brettworks

(Photo: Katja Anokhina)

Iteration is the production strategy of growing your music by tinkering over time with the goal of moving a track ever closer to having the right form for its feeling and right feeling for its form. Six examples from a thousand possibilities: begin with a plain drum sound and complexify it, give a flat keyboard depth, turn a dry texture into lush ambience, play with perspective, experiment with energies, reduce and refine until each musical voice shines. Return to the music repeatedly–over days and months–to sharpen the elements already present, nudging them towards interestingness. Polish the demo, finesse the first take, keep versioning the version, get comfortable being annoyed how plain it all still sounds. Iteration trusts its process: it’s unflappably optimistic, believing that more is possible when you practice it through repetition without repeating yourself, that you can use what you notice to shape imperceptible changes in the work, and that Quality compounds over time.