First Orbit – First Year on YouTube
Last Thursday, Digitalzelf’s YouTube channel turned one year old.It wasn’t something I had planned at first, although I had been thinking about it for some time. My main reason for creating the channel back then was to build some kind of archive for my modular synth patches, so I could go back to them and remember how I achieved certain results I might want to revisit. Then I thought that if anybody else found it interesting or useful, that would be a great bonus — and that idea reinforced the decision to create the channel. Then Fallas came, and I was in a particular state of mind. The constant, strident noise outside my walls turned into some kind of hellish mantra that pushed me to integrate it into a patch. So I took my Zoom H6, plugged in an SM57, and sent the H6 signal into the Make Noise Strega external input. From there I got really inspired and ended up recording a pretty interesting ambient jam, together with some nice video footage of the fireworks that night. You know… “If life gives you lemons.” After that, it became very clear to me that I couldn’t just leave the channel with one video and worry about it later, especially because the video unexpectedly generated some conversation and responses. I remember being genuinely surprised that anyone outside my room was watching this kind of thing. I began to realize that on the other side of the comment box there was a whole community of people sharing knowledge, impressions, and ideas back and forth. It felt like discovering a universe that had been there all along, quietly breathing. One year later, I can see that I will always remember the experience of creating and uploading my first video in a very romantic way. The feeling I get every time I think about it is strangely warm, with an aftertaste of serene loneliness — in the best possible way. Throughout this year I’ve also learned about commitment — not as a form of pressure, but as a form of responsibility that comes from love: love for the craft, for sharing, and for oneself. Having to create something regularly helps build the muscle of discipline, intention, and time management, among many other things. And knowing that there are incredible creators posting sometimes more than one video a week is really impressive to me. But by now I feel that the number of videos you upload matters less than finding a rhythm you can consistently sustain. I ended up organizing the channel in seasons, with a small break during the summer between them. I don’t really have a recipe for how to do things right, and I certainly don’t consider myself an expert in managing a YouTube channel, but consistency and rhythm have probably been the most important lessons so far. The best part of this whole experience, without a doubt, has been the people. I’ve met so many incredible fellow creators along the way that I sometimes find myself smiling just thinking about how I wish I had started the channel earlier. I know I’ve said this many times already, and I wouldn’t want repetition to reduce its value, but I really want to thank all of you who have been there — whether in a very active way or more quietly in the background. Your presence is a gift and an inexhaustible source of knowledge that makes our dense and distant planet feel much more luminous and warm. Here’s to all of you, my dear friendz. I hope life — and whatever higher designs may exist — will allow me to keep showing up, and to keep finding you out there, vibrating and resonating while sharing your art. Orbit one complete. See you in the next trajectory.