Are you destined to become a failed wannabe music producer?

[Khazul]

Rule #1 - never delete anything - no matter how crap it is - its worth it as a reference and inspriation for the future, or at the very least you can look back and while it may have been utterly shit, at least maybe what you do later hopefully isnt quite as bad

You sound burned out to me, go out get pissed with mates, drag a couple of fluffies back from a club or whatever your thing is - maybe next door neightbours dog/goat etc?


I never try a write whe I get home from work - its a complete waste of time - my day job is way too shitty and stressy to have a hope in hell. So often Ill just frig aorund playing random crap, often on a piano, not even a synth - just as a way to relax so I can forget the crap day as quick as possible and enjoy the rest of the evening, whether in or out. I expect most of us are in a similar boat one way or another.

If you stop being so stressed about it and stop trying too hard, who knows, maybe something will come together. What is the point anyway? You want to be making stacks of cash from producing? Is that realistic? Do you have people coming to you to ask to work with you? If not - accept it as is for now and just have some fun/relax etc.

Try doing a remix or something - there a huge advantage to doing them - even if they never go anywhere - you get to mostly forget about trying to write (someone else has done that) and can more or less focus on production and cool fun shit, end result - you get some production exprerience that eventually you can very quickly and easily re-apply when writing you own stuff - the less you have to think hard about when writing, the easier it is. If your thinking of anything but music, then you are being distracted and technology we use can be very distracting.

I sound like I know it all - no - my stuff sux too - Ive just learned to accept that, have fun along the way, and not worry about it or be particularly self conscious about it - people wither like it or they dont, and I know allready my production ability in my home studio sux (accoutically its really bad and I hate using cans) and there isnt alot I can do about that rigth now.

The only advantage I have I guess is Ive done audio production work professionally years ago (nothing fancy - just music and audio post production for corporate/promo films, national TV etc) so alot of the technology is second nature to me - at least on the hardware side - but the stupidity of software user experience designers still never ceases to amaze me, and given that production software puzzles the hell out of me at times (I'm a software developer by trade, so not even some computer illiterate), it no wonder that many people have problems remaining creative with it...

BTW - what production methods/software do you use - that can make a hell of a difference.

Also allmost anything can sound good in either shitty accoustics, or when played loud. Most of us are guilty of both Having the levels turned down tends to help with both problems.

Another random observation - if something loops really well - then its often really hard to move on from it in a useful way. Introduce some more sounds into the loop, cut others and break it up, then it may natural progress/evolve to something else. Making loops is easy - getting out of the damn things can be quite hard. If you typically edit around 4/8/16 bars for example, then you will mentally get ingrained with the loop - allmost any style music become a form of trance in that state. So when editing, dont loop around loops, start well before and loop back well after - it keeps you alert to whats actually happening, otherwise you just get used to it and ignore it.

[LivePsy]

Man oh man, you've turned a hobby into a disease

Can I suggest a couple of things:-

You may not have met the right beat box yet. For me, making beats on the MPC is a breeze and they sound 'right', whereas a whole history of purchases spanning 17 years before that I was never happy with even just a kick and snare. I dont wanna think how many bits of hardware and software I purchased because I thought it would make the difference. And accidently I discover the MPC is the one for me.

Inspiration comes from some unrelated triggers. I'm going through a whole Prog Rock revival thing (Yes is so good/bad I can't get it out of my mind), and yet I am full of electro ideas. I think the break away from any narrow music genre does the world of good. Listen to music you don't like, and then question why you don't like it. Its good for you...

Lastly, you've apparently put in a lot of work. That can't be all bad, but *you* think it has been hard work. Make it fun! Sell or buy music gear however you want. And be happy to change your mind as often as you want.

Cheers,
B

[davidconway1984]

IMO i dont think there is anything wrong with working on tracks 7 hours day as long as they sound good two days later!
Infinity+1 you should post sum stuff up online for people to listen to mate , Im sure there are producers on here who know what production is about to point you in the right direction.

[Doc Jones]

you know, I kind of like this thread.
here's a bump.

[Khazul]

And very helpfully, even if you do attract the interest of a record producer and/or label, there's an article in SOS this month that tekll you what a complete ass-raping you can look forward to from the music industry

[Doc Jones]

I remember reading an article that your typical band that goes the traditional route when releasing an album - ie having a major label pay for the studio time, hiring of the producer and paying for mastering and distribution will end up in debt to the label for a very long time. This, even if their first ablum does very well in terms of sells. One band that sold over 100,000 copies of their 1st album still was in debt to the label and had to live meagerly until about their third album (where they finally broke even with the label).

[horsegrip]

Hey Dude,
I rather think that I have a professional studio and a big cock, rather than a a fast car and a tombstone.
To get to the point, regardless if we get there or not.
It's the enjoyment of expression and music, rather than spending shit loads of cash on a car, which will get you nothing than an early grave.
We'll get the fast car and an early grave after making money from music and then it was all worth it.
Or could have spent that all on 2 weeks with a high price hooker. Now that's got me tinking.

[Khazul]

For alot of us - we aint after the loads-of-bling scenario, however some of us are after the give up your day job and earn an equivelent living from music full time - for me that means an income that can match my IT job so I can still pay the mortgage etc and ideally in a more enjoyable way - so not an easy jump to make without some industry help at the right level.

[Ceri JC]

Originally Posted by Khazul

For alot of us - we aint after the loads-of-bling scenario, however some of us are after the give up your day job and earn an equivelent living from music full time - for me that means an income that can match my IT job so I can still pay the mortgage etc and ideally in a more enjoyable way - so not an easy jump to make without some industry help at the right level.

+1

I've never really been one of those people who desperately wanted to be a full time musician above all else, or considered not being one any type of failure, but of course, I've had moments where I've considered the possibility. I made a decision about 5 years back that whilst I could probably scrape a living doing music, I'd end up having to do things I hated- like making tracks in genres of music I really dislike, DJ at weddings, etc. to make ends meet. In a way, choosing to keep music as something I only do exactly what I want to seems to have more artistic integrity than the alternative. My music is definately improving over the years, but I'm progressing well in my career (probably faster than in my music, comparatively), so the amount I'd have to earn in music as a "starting wage" becomes more and more unrealistic as time wears on.

That's before you start looking at real world practicalities; my gf is a full time self employed writer and mortgage/insurance people only really tolerate that because of the comparative stability of my job. If I became self employed too and had patchy income (not even that much less, just coming in unpredictable dribs and drabs), we'd really struggle to be able to keep our house come mortgage renewal time. It's not even like my "day job" is something I loathe doing, or even "just a job" to me, I really enjoy it and would do it anyway as a hobby, even if I was independantly wealthy, so this makes it even less palatable to jack it in if doing so involves any appreciable paycut, loss of security, etc.

Ultimately, any money I make from music just goes towards making a dent (and that's all it is), in the cost all the gear and records has had over the years. My dream situation would be to make enough money from music that it just negated all the costs associated with it, so it was effectively a "free" hobby. Thereby freeing up money for my other great passion, motorcycles.

[DIGITAL SCREAMS]

Originally Posted by nvisibl

Writing a new track can sometimes be an exhilarating buzz, but how come you never seem to muster the gumption or staying power to take your tracks to conclusion and finish them off? Is your PC hard drive littered with 8 bar loops and generally sporadic half assed’ness in wav or MP3 format? The ideas sound great you think yeah? And as you lap up the little praise you receive from useless listeners you affirm to yourself once more that you will or can complete them if you want to? Stop kidding yourself.

Or are you one of those who is always talking a good track, going on about what you’re going to do next, how you’re going to tweak this and sequence that. How you’re going to write or do things in a way that’s better than everything and everyone else that’s out there. Do you continue in your fat mouthed energy criticising other artists, styles and producers trying to convince yourself that you yourself know what the fuck you are doing. Perhaps that’s just it, you don't know what the fuck you are doing, and so you spend more time talking and saying rather than actually doing the doing.

Do you insist on having to buddy up or collaborate with others, hmmm? If so then you obviously lack energy, inspiration, willpower or even hope or faith in your own ability. Perhaps adhere the lesson you wash-out as the spin cycle repeats itself again and again, your never ever going to find that right person to work with and of whom is creatively compatible with you. Mostly because you’re not even creatively compatible with yourself and so trying to feed off the energy of others to fill the gap that’s created by the lack of inspiration or belief in yourself is a useless endeavour which nearly always ends in bitter feeling.

And lastly Einstein, technical proficiency doesn’t necessarily count for creative ability. So your tendencies of “experimentation” are your simply making noise with the toys to the detriment of getting anywhere. It’s oh so easy to fuck about aimlessly with the gadgets, try writing some music for a change. And no you don’t need any more new kit, just get on with it.

I've chatted to some artists who, in my eyes have had alot of success (No. 1 hits and stints on Top of The Pops)...and they all say the same thing. The tracks that made them sucessful were their least favourite (creatively speaking)...and most, if not all found it very hard to keep the momentum going. All the big hits were recorded in studios where there was input from 3 or 4 people.....working together to make it happen. Face the facts.....its a tall order for anybody to do it 'Lone Ranger' styleee....

My advice would be to strip back all the uncessary crap that you may have in your studio....and go back to basics. Keep it really simple... 1 monosynth, 1 polysynth, 1 drum machine, 1 effects unit....and bin the crappy samples cd's you love the thought of using but never will. Thats right Randell...there is an Easter Bunny...

You must talk yourself out of the mental state that your in. Focus on small, attainable goals, work on individual tracks....try not to conceptualise an entire album....its overwhelming. If you want to rock out with some jamming mates....don't feel bad about that....sometimes thats exactly what one needs to do........lighten up...don't take it too seriously - you could be run over by a bus tomorrow.

At the end of the day, how successful you are primarily comes down to your mental wellbeing, technical knowledge of the gear your using...and yes....some creative flare. I have seen some big names make it.....who are no more talented than the average guy walking the street. Sobering thought.

Now, get out there...have a beer....get some pussy and make some tracks tonight.

DS