practical mistakes:
1. buy lots of gear before earning any money, especially hardware synths and efex (see urbanninja)
2. try signing with labels before you know what the hells going on or having a real product
3. not using enough money on monitoring (speakers, soundcard, sound-treatment)

additional personality flaws in noobs:
4. not enough self-criticism
5. not enough originality
6. not enough focus
7. not enough stamina
8. not grounded enough (quit dreaming, get real)

artist name

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"This is why Superman works alone." GC
old stuff from days gone by (2001-2004)
Mad For Brad's gay little contest

starting lots of projects, finishing nothing because it doesn't live up to their taste yet and they're getting frustrated, thereby only practising the first steps in making a track and never even getting to the later levels

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Here's my latest: rolling tech house and laid-back progressive trance

http://soundcloud.com/wayfu



Chronology – a wayfinder discography in progress. Roughly sorted by date of creation.

quote:

Originally posted by wayfinder starting lots of projects, finishing nothing because it doesn't live up to their taste yet and they're getting frustrated, thereby only practising the first steps in making a track and never even getting to the later levels

I relate to that and related actually to the opposite as well
trying to finish everything you ever started, forcing it actually to the point its pointless

learn to let go in favor of new and fresh stuff that actually has more potential to make it

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PSY1 Remix package

DJ Profile Page

SoundCloud

Bad sound selection, shitty weed.

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SoundCloud

quote:

Originally posted by Dj_Kile I relate to that and related actually to the opposite as well trying to finish everything you ever started, forcing it actually to the point its pointless learn to let go in favor of new and fresh stuff that actually has more potential to make it

This is also very true. The thing is its hard to judge as a beginner what can turn into a good track and what wont. But as time goes on and you practice more/are more experienced you will get to that level of being able to see it.

I think im getting more to that level of being able to see if a track has potential or if its just gonna be an endless rut of wasted hours.

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Soundcloud
FB Fan Page

quote:

Originally posted by Dj_Kile I relate to that and related actually to the opposite as well trying to finish everything you ever started, forcing it actually to the point its pointless learn to let go in favor of new and fresh stuff that actually has more potential to make it

as a beginner, you profit much more from getting experience with all parts of making a track than from efficiency. Your results are going to suck anyway, whether or not the track has potential to become great in someone else's hands

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Here's my latest: rolling tech house and laid-back progressive trance

http://soundcloud.com/wayfu



Chronology – a wayfinder discography in progress. Roughly sorted by date of creation.

not having a good balance, too high or too sober when producing.

My biggest mistake was ignoring sound design, thinking it was too complex and mathematical to get into in the beginning and just wanting to focus on the fun creative flow / melodic parts of the tunes.

The nexus comment earlier is spot on. Not even just nexus but presets in general. Took me far too long to realise that it was a frustrating waste of time having to hunt through soundbanks every time I needed a new sound. It was fun to begin with because you're not as fussy about what sound you get, lots of them sound interesting and you just slap them together, cringe at all the knobs you don't understand, and move on having learnt nothing.

Once you start really trying to polish things up though and need a sound to slot in perfectly somewhere, you need to be able to make it. Otherwise you waste more and more time looking for the right sound, and even more time trying to EQ it into a place it doesn't fit, and that's usually where the inspiration dies.

It's like a light clicked for me recently, biggest regret is not realising this earlier.

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i7 | Cubase | Virus TI KB | Motu 828mk3 | K&H O300 | Dell U2410 x2 | Maschine | Soundcloud

quote:

Originally posted by wayfinder starting lots of projects, finishing nothing because it doesn't live up to their taste yet and they're getting frustrated, thereby only practising the first steps in making a track and never even getting to the later levels

Personally, this is my biggest challenge.

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quote:

Originally posted by dj_alfi change your avatar for fucks sake.

quote:

Originally posted by Looney4Clooney artist name

I don't think the name is as important as the overall aura.

Moody photos with DJ cans round your neck have zero aura.

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Soundcloud

For me, the biggest mistakes I see all to often (and my own personal waste of time) is obsessing over tiny details rather than looking at the bigger picture of a track as a whole.

Sure, it's useful as a learning process for engineering, but the thing to keep at the forefront is: producer

We're meant to produce, that means make something. I've lost hours noodling with the tiny minutiae of insignificant things, only to be back basically where I was before I started noodling.

The other thing (tied to the above) is not making swift decisions. As a producer, you have to learn to make fast decisions and quickly move on. You'll never get used to making a track in good time and being anything close to prolific, which you need to be if you want to make it.

The other thing is having too many toys to play with. You become a master of none and there's a huge benefit to find a few key synths that resonate (ahem) with you and learning them inside out. I know a couple of producers that use logic's built in synths and FX for 95% of their project and they sound amazing.