Your legacy

Larry

Larry

"Uncle Larry"
I've been thinking about everything I do musically. I think of what everyone else does musically too, and I had a thought that if you never recorded yourself, and just played your gigs, when you die, if you had nothing to show for it, would you regret it? I would for sure. Memories are great, but fade and are mostly lost after your and your loved ones pass on. A fine artist has their paintings. Architect's have their structures, and so on and so on. We have our music. We must preserve that somehow, if only for the benefit of your decendants, or all of our hard work and dedication will be in vain. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If a musician plays a lifetime of music, but never records anything, did it matter?

I want something to leave behind. It may not be great but, it doesn't have to be. It just has to be me and be real. I want to have something other than my children that will outlast my physical body. My recordings can do that. I was thinking that I want to start a thread, totally for my own self serving legacy, that has all my recordings in one place. For my decendants. Sure I could put them on CD's and so forth but they get damaged, lost and everything else, whereas the internet....it can theoretically last forever in the form of ones and zeros. Something that in 30 generations from now, my great great great great grandchildren can go back and get a flavor of where they came from. I don't think CD's will survive that long, but on the internet it just might.

Which got me thinking logistically. If I upload all my music here, and everybody else started doing the same, Bernhard will need a ton of server space. I do love that all my music could be on one easily accessible thread, all in one place. But there's no guarantee that Bernhard will keep all past archives forever either. Which brought me to YouTube. YouTube is so big now that I could safely upload all recorded evidence that I existed, and I think it just may be safe there for a long long time. Think of it like this. Imagine if Cavemen had YouTube (humor me here). It would just be a historians wet dream. I want to give that to my future generations. We will be considered akin to cavemen and women in 30 generations, compared to the technology they will have. We are among the very first generations with the capability to capture what we look and sound like and preserve that indefinitely. Imagine if you could see video and hear audio of long gone generations of your family. How cool would that be? I can hear them now, OMG Mommy,did they really dress like that? Daddy why are their computers outside of their body?

I'd like to put it here, but I don't want to start a trend that might create issues for Bernhard. Unless he say's it's OK. I'm not expecting that.

Does anyone know if YouTubes archives are something that will never be intentionally deleted?

Does this line of thought resonate with anyone? I do want to have something to show for all the mental and physical effort I expend on music.

It's bad enough that we work so much for so little that when it's all over, to have nothing to show for all that effort...is just a tragedy in my mind.
 
I think you have to "do" for the now. Do what you think is right at the time. Have fun now. Be a nice guy now, and not worry about the future or any legacy. The people that knew you through your life will know your true legacy.
 
Your ideas have certainly given me food for thought. Regarding legacy, I leave that to my loved ones and people known in life path. Don't worry about the future because is an illusion, I mainly believe and live the present, moment to the full. Remember always do good to people, life is a cycle, wheel.

Cheers,
 
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I know what you mean, Larry. I like to have tangible output for my efforts. It feels more solid and real to me ... all my interests before, during and since my music making have had solid outputs - origami, jewellery making, writing, art, cartooning ...

I have a website which is a repository for my creative output - the good, the bad and the ugly. Family and friends can check it out when I fall off the perch, although I doubt they'd bother.

I think releasing a CD is best for this kind of thing. Sure, they degrade. Everything degrades. The earth will one day be swallowed up by the sun and it seems that humans are breeding at such a rate we won't last anywhere near that long anyway. We are microscopic specks living on a microscopic speck of a planet in a vast universe. And we will all die - every one of us. We do not matter. None of it matters. There is no hope. No future. No salvation. There is only death and nothingness ...

Oops, sorry ... got a bit carried away there :)
 
Pollyanna said:
Everything degrades. The earth will one day be swallowed up by the sun and it seems that humans are breeding at such a rate we won't last anywhere near that long anyway. We are microscopic specks living on a microscopic speck of a planet in a vast universe. And we will all die - every one of us. We do not matter. None of it matters. There is no hope. No future. No salvation. There is only death and nothingness ...

Oops, sorry ... got a bit carried away there :)
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You only missed attaching this to your overall summary Polly :}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buqtdpuZxvk
 
Steamer said:
You only missed attaching this to your overall summary Polly :}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buqtdpuZxvk
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Thanks Stan. Shocking oversight on my part :)

Had an email from the daughter of a guitar player I worked with a lot in the past who is now in her 20s and a singer/songwriter. She'd come across my re-release on YouTube of a number of our old songs and enjoyed the blast from the past. She was especially happy with this one because it was her favourite song when she was three years old ... how cute is that? lol
 
Pollyanna said:
Thanks Stan. Shocking oversight on my part :)

Had an email from the daughter of a guitar player I worked with a lot in the past who is now in her 20s and a singer/songwriter. She'd come across my re-release on YouTube of a number of our old songs and enjoyed the blast from the past. She was especially happy with this one because it was her favourite song when she was three years old ... how cute is that? lol
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Yes I knew it was only a minor slip not throwing it into the mix :}

Well that certainly covered a lot of ground Polly...even had a token Monty Python reference thrown in to boot...what fun and biting dark humour directed accordingly included.
 
Steamer said:
Yes I knew it was only a minor slip not throwing it into the mix :}

Well that certainly covered a lot of ground Polly...even had a token Monty Python reference thrown in to boot...what fun and biting dark humour directed accordingly included.
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Oh yes, had to have Mr Creosote in there. Yet to Erin's three year old ears there would have only been a funny chorus of "Eat That Chop Now". Kind of like The Wiggles :)
 
Thanks for unlocking one of my many insecurities, Larry.

I suppose my passions could somehow leave a legacy behind. Visual art can be preserved, and I don't think an image ever really is gone forever. Fencing can be both fleeting and eternal, as teaching skills and ideologies is passed down through the teacher-student cycle. It keeps the art alive.

Recording your ideas is the best you can do if you have no money, no instrument, no band, and nothing else except a piece of paper and a pen. That's what the classical writers did before all this new-fangled recording thingamabobs.

Personally, it's a great wish of mine to leave something behind that's significant. If it's music, then that's great. If it's a painting that changed the way people look at things, then great. If it's a student that can pass on the right way to do a parry, awesome.

I'd settle for a lot though.

P.S., Polly, your existentialist rant kinda got freaky.
 
larryace said:
when it's all over, to have nothing to show for all that effort...is just a tragedy in my mind.
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Not for me.
its all in the magic of a musical moment. Its the gooseflesh when it all comes together, its the blissful look on the face of a guy in the audience.. its in an entire audience throbbing together as one..or the telepathic exchange with your bandmate on stage..

I'm happy enough just to live it.

...
 
aydee said:
..or the telepathic exchange with your bandmate on stage..

I'm happy enough just to live it.

...
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Excellent realization, Aydee!

This 'telepathy' radiates outward at the speed of light and will span the entire universe. Our thoughts leave a permanent 'engraving' on the Aethereal Akashic Record and no soul's experiences are ever forgotten. In this respect, and others, we are immortal and what we do here in this 4d plane is for our own happiness. Happiness is often emphasized by the presence of others, and this is how music can be both a solitary excursion into joy and it can also bring joy to others.

There is no reason to fear our eventual departure from this realm as all of our experiences are there for us to remember in the 'afterworld' from this life and all previous lives. Everyone gets to understand this in their own personal way, but the single connecting thread is that our thoughts are entirely mediated by photons (light), and light is infinite and everlasting.

Enjoy all moments of awareness for they are a gift that you asked for, but do not fear what many may say is the end for there is no end. Light lasts forever.
 
Funny, isn't it? We most value those fleeting moments of connection with our fellow microbes, And then we think of it as something big rather than a minuscule, utterly insignificant little creatures finding a bond. I guess amoebae get excited when they find a good connection too. In geological time our lives are over in the blink of an eye. But it's okay.

Still freakin' out, Steel? :)
 
About fifteen years ago, perhaps more, I realized that I'd spent my entire life as a sideman, a hired gun, and I really had nothing to show for it except for my resume. So I really knuckled down and started seriously composing music.

Now, after doing that for at least fifteen years, it occurs to me that I have nothing to show for it except a big portfolio of jazz tunes that nobody's ever going to hear!
 
I didn't expect these responses. I want more than the moment, I don't have to forfeit the moment to capture the moment. Listening to old recordings of my basement bands is like looking at old pics of days gone by. Priceless. I would love to see an ancient YouTube of my great to the 10th power grandparents doing their thing.

With just a CD, very few have access. With the internet, everybody has access, that's the reason for the net. That and longevity.

I must say I'm surprised at the responses so far. Not at all what I expected.
 
larryace said:
I didn't expect these responses. I want more than the moment, I don't have to forfeit the moment to capture the moment. Listening to old recordings of my basement bands is like looking at old pics of days gone by. Priceless. I would love to see an ancient YouTube of my great to the 10th power grandparents doing their thing.

With just a CD, very few have access. With the internet, everybody has access, that's the reason for the net. That and longevity.

I must say I'm surprised at the responses so far. Not at all what I expected.
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Miles Davis once said you play in the moment because the moment you stop playing poof the sound is gone...music is like that.

It's in the air then it's gone. Sure you can document that one "moment" in time to capture it but for live music on the spot in front of folks or at shared at a jam space etc... it's there and then gone ready for the next run of making something new with that moment shared with others in the same situation in the next round of music making ahead of you.
 
I always think of the Beatles tune, "Nothing You Can Do That can't Be Done, Nothing You Can Sing That Can't be Sung"
I think that that sums up the life of a musician and everyone else in the world.

"Dust In The Wind" my friend, All that we play is just Dust In The Wind!
Kansas
 
Proof of the sound isn't gone if you capture it. You don't lose all that in the moment stuff by recording, plus you get a bonus! A permanent record of that time in space. I guess I place an abnormally high value on that.

For all of you who don't feel the need to preserve your playing, do you take pics of your kids? I'll bet you do. Why? Because you want to preserve a moment in time that will never happen again. It's the same thing to me, pics and recordings (or video). That's why I don't understand the responses here. I guess I'm in a minority

I have basement tapes with voices of friends who I will probably never see again. I have tapes of bands that were a big part of my life, now they're gone. I have some of my sons first musical recording attempts. They have voices of his friends that he will surely get a kick hearing after 25 years.
 
It doesn't have to be dust in the wind if you capture it.

I'm still doing it.
 
larryace said:
Yea but...you don't lose all that in the moment stuff by recording, plus you get a bonus! A permanent record of that time in space. I guess I place an abnormally high value on that.

For all of you who don't feel the need to preserve your playing, do you take pics of your kids? I'll bet you do. Why? Because you want to preserve a moment in time that will never happen again. It's the same thing to me, pics and recordings (or video). That's why I don't understand the responses here. I guess I'm in a minority

I have basement tapes with voices of friends who I will probably never see again. I have tapes of bands that were a big part of my life, now they're gone. I have some of my sons first musical recording attempts. They have voices of his friends that he will surely get a kick hearing after 25 years.
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Sure but let me take it to the next level.....Miles also said you can NEVER capture that moment exactly same way ever again in regards to making music with others. Remember he was talking about improvised call+response music made with others off a basic road map of tunes, compositions and improv ideas they all shared on stage night after night on the road in front of concert halls full of different listeners around the world. Each night is different...when the instruments stop the sound is gone is the point on that one. Next chance, different set of results. Living for the next moment of the creation of new sounds.....

So what you can do is to strive to archive the sounds and be happy with that. Capturing that ONE moment in time that hopefully you and others can still live with years down the road. For some there's the legacy. Living for the moment of creating the perfect documented performance.........

Everybody has a different way at looking at this. Some live for the thrill of success or failure of working with sounds on the spot then they're gone into the air, others for the perfect documentation of it for recorded history....some for one of the two, some both.........
 
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