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I have been making music for 5 years (pg. 3)
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| Seandroid |
| quote: | Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
i think every great artist will say ubiquitously that they are their own worst critic. you are wasting your time asking people. They will say nice things are nothing at all. Finish it , then move on. |
In some ways, sure, but without real criticism and the advice of people that actually know what they're talking about, you can spend ages knowing there's something wrong and never really being able to figure out what, and then giving up.
Sure you can be your own "worst critic," but there have been times when I've been confident with something, and then someone gave me an idea and it totally revitalized what I was doing.
Like, , there are songs I have on Beatport that I would give anything to get removed because I absolutely hate them now, but I also realize that other people simply aren't going to feel the same way that I do about them.
I'm my own worst critic in irrational ways but that doesn't make real advice any less valuable, and there are places to find it.
I think people that whole-heartedly claim they're their own worst critic are terrified of being wrong about something they're passionate about. |
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| maximlee |
| quote: | Originally posted by cryophonik
I've been around this forum for a while, and although I don't listen to a lot of members' music unless they specifically request me to, I can't recall ever having seen you post a WIP. So, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that maybe you haven't finished anything for fear of being criticized, fear of not sounding as good as the music you listen to, fear of not sounding as good as some of the other members or those kids half your age who can pound out a song in a day, etc..
OK, so that's not really going out on a limb - it's pretty common actually. My advice is to find the song that's closest to being done, hammer it out today, post it on forums for feedback, and be prepared to get burned at the stake over how awful it is. Then, be surprised when some people give you praise, helpful feedback, not helpful feedback, etc. Then, take their advice when/where you think it will improve your song, and disregard the rest. Don't be one of those people who listens blindly to every criticism or advice - it's your music and the only person you have to please is yourself. Take the helpful advice, disregard the not-helpful advice, and ignore the trolls/haters. When you're happy with it, put it out there for the world to see and move on to the next one. |
This is it in a nutshell. Completing tracks is a vital skill... and should be done from day one. Im not the best at structuring music, it one of my weaknesses but within a few days i always have a full track that i can listen to on headphones. I have mates that a 10times better at sound design and music theory but are stuck with loops that they never finish. With every tune you finish you learn something and you can take that into the new tune. every couple of tracks i can hear myself getting better. The 10000 hour theory is 10years...most people that are in it for the WRONG REASONS quit after 4-5.
and the kids that bang a tune out in a day are probably using the structure of another track or there fav track. Thats what James holden did for Horizons http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRWUZh5nD8I
WHY he stoppied making trance is beyond me.
Keep at it |
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| chris marsh |
| quote: | Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
They will say nice things are nothing at all. Finish it , then move on. |
dont agree with that at all
ive had a lot of constructive crit (i mean negative things said in a positive way, obvs). This is always the most helpful. I mean while youre still developing, i think crit or feedback is invaluable. |
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| Looney4Clooney |
Ive either had people say it's great, or people for obvious reasons say it's . Feedback is important if you are not very good and kinda a hobbyist. Sure. But in that case, who cares.
The problem is that good feedback takes a lot of effort and you won't get it.
And if you are doing something new or different, people usually say , this isn't that, ...
I honestly would only ever take criticism seriously from people I respect. But your friends are the worst place for feedback. They will just make you feel good about your turd.
Compare it to what you think is the best music. That is your reference. |
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| kosmotika |
| quote: | Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
Ive either had people say it's great, or people for obvious reasons say it's . Feedback is important if you are not very good and kinda a hobbyist. Sure. But in that case, who cares.
The problem is that good feedback takes a lot of effort and you won't get it.
And if you are doing something new or different, people usually say , this isn't that, ...
I honestly would only ever take criticism seriously from people I respect. But your friends are the worst place for feedback. They will just make you feel good about your turd.
Compare it to what you think is the best music. That is your reference. |
He's right. Criticism is simply a more polite way of saying "this is .", what you'd want instead is advice on how to improve. Criticism does not give this. Giving advice is time consuming and requires too much thought for most internet goers to bother with, so if your tune isn't that great, you can expect to almost never get any info on how to make it better. Most of the time, you'll simply get variations of "You're doing it wrong." with no information attached. Same goes for compliments; people don't want to pick apart a track, so they'll generally just say "good tune" or something of the sort.
Basically what I do is I put my stuff out there and let the numbers speak for themselves. Are there some people that favorite my songs? Are there people who download them?
If the answer is yes, so I consider the tracks that get a few downloads to be a success, but one piece of advice is never "settle."
Don't say "Hey, my latest tracks have been getting a few downloads so I'm going to just stick with what I'm doing." This doesn't mean change your style, but keep looking for ways to improve without giving your music a drastic overhaul, if that makes sense.
First and foremost, make a song that you would enjoy. Afterall, you're the one who is going to have to hear it for hours, days, weeks, maybe even months as you work on it and you are the one who will be listening to it over and over, scrutinizing every detail after you've finished it. Most of the time, you're going to be harder on yourself than most other people will. A musician hears every minute detail of their work, whereas a casual listener will typically hear the song in its entirety for what it is, not picking it apart as you probably would. If you make a tune you can enjoy, then chances are you made something some others will enjoy as well. |
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| chris marsh |
| quote: | Originally posted by kosmotika
He's right. Criticism is simply a more polite way of saying "this is .", what you'd want instead is advice on how to improve. Criticism does not give this. Giving advice is time consuming and requires too much thought for most internet goers to bother with, so if your tune isn't that great, you can expect to almost never get any info on how to make it better. Most of the time, you'll simply get variations of "You're doing it wrong." with no information attached. Same goes for compliments; people don't want to pick apart a track, so they'll generally just say "good tune" or something of the sort.
Basically what I do is I put my stuff out there and let the numbers speak for themselves. Are there some people that favorite my songs? Are there people who download them?
If the answer is yes, so I consider the tracks that get a few downloads to be a success, but one piece of advice is never "settle."
Don't say "Hey, my latest tracks have been getting a few downloads so I'm going to just stick with what I'm doing." This doesn't mean change your style, but keep looking for ways to improve without giving your music a drastic overhaul, if that makes sense.
First and foremost, make a song that you would enjoy. Afterall, you're the one who is going to have to hear it for hours, days, weeks, maybe even months as you work on it and you are the one who will be listening to it over and over, scrutinizing every detail after you've finished it. Most of the time, you're going to be harder on yourself than most other people will. A musician hears every minute detail of their work, whereas a casual listener will typically hear the song in its entirety for what it is, not picking it apart as you probably would. If you make a tune you can enjoy, then chances are you made something some others will enjoy as well. |
disagree again
Im sure you've heard of "constructive criticism"
that's what i always look for really, yes it does take a lot of effort but there are people out there who will take the time to do it. To each their own but i find this v useful |
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| Seandroid |
| I think that if you lack the critical thinking skills to understand when advice is crap and either just unhelpful or not useful, that's a different problem altogether lol. |
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| Looney4Clooney |
it is all relative. I've always kinda been better. THe people i knew, they sucked so no point asking. I know what i wanted, and i know were i fell short. I didn't need anyone to tell me what i did wrong. And the list of things i qould of done better is always bigger than anything anyone would offer.
Great artists are great because they strive to meet their own standards which are never reached. I really don't see the point unless you are doing something commercial were there is a specific format. |
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| TranceElevation |
I don't wanna put you down, but is quite worrying that after all this years there isn't any direction in your music. It is much more worrying than a bad mix or sound design gaps.
I think you should sit back and completely reevaluate what you wanna do and where you wanna go. You should rethink your approach and set clear goals in front of you, make a deep analysis and draw a path to follow.
Your music at this stage imo represents your condition. Total confusion, you are completely lost.
Do something (meditate, go on vacation, go out breathing some fresh air, clear your head) decide your path. |
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| SherlockCrash |
I don't think it is something wrong with you. It took a long time before I could call anything done and I think that goes for a lot of people. Thats how it is if you don't accept stuff your not satisfied with. The important thing is to try, and keep evolving. If every tune is better then the one before you are on the right track.
I think you have some good ideas. And thats whats important. Everything else can be learned, it's all about commitment, and you need alot of it.
Don't lie to yourself, find your weaknesses and work on them. If you got problems with putting the tunes together you need to think alot about it. Not only when producing, but all the time. One thing that did wonders for me was when I started to put the skelleton of the track together pretty early in the process, before I got tired of the whole thing. You can the zoom in on the different parts of the song with the knowing that you are working on a full product. Instead of feeling the frustration that you have alot of ideas that you don't know what to do with.
It's a good feeling when you have the tune layed out, and you know that no matter what, you will have a full track. You can then take the time needed to get it to work. At first you may realise that you have too few elements to fill the whole song, but then it's much easier to locate what sort of sounds/melodies that are missing when you compare to others productions. Then come back and fill it up with whats missing, or take the knowledge with you to the next song. With time you will have a better understanding on what is needed from the beginning, so you can concentrate on what is vital, and leave the rest to later.
Don't haste it, there is no point. It will take a lot of time no matter what you do. So you better take your time and enjoy the journey. |
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| Evolve140 |
I've been doing it for 10 and I'm finally where I want to be. 5 isn't anything. If anything it will make you better in the long run because all these lame ass poser producers go on YouTube and copy everything in the tutorials then release it on Beatport, of course it takes them a year or 2. 'em. Once people get tired of hearing all the crap they're making they'll be looking to people like you who have put the real time into it.
Don't forget to HAVE FUN MAKING MUSIC |
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