Whether you’re cooking or creating art, fresh ingredients make all the difference.

You can always add seasoning later—but that’s just covering up staleness.

The same goes for creative work. You can try to fix flaws after the fact, but that’s harder—and often less satisfying. They call it putting lipstick on a pig for a reason.

If what you create isn’t up to snuff, post-production can only do so much.

And to be fair, these days, it can do a lot. You don’t even have to sing in tune to be a pop artist—Auto-Tune, Melodyne, and a good producer can make you sound incredible.

But it’s a lot more work.

If you nail the performance, use the right microphones, and prepare properly, everything downstream is easier—and sounds better.

Last year, I recorded an album with a full band. It was my first time recording my sitar in a studio, and I made some key mistakes. We didn’t position the mics well. I played in a way that created unwanted noise—striking the body of the sitar. I forgot to mark my seat position, so some takes sounded wildly different just because I sat closer or farther from the mic.

Post-production saved the sound, but it took so much time. Hours spent identifying tiny errors and patching them up—time we could have saved by getting it right upfront.

Sometimes, mistakes are the only way to learn. But when you can, take the extra time—or spend the extra money—to do it right.

Start with the right ingredients. Future you will thank you.