Playtime

In my efforts to learn the eclectic collection of music equipment that has arrived in tiny boxes to my front door since the new year began, I have been playing.

Literally. Figuratively.

Isn’t it funny how we use the word “play” to describe the art of making music and also the act of having fun undriven by goal or purpose? I have been playing in both senses, making music in my office-turned-music-studio and also having fun generating soundscapes and beats and little songs undriven by any specific timeline or objective save learning the tools themselves.

Everyday, for at least the duration that it takes to lay down a three minute track on my recorder, I string together all the pieces with all their snaking wired connections. It usually takes me a few tries, but I get a respectable starter loop going on the looper, I lean into an effect, and I start adding layers and layers and layers. Each day I come up with something new and interesting, and each day I record it because… well, why not?

But it is all nothing more than play. Play to learn, yes. But just play.