Just because you have the tools to edit with an amazing degree of accuracy in the digital world does not mean you should. Let's use Band X for an example. You buy Band X's album and you think it sounds great. The CD is well produced, all the instruments sound great, the performance is top-notch—in short, this band is kicking. You purchase concert tickets eagerly anticipating seeing Band X live. The day comes and you head out to the concert. The lights, the stage … Band X takes the stage and sounds horrid. The signer can't sing on pitch, and the band is falling apart. You leave the concert very upset. What happened? Did Band X have a bad night? Maybe so, but it's more likely they might have fallen into the trap of overproduction. That is, the band might have recorded their music one track at a time and perfected each track before releasing their CD.

Editing can be a bit of a trap, especially the high-precision computer editing where you can change a single note of a solo you thought was “off.” The result might be a standard that can never be replicated live. You want your work to be perfect, and you should try to make it as good as possible, but it's easy to get carried away. Just because you have these tools doesn't mean you should overuse them. Fact is, a great album isn't a perfect album.