Guitar Gear

Back in 2013, I wrote an article based on this idea of being mindful and in the “NOW.” And while I still practice quieting down before a gig and getting centered, I’ve moved beyond the whole living-in-the-now stuff. Or perhaps after all these years, my idea of “NOW” is more refined.

I think the problem with my original argument was that it centered around simply being open and aware of what I’m doing and where I am. Those are certainly important things. But I’ve learned that true mindfulness is nowhere near as passive as simple awareness. True mindfulness is awareness of the connections around me in the process of doing something and being cognizant of the interactions that take place because of my actions or my reactions to actions taken outside of me. In that, mindfulness is dynamic.

In the recent past, I’ve been writing articles that have orbited this subject like using your mix knob. These have covered different aspects of being mindful when you’re playing. Everything that you play and how you play it and what you put in your signal has effect on whom you play with and even your audience.

If we accept that Newton’s Third Law – for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction – then mindfulness is our direct observation of Newton’s Third Law in action!

When we’re mindful, not only are we aware of our environment, we are also aware of – and take responsibility – for our interactions within that environment. In a band setting, that can make or break the sound of the band.

I’ve seen – and even played in – bands that weren’t very tight. In other words, one or two or maybe even the whole band was doing their own thing. And while they may be right on tempo, everything put together just sounded like mush. And perhaps more importantly, you could easily detect how at odds they were with each other as their energy was kind of “dark.”

On the flip side, I’ve been in bands where everyone just clicks. In particular, in my previous church band, my former bassist Derek was a model of mindfulness when we played. I’ve always contended that it’s the bassist that holds down the tempo, not the drummer, and Derek had a way of being that glue for the band that affected how each of us played. In particular, we could always just play off each other and the result was always amazing (it did help that he was – and still is – a kick-ass bassist).

I think one of the reasons I’ve trimmed down my rig so much in the past few years is because for the stuff I’ve been playing, I’ve been particularly mindful of my sound in relation to whom I play with and what we’re playing. I’ve gone from slathering on effects fairly thick to being as subtle as possible, so as not to disturb the fragile balance of the band’s sound. I’ll pour on a sound when needed, but only if it won’t upset the balance.

And who knows, maybe in the future I’ll be in another band that requires heavy use of effects, but for now, my mindfulness informs me that less is definitely more.