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Athletes and musicians pursue fundamentals because they have time; their “work” occurs in intense but short bursts of performances, leaving them the rest of the

Athletes and musicians pursue fundamentals because they have time; their “work” occurs in intense but short bursts of performances, leaving them the rest of their days to practice. Knowledge workers don’t “practice” because their job (long-term research or whatever) demands much more time and commitment.

abletonlive 2y ago
perhaps if you have a very narrow definition of what a "musician" is. a modern music producer will literally spend 700 hours on a single song.
- ychen306 2y ago
  In this instance what would qualify as “pursing fundamentals” for a producer as defined by the author?
  - Juliate 2y ago
    Resting ears. Ear training. Doing your scales. Training your taste. (re)learning old/new tech/tools/instrument/history/theory of music. (re)listening to known/new music from separate styles/periods/cultures. Listening to artists you work for/with. Training/mentoring others.
  - nradov 2y ago
    Some of this is covered in the book "The Creative Act" by noted producer Rick Rubin. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717356/the-creative-act-by-rick-rubin/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717356/the-creative...
- jameshart 2y ago
  Does that kind of musician also spend time practicing? Because the comparison we’re being offered is to a concert musician, and their work routine is likely very different to a music producer.
  - FractalHQ 2y ago
    I would argue the process of producing a song falls under “practice” of the craft.
    - Jensson 2y ago
      Programming also falls under "practice" of the craft, but we aren't talking about that kind of practice, we are talking about training sessions.
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  It's all relative of course. But keep on mind that 700 hours is about 4.5 months of full time work. I sure have had epics lasting much longer than that. And the "concert" is just shipping/launching whole I'm already working on the next epic. Maybe later on we bug fix, but we never truly get to "own" a feature the way a musician owns a song and gets to re-perform it in their repertoire. I'm not really trying to establish which is harder or easier. Just that the pipelines and layoffs differ immensely. And

abletonlive 2y ago

perhaps if you have a very narrow definition of what a "musician" is. a modern music producer will literally spend 700 hours on a single song.

ychen306 2y ago
In this instance what would qualify as “pursing fundamentals” for a producer as defined by the author?
- Juliate 2y ago
  Resting ears. Ear training. Doing your scales. Training your taste. (re)learning old/new tech/tools/instrument/history/theory of music. (re)listening to known/new music from separate styles/periods/cultures. Listening to artists you work for/with. Training/mentoring others.
- nradov 2y ago
  Some of this is covered in the book "The Creative Act" by noted producer Rick Rubin. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717356/the-creative-act-by-rick-rubin/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717356/the-creative...
jameshart 2y ago
Does that kind of musician also spend time practicing? Because the comparison we’re being offered is to a concert musician, and their work routine is likely very different to a music producer.
- FractalHQ 2y ago
  I would argue the process of producing a song falls under “practice” of the craft.
  - Jensson 2y ago
    Programming also falls under "practice" of the craft, but we aren't talking about that kind of practice, we are talking about training sessions.
johnnyanmac 2y ago
It's all relative of course. But keep on mind that 700 hours is about 4.5 months of full time work. I sure have had epics lasting much longer than that. And the "concert" is just shipping/launching whole I'm already working on the next epic. Maybe later on we bug fix, but we never truly get to "own" a feature the way a musician owns a song and gets to re-perform it in their repertoire. I'm not really trying to establish which is harder or easier. Just that the pipelines and layoffs differ immensely. And