Strategies to improve your rate of learning and improvement when writing tunes

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-- Strategies to improve your rate of learning and improvement when writing tunes

Posted by Osmodiar on Mar-29-2011 04:42:

Strategies to improve your rate of learning and improvement when writing tunes

So you go from track to track and gradually you improve, sometimes in leaps and bounds, sometimes not.. How do you maximise your rate of technical improvement with the time you have in the studio?

It seems easy to fall into the trap of writing tunes that are technically similar, using the methods you are comfortable with and the tricks you know.. but I think it would be interesting to hear if there are any habits you follow that have helped you to push your boundaries.

For example building a collection of reference tunes which you can periodically A/B your project with & allocating some of your studio time to finding and watching tutorials in other genres for idea's that could work in your preferred style. Maybe you resort to a particular method of experimentation when you hit a rut..

I'm sure there are some innovative and probably even basic concepts people here are following perhaps without even realising, that not everyone has thought of and could be interesting to discuss..

Posted by KilldaDJ on Mar-29-2011 06:08:

i fap

Posted by sako487 on Mar-29-2011 08:34:

Make a track each week, and do something different in each of them

Posted by aquila on Mar-29-2011 10:53:

quote:
Originally posted by sako487
Make a track each week, and do something different in each of them

How weird would it be to actually make the same track over and over again for the next decade?

Posted by Rodri Santos on Mar-29-2011 13:41:

i look to how other tracks are written and i ensure that they're different to what i usually do, you can recognize myself in the sounds used as they are just variations of what i usually use but in terms of structure, melody and samples they're different.

Posted by Beatflux on Mar-29-2011 13:58:

quote:
Originally posted by aquila
How weird would it be to actually make the same track over and over again for the next decade?

Ever hear of Sean Tyas?

Posted by DJ RANN on Mar-29-2011 16:55:

quote:
Originally posted by Beatflux
Ever hear of Sean Tyas?

Oh snap!

If you have particular tracks that have always stood out to you then it's not a bad idea to A/B against them, just make sure you don't fall in to the trap of following them too rigidly. You should also throw in some latest tracks to give you some up to date inspiration.

The other thing is not limit yourself by saying "this is how I work". SO for instance if you're someone that doesn't use loops, get some and throw them in to the mix. Reach for some synths that maybe you hadn't thought of or maybe didn't work on your last track, even stuff you've forgotten about.

In my eyes it's all about pushing yourself, but also retaining what worked and what didn't.

Posted by Rodri Santos on Mar-29-2011 17:32:

there is a common sentence "Don't touch what it works" applyed to music it would be "Don't touch too much what it works" you have to change things but it's cool to have a sound or something that makes you recognizable and it's obviously easier to start from a point you are comfortable with, saves time and the mind struggling that can make you give up with a track.

About Sean Tyas is true that he sounds very similar in the same period, but his tracks from 2009 are different from the 2005 tracks and different from the 2011 tracks, also he has the Syat Naes guise to produce something more minimalistic and now the D.N.A Remix or the Starfire (S.T Remix) pop to my mind this are indeed very different to his common productions, you can recognize him for the abuse of phaser, the dreamy pianos, the pikes and the moog bass they're a bit tweaked in every track though, maybe just different eq color but different.

Only thing i'd bash about him is that XXXX-XXXX (Sean Tyas Rework) specially the rock/metal hits, this reworks are odd to say the least.

Posted by Nicolas Oliver on Mar-29-2011 22:25:

Try to emulate what others do well.

Posted by SoundMagus on Mar-29-2011 23:20:

When i first started out i used to keep a log of what new stuff i did in every track.

In the next track i would impliment everything i had learned/used in the track previous and try to add least another 2 new things, constantly trying to make my new track of higher quality than the last.

Now i just find somethign i really want to learn and normally make a track around that process/idea/principle so that i learn it very well.

this is also a reason why i have so many unfinished tunes, i really only start tunes to learn something then never finish them :O:O

So another thing is to FINISH YOUR TRACKS always

Mark

Posted by DJ RANN on Mar-30-2011 00:04:

quote:
Originally posted by KilldaDJ
i fap

You mean....

Posted by Osmodiar on Mar-30-2011 07:50:

Thanks some good comments..

Yeah actually Mark you're spot on the topic with those kinds of ideas.. keeping a log of techniques to make sure you keep using them and add to the list each time you start new. Building a track around a new technique purely to learn it is worth trying for sure.

Two of the concepts mentioned in here are kind of conflicting - create a new track every week versus always finish your tracks.. lol Not as easy in practice but something to aim for I guess

Must be more idea's out there, keep em coming..!

Posted by derail on Mar-30-2011 09:54:

I find it challenging (and humbling) to devote a period of a couple of weeks each year to attempting to recreate ten of the best sounding songs of the last year. Some of the sounds I get nowhere close to, some of them I don't end up close to but I end up with something which sounds great, some of them I get very close to, which also gives me options for my future songs - I can keep the low end foundation and build my own pads and leads over it (as well as changing things melodically and rhythmically, of course!)

So yes, you don't want to end up making clones of other songs, but this will give you a very defined goal in terms of what you're trying to learn. As I said, it's very humbling. I always find out how much there is I don't know!

Posted by Osmodiar on Mar-31-2011 00:14:

I bet it would be humbling! You know that's something i've always wanted to do but never actually sat down and done.. Ten would be ambitious with my time constraints but even doing one properly would be useful, and as you say regardless of how close you get to the tune you're aspiring to copy the groundwork could still be used for something original.

So much of this pursuit is self discipline and time management.. Persistance i've got but the other two, "needs work" lol.

Posted by derail on Mar-31-2011 02:47:

The thing I like about doing ten is that when I hit one of those "argh how'd they get that bass sound" moments I can go onto one of the others. Often i'll come back to the other song in a couple of days and already have a better handle on things.

Posted by kitphillips on Mar-31-2011 06:43:

I try to implement completely new techniques a lot... Like do something strange with samples, granular synthesis etc. I try to watch a lot of tutes about styles other than what I conventionally produce and listen to lots of new music for inspiration. Then I try to recreate those sounds and combine them with my current sound.