His Music Would Come Out Like a Sneeze

I watched an interview with Susan Rogers, sound engineer for Prince, and she described Prince’s prolific production process. “His music would come out like a sneeze,” she said.

Not only is Prince the most productive musician of all time, the music came to him all at once and then it was done. Another interview with Peggy McCreary, another sound engineer that worked with Prince, talked about how he would record an entire song in a day and most tracks with the first take.

Prince’s process was remarkable when you compare it to modern recording artists who meticulously record take after take to achieve perfection. Prince would leave the mistakes in.

Maybe our creative processes need to be more like a sneeze—suddenly and all at once.

See also:

• When you have the inspiration, act right away
• A different approach is Apple’s constant iteration and critiques described in Creative Selection
• A cathedral for creation a bazaar for growth