Thanks fellas really made me think about things. I think what happened was for years I was telling myself "as soon as I have figured out x then I will be able to achieve y"

When it didnt happen I kept starting over and over learning more and more until eventually I thought I was in a position to have some confidence in what I had learned and stick my neck out on a tune. THAT REMIX. When I failed it was almost like someone pulled the rug out from under me I was like "really, that bad, all that time" etc etc.

Now I just kinda feel totally expended when it comes to making music. Just now I thought ok opened cubase and Started playing the keyboard picking some presets. I couldnt even like a sound, I was flicking through them like shit, shit, shit, cheesy, shit, shit. Some chords that I have that I was 'saving' because they were sooooo great they were going to be part of my best ever song now sound crap to me.



Maybe I just need a break from it all.. Im not trying to bitch by the way its been a while since I even really posted just worried that I wont be able to get it all back. Its strange I went from being 100% music making to "wow.. I have a lot of free time" and its a bit scary cause when your whole life has been ok one way or another im doing music forever to... sooo what do i do now. It freaks you out a bit

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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 tehlord I just listened to the track and I like it. Man up, stop spending time in all the gaming forums and get cracking on your next tune.

I have been spotted lol

This is why I started gaming all the time to avoid music. I havent had a gaming console for about maybe 8-9 years I had to get one because of all the time I had from not making music.

Thats another point, one of the reasons I never had a console was all my money went on music gear and I thought fk it and bought something else.

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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 Thanks fellas really made me think about things. I think what happened was for years I was telling myself "as soon as I have figured out x then I will be able to achieve y"

Stop thinking about it in a linear fashion. There's always SOMETHING you should be figuring out - even if it means going back to a. That doesn't mean that everything you've accomplished is useless or that your experience is irrelevant. It just means that music is hard.

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my old stuff, not quite up to snuff - but I still dig it - UPDATED 9/23/2012

quote:

Originally posted by EddieZilker Stop thinking about it in a linear fashion. There's always SOMETHING you should be figuring out - even if it means going back to a. That doesn't mean that everything you've accomplished is useless or that your experience is irrelevant. It just means that music is hard.

yeah everyone is right in this thread, I should just take it on the chin and man up and make some music. Im 'ok' at what I do not great but I am better than I was 5 years ago and I think that must count for something.

Thanks guys im not like magically fixed but it has given me a better perspective and reason to think about things.

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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.

Popping in here because I was in the same boat a few days ago.

I had the opposite problem though...

Practically none of the active members that I've seen around the production boards here were saying anything about my tracks at all...

I would have said that you have to do it all for yourself, but I think that would be untrue. I know a few producers who love attention, and that's what drives them forward. If you can figure out how to harness the negative energy to propel you into a good state of mind, then you should unleash that emotion. If you want good feedback (or any at all) you also might try finding those that are willing to give it, and try bugging them about it. (You could send me a pm for example, asking nicely to review a specific track...and I might be inclined to do it <3)

The other thing you might try is what I've been doing. Go through other people's tracks and try providing your own feedback. Understand however, that music is an incredibly subjective artform, so you have to keep that in mind when making suggestions about someone's track. Try and stick to your strengths as well. (If you're good at melodies, try reviewing their melody etc...)

If you're mad that the feedback on your track is negative, or in my case, that there's no feedback at all...Let it drive you to improvement

You're also allowed to get mad I think. But the key, is to focus that anger / emotion / energy into a track and use it to keep pushing yourself to that next level.

Hell, even if you're just making small improvements here and there, eventually all of those improvements will add up into an overall improvement...And as far as I'm concerned, any improvement, is still improvement.

You might also take a break. Listen to other genres, and that itch should take hold again if EDM really is your thing.

But good luck man, and definitely keep on it if you have a passion for it. One of my professors said recently,

"So long as you're willing to invest the time in what you love, you can do pretty much anything you want."

(he said about 10,000 hours to start down the road to fame and fortune heheh)

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Originally posted by mfitterer1 Learn to criticize your own work more/better and you won't need to listen to other people you'll know everything that needs to be done. Don't depend on others for your works worth because everyone is into different stuff. You have to be your own decision maker. Learn to listen and learn to improve. You don't need other people to make good tracks.

exactly my opinion, well said, this and also believing in yourself is really important, tbh I have been browsing online boards for years now but never really bothered to post anything up for feedback or what so ever, if you know what sounds good and RIGHT(of course) wich you actually should cause i mean you listen to music all the time you don't really need to listen to others, also don't overcomplicate things just do what you love and always air for the best results, you'll see things will be getting better

(talking from my own personal experience here i was in the same position as you are now, 2 years ago, now things are completely different, few releases, radio plays etc.)

quote:

Originally posted by Detuned exactly my opinion, well said, this and also believing in yourself is really important, tbh I have been browsing online boards for years now but never really bothered to post anything up for feedback or what so ever, if you know what sounds good and RIGHT(of course) wich you actually should cause i mean you listen to music all the time you don't really need to listen to others, also don't overcomplicate things just do what you love and always air for the best results, you'll see things will be getting better (talking from my own personal experience here i was in the same position as you are now, 2 years ago, now things are completely different, few releases, radio plays etc.)

I actually disagree with you and mfitterer on this, only to say that I've gotten some insights into my producing by receiving feedback from people. I'm not saying your advice is wrong. If you guys have found a way that works for you - and it would seem you have - I certainly am the last person to fault you on it.

Personally, I just like getting feedback from people and giving it to others and have found my own way doing that.











*crosses fingers and hopes for radio play*

___________________

Now with extra singles!
my old stuff, not quite up to snuff - but I still dig it - UPDATED 9/23/2012

quote:

Originally posted by EddieZilker I actually disagree with you and mfitterer on this, only to say that I've gotten some insights into my producing by receiving feedback from people. I'm not saying your advice is wrong. If you guys have found a way that works for you - and it would seem you have - I certainly am the last person to fault you on it. Personally, I just like getting feedback from people and giving it to others and have found my own way doing that.

Was going to basically say this. Also, It seems like your brain seems to get involved/attached with a track to the point where you may not hear what needs to be done. This is basic psychology 101 in fact, as your aural senses have this nasty habit of adapting. So if your ears are adapted to a "bad" sound, you may not be able to hear it, where someone else could.

I have to admit that I've added some great additions to a track based on the suggestions of others, that I wouldn't have thought of myself. Certain feedback is just too valuable to not pursue.

So sure, it may be person dependant, but if you look at the really famous trance icons, (Above and Beyond, Kaskade, Alice Deejay, I could go on and on...) you'll find that they're comprised of more than just 1 person. Thinking about that one for a second, I would make the bold conclusion that 1 person's great ideas are indeed great, but a group of people's great ideas may be incredible, so long as the groups strengths/weakness/inputs are balanced.

I can't help but analyze everything, including feedback. So if someone makes a suggestion to me I try to pretend it was my own idea.(I always try to give thanks for feedback, or return the favor and listen/critique what they're working on)

I'm an incredibly large supporter of the idea, that you have to approach everything with moderation. Just because someone comes acrossed in a manner such like "You need to make this such and such change to your track," doesn't necissarily mean you have to do what they say exactly. However, you may try what they suggested, and then do something of your own accord. You are also in control of what feedback you choose to take in. You can disregard someone elses feedback just as easily as they spewed it out, so keep that in mind as well I think.

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I love providing examples as well, so here's one :

- With my latest track (Stageline),a friend from a different online community simply gave me general feedback on parts of the track he really liked/didn't like. I simply nodded and used his feedback to take a look at the problem areas and try to figure out why he was saying it. I actually didn't end up doing what he suggested. (I did something better, although it's hard to explain)

- Continuing...Eddie gave me some great technical advice on where to start with my kick in terms of where/how it should sit in a mix and it helped out the song tremendously. It was something my brain just wasn't picking up as an error, but when it was pointed out to me by Eddie, and the correction was made, he was in fact 100% right. (I always compare original to corrected, saving seperate files is an amazing tool)

I know for damn sure that I'm unaware of many of the general rules of thumb on mixing and the technical aspects of EDM and music composition, but I also know that Eddie seems very knowledgeable in that respect, so I try to go to him with those types of questions. (I'm sorry if you get swamped with pms now Eddie )

The strengths/weaknesses thread was/is great help btw!

and my natural apologies for the tl;dr. I'm at school with a 3 hour break and nothing to do.

You're a good songwriter, don't throw that away because some stuck-up listeners tore apart technical aspects that very few people can get perfect 100% of the time. Nobody expects you to, the only expectation people can hold a musician to is for them to put a legitimate effort into their music, and from what I've seen, you appear to.

Everybody wants to make their own little breathtaking piece of virtuosity that makes even the most stuck-up bastards gush over, but not being able to doesn't mean you should give up doing what you're doing. Just enjoy it for what it is, instead of hating it for what it isn't.

Theres nothing wrong with feedback but you can't depend on it. I have a close circle of people I share my tracks with and have them write down everything they like/dislike and then I go through each point and see if it's a personal issue for them or if something was really overlooked and needs to be changed.

quote:

Originally posted by mfitterer1 Theres nothing wrong with feedback but you can't depend on it. I have a close circle of people I share my tracks with and have them write down everything they like/dislike and then I go through each point and see if it's a personal issue for them or if something was really overlooked and needs to be changed.

Thanks for clarifying.

I completely understand that approach. I don't tend to be as selective but I do think if I were at a different level, professionally, where submitting a track for feedback, publicly, might have some draw-backs, I'd want such an arrangement. I'm not there, yet, however.

I tend to be selective about it - reading between the lines and also listening to the work my critics have put out, themselves, as it's often an indicator of how their opinions of my work are informed.



Anyways. Sorry about the side-bar, sonic_c. If this needs further discussion, someone should start a new thread.

___________________

Now with extra singles!
my old stuff, not quite up to snuff - but I still dig it - UPDATED 9/23/2012

quote:

Originally posted by Sonic_c Hey Guys, I think somehow I lost the spark that made me want to make music in the first place. I posted that remix on here and after it tuned out to be no good I just never opened my cubase again. I wasn't angry at some criticism I just thought well that was my best shot and after 5 years of trying and studying for a degree if I cant make a decent tune then why bother? Its like I just stopped for years even as a child all I did was wonder how they made trance music, good music etc etc and wanted to do it myself. Seriously I just stopped that thought process I just exported the wav sent it to the label an never gave music a second thought. Its like I almost let myself down its really messed me up. I literally cant be arsed to open my DAW. Anyone ever recovered from something like this or it that the end of the magical unicorn ride into music land for me?

Looks like u hit rock bottom!
No where to go but up from hear, keep your chin up, i been there TA Brother.
BTW
5 years ant shit!
I been doing this cents 1997, And i still suck but i am so close to where i want to be for my music.