This is the broadest question I could ask that has to do with recording. Everyone would give me a different answer, everyone. It’s a hobby, it’s a way of life, it’s a way to share your music, it’s fun. I get that. I get all of that. Still I ask, why do we record?
My friend Chris once posed a question: Would you rather live a short life creating music reaching millions of ears or a long life creating music that is never heard? Again, a different answer from everyone. I answered his question instinctively but I reflected on it for many weeks after. It was this question that helped me understand why I record. Yet my question remains. Why do we record?
I subscribe to Bob Dylan’s theory on recording music. This Dylan quote is from Tape Op’s interview with Chris Shaw: “A record is just a recording of what you were doing that day.” Simple. Beautiful. Even better, I can wrap my mind around this mantra and take it with me as I record. I have to admit that out of all the great wisdom sought from all the great recorders, this one insignificant quote seems to shortcut all good advice straight to the core of why we record.
How humbling to know we merely capture a brief moment in time. How conceited to think we do anything more.
Is this the answer to why we record? Probably not, but it’s good enough for me. I find a certain amount of satisfaction knowing we capture zeitgeist through recording. Art, photography, film, literature, doctrines, and music are all a part of what makes us human. As a recorder, we are nothing more than a conduit into the archives of humanity. Every vinyl, every cassette, every CD, every mp3 yields information about our culture and our world. Mankind may collectively shrink the importance of music in society but that does not minimize the importance of recording.