the bucket drummer

A Lesson in Letting Go.

As I'm sure most of you can relate, I'm a perfectionist. While the surface value of that statement seems like it would be a tremendous positive, but in reality, it's one of my  biggest obstacles when it comes to being an effective creative. Let's talk about it.

I'd like to start off by breaking down what perfectionism means to me in my experience. It means that I have a vision in my mind that is immaculate, beautifully crafted, eons above what everyone else is putting out, and most importantly, not achievable. In practice this means that I have a tendency to sit with my projects for far too long, going back and forth between an endless process of tweaking details and feeling discouraged because I can't get the beat I had in my head into the edit. To some this might sound like the troubleshooting process that goes into creating something awesome, and while there's a grain of truth to that, you'll never make anything - let alone anything amazing - if you never finish a project. 

Just like everything else that we need to overcome, finding a balance and accepting imperfection is a long process (and one that I'm still finding). This is where The Bucket Drummer comes in. I remember walking through Portland, OR with my little sister. She was visiting me during my brief stay in the area and we were exploring the city and photographing anything and everything that stuck out as interesting. It was in the midst of this process that I heard the sound of a distant rhythm echoing through the streets. Making our way towards it, we stumbled on a street performer who was undeniably in his element and loving every second of banging on buckets and pots. 

What I saw was a man who had a gift that he wanted to share with the world, and he wasn't worried about finding a Ludwig drum set to do it. Buckets and pots were all he needed to spread his sound. In case the video didn't give it away, I filmed him for a little bit. His energy was infectious, and I was ecstatic to film such an enthusiastic subject. When I got back to my apartment to review the footage, I had to share it. Not because it's the best thing I've ever shot, but because watching him perform brought a lot of joy to me and it was a feeling I really wanted to share. I was so excited to show this experience to the world that I forgot all about perfectionism for a short while. I hurriedly slapped some curves onto the footage and ran a basic EQ onto the audio, exported, uploaded, and shared. 

Only after I had released the video did I think about perfection. While I reflected I realized that the imperfections of this piece are what make me feel connected to the drummer when I watch it. There's something raw and tangible about the piece that wouldn't have been achievable if I had spent hours editing and grading the shit out of it. 

The biggest thing that I took away from this was that releasing something without the fear of imperfection didn't kill me. Instead it turned out to be something that still makes me smile when I watch it. I'd like to wrap up this blurb by thanking Thomas Brown -the Bucket Drummer - for teaching me to share what inspires me with the world without the fear of perfection.

Written by Jake Burgess, founder of Cardboard Robot Visuals