The more I learn about this the more of a perfectionist i become but to the detriment of my workflow. Is this how its going to be? had the idea weeks ago still fiddling with compression setting and considering the mix etc. Interesting to know how you guys work do you for example have your own pre made presets for setting for a particular effect you like? do you work to a template? or like me do your songs constantly evolve and bug the hell out of you?

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Processing a highly structured and complex pattern of sensory input as a unified percept of "music" is probably one of the most elaborate features of the human brain.....understanding how music is perceived and how it may elicit intense sensations is far from being understood.

I recently got into teaching people about electronic music production and had someone in your same situation. The kid was a total perfectionist and wanted everything perfect right away without going through the trial and error process that comes with learning something new.

What I basically told him was to know what his technical abilities are and just do the best he could with them. Realize what you do and don't know and just make the best song you can with that knowledge. It took a few months to really have that set into his brain and now he's learning more and more with every track that he does. He learns something new and wants to apply that in a new song.

I don't know how far along you are in your music production "career", but if you're still fairly new, then I would highly recommend try accept this train of thought. If you don't think something needs to be compressed/eq'd, then don't. Don't just do it for the sake of doing so unless you know how to use the tools. If you don't know how to use those properly, learn how to do so outside of a project so that you're not interrupting your songwriting.

In my opinion, songs shouldnt be worked too much on, the elements you introduce to the track should fit right in without spending more than a couple of minutes making them fit.
The most important mixing skill you can have imo, is to hear when a sound doesnt fit the track.
So before you start fiddling with those compressors etc.. make sure that the sound you are using it on sounds great.

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Start thinking of the big picture rather than the details and you're set. I know it's hard but the average listener isn't going to hear how masterfully you've compressed your hihats nor do they care how many hours you put in that subtle background noise that nobody's even going to hear.

My workflow got considerably faster after I unlearned a big part of what I once knew.

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As No Left Turn said, you do what you can to the best of your abilities.

If you're in a session where you want to get a song finished, work on finishing the song.

If you're in a session where you're learning about compression, learn as much as you can about impression and improve what you're doing.

You could see it like sport - players train to improve their abilities, then they play the game. In the middle of a game, a player isn't going to start running laps because they realise they need to work on their fitness level some more. They do the best during the game, then work to improve during training.

Make sure you have dedicated practice sessions, with clear aims. You'll learn much, much more slowly if your learning is happening as a by-product of unstructured music creation/ "fiddling".

What Subtle and Mr.Mystery said are very helpful tips as well and are somewhat related to each other.

As long as you have a good idea of what the "big picture" is (this includes what sounds you want, the melodies and progression(s), how the track is arranged, etc.), it will make it a lot easier to get things done and continue moving forward. You'll know exactly what sounds to look for or program... you'll know exactly how to arrange the track and where to put what... as long as you have that in mind, it really shouldn't take more than a day or two to at least write/compose

The most unproductive thing you could do is to try to work on music and not have a clue on what you want to work on.

Thanks guys but I think I have done this for example

year 1 of production I was making pretty poor electro house/trance no mastering or creative use of fx.

Year 2 tried trance as knew more about harmony songs were fun and interesting and finished in days but sound quality was poor.

Now in year 3 wanted to focus on quality songs sounding better but taking weeks and sometimes going past the point at which i still enjoy the song.

Know what i mean?

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Processing a highly structured and complex pattern of sensory input as a unified percept of "music" is probably one of the most elaborate features of the human brain.....understanding how music is perceived and how it may elicit intense sensations is far from being understood.

I have spend 4 years on a track once, and another took me 3 years.

Maybe in a year or two, i will finish some of the tracks i have stored too.

If u cant fix it, start a new one.

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You need to LIMIT your creativity.

Creativity is where the workflow springs from. But its like you're trying to fill a pool with water and aren't shutting it off when its full.

You need to realize when to turn off creativity and activate organization. Otherwise a song will never simple, refined, and complete.

I think creativity can be a bit like masturbation sometimes, you never wanna stop. But with masturbation there incentive to finish, with producing because you can't see or feel (through you ears) a finished product it can becomes easier to just masturbate till your dick falls off.

sorry I'm out of metaphors

lol@ robbys post

anyway i found the only way to overcome this Delmer is knowing when to stop. if you can pinpoint a area you find is hard then side step put it into a box and carry on. make things so that they just work.

We all went through that phase - constantly tweaking this and that, spending ages on one particular section and in the end getting fed up of the track and abandoning it

The more experienced you get, youll start to concentrate on the track as a whole, rather than the minute details

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great tips here. definitely helpful for me as well since i'm in the same boat :P

sooo many options sound good in my tracks and i get caught up in the details. seems like every time i want to make a funky progressive tune, i wind up with trancy stuff cause i keep adding elements and tweaking.

now if i can actually put these above tips into use i'll be set haha

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