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-- what's your standard for the quality of your tracks...
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what's your standard for the quality of your tracks...
i have super high standards when it comes to producing...so naturally that's why i don't have anything released heheh...and plus i suck...but just curious...do you guys have a certain standard you think you need to meet before your shit is good enough?
i mean i'm listening to Spooky - Belong right now...and it's soooo genius. all the little subtleties...that's what makes it so great. and i ain't gonna embarass myself with putting out some crap song that can't hold it's own with tracks like that...
just curious who feels the same 
Hehe� I don�t want to be too hard on myself I guess heh�that�s why I get to actually finish some productions for once in awhile.
If I listen to some work in progress and I say to myself: " hell, that�s pure crap", then ill probably wont continue working on it.
Im never 100% satisfied with my works, always feel like there are stuff that could have been done better� but that is also what helps you improve your skills, working on all the smell details trying to get your tune to be perfect.
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| Originally posted by DJ-Kreing^^ Hehe� I don�t want to be too hard on myself I guess heh�that�s why I get to actually finish some productions for once in awhile. If I listen to some work in progress and I say to myself: " hell, that�s pure crap", then ill probably wont continue working on it. Im never 100% satisfied with my works, always feel like there are stuff that could have been done better� but that is also what helps you improve your skills, working on all the smell details trying to get your tune to be perfect. |
the better you get.. the more u produce.. the more u develop an ear of what sounds good and what dont..
Definately feel the same way. I'm writing my first serious track at the moment and I've been re-working it for over a month and I'm still not anywhere near finishing. I dont want to produce something generic and waste the time mastering something thats flawed. Still not sure if this is the best way to work, but it feels right anyway.
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| Originally posted by Subtle the better you get.. the more u produce.. the more u develop an ear of what sounds good and what dont.. |
well i understand what you all are saying of course. i dunno...maybe i should stop being so anal...but really...if this is something that i want to eventually do professionally...i just don't want my name attached to something that i'm not really proud of...
try to post samples on amateurs production forum instead of whole tunes and see what other TA's says
our biggest critics are ourselves...
people might be like 'yeah this is really good' but 90% of us go, 'yeah, but it could be better...'
you're in a situation, again like the rest of us, where we are constantly progressing so, our idea of a good quality level changes everytime u try and produce.
As a sound engineer by trade, my standards for mix and mastering quality tend to stand in the way of the rest of my songwriting, which can be a blessing and a curse (the latter at the best of times).
But what I do mix is always done the best I can. I spend a lot of time on each sound so it's just right. I have no set routine to how I achieve each quality standard, I just hear a sound, know what it needs and find a way to do it...to the point where I'm looping a bar over and over again for hours on end while driving my housemate insane 
The final mix is no different. I take no shortcuts. I've worked with my monitors for so long I know in my head where their strengths and weaknesses are. But sometimes even the most carefully placed studio setups can mask a flaw in a mix. When I think I've set it right on my monitors, I take it to other places: My computer speakers, my walkman, home theatre system and my car stereo are the most common places. I study how the mix works on each system, take notes and compare it back in the studio, and alter accordingly. Some songs have taken me weeks to get right, and some I'm still not satisfied with.
One day I'd love to take these skills and merge them with a real songwriter as a proper project, not just for work. That would be awesome.
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| Originally posted by aquila As a sound engineer by trade, my standards for mix and mastering quality tend to stand in the way of the rest of my songwriting, which can be a blessing and a curse (the latter at the best of times). But what I do mix is always done the best I can. I spend a lot of time on each sound so it's just right. I have no set routine to how I achieve each quality standard, I just hear a sound, know what it needs and find a way to do it...to the point where I'm looping a bar over and over again for hours on end while driving my housemate insane The final mix is no different. I take no shortcuts. I've worked with my monitors for so long I know in my head where their strengths and weaknesses are. But sometimes even the most carefully placed studio setups can mask a flaw in a mix. When I think I've set it right on my monitors, I take it to other places: My computer speakers, my walkman, home theatre system and my car stereo are the most common places. I study how the mix works on each system, take notes and compare it back in the studio, and alter accordingly. Some songs have taken me weeks to get right, and some I'm still not satisfied with. One day I'd love to take these skills and merge them with a real songwriter as a proper project, not just for work. That would be awesome. |
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| Originally posted by Zombie0729 our biggest critics are ourselves... people might be like 'yeah this is really good' but 90% of us go, 'yeah, but it could be better...' you're in a situation, again like the rest of us, where we are constantly progressing so, our idea of a good quality level changes everytime u try and produce. |
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| Originally posted by DickieThijssen i would like to hear some of your work |
I'm not even going to load a full track on tranceaddict, much less have it released, without it being perfect. (Unless i have a really specific problem and need to post a specific sample of that problem, but I can usually just read something and figure that out). Lots of times I'll be listening to a released track and go "awww, why didn't he do so and so..."
When I sort out all my problems, I'll be unstoppable! :P It's just like learning to use photoshop, for example - you don't just read the manual and then have "mad skillz." You have to tackle it one problem at a time, until everything sounds perfect not only individually, but complements everything else... 
The best advice I ever got when starting to produce went something like this. ( think it was somebody on TA)
"When learning to produce, obviously you're going to compare the results to your favourite tracks, the professionally done and out there releases.
If you do this, you'll always be disappointed simply because you're still learning.
While trying to achieve the professional sound, realise that it's going to take a while.
So the best thing to do is only compare your latest track to the one you did before. That way you'll see you're improving and that will give you the impetus to forge on with the next one."
or something like that. definitely helped me get over my inferiority complex. strive for the best, but realise you've got to take it one step at a time.
I'm coming to realize that I don't have the patience to do what it takes to achieve my full musical potential. As of now, I can't rationalize spending an inordinate amount of extra time to achieve what may be only a slight improvement in production quality. When you consider that one can sit down and write a melody, design a patch, and slap on some FX in 10-20 minutes, it just seems so much less productive to spend several hours/days EQ'ing, compressing, etc. It's more enjoyable to just sit down and mess around without feeling obligated to produce a polished product.
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| Originally posted by pho mo The best advice I ever got when starting to produce went something like this. ( think it was somebody on TA) "When learning to produce, obviously you're going to compare the results to your favourite tracks, the professionally done and out there releases. If you do this, you'll always be disappointed simply because you're still learning. While trying to achieve the professional sound, realise that it's going to take a while. So the best thing to do is only compare your latest track to the one you did before. That way you'll see you're improving and that will give you the impetus to forge on with the next one." or something like that. definitely helped me get over my inferiority complex. strive for the best, but realise you've got to take it one step at a time. |
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| Originally posted by BshidoHEAT Good advice right there |
Of course, strive to achieve the professional level! But I'm just saying you can get frustrated and disappointed if you only compare your amateur tracks against them.
when you compare a new track with your last one, you'll realise the improvement you've made and know you are getting closer to your ultimate goal.
Hell yeah, that's always the best motivation. Every track I've produced has been better than the previous one. And I don't mean better in the sense that I like it more as a piece of music; in the sense of all but composition (whatever you're working on at the time is usually your favorite composition :P)
I'm not saying that I can't achieve professional level. It's possible, but, for someone who's been just been seriously producing for a few months (4 or 5 since my first 'real' project), one can't honestly expect me to turn out some mind blowing stuff.
Even if it's true, you can't live in that mindset if you want to get where you want to be faster... what chiba is saying is: You can't be upset that you aren't immediately (or at all) acheiving professional results; you have to look at your improvement. But at the same time, you can't think "I can't make it there" (no excuses :P)
| quote: |
| Originally posted by pho mo The best advice I ever got when starting to produce went something like this. ( think it was somebody on TA) "When learning to produce, obviously you're going to compare the results to your favourite tracks, the professionally done and out there releases. If you do this, you'll always be disappointed simply because you're still learning. While trying to achieve the professional sound, realise that it's going to take a while. So the best thing to do is only compare your latest track to the one you did before. That way you'll see you're improving and that will give you the impetus to forge on with the next one." or something like that. definitely helped me get over my inferiority complex. strive for the best, but realise you've got to take it one step at a time. |
that's a good point. i suppose as long as you're improving thats a sign of something good to come.
Heh I constantly make pretty much all of the mistakes that have been mentioned in this thread. I compare any music that I make to the big-time trance producers, which makes me think that my stuff sounds like total shit.
I also tend to be completely paranoid that I'll be copying someone else's work. For instance, I'll have some tune or melody just pop into my head one day and I'll be like "Whoa, this could sound really cool.. in fact, I bet someone has already done this." So I usually end up not really working on it too much because I feel like I'm not being original enough. =/
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