Ear fatigue. God, I hate it. Last night I did a bit of recording with Jay in his home studio. On the way home I realized that ugly friend of mine from every recording session I've ever done was back. (No, not Corky! He hasn't been in every recording session, and besides, he's beautiful.) Ear fatigue is more than just your ears being worn out by listening to something over and over and over. A big part of it, for me, is the mental fatigue of figuring out what I'm hearing after hearing it so many times. And it doesn't have to do with excessive volume either. It's draining. I'm lucky enough to know it requires patience. On the way home you listen to it a few more times with the realization that no concrete decisions will be made, rather you will have a return listen in a few days, once your ears and brain have had a chance to forget it. And you only do that once a project is near conclusion. If you're just beginning, or smack in the middle, why even take anything home to listen to? All that will happen is you will listen to something that once completed, will sound totally different, you will freak out and think you're getting nowhere, and you will drive your engineer (the guy who actually turns the knobs) crazy. Patience and maturity, that's what's required, but it's so hard NOT to want to listen right away. Just another frustration in the life of a working musician, but in the end, so worth it. Once your song is completed, it's here forever. It will out live you. Even if it's crap, your kids' kids will listen to grandpa's crap. That's what art does. And that is what makes living through ear fatigue worth it. Take care. Later, Butch