I Like What I’m Hearing

The first time I heard DP utter the phrase “I like what I’m hearing” I was overjoyed. It was during the early days of our musical explorations in the studio, we hadn’t been working together for very long. “I like what I’m hearing”- given my perfectionist nature the words thrilled me. I thought to myself, “wow, he likes it- he digs my sound, my tone, my lines and my phrasing.” I was beaming with pride, I felt confident and self-assured. Surely nothing could stop me from creating the perfect recording, nothing could prevent from reaching the heights of my creative abilities, nothing could discourage me from immersing myself in this newly discovered and much loved musical medium. I had wrestled my doubts, fears and insecurities to the ground- exultation set in, almost immediately.

What I didn’t realize at the time is that DP was still finding his legs as a producer. DP’s style was born out of a gentle and easy going manner. He’s a musician himself so he understands all too well the fragility of the creative ego. He has always been a kind and mild-mannered soul. In other words, he was just being NICE!!! “I like what I’m hearing” meant the exact opposite, it turned out to be code for “this really sucks!” “I like what I’m hearing” was usually followed by “lets do another one”, “tape’s rolling so keep going” or “great, have you got another one in you?” DP theorized that if he could keep a musician in the “zone” and create a “good vibe” he could eventually get what he wanted and needed from that particular artist. No reason to panic, just keep recording. Keep doing takes until you get what you’re looking for, what you want and what you need. The last thing he wanted to do was discourage you.

It didn’t long for me to crack the code because I am after all a musician too. During playback the simple truth was revealed, it hung out there in all of its unpleasantness. Your ears don’t lie- unless you happen to be tone deaf. DP always insisted that we listen. He figured that we might be able to latch on to an idea, or salvage something, or at least make playback a learning experience so we could identify why an idea wasn’t working. Imagine the anticipation you experience seconds before you are about to devour a fine pastry. It looks amazing- rich, chocolaty, silky decadence that will launch your senses into planes of sheer ecstasy. You pause, you breathe, your taste buds start to tingle before a single sweet morsel touches down. You know what’s coming, it’s almost there. You pause, you breathe, you taste and suddenly- suddenly you recoil! Your whole body jerks backward and you grimace while a look of horror passes before your eyes. This isn’t authentic Hungarian pastry ( I ought to know, because I’m half Hungarian), this chocolate mousse cake, this Rigo Janci (pronounced Reego Yonchee) is foul- it’s disgusting- you want to hurl!! That is exactly what I experienced during some of those early “I like what I’m hearing” playback sessions. You can’t run or hide from the truth, however much it hurts you.

Suffice it to say that DP started using other words, phrases and expressions with me when we were laying down parts. Expressions that communicated the truth, not some pseudo truth in order to stroke my ego. I could take it, I’m a big girl. Although my doubts, fears and insecurities came flooding back (almost immediately) and exultation was fleeting I learned some very important lessons. Sometimes you can regroup quickly. If you’re determined you can shake off whatever it is that is holding you back from articulating and executing your musical ideas. Sometimes however you can’t just shake it off. Your axe is an extension of your voice, and your voice is a channel for your heart and soul. Since musicians transmit feelings and things through their bodies there are days when it just ain’t happening. Maybe you’re having a bad day, you’re stressed out about something, you had a fight with your spouse, money’s tight (nobody ever wants to pay a musician, right?), you don’t feel well or your dog decided to eat the lead sheet you just wrote out (that has been known to happen- wink, wink). When you are off, when you can’t be your best musical self the best thing to do is go home, just go home. It doesn’t make sense to beat things into the ground. Go home, put your feet up, grab something rich, chocolaty and decadent and forget about music for a few hours. Tomorrow’s another day, and the music is always there- it’s always inside of you, waiting to come out.

I can’t begin to describe the elation I feel when DP jokingly whispers “that didn’t suck” into the cans after we finish tracking parts for a new song or piece. Over the years he’s developed a much more sophisticated method of communicating. Of course in all seriousness we do have some very lengthy, deep discussions about music. I can however promise you that he only uses “I like what I’m hearing” with others now, usually with freelance session players we bring in for various projects. This technique has turned out to be quite useful, but God help us if any of those hired guns are reading this Blog!