we were frustratingly unable to pull off what we had envisioned. We knew it should work, it just never quite did.
So, I suggested that we actually decide very precisely on what it is we intend to do with each dynamic. Make it as explicit as a classical score. Dave, using his extensive classical experience, wrote out the section with the dynamics as he was imagining them. I immediately said “That’s great, because I definitely wasn’t doing exactly that!” Suddenly we were all on the same page. Then we played it as written and everything came together perfectly for the first time.
This made me reflect on the various disciplines each of us brings to the band. Dave has a vast knowledge of the classical world, I have largely learnt organically in the world of rock and metal and Stefan has jazz training. Of course we each have many more sources of influence and been trained in other areas. I have also studied some classical composition and jazz, Stefan was playing in a metal band before joining Riverblind and Dave is now studying jazz, to name but a few. But we clearly have different strengths in different areas. When these are used together we can move into some pretty exciting areas.
What kinds of experiences have you had working in teams of different kinds of people? Do you find it easier to work with people who have similar backgrounds to your own? Or do you find that the best results come from working with a diverse group?
Dan's musings, Uncategorized
classical, dan, dave, jam, jazz, metal, rock, song writing, stefan, team
