Unrealistic Musical Beauty Standards
We live in a highly curated and edited world of entertainment where what you see is not always what you get. We know intellectually that the entertainment we consume is not necessarily an accurate depiction of reality, but instinctually we are being fooled. Though this topic comes up most often in regards to the realm of visual entertainment which sells us an alternate reality that simultaneously appears unreal and hyper realistic, but it applies to the music world too. We know that photoshopped supermodels have complicated our perception of our own bodies, but have we put sufficient thought into the effect that highly edited Instagram guitarists can have on us as musicians and songwriters?
If your favorite album came out within the last three decades, then it was probably recorded in parts. You may picture a full band ripping through their songs live in the studio, but this is often a fabrication of expectation. Multitrack recording has been the norm for quite some time and there are good reasons for it. This method enables each musician to really hone in on their parts which has potential to produce a near perfect outcome that results in a crystal clear piece of audio that can be manipulated as needed to fit the greater whole.
Whether we realize it or not, this changes the relationship between the musician, their instruments, and their band. When you take four musicians who are used to playing together and force them to play separately a certain sense of synergy goes missing. The job of the studio engineer is to artificially replicate this absent synergy.
A professional vocalist will often sing a song numerous times in the studio. Then the producer will cut up these takes and will splice them together to make one super take. Think about that for a moment. Your favorite vocal performance may not have ever existed.
A great vocal performance is seldom 100% on pitch, though they are usually close enough that your common listener won’t ever notice any issues. Still, in our ongoing pursuit of perfection, a few cents sharp or flat is a few cents too many. Enter the world of pitch correction, where the singer’s voice is digitally manipulated to be right on the money every time.
The rhythm section receives similar benefits. Guitar are often recorded in parts rather than straight through while the drums and bass are often chopped up and synced perfectly to a tempo grid which locks the pulse of the recording in place. In bygone eras you may notice that recordings seldom feature perfect tempo. Verse one may be at 94 BPM, the first chorus climbs to 98 BPM, and then the second verse slows to 96 BPM. The listener seldom notices and the band still, magically, hits at the same time.
The question is this: is perfection better than imperfection? Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. Think about food. I reckon that 90% of the apples and bananas that I've eaten have had some level of imperfection. They bruise easily and their tastes are naturally inconsistent. On the other hand, every single PopTart that I've ever eaten has been perfectly on brand. I get the same product every single time. Objectively speaking, which one should I make a staple in my diet?
A little junk food here and there won't hurt you in the long run and neither will highly produced music. But it is prudent to recognize the difference between calories and nutrition. As musicians and songwriters, we should always strive to improve, but we should also embrace our imperfections. Practice with a metronome but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t have perfect tempo. Practice singing the right notes, but don’t get upset if you’re still a little off sometimes. These things happen to everyone. I remember listening to pop stars as a young child and wondering if I would ever sound like them. The real breakthrough came when I realized that they don't even sound like that.