The ridicule problem

One of the risks of trying new things and moving in different directions is the threat of ridicule. It's scary stepping out on the ledge in search of new results. Safer, I think to stay with what's accepted. Normal. But, what is normal? My friend, Seth coined a phrase for normal that I really like. The regular kind. Most of us are happiest with the regular kind; What we're used to; What we've come to expect; What's safe, comfortable, and less threatening than being an early adopter. At Octave Records, we continue to develop recording technologies and techniques that inch us closer and closer to the sound we're all hoping for. Live. Musicians in the room. Watching me experiment with different miking techniques a famous Grammy-winning engineer shook his head and clucked his tongue. The thought of it! Something different. This kind of behavior not only makes me smile but pushes me forward to do more. If we ain't upsetting the applecart and punching forward with all our weight into the unknown then we're not serving our community. Without ridicule we'd never be sure we're breaking new ground. And new ground is where the magic happens.