Who are “the best” people to work with?

I recently contacted an old friend of mine to help me record percussion effects for a short movie and now I am recommending him again for a new, bigger, project which my team at InvisibleArts is involved.

When I mentioned to him that I was interested on having him again on board, he replied, in a modest way, “Sure! However, if you want, I know other people who are great at it”. My answer to him was that “I really don’t care” because technique is not the only thing that defines an artist’s quality and ability to work on a job that involves collaboration (although he is awesome at it)! There is a lot more to it.

Besides the technique, there’s the chemistry, trust, open communication and professionalism that I know I will have from this guy. I mean, how many of us have worked with people who just left you hanging besides being “the best” at what they do? The simple fact that I have deadlines leaves little room for something to go wrong and to have to go find a replacement.

Once you have your “best” team player, allow some room for his/hers creative input! Don’t overdo the whole thing! Remember that they have spent more time on their craft than you have. If you feel that something you composed could be better (or not) and if there is time, ask the respective artist to improvise based on the main idea. They will love the challenge, feel that you appreciate/value them, the work just gets way more productive and you just made the whole process more adventurous for yourself as well. They might even come up with something that you would’ve never thought about and thus elevating your work to new heights.

I just recorded a beautiful mezzo soprano for a demo of a song of a personal project of mine. It was a quick recording in order to have the main ideas jotted down. Although I composed the music, wrote the lyrics, orchestrated and created the mockup, I made sure I left some room for her. During the recording session, it was just exciting to see the music come to life organically with the exchange of ideas! Towards the end, she actually gave me a cool little idea for the song and I got so excited about it and thought “why didn’t I think of that?”.

Don’t forget that everything is a great learning opportunity. The moment you feel you have nothing to learn, you start stagnating. So, don’t be “the boss”… be “the leader”.

You want to be on the same level as the people you are working with, know them enough to know they got your back, work as hard as them (or even harder), lead the way and be “egoless” enough to be opened to new ideas.

It’s all about people and working together to achieve a higher goal. The people who are able to do that.. those, for me, are “the best” people to work with.