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Skill vs Talent (pg. 3)
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| Nightshift |
This is the way I see it.
Production = skill
Songwriting/Composition = talent
Songwriting can be obtained by lots of practice, but usually those "born with music in their blood" or the ones who began at an early age with music will almost always have an advantage.
What I mean by this is not everyone is able to come up with creative ideas in the songwriting process, the ones born with creative minds will almost always outshine the ones who were not born with creative minds, not matter how much they practice. However, I'm not saying the one who is not natively born with it can't obtain greatness through practice, its just going to be a more difficult road.
When it comes to me, I've tested many times to find out I'm a whole-brained thinker (which means I naturally use the left and right brain interchangeably, however, am slightly weighted more to the right brain) and I also started with music around the age of 5. Songwriting is not usually a problem for me, its usually trying to get things to sound how I want them to is what holds me back and/or discourages me sometimes.
Just takes alot of determination & practice in the production and sound design aspect.
my 2cents. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
I am the other way around, I have accumulated tons of skill in sound synthesis and effects programming but it still takes me forever to come up with a melody that I think is even halfway decent. I need to team up with someone who has great musical talent but little programming skill to form a dynamic duo.
:p |
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| RichieV |
| quote: | Originally posted by Nightshift
This is the way I see it.
Production = skill
Songwriting/Composition = talent
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i don't think you can really seperate production and composition anymore. EDM producers are still composers. |
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| cryophonik |
| Wow - I'm pretty shocked at how many people didn't realize what researchers have been telling for us for decades or even centuries - children learn quicker than adults do, whether it's cognitive skills, motor skills, speech/language skills, emotional and behavioral development, etc. You don't need a bunch of forum nerds to tell you that - go to your local medical school library and look through the child development and psychology section if you don't believe it. So, it's simple - if you start later in life, you're going to have a much harder time developing musical or technical skills for producing. As MrJBJ consistently stated numerous times, that doesn't mean you can't become great at it, but you're certainly at a disadvantage compared to someone who started at an early age. |
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| Mr.Mystery |
| quote: | Originally posted by RichieV
i don't think you can really seperate production and composition anymore. EDM producers are still composers. |
Yer... just because a lot of people do both doesn't mean they're not separate things. |
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| derail |
I agree with JBJ, Cryo, etc - kids do learn a lot faster, and have a lot more time to devote to learning.
Be that as it may, I judge personal beliefs by how useful they are.
If I have the belief "I can't be a great musician unless I started at age 3 and devoted 12 hours a day to it", then that belief won't be very helpful to me. It won't inspire me to do my best.
If I have the belief "I can learn how to make fantastic music, even though I just started making music last month, because I have incredible passion for it", then that will provide me with extra motivation during the frustrating times.
Maybe someone who started at the age of 50 won't (or can't) become one of the greatest composers/musicians/producers ever. But if they tell themselves that, I think it will limit how great they are able to be. |
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| SDM |
never heard of him, yet the edm scene in norway is pretty small so i shouldve, werd. is he gray in his hair btw, how long has this dude been active?
btw... starting with production too early might result in lack of inspiration.
edit: barfed a little when listening to his tracks at myspace, will not read. |
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| cryophonik |
| quote: | Originally posted by SDM
btw... starting with production too early might result in lack of inspiration.
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How so? |
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| SDM |
i cant really explain it but people that are good at something before fully grown (like 20) usualy grow it off. it could be for many reasons.
since youve been doing it so long people expect you to be very good at it, and this create some sort of pressure that often cracks down young people. it could also be that you see that others are suddenly getting better than you at it, beacuse people learn really fast at around 20 years old and the learning curve is fastest in the start, so while you arent really learning anything new, everyone else seems to make it work really easily. Also creativity usualy is highest when u just started making music, but its kinda wasted if your mind isnt fully grown to make something awesome at early age. Kid stars usually go to hell to say it pretty. I really dont know though but it seems that people that go into music-production a little later in their life, when everythings stabile often means their serious about it, and stays a whole lot longer, while young people are constantly changing and dont know what the hell they want with their lives. Also music is pretty technical today and its not sure kids are smart enough to learn a daw well now that everything is on a computer. I remember trying to learn cubase (or cubasic i think it was called) pretty early and it made me give up on the whole production side of things. So i stayed on djeing instead beacuse i loved music so much. But then someone showed me Reason when I was like 23 or something and it changed everything. Thinking about it now it could probably have been any daw, i was just motivated to do it, and i was somehow ready. Might be only though haha i dont know. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by SDM
i cant really explain it but people that are good at something before fully grown (like 20) usualy grow it off. |
Yes there are the instrumentalists who get burnt out after being drilled on piano or violin or whatever from an early age. There are also thousands of people who take up production when they are in their late teens or early twenties only to throw in the towel a few years later. How do you know the first group is any larger than the second? |
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| SDM |
those are the same group imo. though people who produce at 25+ probably means something about it beacuse if not theyd be doing something else simply because its a waste of time and money making music. then you have the geniuses which make awesome tracks their whole life, from their first contact with gear till they die (often early). i cant name anyone really, those are incredible rare in edm, Lieb is the closest one but even he is loosing it lately. Then u have the entusiasts who are determine to make music whether they have talent or not, they just love it, and i think this is most of us in this part of forum. On the other hand i think everyones a mix of all this and everyone have their story, so its not possible to put people into groups really. It might be that a pianist playing concerts at the age of ten suddenly make hardhouse at the age of 30 and doing nothing music related in between. Producers are random people.
this isnt just music though.
Girls that where pretty on kid-school mostly suck now, and the geeky skinny nerds are suddenly good looking and will probably last alot longer too.
Everyone I know that where good in fotbal when they where small sucks now while others that u thought where wimps suddenly make it.
The ones that struggled most in classes suddenly have good jobs and .
And then u have the ones that never change. |
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| RichieV |
| quote: | Originally posted by SDM
Also music is pretty technical today and its not sure kids are smart enough to learn a daw well now that everything is on a computer. I remember trying to learn cubase (or cubasic i think it was called) pretty early and it made me give up on the whole production side of things. So i stayed on djeing instead beacuse i loved music so much. . |
kids these know how to hack into the pentagon. i'm pretty sure for alot of young teens, using a DAW isn't that hard. And you confuse child prodigies with the thousand others that just start music young. Prodigies are the ones that tend to burn out, not people that start young. |
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