I’ve been spending as much time as possible for the last week or so in the studio recording guitars for a new album. And as much time as possible over the last week has averaged somewhere between 8-10 hours a day.
I love recording. For me, it’s the next best thing to actually writing songs, since the approach I take is basically to start by laying down a scratch track of the main guitar part and the vocal line, and then add/replace/write/keep/throw away/experiment with different stuff until the each song sounds “done” (artistic “done” could be a whole book on its own).
I’m pretty good at composing additional parts on the fly while tracking, and I like to think I’m pretty good at figuring out what each song needs and adding it. There’s a psychological theory of subjective experience called Flow Theory, based on the work of Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, which describes a experiential state called “flow”, in which you feel optimally creative and productive, experience distorted perception of time, and feel stimulated. For me, recording in the solitude of my own space is a recipe for flow, and the last week has felt like I’ve gone through a time warp, coming out the other side feeling as if only a couple days had passed. It’s awesome and just a tad disconcerting.
Csikszentmihalyi proposes that the flow state is primarily produces by being engaged in a task that is significantly challenging, but also being significantly skilled in the relevant area; a coincidence of high challenge and high skill. When the challenge far exceeds the skill, anxiety results. When skill far exceed challenge, boredom.
I think this provides a pretty good explanation of why I experience the recording process the way I do. I have a pretty decent ear, and so the standard I aspire to before I call any take a “keeper” is pretty high, so the challenge it great. However, I also have a decent amount of skill in composing, arranging, and performing, so I can usually rise to the challenge.
What’s interesting is that sometimes I’ll hit a roadblock where I just can’t get it. Snaps me out of flow like poking a soap bubble, and I get at once anxious and really frustrated. That’s when I take a break!
The diagram below shows the flow “channel”.
This is one of the coolest theories I studied as a psych major. I’d be interested to know what other people have experienced in terms of activities or contexts that lead to a flow-like state.
