Grouping mechanisms

The human ear does a funny thing when confronted by a complex sound. It deconstructs the sound into individual components and selects a specific stream. Much like a music listener picking out a Pandora station.

Consider what happens when we listen to a live performance by a choir. There's a mix of sounds and harmonies reaching your ears at the same time. This is further paralleled by a rich blend of instrumentation: drums, keyboard, guitar, maybe some ukulele. 

Yet.

Your ears are able to somehow pick out the voice of the lead vocalist from the mix. 

This is known as the auditory grouping mechanism.

Your auditory system can sort sounds into groups. 

You get to choose which sound to focus on, whether it's the drums or the soprano. 

The person next to you might choose to focus on the guitar, the keys or the conductor’s hand movements.

There are 20 people on stage. All of them, meaningful. All of them working on the same piece, yet reaching different people in different ways.

Where am I going with this?

The point is, no matter what you’re making today, there’s an audience for it. It’s for someone. 

It might be a smaller audience than you’d hoped for...at least, for now. 

It may take a little effort to find them, but they’re out there. 

There’s an audience for everything. 

So.

Go on. 

Make what matters to you. 

And take it to the people who need it the most.