SCA culture is largely built around a model of Courtesy. As the model of courtesy has evolved organically, it has, to my eye (and not only mine), tended to emphasize an avoidance of confrontation and public embarrassment a lot of the time. When someone takes note of what someone else is doing, there is a standard but unwritten rule we follow: If they did something good, praise them to their face if you can. If they did something not so good…find their mentor, and pass the feedback along to them, generally with the understanding that it will be shared anonymously.
There is, in my experience (and not only mine), a rather serious side effect to this informal model of feedback. If a gentle doesn’t have a mentor, or you don’t know who the mentor is, or if you don’t have access to or a relationship with said mentor…what do you do with your feedback? Sometimes, the feedback starts circulating in whispers behind the gentle’s back. And by the time the gentle finally becomes aware of these circulating whispers, it can be incredibly upsetting and painful.
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I spent the afternoon with Dave Lambert, best friend, guitar ringer, and recording guru. We’re using the new mic, and trying a different work plan from what I used when we recorded Hidden Gold. These days I put sheet music together much earlier in the process than I used to (I’ve gotten comfortable enough with it to want to transcribe while I’m composing or polishing a song). I realized that having completed sheet music with chords provides some productivity bonuses for home studio recording.