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Thanks, Michael. Good stuff, as always. Two things: 1) I spent a good amount of time in recording booths in my younger days, but that was mostly to direct talents for voiceovers and promo spots. Nowhere near the complexity of capturing instrumentation. mixing, etc. It's always fascinated me, though. 2) The piece on Paul Simon I wrote two weeks ago was picked up by Revolver News, a national news aggregate site. The good news is my readership exploded ... something like 7,500 views. and 100 new subscriptions. The bad news was. no royalty. They circumvented the copyright by linking directly to my Substack site.

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I'm sure you were a perfectionist in your directing - it's kinda the magic part of making stuff come out well, regardless of complexity. Visualizing the end result and not settling for less (unless a truly better idea comes along) is usually the best approach. Wow, very cool on the article! Congratulations on the pickup, but yeah...Revolver was a go-to of mine a few years ago, but they seemed to get a bit stale to me for some reason, haven't checked in with them lately.

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Thanks. People don't know the nuances of professional recording. Just a lip smack, or not finishing a hard "g" in a pronunciation will always require another take. As to music, I understand musicians must have an inner sense for knowing "when" is enough. I admire their technical skills, but at the same time I've always saluted a guy like Neil Young, who

always strived for the authenticity of his sound.

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I also have learned about the concept of "space" in a composition. I first became aware of that a long time ago with Pink Floyd tracks. As ,much as they are/were known for their amazing soundscapes, they also knew the value of space. Just listen to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" again sometime. About 2 1/2 minutes straight of synthesizer in F minor in the intro before they change chords.

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I get that - I have a quote (that was actually me and I was just impressed enough with myself I use it in my sign off) - ya just run out of things you can bear to change - that's when it's "enough". Agree on the Neil Young observation - it requires a special kind of obstinate curmudgeon to pull it off...

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