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Do you practice ? (pg. 2)
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| Mad for Brad |
| I suppose it is a choice. Even if you work 8 hours a day, you still have another 8 hours to do music. It really only depends on how much you want it. But the less time you have, the smarter you should be on improving and the more structured your learning should be. 5 hours isn't so much. When I was at school for music. Did about 5 hours in school , then about 10 hours at home every day except Sunday. |
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| LoWahn |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mad for Brad
I suppose it is a choice. Even if you work 8 hours a day, you still have another 8 hours to do music. It really only depends on how much you want it. But the less time you have, the smarter you should be on improving and the more structured your learning should be. 5 hours isn't so much. When I was at school for music. Did about 5 hours in school , then about 10 hours at home every day except Sunday. |
Good call, and great advice. Unfortunately my (now) obsession for music hit me after I thoroughly saturated myself in responsibility. Definitely taking the structured learning approach as you suggest.
Gotta use what little time we have :) |
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| Mad for Brad |
| it isn't for everyone. Some people just want to have fun. I respect that. But there are constant threads about people not happy with their gains. It isn't much different than weightlifting. You have to target specific tasks, you have to really work out at that level that makes your brain hurt, and you have to do it every day. |
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| kevin shawn |
| quote: | | Originally posted by Mad for Brad You have to target specific tasks, you have to really work out at that level that makes your brain hurt, and you have to do it every day. |
Bingo!
I've forced myself to wake up 4 hours earlier than normal just to work on music before my girlfriend gets up. This has been my first week of doing it but so far I've gotten loads accomplished. If I go an entire month of staying on track I will get more work done in 30 days than I have in the past 6 months. |
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| Mise |
| I dont consider myself organized, but after spending and wasting a lot of time doing things that then I have to bin away I try to divide my time. I started piano lesson at age of 8 and I never practiced reading music. I didnt like it, I prefer spending time learning scales and chords to improvise with. After time I had to sit down and force myself to learn reading because if not I couldn't go any further. I use to force myself to do some things that I really dont enjoy. Every day I divide my time in: Developing the current project, watching youtube tutorials, listening to music, messing with Logic looking for new features I didnt know, and reading a production book. When I am saturated I sit on the piano and play it just to have fun. |
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| Aurana |
I wouldn't say that I set aside any time to practice per say. However, there are some days when I decided to jump into FL and I dont know, say work on a new style of bass line. A lot of times when I just decide to work on a bass groove I wind up coming up with a whole new track. Melody's and music in general seem to come natural to me.
I started producing about a year and a half ago, with no knowledge what so ever about music composition and theory. I just spent a lot of hours reading and watching youtube tutorials and just built on from that. I still don't know notes, or what chord I am in or anything. I just make music and play by ear.
But like I said, I don't really set aside time to just practice certain things but I do make an effort to try and learn something new every time I make a track. My biggest thing now is just learning to mix and master correctly which is slowly but surely coming along well. |
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| EddieZilker |
| I practice, as needed, for whatever I'm working on. If I'm working on a difficult (for me) keyboard part - that's what I work on. If I need to tweak something, I'll tweak it. My biggest weaknesses are the mix and keyboarding but I've also been working on resolving a TON of technical issues with the system my DAW is on. |
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| -FSP- |
| quote: | Originally posted by Owsey2008
I could never endure any form of routine when it comes to music. A lot of the time I don't want to be anywhere near it. I create only when I really feel like it. For example, I went nearly 2 months there without doing anything productive, but I've completed 3 tunes since Monday.
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Yeah me too. I can't be a machine that I wish I was because I'll get burned out. I can only make about 2 songs a month, and a remix or two a month. I can't believe some people make songs like machines though, that's the level I want to get to without getting burned out. I only go to the sequencer when I have an idea, because it's just quicker for me to make a song that way instead of experimentation sessions which take hours.
I've taken up exercising to revitalize my drive I had when I was 18 when I'd work like 4-8 hours a day with a rest every other day to make a song. I go into the sequencer tired and I think my 23 year old body just cannot take junk food and no exercise like it used to. A healthy body = a healthy mind, and I'm using my head for making music. |
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| derail |
For those people who only work on/ make music "when they feel like it" - unless you "feel like it" every day, this approach is going to slow down your progress massively.
Then again, you may be okay with that, if music is this transient thing in your life which you can take or leave - maybe next year you'll have other hobbies.
If you feel like (heh) having your songs sounding fantastic, within a reasonable timeframe, then I'd also heartily recommend setting goals. If your basslines aren't at the level you want, set aside sessions for the next week or two where that's all you focus on. Your bass sounds could well improve more within two weeks of dedicated focus, than in a year of just firing up your sequencer and "seeing what happens".
It seems some people here are saying that a structured approach would "take the fun out of producing", or something like that. It's your choice. If music is fun, and a hobby, then fine. The structured approach will, however, provide you with a lot of satisfaction as you hear your sound rapidly improving. Plus, for me, it's even more fun now that I can achieve a lot of the sounds I have in my head. |
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| music2dance2 |
| quote: | Originally posted by daeus
I've been learning since 2005 so I'm probably a good person to comment, from Cubase and now to Ableton DAW's, I try to structure but never set any time-based goals, just to "sound like a pro eventually".
I dont want to send anything until I'm happy (I'll try post an example).
I wish I had taken on music lessons and still thinking of doing it though as my music theory still sucks and wish I knew how to progress chords more but meh.
But generally, yea, I've focused on small things each time and just experimented ALLOT, a labour of love.
The main thing that I feel takes me time/destracts me is all the different VST's and DAW F*cking issues/CPU limitations
- I've come across so many VST's I get destracted from putting tracks together,
- Cubase used to crash on me ALL the time - and I always hit CPU limitations, so just recently brought a dual socket system with dell next day support, so no months of down time like before - and now its a dream :D Multiple FX vsts on over 15 channels at a time, 10+ different VSTis to allow experimentation - heaven!!!!! sorry getting excited
Along with those distractions I'm also a victim of the trance to house genre change time phenonmenon, so over the years I've got less trancey so my styles been changing too, which also adds to the learning progress! Generally I still love all good EDM tracks so its all good..and this will be reflected in my music hopefully encompassing all EDM genere's and production techniqies to equal something fresh. |
Now you have a good machine maybe reduce the vst/plug in's you have? Chances are you dont use half and only need a small amount to make tracks. Ive done that recently, really helps.
| quote: | Originally posted by kevin shawn
This. The only thing I practice on are my weaknesses that others tell me about.
First I was stuck in loop mode for about a year and I forced myself to start finishing tracks even if I didn't like the idea that I had. Unless it was utter e then I would just start a new project. Now if I have a solid idea I can bang out a track in a day or two.
Right now my last few tracks have gotten feedback about not having enough percussion and that the mixes have been a little muddy. I'm going to sit down and force myself to just write my next track or two and base it around the percussion and drums. My melody will be secondary and my focus will be on the drums and percussion.
I think that realizing what areas of production you are most weakest is vital for success as a music producer. I want as much feedback, both good and bad on my music so I know what areas I need improvement. Once you know where your weakness is you should be able to put in the practice to make an improvement in your overall sound. |
Good points here. When I was struggling a couple years ago I did the same and stopped producing and read books and focussed on what my weakness's was. You could say for several weeks I structured my learning as I made sure I did the same everyday to improve my skills.
Down the line once I got back into producing the benefits was there. As Kevin mentioned I also took onboard what others said about my productions and what I noticed had to be changed (weakness) and worked harder to improve those areas. Simply put it worked and same applies now, although not as intense nowadays. |
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| G-Con |
| quote: | Originally posted by -FSP-
I can't believe some people make songs like machines though, that's the level I want to get to without getting burned out.
I've taken up exercising to revitalize my drive I had when I was 18 when I'd work like 4-8 hours a day with a rest every other day to make a song. I go into the sequencer tired and I think my 23 year old body just cannot take junk food and no exercise like it used to. |
On the first point, making tracks like a machine, churning them out at a fast rate is in most cases only going to result in disposable forgettable crap. Why anyone would aspire to quantity when quality will undoubtedly suffer, I'll never know.
On the second point, you're only 23 and you think your body can't hack it like it used to - Good grief.
On topic, this is only a hobby for me so I'm not fussed about dedicating a lot of time to producing. I'd love to get better at a faster rate but I'm not someone who is content to spend the majority of my free time sitting on my own in front of a computer. I imagine if I did, I'd look back years down the line and think "what a waste" |
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| Beatflux |
| quote: | Originally posted by G-Con
On the first point, making tracks like a machine, churning them out at a fast rate is in most cases only going to result in disposable forgettable crap. Why anyone would aspire to quantity when quality will undoubtedly suffer, I'll never know.
On the second point, you're only 23 and you think your body can't hack it like it used to - Good grief.
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Some people work extremely quickly and would prefer working 2-4 hours on one song, rather than 30. Some people say it has improved the quality of their songs and I've heard this from Armin Van Buuren where he writes the song extremely quickly.
I am 23, and I stopped exercising around 18 when Taekwondo got really boring. I started again when I was 22, and now I run everyday for 30 minutes. There is a big difference between when you do and when don't. There's really no reason not to exercise, because there are ton of benefits to exercise. If you are depressed, it can help. |
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