[New-Poetry] listening for that right sound

[JforJames at aol.com]

I enjoyed the Rick Rubin profile piece in The New York Times Magazine  this 
weekend. In several places it seemed this legendary producer could have  been 
speaking as a good critic of poetry.
Finnegan
 
_http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/magazine/02rubin.t.html_ 
(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/magazine/02rubin.t.html) 
 
"Everything I do," Rubin told me earlier, "whether it's producing, or  
signing an artist, always starts with the songs. When I'm listening, I'm looking  
for a balance that you could see in anything. Whether it's a great painting or a 
 building or a sunset. There's just a natural human element to a great song 
that  feels immediately satisfying."
--
Rubin explained. "I try to get the artist to feel like they are writing  
songs for the ages rather than songs for an album. As they write, they come over  
and play the songs for me. For some reason, most people will write 10 songs 
and  think, That's enough for a record, I'm done. When they play the songs for 
me,  invariably the last two songs they've written are the best. I'll then say, 
'You  have two songs, go back and write eight more.' "
--
In the early Metallica sessions, Rubin has been exacting about different  
drum sounds. "Lars" — Ulrich, the drummer — "will play two things for me, and  
I'll say, 'This one is great and that one is terrible,' " Rubin recalled. "Lars 
 will say: 'How do you know? They both sound good to me.' Well, I just know. 
The  right sound reaches its hand out and finds its way. So much of what I do 
is just  being present and listening for that right sound."
 

Rick Rubin quoted in NY Times Magazine article,  9-2-2007.



************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at 
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/pipermail/new-poetry/attachments/20070903/9a58a015/attachment.html