So I've been dabbling in production since later summer of 2008... working in Ableton 7 and Cubase 4... have a hard drive littered with various kinda of trance projects (none really finished)... some softer progressive type tracks to some driving/edgier type tracks.

My typical production path has led me to starting new tracks, getting far enough into them that I feel have something good started, stopping for the night, looking at it the next and losing interest, so I end up starting something completely new and the process starts over again.

Maybe thinking I need some more encouragement to finish some tracks off... any small labels out there willing to take a look at some unfinished work?

Silly post.

"I cant finish a track sometimes i spend a couple of hours messing about and i dont like what i make. PLEASE SIGN ME "

Wtf You want some encouragement? stop writing music your not meant for it and if you think some label is going to sign a 30 second ableton live file of your usb stick then get a life. Actually as it happens why dont you just give up all together and get a job at mcdonalds!

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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.

You should concentrate on actually finishing a few tracks before you even think about labels. If you're like the vast majority of people, your first two or three finished tracks are not going to be signable.



I think you should be able to find some "encouragement" in the joy of writing music. It's great if you can eventually get signed, but you're going to need internal motivation if you're in this for the long haul...

Sonic_C that is extremely discouraging, and unnecessary.

Although it is true, if ur not able to finish up an idea, its either because the idea isnt good enough, or that you are simply not ready yet to make a finished track.

But it all comes with time, just keep on making music and you`ll roll out those finished tracks eventually.

You just need to get that ONE complete track to set your standard.

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yeah what he said

And for that matter while there are loads of people out there desperately spending weeks on projects and are yet unsigned some great ones too. This fella comes on and says do any labels want to sign some unfinished work that I do not like. No one is going to encourage you to finish a song you yourself dont like.

posts like this get me mad

I shouldnt have flamed but ...... you know

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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.

quote:

Originally posted by Sonic_c Silly post. "I cant finish a track sometimes i spend a couple of hours messing about and i dont like what i make. PLEASE SIGN ME " Wtf You want some encouragement? stop writing music your not meant for it and if you think some label is going to sign a 30 second ableton live file of your usb stick then get a life. Actually as it happens why dont you just give up all together and get a job at mcdonalds!

ROLF

He came looking for encouragement and you sure gave it to him (esp. that maccas line!)

Look, here is something to try:

Start out making just really simple tracks. Lots of tech house and house tracks are extremely simple. Don't try to take on a massive, full-on trance track. Make a simple tracks with simple drums, simple bass, a pad and a lead line or two. Get yourself used to the process of writing from start to finish.

If you can make something simple sound good, then its easier to start adding elements and making more complex tracks. A lot of producing is all about composition and arrangement, and you need to concentrate on those as much as possible.

Study other simple house or tech house tracks. You need to become more than a listener, you need to be come a student of this music. Listen and learn how others go about writing breakdowns, lead-ins, main lines, etc. You'll find that a lot of the tracks that work well on the floor are extremely simple in their ideas, they are just implemented really well.

Don't get too frustrated, and be advised that its going to take a couple of years before you really get used to how YOU like to work. The most important thing in the beginning is to finish things. Even if the final product sucks, you at least gain the experience of finishing your tracks and you'll start to develop a workflow. I guarantee you that most producers have a stack of shit laying around from when they started. For most of us, it all absolutely sucked, but each track represented the next step in our evolution.

Even guys like Deadmau5 has talked about having hundreds of tracks in his HD from when he was starting out, and how most of it was utter garbage. The point is that you'll learn with each track, and thats the only way to get better.

Great post, Eric J.

Just another suggestion:

Take an idea that you can't work past and work up to that idea, instead.

Basically, start the track where you want it to end up - to its most complex arrangement, or at least as complex as you can get it, and then start at the beginning, work your way up to where it will wind up, basically.

You'll find that even that is easier said than done, for a while. Listen to other tracks you want your song to sound like, too. Imitate them - I swear I learned a helleva lot, that way. Eventually, my stuff stopped sounding like other people and became my own.

hehe, never said i didn't like my own music, I just tend to have more fun starting over again every time I go back onto the PC... Sometimes I go a long ways, sometimes not. In the end, I have some that sound good to me but are only finished up to the end of the breakdown and/or 2nd break. Or they need some updating since last touched, some more layers of modulation, etc. Some are old Ableton projects and I need to recreate them in Cubase, but ever since switching I've made exclusive Cubase projects.

Felt it might be a silly question to ask but maybe thought a label could take a look and give me a different type of input than a typical forum member.

I'll try and finish one of the more promising tracks then

Really good post Eric J.

My first attempt ever at making a progressive house track, turned out to be the best track i have ever made.. took me 1 night to write it and 1 day to produce it. No mixing hassles no nothing.

Trance can be a real pain in the *** to mix, takes me months to finalize a track.

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quote:

Originally posted by ClearWater .. any small labels out there willing to take a look at some unfinished work?

No offense, but I doubt that you're going to find any labels willing to spend their valuable time listening to your unfinished work and giving you feedback when they have dozens or hundreds of finished songs waiting for them to review. Have you posted your ideas on the songs forum? There are several other forums that you may want to try as well: anjunabeats, trance.nu, [whatever DAW you use]'s forum, etc. You're much more likely to get solid advice from peers (many of whom are signed to labels) by posting your ideas on forums than you are to get feedback from any labels. Good luck!

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thanks for input Erik! I always come to the computer with a slightly different approach in mind, sometimes with the theme of keeping it simple, just percussion, work on pads/atmosphere this time, etc.