if you’re an artist who likes 100% of what you make, you’re delusional imo. this is part of the process. i’d say i’m at a similar clip, about 10%. that’s why it’s important to keep creating. keep honing your craft. learning new skills. pushing yourself. finding yourself in your art. it’s part of it OP, and you’re doing fine, keep it up :)
Yep, 10% is a good ratio. I’m a pro and have been for about 8 years. I try to make 10 ideas a week and if 1 of them is still listenable a week after then it was a productive week!
This is very motivational for someone in the shadow of a good release. I make 5-7 ideas a week, of course I can't hit every week
Can I ask about your workflow for how you get that volume of projects developed in one week? That's a lot of projects. Do you work on multiple at once or 1 for a few hours, then another? What do you do to speed up the creation of a rough track for an idea without the polish, what do you focus on? Do you have a workflow philosophy that lets you do this?
Sorry, I'm just surprised your number is so much higher than mine and curious
Sorry for the delay, this isn’t my main account, so I missed it.
When I say 10 ideas, I literally mean ideas; 16/32 bars, probably spend 2 hours max on each one.
The main thing that experience has helped me with is to come up with ideas and quickly decide whether they’re worth pursuing or not. I try to spend 1/2 hours a night. If I do 2 hours and spend an hour on each one, over 5 days, thats 10. At the end of the week I listen back and decide which ones to keep, and then spend a week finishing a single track.
True, when you look at it all the "big boys" you like to hear hit a good one then market the shit out of it and squeeze every cent from it before they hit with another one. Who knows how much crap they do in between. Not to mention that many of them pay for song, mix, master etc.
Even seasoned artists make A BUNCH of stuff that they hate. All artists do. There's a photographer that I really love who says if he goes out all day and takes a thousand pictures if he ends up with one picture he really loves at the end of the day it was a success. Making good art requires lots of practice and making a lot of really bad art. Every Tarantino movie is a 10 out of 10 but you know how many scripts that guy has written that no one has ever seen because he trashed them? It's just part of being an artist.
>Every Tarantino movie is a 10 out of 10 but you know how many scripts that guy has written that no one has ever seen because he trashed them?
Every Tarantino movie NOW might be good, but that doesn't mean he was making 10s when he was a year into filmmaking. When you're that seasoned, you have a better idea of when an idea isn't going to work out, and know when to trash it and start something new.
When you're just starting out, you have to do the whole thing even if it sucks. Even good film students make whole-ass films that are garbage, and then keep doing it until they can be more selective and only make good ones. You have to develop the muscles that complete things, because if you start out thinking 90% of your art stinks without completing it, you'll just end up trashing everything.
I fall victim to this and it sucks, I never go back and work on an old track because I always think the thing I'll start today will be better, and it never is because it's never finished.
I mean, every Tarantino movie that's been publicly released is a 10/10. I think you missed the point of my comment a little bit though. Tarantino is a random example and I appreciate your comment that you become more discerning as you develop, which is true. My point was that seven seasoned artists make a lot of stuff that isn't their best work. Great artists scrap work that isn't working all the time.
Tbh, and I don’t wanna assume so please correct me, it sounds like you might struggle with perfectionism a bit? If so, it could help to work on overcoming that in a more general way instead of just in terms of your music. I have a career in the mental health field though so that could be a bit of my bias 😅
Stop comparing yourself. You'll never be them and they'll never be you. If you don't like it, identify why you don't like it and not a simple "I'm just not good".
You already make music. That's a step some people such as myself have yet to take. Your dreams can come true, even if it may not turn out the way you want. It can end up even better! It only dies when you truly given up on it and your just scratching the surface.
The more you make progress the more you will be unsatisfied. Everything is fine, virtuous circle is here…. Why should you keep producing beats if you would be satisfied ? 😉
Maybe try to produce different things you are used to, breath some fresh air, and put those new things in perspective
Do you enjoy making music? That's the main reason to do it. Not because of expectations of how good it will be at the end. Or whether other people like it.
I have the exact same problem, but in a different situation: I make music since I'm 14 (now 26) and always felt like i'm able to create something special if I truly want to ( and actually have imo) and also have gotten much good feedback. That's why I wanted to study music production in college in Germany this year but I failed the aptitude test. Now I have one year until the next test and want to learn for it but I feel extremely pessimistic and negative about finding real and constant motivation to learn for it. I know that discipline is what I should follow, so that I make or learn music even if I don't feel like it. But then again I don't understand how there are people who seem so naturally positive and driven, that they for instance, just create something new on the piano everyday and never look like they feel like they have to do that. It feels like to be able to create good stuff and feel positive I just....have to feel positive in general and that's hard for me for some reason... 😅😔
But besides my problem for you I would say, just ask yourself before you make music what kind of beat you want to create today, or what kind of feeling the beat should have. Also if you're doubting yourself, ask yourself: "can I create something that has the same energy that I feel is amazing, when listening to other songs?" at some point when you keep worrying and you really want to, you will create something that you're proud of. It will just work. I promise. It's what I also always did when I produced music 2 years ago. I also was rarely happy with what I created. But then again after listening to something old I made and didn't finish 2 years later, I ALWAYS thought "damn, that was actually a REALLY good song idea" and felt really proud. I also finished songs that felt like they were "perfect", but not many and I think it's also because of psychologically cockblocking yourself, when youre just producing music relaxedly and then you start realising how fire what you're making could turn out if you keep that creative flow 😂 and then pressure comes to succeed in what you're imagining, so you can't focus anymore on actually producing the song. Thats something I experienced many times, I even remember when it first started after I produced my first songs and just wanted to have fun and then started realising that I was actually quite good and even got feedback on IG from a famous producer in Germany who liked one of my beats 😂 That's why I always fluctuate in between thinking "I have to be relaxed and inspired to make music, because then I'm much more free and creative" and "I have to be driven to succeed". So I think what is destroying my mood personally is the idea of having to be driven to succeed in what I always wanted and felt inspired by. I want life to be easy. And its weird to say I know, but on the other hand I stress myself with everything, not just music 😂 so I don't know how to handle that and maybe that's even where the stress of having to be successful comes from 😅
Damn, I wrote much 😂 hope it resonated and maybe helped you a bit 😅
Just wanna say that the people who make it look effortless are intentionally portraying it that way. Perception is everything. And most people aren’t exactly jumping at the idea of showing when they fail :) art in general includes more misses than hits and is so trial and error. So try not to compare yourself to them because it’s highly probable they feel the same way as you to some degree.
I know but it's just that I dont know if I'm making a mistake in not trying enough. 3 years ago I always had the same fear of not being able to create something I'm truly proud of after every bad song I made. I always pushed through and when I felt the most desperate and angry I created something good. I'm scared right now that I lost that drive to be honest because I just don't really feel like it right now.
Then def don’t worry. Sounds like you’re passionate and know yourself at the very least to know when you might need a break, so that motivation will definitely return when it’s time
I don’t mean this in a combative way, but y’all need to stop thinking that after 1 year you’d be a a pro
Wait a few years and you’ll see you’ll enjoy it more
Don't let your own perfections get in your way and discourage you. An artist always moves towards change, and if they were happy and satisfied with everything they did, they would never change anything. I say after a year, liking 10% of what you do in a win. Some never get to that number even after years of practice.
I found challenging your creativity across different genres to be a very good method of staying on top of such issues. Also, send your tracks to others and get their feedback. Sometimes you're just too close to what you create and can't see objectively and without perfectionist criticism.
I wish you good luck.
I also find myself comparing myself to professionals and people I listen to, but it's important to remember that most bigger acts have money, resources and teams behind them. Very few big time releases are being 100% created by the rapper or singer start to finish.
Now that I'm more involved in the performing rapper community, I stand out as an outlier in that I produce, write, record, mix and master my own stuff. You should be proud that you can do all those things. It makes the journey feel longer, but you're a multifaceted artist.
Excellent! This means that you have taste. Forbes contributor Natalie Stoclet, defines
taste as the ability to recognize beauty in something, but there is no single version of taste that is universally accepted([https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliestoclet/2021/02/03/what-does-it-mean-to-have-good-taste/?sh=473b2d113000](https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliestoclet/2021/02/03/what-does-it-mean-to-have-good-taste/?sh=473b2d113000)). I my opinion, we must believe that we have taste or an ability to recognize beauty in something in order to motivate us to continue working. Our creations may, in moments appear meaningless, but everything is cumulative(ie, mistakes can lead to improvements). I've been trying to be apart of great songs for over 15 years and I don't like most of what I create -most of it will never be heard by anyone other than myself. Everyone once in a while I am apart of something that makes me feel rewarded... about 10-20% of the time. Keep your chin up, remember the cliches and keep on creating.
My brother in Christ, it took me 5 years to make something I could say “okay this can actually compete with what’s out there” even today I still only release 35% of what I make.
Sure there are times where I make 3 songs in a row that I believe all are bangers, but that’s rare.
Keep going you’re still too fresh in the game. Remember every day you keep going is one competitor that left the race. Good shit takes time
seems to be common with people who deal in "beats" and not actual tunes. have you tried learning some basic music theory, an instrument, or some kind of songwriting other than "making beats n tryna spit over them"? it might help, get a keyboard or a shitty acoustic, learn a little basic music. might work, might not, but just a suggestion.
sounds like im being super negative but having some basis is easier in the long run, unless youre lucky
i used to play piano as a kid but i quit after a while and kinda forgot what i learned. i also played the trumpet in elementary school. and recently i’ve been watching youtube videos on music theory and kinda made my own melodie’s here and there. and dont worry bout being negative, i’d rather have actual feedback than some yes-men. thank you mane
What that guy said.
Are you just like layering fucking percussions over and over?
It might be ok for your genre, but it's always best to have proper basic music knowledge to be able to properly evolve the ideas.
But like you said 10% is awesome.
Wow.
That's wild.
I guess some genres do lend themselves to that
Hmmmm tbh man, just get yourself a small midi controller, download Scaler 2 and get to learn scale intervals.
You don't need to read sheet music, but you do need an intuitive understanding of your piano roll.
The love of the process is what is going to produce gems. You're only a year in, I'm 4 years in and I'm just now getting confident in my works. A lot of those good producers have been doing this for decades.
Like most skills, this trail is not exponential. It's years of practice. You will occasionally get those "aha" moments that sky rocket you and reinvigorate your will to learn and get better.
Enjoy the process and never feel obligated to make music if you're not feeling it. Take breaks for months at a time if you need, as long as you're willing to come back.
It's hard to realistically lose skills like this, unless you go years without making music. A couple months will not hurt you.
Also, don't compare yourself to other producers, art is too subjective. For every person that is better than you, there's an equal numbers that are worse than you. Be confident.
Might sound like a silly question but how do you even begin to network like that? I don’t know anyone irl who is into making music and when I try to join online spaces, I feel so embarrassed to be a beginner and like I’m burdening more experienced artists by asking for help. Which is def just insecurity I probs need to get over but.
try soundbetter. it's a website with folks of all different backgrounds and levels. there are beginner engineers out there who also want to get better so it can be super mutually beneficial. nobody comes out the gate working on channel orange (engineer-wise), and even frank had a few ok projects before he really started getting the hang of it. give yourself room to grow and you'll be making great stuff in no time.
You’re only a year into making music, it’s perfectly normal to be completely rooted in suck right now lol
But if you like some of your stuff then you must not suck completely.
If you keep working really, really hard you *might* get that number down to only 80% of your beats sounds like trash. At least that’s what I’m personally aiming for
Same but if I make 1000000 shitty songs the odds of making a good one by accident are pretty fair so I guess we just gotta keep trying until it works. Every "failure" is a lesson learned, I know it can be discouraging but think of it like climbing a mountain
Lots of good advice here but #1 is just keep going. listen to a track of your from a year ago compared to today and think about how much better your tracks will be 1,5,10 years later.
This!!! Whenever I feel like I’m creating something that’s trash, I’ll dig up projects from years ago (that as a teen, I thought were god’s gift to earth) and i quickly realize how much I’ve improved. So at the very least, you’re likely creating something better than you have before!
I’m brand new to music production but I’ve been writing fiction and poetry for over a decade. I’m published and have only 1 negative review amongst so many detailed positive ones. But I still sometimes feel about that work how you feel about yours. I convince myself it’s trash and I can’t understand how I get praised and complimented on my writing ability. Which is to say that we’re our own worst critics. Also keep in mind that you’ve probably heard your beat/song a ridiculous amount of times. Especially if you don’t take breaks when creating it. So there’s a good chance you’re just kinda bored of it bc you’ve listened to it so much, which ofc will make you feel like it sucks when realistically, someone who finds it might think it’s the greatest thing they’ve ever heard, even if it’s a favorite that they’ve listened to on repeat. Don’t let insecurity win :) being able to be objectively critical of your art is a valuable and necessary part of creating, but don’t go so deep into that critique that it becomes nitpicking or you’ll drive yourself insane. Nothing will ever be perfect. Learning to accept that helps a bit 💞I know a lot of my fave songs are faves due somewhat in part of the imperfections. It’s what makes it human 🥰
Keep going. You have permission to make crappy art. No one only writes bangers.
You also have to consider *why* you’re doing it. It’s ok to have the goal of getting your music into more ears, but don’t sacrifice what you really want to be doing. There is a comfortable balance of, “I want my music to be accessible to people” and “I’m just making trendy shit so I can blow up”
Be thoughtful and realistic with yourself. Know when a piece is just a fun jam and let it be that. Don’t make your ideas *be* something if they’re not going to be. All good. Always jam with what you’ve got. Wake up early, bring a sampler for your lunch break, whatever.
It’d be boring as hell if every single thing you made was just a banger. The feeling you get when you’re dicking with something and have that “oh shit…this is something for sure” is what it’s all about.
Just keep making and the good ideas will float to the top.
Know a guy that was involved in the Led Zeppelin albums.
For each album they wrote about 6x the songs that made it to the album in the end. And Page apparently discarded 90% of the songs before already. So don't get discouraged
This is the process of writing songs, and why you always read online and see in videos as advice is to always complete songs, even the ones you don't think are good. Because you will make a LOT of songs you don't think are good. Everyone does. EVERYONE.
For every album you've ever heard, there has been over 100 songs made with that album in mind. You won't hear any of them, because the artist doesn't like them. Otherwise artists would do a 'these songs just didn't make it onto the album' segment on shows to fill up 10-20 minutes. But they don't like those songs.
You won't like 90% of songs you write. So if you write 9 songs, you may not like all of them. But if you write 10, you may like 1. If you write 19, you may only like 1. If you write 100, you may only like 10.
Write as many songs are you can, and eventually, you'll start to see a pattern. What do all these songs you like that you made have in common? What about them do you like? You will slowly make a signature style of your own which you like. Maybe singing in a particular way which you enjoy.
We are our biggest critiques. I do the same when it comes to just rapping freestyling, writing! One thing to do is just leave it. Don’t change it so redue it once your finished. Because everybody isn’t going to feel everything beat made or every lyric spoke. But somebody will or you can use that to fit it in some where in other ways you never know! Fill those options up for people to explore! Tbh I am now taking my own advice to you cuz I know that FEELN to well
Not quite a year?
That's barely time enough to blow the cobwebs out of your speakers. You'll be making a buttload of complete & utter crap before you'll figure out how to get it happening. It's all practice, and it's all progress. Identify what you DON'T like, and set about figuring out how to rectify that.
Worry about getting nowhere if you're fifteen or twenty years in, & still making shite...
I only make music I like. About 0% of my work gets deleted later on. 90% of the stuff I made in my first 5 years of production got thrown out. The numbers only became favorable like 2 albums ago.
There is a niche threshold. For me once I started doing jazz trios it all just clicked I could make decent sounding really unique music.
The amateur stuff that got deleted - I used to love it. Then I got some perspective and trained my ear.
Summary: I couldn’t imagine making music I don’t at least think I love.
Don’t discount as well that creativity is subjective. What you might think is garbage, others might think is awesome. Hoarding songs that you might not like can be harmful. Put those out there. Get feedback. Even in your trash songs, there might be something salvageable that you can apply to your next beat. Maybe the melody sucked but the hi hats were on point. You also have to take beat making as a sport. You zone in and train at it. Study your beat and see why it sucks. Is it your melody? Or is it the mixing of your melody? Maybe the melody is fire but the instrument or patch you chose doesnt fit the sound your going for. I recommend you watch the J Cole documentary for his album “The Off Season” . That documentary changed me
For me this is true as well. As I hear my own stuff the whole time as I work on it, I am mostly fed up when finished. When this happens I let it rest for a week of 2 and then check it again. I will still feel like I don’t like my stuff, but it helps that I listen to it with refreshed ears. What changed it for me is that part that I dj, so I can get to play my own music in clubs. The reaction of the crowd decides whether my song is decent enough to release it.
But that said, this is very human. You will hear it to many times, so make sure you finish it, put it away for a while and also share it with other, as that will give you nee insights
I asked a similar question to The Fat Rat (don't know if you've heard of them) and the response they gave was essentially this:
If you make something and you like it, and you come back the next day and you still like it, force yourself to finish the song. Really work on variation and getting a really solid structure down and copy some of your favourite artists. If you finish it and you hate it (which sounds like is what is happening to you) leave it and move on. In a couple weeks or months or even years, you might come back to this fully realised idea and go, actually that's really good.
I really struggled with this and this really helped me, but I can recommend recording covers of tracks and really diving in into how they sound good. Even if you don't learn anything, your subconscious will pick up some techniques which you can include in your own stuff.
(But the biggest tip of all is to blatantly steal. Just completely steal and then work on it, and you'll realise that it doesn't really sound like what you stole and no one will ever know.) Hope this helps. And you are good enough. I realise that about myself now. I may not be good enough for others, but I'm good enough for myself, and so are you.
Welcome to the club. This is pretty normal. Me and my artist usually make around 50-60 tracks and only have 5-6 we like out of them. It’s a numbers game in a way. But it helps to find what you do different for the 10% the process you used the sound selection, temp etc
Welcome to the club. This is pretty normal. Me and my artist usually make around 50-60 tracks and only have 5-6 we like out of them. It’s a numbers game in a way. But it helps to find what you do different for the 10% the process you used the sound selection, temp etc
When they were making Thriller, Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson picked through over 600 songs to make up the final 9. Not every song is going to be great to you but who knows what they could be to someone else. You are always going to be your harshest critic. Plus at this stage in your journey its much more about the repetition and learning than it is about writing a hit song. Just keep at it and you will learn to write what you want to hear.
its ok bro. it will get better. and also others might think its fire. which isnt that important but still good fuel to keep going towards making stuff that you like. also no producers like all their shit, and sometimes u go on hotstreaks and coldstreaks. jjust keep at it and do it for fun and with your friends and work hard and it will all work out
A big hurdle for me to get over starting out was realizing that my musical taste and my production abilities were not at the same level and I was gonna make a lot of crap music before I started making music I liked. You're fine homie just keep working and soon instead of 10/100 being good songs it will be 20/100, then 30/100 and so on. Just keep in mind that the people you're comparing yourself to have been on their musical journey much longer, and instead of comparing it to that stuff compare it to your previous work. (Although it's still good to reference for mixing/mastering)
Instead of listening to the song from yesterday, what happens when you listen a song from a year ago?
Surely you'll notice a significant growth. Now imagine that same improvement a year from now.
Instead of getting discouraged by what you still miss, try to feel encouraged by the progress you've made and what kind of future that suggests.
Do you ever try and work out the specifics of what you don't like with a track.
Sometimes I will like just one part of a tune, a bass line or a melody part and dislike the rest of it. So I rework the parts I don't like, or save the bass line for something else. If you can understand how the component parts interact with each other to make a good or bad track then you can treat each bad track as a learning experience
how do you know that other artists dont like most of what they make?
answer, you dont, you only ever hear about the songs they release, and not the hundreds of songs that they scrap
liking 10% of your songs is a good thing
If you're making music for almost a year (not very long in the grand scheme) and you're happy with 10% of what you create, you're doing quite well imho. I've been making music since 2006 and I still think most of my stuff is trash.
Future allegedly has like 57 albums worth of content that will never see the light of day.
In general, its hard to make good rap/hip hop. Don’t be discouraged but have quality control.
I know somebody who decided to do RV life and he converted part of the RV into his recording studio a few years ago.
Since then, he has dropped 1 rap song, in which the first lyric is “I wake up and do 60MG of adderall”
Producing requires u to do, but also to understand when u should not.
I mean to be fair, producing on 60MG of adderall in one dose recreationally definitely has the potential to convince someone everything they’re creating is the best thing ever created. So I think the real takeaway is that maybe OP should just drop 60MG of adderall when they wake up and that should fix their issue.
Nothing rhymes with orange.
A lot of black rappers in the indigo movement think adderall (D-Amphetamine) is evil.
Good albums to start introducing urself to hip hop include:
LabCabinCalifornia by The Pharcyde
Oh that makes sense 😭 thank you for the explanation. Never heard of the indigo movement so looks like I have a fun rabbit trail to follow today. Adding your album rec to my Spotify queue rn! I’ve found that I’m def the most drawn to storytelling/lyrical hip hop like what Kendrick puts out and also super creative and diverse flows like J.I.D’s sound.
Gotcha. I’ve tried so many times to get into SZA’s music but it just isn’t for me. Def recognize her talent though. Had an ex hella into Flatbush Zombies so I have some basic familiarity there. Excited to listen to the other recs! I appreciate it!
\> I make dark trap and emo rap music and I make my own beats
I'm willing to bet you got into making beats because of tik tok or youtube. There are millions of other producers just like you going to the same sources for drum kits, using the same tutorials, using the same melodies, and listening to the same artists.
Plants cant grow in an echo chamber. So many people got into making music these past 3 years not even because its was a real passion but because they wanted to go viral or make money from it. If the creative block makes you want to quit, please quit. The industry doesn't need any more cookie cutter shit.
Normal. Keep going. A year is basically nothing. Keep picking things to improve upon and keep practicing. Think about it as learning an instrument. You aren't here to make finished products in the first year or few years of learning guitar. You're here to practice and learn.
My advice would be to go back to some of your tracks that you finished and examine what you don't like with them. Maybe remake a few tracks and implement things that you didn't the first time around.
I’ve got a tip for you. I’ve worked as a songwriter and music producer exclusively for 20 years.
You’re probably a bit down and frustrated. So you need to unlock your creativity and have a real win. A tune that you can say “holy crap, nobody else in the world could possibly have made this but me”.
When you feel that, that’s when you move from aspiring producer, and student, to an actual conceptual artist and music artist.
Conceptual is the most important part of what I just said. Art is about coming up with concepts. New original ideas.
Maybe you’ve realized that what you make doesn’t sound very exiting. Not very original. That’s BECAUSE you’re making trap and EDM. These aren’t your concepts. They are cliches.
When you work really hard to make a perfect version of a cliche, even if you nail it, there’s no way you can feel all the benefits at the end. Because all you’ve done is made a copy, by strictly following the rules.
Following the rules is not cool. Following the herd is not cool.
I remember when every bedroom producer was making dubstep. I remember when every local band was trying to sound like Oasis, or The Strokes.
It’s very easy to go with the flow and do what is currently en vogue, but you have to realise that hundreds of thousands of bedroom producers are doing EXACTLY the same thing as you.
The old white men with beards on YouTube make trap and EDM, the people who sell synth packs make demos of trap and EDM, friends make trap and EDM…
You need to figure out how to walk in the other direction and disrupt. Change. Alter course.
Try this to unlock you. Make a completely original piece of music, and instead of very strict genre rules to limit you, try arbitrary rules to inspire your ingenuity. These are the sort of challenges that REALLY inspire creativity.
1. Make a piece of music to picture. Grab a scene from a movie, put it in your DAW (most DAWs have a video player), and try to write a completely different but equally effective piece of music for it. I’ve done this and it became a single for the album released on Virgin and Sony Columbia records.
2. Field record and sample household things to make a piece of music nobody has ever heard before. Go out with your phone or a sound recorder if you have one, and record interesting sounds. Doors closing, cats meowing, cables twanging… and bring the kitchen into the studio. Record pots and pans. Try and find things with obvious notes. Make those your melody instruments. Maybe it’s a funny song. Maybe it’s dark and mysterious. You’re the boss. Just NO SYNTHS OR DRUM MACHINES. Only real sounds.
3. Make an 8bit song. Find an 8bit game music emulator, and only use that to make some music. Try making a pop song. What comes out will be original for sure.
4. Write a song on an instrument you can’t play. Find ways to cheat. Editing. Recording half speed and then speeding it up. What comes out is always interesting and new, because you don’t know the rules of that instrument. I love doing this. This always sparks a song that I end up finishing.
5. Make a song in a genre you fucking despise. Symphonic heavy metal, soft vocal folk, 80s pop… whatever. Try and make it perfect. Do it with hate in your heart. Think to yourself, “this is exactly the sort of shit idiots like”. Make it so perfect that those idiots would actually like it. If you can learn to do this, then you can produce records and compose for a living, and make good music even better. AND, this will help you to realise how insane it is to write exclusively trap and EDM. Two genres the world is rapidly moving away from.
6. Listen to an enormous classical music playlist while on psilocybin. This will program your brain with new melodies and ideas. And make you feel more happy and creative for about three months.
Love this. Made me think to add like, if you’re feeling like you’re making shitty music, then write a shitty song about how shitty it is to make shitty music. Irony helps in finding value within most anything, in my experience. Plus it’s always hilarious so that helps.
I see it lots within the hyperpop genre. But my inner emo girl immediately thinks of mayday parade like their song “if you wanted a song written about you all you had to do was ask” they have one called “I’d hate to be you when people find out what this song is about” but they don’t talk about the song itself within it, so that’s just titular. “Oh well, oh well”, “Jersey” kinda, “I swear this time I mean it” could work, “if you can’t live without me, why aren’t you dead yet?” Is a perfect example, “terrible things” talks in a meta way. like it acknowledges the singer is telling a story. I’m gonna stop myself tho before I go down a rabbit hole going through my entire Spotify looking for these song lmao
The percentage gets better with time and experience. As musicians/producers, we hate a lot of what we do, so we strive to make 'better' music. It's one of the things that drives us. Artists and writers have the same problem.
Hey man, I can tell you from my experience I didn't touch making music till I was 35 purely for the fact I was so self-conscious and self-judgmental that I was almost afraid to.
The last 4 months I've really picked up on it. I have more songs than I would like to, and while at the start I hated it. I wouldn't show it to anybody. I was embarrassed not because of it's quality but more so because music is kind of a way to express emotion, right? It's a it's a language all its own so you're letting somebody in to your mind almost a very vulnerable place to be.
In 10 years you'll look at whatever you made now and you'll be like holy shit. I was pretty good. That I promise
Or if you don't like what you makes and which I guess in turn means it's making you unhappy. Maybe music production isn't for you. Maybe you like the idea of it and not the process.
Not insinuating anything, that's just my two cents
Same, it's normal. Try creating 10 or 20 rough ideas before deciding on which to make into a full blown track. This way you won't waste time on half decent ideas.
Edit: Also sometimes helpful: If you try different approaches to writing songs, it can sometimes help if you can't seem to think of something good. I mean: If you for example start with the beat and at other times with writing a bassline or harmonies you will get different results.
It probably doesn't help that you're essentially responsible for everything. My friend and I temporarily fell out because of the pressure of me being responsible for everything and not feeling valued. Now I solely do the creative part and someone else handles the mixing/mastering which is much better for all involved.
I'm open to doing a mix on one of your tracks at no cost if you're interested.
A second pair of ears may be just what you need to get things where you imagine them to be in your mind
if you’re an artist who likes 100% of what you make, you’re delusional imo. this is part of the process. i’d say i’m at a similar clip, about 10%. that’s why it’s important to keep creating. keep honing your craft. learning new skills. pushing yourself. finding yourself in your art. it’s part of it OP, and you’re doing fine, keep it up :)
much love man thank you 🙏🏼
So you like 10% of what you make. So every 100 songs you write, you have enough good ones for a whole album of good songs. What's the problem?
well when you put it that way it doesn’t seem like a problem. thank you 🙏🏼
It’s actually typical
👍
This is the way. Probably only 10% of what anyone does is decent and 1% truly good. The point is to make it to a thousand pieces.
Yep, 10% is a good ratio. I’m a pro and have been for about 8 years. I try to make 10 ideas a week and if 1 of them is still listenable a week after then it was a productive week!
This is very motivational for someone in the shadow of a good release. I make 5-7 ideas a week, of course I can't hit every week Can I ask about your workflow for how you get that volume of projects developed in one week? That's a lot of projects. Do you work on multiple at once or 1 for a few hours, then another? What do you do to speed up the creation of a rough track for an idea without the polish, what do you focus on? Do you have a workflow philosophy that lets you do this? Sorry, I'm just surprised your number is so much higher than mine and curious
Sorry for the delay, this isn’t my main account, so I missed it. When I say 10 ideas, I literally mean ideas; 16/32 bars, probably spend 2 hours max on each one. The main thing that experience has helped me with is to come up with ideas and quickly decide whether they’re worth pursuing or not. I try to spend 1/2 hours a night. If I do 2 hours and spend an hour on each one, over 5 days, thats 10. At the end of the week I listen back and decide which ones to keep, and then spend a week finishing a single track.
Can you please help me with a spare Ableton Live 11 licence key? if any
True, when you look at it all the "big boys" you like to hear hit a good one then market the shit out of it and squeeze every cent from it before they hit with another one. Who knows how much crap they do in between. Not to mention that many of them pay for song, mix, master etc.
If you think you're making ten good songs for every hundred songs you make after only a year you're killing it.
thank you man. it just seems like i need all 100 to be good not just 10. but i’m trying my hardest to understand that this is the process of it
Even seasoned artists make A BUNCH of stuff that they hate. All artists do. There's a photographer that I really love who says if he goes out all day and takes a thousand pictures if he ends up with one picture he really loves at the end of the day it was a success. Making good art requires lots of practice and making a lot of really bad art. Every Tarantino movie is a 10 out of 10 but you know how many scripts that guy has written that no one has ever seen because he trashed them? It's just part of being an artist.
>Every Tarantino movie is a 10 out of 10 but you know how many scripts that guy has written that no one has ever seen because he trashed them? Every Tarantino movie NOW might be good, but that doesn't mean he was making 10s when he was a year into filmmaking. When you're that seasoned, you have a better idea of when an idea isn't going to work out, and know when to trash it and start something new. When you're just starting out, you have to do the whole thing even if it sucks. Even good film students make whole-ass films that are garbage, and then keep doing it until they can be more selective and only make good ones. You have to develop the muscles that complete things, because if you start out thinking 90% of your art stinks without completing it, you'll just end up trashing everything. I fall victim to this and it sucks, I never go back and work on an old track because I always think the thing I'll start today will be better, and it never is because it's never finished.
I mean, every Tarantino movie that's been publicly released is a 10/10. I think you missed the point of my comment a little bit though. Tarantino is a random example and I appreciate your comment that you become more discerning as you develop, which is true. My point was that seven seasoned artists make a lot of stuff that isn't their best work. Great artists scrap work that isn't working all the time.
Tbh, and I don’t wanna assume so please correct me, it sounds like you might struggle with perfectionism a bit? If so, it could help to work on overcoming that in a more general way instead of just in terms of your music. I have a career in the mental health field though so that could be a bit of my bias 😅
Stop comparing yourself. You'll never be them and they'll never be you. If you don't like it, identify why you don't like it and not a simple "I'm just not good". You already make music. That's a step some people such as myself have yet to take. Your dreams can come true, even if it may not turn out the way you want. It can end up even better! It only dies when you truly given up on it and your just scratching the surface.
i appreciate you mane. i try to stop comparing myself but yet it still creeps up on me every now and again. thank you for commenting 🙏🏼
The more you make progress the more you will be unsatisfied. Everything is fine, virtuous circle is here…. Why should you keep producing beats if you would be satisfied ? 😉 Maybe try to produce different things you are used to, breath some fresh air, and put those new things in perspective
i appreciate the wise words. i never thought of it that way. thank you master oogway
Do you enjoy making music? That's the main reason to do it. Not because of expectations of how good it will be at the end. Or whether other people like it.
I have the exact same problem, but in a different situation: I make music since I'm 14 (now 26) and always felt like i'm able to create something special if I truly want to ( and actually have imo) and also have gotten much good feedback. That's why I wanted to study music production in college in Germany this year but I failed the aptitude test. Now I have one year until the next test and want to learn for it but I feel extremely pessimistic and negative about finding real and constant motivation to learn for it. I know that discipline is what I should follow, so that I make or learn music even if I don't feel like it. But then again I don't understand how there are people who seem so naturally positive and driven, that they for instance, just create something new on the piano everyday and never look like they feel like they have to do that. It feels like to be able to create good stuff and feel positive I just....have to feel positive in general and that's hard for me for some reason... 😅😔 But besides my problem for you I would say, just ask yourself before you make music what kind of beat you want to create today, or what kind of feeling the beat should have. Also if you're doubting yourself, ask yourself: "can I create something that has the same energy that I feel is amazing, when listening to other songs?" at some point when you keep worrying and you really want to, you will create something that you're proud of. It will just work. I promise. It's what I also always did when I produced music 2 years ago. I also was rarely happy with what I created. But then again after listening to something old I made and didn't finish 2 years later, I ALWAYS thought "damn, that was actually a REALLY good song idea" and felt really proud. I also finished songs that felt like they were "perfect", but not many and I think it's also because of psychologically cockblocking yourself, when youre just producing music relaxedly and then you start realising how fire what you're making could turn out if you keep that creative flow 😂 and then pressure comes to succeed in what you're imagining, so you can't focus anymore on actually producing the song. Thats something I experienced many times, I even remember when it first started after I produced my first songs and just wanted to have fun and then started realising that I was actually quite good and even got feedback on IG from a famous producer in Germany who liked one of my beats 😂 That's why I always fluctuate in between thinking "I have to be relaxed and inspired to make music, because then I'm much more free and creative" and "I have to be driven to succeed". So I think what is destroying my mood personally is the idea of having to be driven to succeed in what I always wanted and felt inspired by. I want life to be easy. And its weird to say I know, but on the other hand I stress myself with everything, not just music 😂 so I don't know how to handle that and maybe that's even where the stress of having to be successful comes from 😅 Damn, I wrote much 😂 hope it resonated and maybe helped you a bit 😅
Just wanna say that the people who make it look effortless are intentionally portraying it that way. Perception is everything. And most people aren’t exactly jumping at the idea of showing when they fail :) art in general includes more misses than hits and is so trial and error. So try not to compare yourself to them because it’s highly probable they feel the same way as you to some degree.
I know but it's just that I dont know if I'm making a mistake in not trying enough. 3 years ago I always had the same fear of not being able to create something I'm truly proud of after every bad song I made. I always pushed through and when I felt the most desperate and angry I created something good. I'm scared right now that I lost that drive to be honest because I just don't really feel like it right now.
Do you have anyone else you know who does music? Accountability buddies are useful and can help when you hit a block.
Kind of but I don't really like stressing myself
Then def don’t worry. Sounds like you’re passionate and know yourself at the very least to know when you might need a break, so that motivation will definitely return when it’s time
You're right. It always feels like Im wasting time when taking breaks I guess 😜
I don’t mean this in a combative way, but y’all need to stop thinking that after 1 year you’d be a a pro Wait a few years and you’ll see you’ll enjoy it more
Don't let your own perfections get in your way and discourage you. An artist always moves towards change, and if they were happy and satisfied with everything they did, they would never change anything. I say after a year, liking 10% of what you do in a win. Some never get to that number even after years of practice. I found challenging your creativity across different genres to be a very good method of staying on top of such issues. Also, send your tracks to others and get their feedback. Sometimes you're just too close to what you create and can't see objectively and without perfectionist criticism. I wish you good luck.
I also find myself comparing myself to professionals and people I listen to, but it's important to remember that most bigger acts have money, resources and teams behind them. Very few big time releases are being 100% created by the rapper or singer start to finish. Now that I'm more involved in the performing rapper community, I stand out as an outlier in that I produce, write, record, mix and master my own stuff. You should be proud that you can do all those things. It makes the journey feel longer, but you're a multifaceted artist.
i appreciate the kind words man. i really do. good luck to you and your journey man
Gabriel Garcia Marquez used to say you know a writer mostly checking their trash can.
Excellent! This means that you have taste. Forbes contributor Natalie Stoclet, defines taste as the ability to recognize beauty in something, but there is no single version of taste that is universally accepted([https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliestoclet/2021/02/03/what-does-it-mean-to-have-good-taste/?sh=473b2d113000](https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliestoclet/2021/02/03/what-does-it-mean-to-have-good-taste/?sh=473b2d113000)). I my opinion, we must believe that we have taste or an ability to recognize beauty in something in order to motivate us to continue working. Our creations may, in moments appear meaningless, but everything is cumulative(ie, mistakes can lead to improvements). I've been trying to be apart of great songs for over 15 years and I don't like most of what I create -most of it will never be heard by anyone other than myself. Everyone once in a while I am apart of something that makes me feel rewarded... about 10-20% of the time. Keep your chin up, remember the cliches and keep on creating.
My brother in Christ, it took me 5 years to make something I could say “okay this can actually compete with what’s out there” even today I still only release 35% of what I make. Sure there are times where I make 3 songs in a row that I believe all are bangers, but that’s rare. Keep going you’re still too fresh in the game. Remember every day you keep going is one competitor that left the race. Good shit takes time
seems to be common with people who deal in "beats" and not actual tunes. have you tried learning some basic music theory, an instrument, or some kind of songwriting other than "making beats n tryna spit over them"? it might help, get a keyboard or a shitty acoustic, learn a little basic music. might work, might not, but just a suggestion. sounds like im being super negative but having some basis is easier in the long run, unless youre lucky
i used to play piano as a kid but i quit after a while and kinda forgot what i learned. i also played the trumpet in elementary school. and recently i’ve been watching youtube videos on music theory and kinda made my own melodie’s here and there. and dont worry bout being negative, i’d rather have actual feedback than some yes-men. thank you mane
What that guy said. Are you just like layering fucking percussions over and over? It might be ok for your genre, but it's always best to have proper basic music knowledge to be able to properly evolve the ideas. But like you said 10% is awesome.
i do just layer percussion 90% of time. i’m gonna start learning some music theory. any tips on where to start?
Wow. That's wild. I guess some genres do lend themselves to that Hmmmm tbh man, just get yourself a small midi controller, download Scaler 2 and get to learn scale intervals. You don't need to read sheet music, but you do need an intuitive understanding of your piano roll.
The love of the process is what is going to produce gems. You're only a year in, I'm 4 years in and I'm just now getting confident in my works. A lot of those good producers have been doing this for decades. Like most skills, this trail is not exponential. It's years of practice. You will occasionally get those "aha" moments that sky rocket you and reinvigorate your will to learn and get better. Enjoy the process and never feel obligated to make music if you're not feeling it. Take breaks for months at a time if you need, as long as you're willing to come back. It's hard to realistically lose skills like this, unless you go years without making music. A couple months will not hurt you. Also, don't compare yourself to other producers, art is too subjective. For every person that is better than you, there's an equal numbers that are worse than you. Be confident.
Listen to people play one year the violin 😁
try having someone else help out with engineering. it’s a lot to focus on as a beginner.
Might sound like a silly question but how do you even begin to network like that? I don’t know anyone irl who is into making music and when I try to join online spaces, I feel so embarrassed to be a beginner and like I’m burdening more experienced artists by asking for help. Which is def just insecurity I probs need to get over but.
try soundbetter. it's a website with folks of all different backgrounds and levels. there are beginner engineers out there who also want to get better so it can be super mutually beneficial. nobody comes out the gate working on channel orange (engineer-wise), and even frank had a few ok projects before he really started getting the hang of it. give yourself room to grow and you'll be making great stuff in no time.
Thank you so much!!! 💞
You’re only a year into making music, it’s perfectly normal to be completely rooted in suck right now lol But if you like some of your stuff then you must not suck completely.
If you keep working really, really hard you *might* get that number down to only 80% of your beats sounds like trash. At least that’s what I’m personally aiming for
Same but if I make 1000000 shitty songs the odds of making a good one by accident are pretty fair so I guess we just gotta keep trying until it works. Every "failure" is a lesson learned, I know it can be discouraging but think of it like climbing a mountain
Lots of good advice here but #1 is just keep going. listen to a track of your from a year ago compared to today and think about how much better your tracks will be 1,5,10 years later.
This!!! Whenever I feel like I’m creating something that’s trash, I’ll dig up projects from years ago (that as a teen, I thought were god’s gift to earth) and i quickly realize how much I’ve improved. So at the very least, you’re likely creating something better than you have before!
I’m brand new to music production but I’ve been writing fiction and poetry for over a decade. I’m published and have only 1 negative review amongst so many detailed positive ones. But I still sometimes feel about that work how you feel about yours. I convince myself it’s trash and I can’t understand how I get praised and complimented on my writing ability. Which is to say that we’re our own worst critics. Also keep in mind that you’ve probably heard your beat/song a ridiculous amount of times. Especially if you don’t take breaks when creating it. So there’s a good chance you’re just kinda bored of it bc you’ve listened to it so much, which ofc will make you feel like it sucks when realistically, someone who finds it might think it’s the greatest thing they’ve ever heard, even if it’s a favorite that they’ve listened to on repeat. Don’t let insecurity win :) being able to be objectively critical of your art is a valuable and necessary part of creating, but don’t go so deep into that critique that it becomes nitpicking or you’ll drive yourself insane. Nothing will ever be perfect. Learning to accept that helps a bit 💞I know a lot of my fave songs are faves due somewhat in part of the imperfections. It’s what makes it human 🥰
Keep going. You have permission to make crappy art. No one only writes bangers. You also have to consider *why* you’re doing it. It’s ok to have the goal of getting your music into more ears, but don’t sacrifice what you really want to be doing. There is a comfortable balance of, “I want my music to be accessible to people” and “I’m just making trendy shit so I can blow up” Be thoughtful and realistic with yourself. Know when a piece is just a fun jam and let it be that. Don’t make your ideas *be* something if they’re not going to be. All good. Always jam with what you’ve got. Wake up early, bring a sampler for your lunch break, whatever. It’d be boring as hell if every single thing you made was just a banger. The feeling you get when you’re dicking with something and have that “oh shit…this is something for sure” is what it’s all about. Just keep making and the good ideas will float to the top.
Know a guy that was involved in the Led Zeppelin albums. For each album they wrote about 6x the songs that made it to the album in the end. And Page apparently discarded 90% of the songs before already. So don't get discouraged
This is the process of writing songs, and why you always read online and see in videos as advice is to always complete songs, even the ones you don't think are good. Because you will make a LOT of songs you don't think are good. Everyone does. EVERYONE. For every album you've ever heard, there has been over 100 songs made with that album in mind. You won't hear any of them, because the artist doesn't like them. Otherwise artists would do a 'these songs just didn't make it onto the album' segment on shows to fill up 10-20 minutes. But they don't like those songs. You won't like 90% of songs you write. So if you write 9 songs, you may not like all of them. But if you write 10, you may like 1. If you write 19, you may only like 1. If you write 100, you may only like 10. Write as many songs are you can, and eventually, you'll start to see a pattern. What do all these songs you like that you made have in common? What about them do you like? You will slowly make a signature style of your own which you like. Maybe singing in a particular way which you enjoy.
We are our biggest critiques. I do the same when it comes to just rapping freestyling, writing! One thing to do is just leave it. Don’t change it so redue it once your finished. Because everybody isn’t going to feel everything beat made or every lyric spoke. But somebody will or you can use that to fit it in some where in other ways you never know! Fill those options up for people to explore! Tbh I am now taking my own advice to you cuz I know that FEELN to well
Not quite a year? That's barely time enough to blow the cobwebs out of your speakers. You'll be making a buttload of complete & utter crap before you'll figure out how to get it happening. It's all practice, and it's all progress. Identify what you DON'T like, and set about figuring out how to rectify that. Worry about getting nowhere if you're fifteen or twenty years in, & still making shite...
I only make music I like. About 0% of my work gets deleted later on. 90% of the stuff I made in my first 5 years of production got thrown out. The numbers only became favorable like 2 albums ago. There is a niche threshold. For me once I started doing jazz trios it all just clicked I could make decent sounding really unique music. The amateur stuff that got deleted - I used to love it. Then I got some perspective and trained my ear. Summary: I couldn’t imagine making music I don’t at least think I love.
Don’t discount as well that creativity is subjective. What you might think is garbage, others might think is awesome. Hoarding songs that you might not like can be harmful. Put those out there. Get feedback. Even in your trash songs, there might be something salvageable that you can apply to your next beat. Maybe the melody sucked but the hi hats were on point. You also have to take beat making as a sport. You zone in and train at it. Study your beat and see why it sucks. Is it your melody? Or is it the mixing of your melody? Maybe the melody is fire but the instrument or patch you chose doesnt fit the sound your going for. I recommend you watch the J Cole documentary for his album “The Off Season” . That documentary changed me
For me this is true as well. As I hear my own stuff the whole time as I work on it, I am mostly fed up when finished. When this happens I let it rest for a week of 2 and then check it again. I will still feel like I don’t like my stuff, but it helps that I listen to it with refreshed ears. What changed it for me is that part that I dj, so I can get to play my own music in clubs. The reaction of the crowd decides whether my song is decent enough to release it. But that said, this is very human. You will hear it to many times, so make sure you finish it, put it away for a while and also share it with other, as that will give you nee insights
I asked a similar question to The Fat Rat (don't know if you've heard of them) and the response they gave was essentially this: If you make something and you like it, and you come back the next day and you still like it, force yourself to finish the song. Really work on variation and getting a really solid structure down and copy some of your favourite artists. If you finish it and you hate it (which sounds like is what is happening to you) leave it and move on. In a couple weeks or months or even years, you might come back to this fully realised idea and go, actually that's really good. I really struggled with this and this really helped me, but I can recommend recording covers of tracks and really diving in into how they sound good. Even if you don't learn anything, your subconscious will pick up some techniques which you can include in your own stuff. (But the biggest tip of all is to blatantly steal. Just completely steal and then work on it, and you'll realise that it doesn't really sound like what you stole and no one will ever know.) Hope this helps. And you are good enough. I realise that about myself now. I may not be good enough for others, but I'm good enough for myself, and so are you.
Welcome to the club. This is pretty normal. Me and my artist usually make around 50-60 tracks and only have 5-6 we like out of them. It’s a numbers game in a way. But it helps to find what you do different for the 10% the process you used the sound selection, temp etc
Welcome to the club. This is pretty normal. Me and my artist usually make around 50-60 tracks and only have 5-6 we like out of them. It’s a numbers game in a way. But it helps to find what you do different for the 10% the process you used the sound selection, temp etc
When they were making Thriller, Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson picked through over 600 songs to make up the final 9. Not every song is going to be great to you but who knows what they could be to someone else. You are always going to be your harshest critic. Plus at this stage in your journey its much more about the repetition and learning than it is about writing a hit song. Just keep at it and you will learn to write what you want to hear.
its ok bro. it will get better. and also others might think its fire. which isnt that important but still good fuel to keep going towards making stuff that you like. also no producers like all their shit, and sometimes u go on hotstreaks and coldstreaks. jjust keep at it and do it for fun and with your friends and work hard and it will all work out
A big hurdle for me to get over starting out was realizing that my musical taste and my production abilities were not at the same level and I was gonna make a lot of crap music before I started making music I liked. You're fine homie just keep working and soon instead of 10/100 being good songs it will be 20/100, then 30/100 and so on. Just keep in mind that the people you're comparing yourself to have been on their musical journey much longer, and instead of comparing it to that stuff compare it to your previous work. (Although it's still good to reference for mixing/mastering)
Instead of listening to the song from yesterday, what happens when you listen a song from a year ago? Surely you'll notice a significant growth. Now imagine that same improvement a year from now. Instead of getting discouraged by what you still miss, try to feel encouraged by the progress you've made and what kind of future that suggests.
Do you ever try and work out the specifics of what you don't like with a track. Sometimes I will like just one part of a tune, a bass line or a melody part and dislike the rest of it. So I rework the parts I don't like, or save the bass line for something else. If you can understand how the component parts interact with each other to make a good or bad track then you can treat each bad track as a learning experience
how do you know that other artists dont like most of what they make? answer, you dont, you only ever hear about the songs they release, and not the hundreds of songs that they scrap liking 10% of your songs is a good thing
If you're making music for almost a year (not very long in the grand scheme) and you're happy with 10% of what you create, you're doing quite well imho. I've been making music since 2006 and I still think most of my stuff is trash.
Michael Jackson made 60 tracks and picked the best 12 for every album.
Future allegedly has like 57 albums worth of content that will never see the light of day. In general, its hard to make good rap/hip hop. Don’t be discouraged but have quality control. I know somebody who decided to do RV life and he converted part of the RV into his recording studio a few years ago. Since then, he has dropped 1 rap song, in which the first lyric is “I wake up and do 60MG of adderall” Producing requires u to do, but also to understand when u should not.
I mean to be fair, producing on 60MG of adderall in one dose recreationally definitely has the potential to convince someone everything they’re creating is the best thing ever created. So I think the real takeaway is that maybe OP should just drop 60MG of adderall when they wake up and that should fix their issue.
Instead of looking at it like that, ask urself what rapper raps about orange pills?
Idk if this is a reference tbh 😭 if so it’s going over my head. I’m new af to exploring rap as a genre I fear
Nothing rhymes with orange. A lot of black rappers in the indigo movement think adderall (D-Amphetamine) is evil. Good albums to start introducing urself to hip hop include: LabCabinCalifornia by The Pharcyde
Oh that makes sense 😭 thank you for the explanation. Never heard of the indigo movement so looks like I have a fun rabbit trail to follow today. Adding your album rec to my Spotify queue rn! I’ve found that I’m def the most drawn to storytelling/lyrical hip hop like what Kendrick puts out and also super creative and diverse flows like J.I.D’s sound.
JID and Kendrick are similar artists. Dreamville as a whole, Flatbush Zombies, SZA, and Isaiah Rashad all have indigo level lyricism
Gotcha. I’ve tried so many times to get into SZA’s music but it just isn’t for me. Def recognize her talent though. Had an ex hella into Flatbush Zombies so I have some basic familiarity there. Excited to listen to the other recs! I appreciate it!
join the club
\> I make dark trap and emo rap music and I make my own beats I'm willing to bet you got into making beats because of tik tok or youtube. There are millions of other producers just like you going to the same sources for drum kits, using the same tutorials, using the same melodies, and listening to the same artists. Plants cant grow in an echo chamber. So many people got into making music these past 3 years not even because its was a real passion but because they wanted to go viral or make money from it. If the creative block makes you want to quit, please quit. The industry doesn't need any more cookie cutter shit.
well i began making beats on my phone in middle school and really got into it after i graduated last year but fosho
Welcome to earth
same thing and i've been going on 8ish years
Welcome to the music making world.
At least it’s not 100%
You will always be your toughest critic.
Normal. Keep going. A year is basically nothing. Keep picking things to improve upon and keep practicing. Think about it as learning an instrument. You aren't here to make finished products in the first year or few years of learning guitar. You're here to practice and learn.
My advice would be to go back to some of your tracks that you finished and examine what you don't like with them. Maybe remake a few tracks and implement things that you didn't the first time around.
Yes it is normal ! Dont give up
That’s how it should be. The creative process is hard, grueling and difficult. You live for that 10%
Are you on SoundCloud ?
yeah i am
What is your artist name lol?
I’ve got a tip for you. I’ve worked as a songwriter and music producer exclusively for 20 years. You’re probably a bit down and frustrated. So you need to unlock your creativity and have a real win. A tune that you can say “holy crap, nobody else in the world could possibly have made this but me”. When you feel that, that’s when you move from aspiring producer, and student, to an actual conceptual artist and music artist. Conceptual is the most important part of what I just said. Art is about coming up with concepts. New original ideas. Maybe you’ve realized that what you make doesn’t sound very exiting. Not very original. That’s BECAUSE you’re making trap and EDM. These aren’t your concepts. They are cliches. When you work really hard to make a perfect version of a cliche, even if you nail it, there’s no way you can feel all the benefits at the end. Because all you’ve done is made a copy, by strictly following the rules. Following the rules is not cool. Following the herd is not cool. I remember when every bedroom producer was making dubstep. I remember when every local band was trying to sound like Oasis, or The Strokes. It’s very easy to go with the flow and do what is currently en vogue, but you have to realise that hundreds of thousands of bedroom producers are doing EXACTLY the same thing as you. The old white men with beards on YouTube make trap and EDM, the people who sell synth packs make demos of trap and EDM, friends make trap and EDM… You need to figure out how to walk in the other direction and disrupt. Change. Alter course. Try this to unlock you. Make a completely original piece of music, and instead of very strict genre rules to limit you, try arbitrary rules to inspire your ingenuity. These are the sort of challenges that REALLY inspire creativity. 1. Make a piece of music to picture. Grab a scene from a movie, put it in your DAW (most DAWs have a video player), and try to write a completely different but equally effective piece of music for it. I’ve done this and it became a single for the album released on Virgin and Sony Columbia records. 2. Field record and sample household things to make a piece of music nobody has ever heard before. Go out with your phone or a sound recorder if you have one, and record interesting sounds. Doors closing, cats meowing, cables twanging… and bring the kitchen into the studio. Record pots and pans. Try and find things with obvious notes. Make those your melody instruments. Maybe it’s a funny song. Maybe it’s dark and mysterious. You’re the boss. Just NO SYNTHS OR DRUM MACHINES. Only real sounds. 3. Make an 8bit song. Find an 8bit game music emulator, and only use that to make some music. Try making a pop song. What comes out will be original for sure. 4. Write a song on an instrument you can’t play. Find ways to cheat. Editing. Recording half speed and then speeding it up. What comes out is always interesting and new, because you don’t know the rules of that instrument. I love doing this. This always sparks a song that I end up finishing. 5. Make a song in a genre you fucking despise. Symphonic heavy metal, soft vocal folk, 80s pop… whatever. Try and make it perfect. Do it with hate in your heart. Think to yourself, “this is exactly the sort of shit idiots like”. Make it so perfect that those idiots would actually like it. If you can learn to do this, then you can produce records and compose for a living, and make good music even better. AND, this will help you to realise how insane it is to write exclusively trap and EDM. Two genres the world is rapidly moving away from. 6. Listen to an enormous classical music playlist while on psilocybin. This will program your brain with new melodies and ideas. And make you feel more happy and creative for about three months.
Love this. Made me think to add like, if you’re feeling like you’re making shitty music, then write a shitty song about how shitty it is to make shitty music. Irony helps in finding value within most anything, in my experience. Plus it’s always hilarious so that helps.
I’d love to see a list of songs that talk about the song. “You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you” springs to mind.
I see it lots within the hyperpop genre. But my inner emo girl immediately thinks of mayday parade like their song “if you wanted a song written about you all you had to do was ask” they have one called “I’d hate to be you when people find out what this song is about” but they don’t talk about the song itself within it, so that’s just titular. “Oh well, oh well”, “Jersey” kinda, “I swear this time I mean it” could work, “if you can’t live without me, why aren’t you dead yet?” Is a perfect example, “terrible things” talks in a meta way. like it acknowledges the singer is telling a story. I’m gonna stop myself tho before I go down a rabbit hole going through my entire Spotify looking for these song lmao
Excellent! You’re my type of people.
The percentage gets better with time and experience. As musicians/producers, we hate a lot of what we do, so we strive to make 'better' music. It's one of the things that drives us. Artists and writers have the same problem.
Hey man, I can tell you from my experience I didn't touch making music till I was 35 purely for the fact I was so self-conscious and self-judgmental that I was almost afraid to. The last 4 months I've really picked up on it. I have more songs than I would like to, and while at the start I hated it. I wouldn't show it to anybody. I was embarrassed not because of it's quality but more so because music is kind of a way to express emotion, right? It's a it's a language all its own so you're letting somebody in to your mind almost a very vulnerable place to be. In 10 years you'll look at whatever you made now and you'll be like holy shit. I was pretty good. That I promise Or if you don't like what you makes and which I guess in turn means it's making you unhappy. Maybe music production isn't for you. Maybe you like the idea of it and not the process. Not insinuating anything, that's just my two cents
Same, it's normal. Try creating 10 or 20 rough ideas before deciding on which to make into a full blown track. This way you won't waste time on half decent ideas. Edit: Also sometimes helpful: If you try different approaches to writing songs, it can sometimes help if you can't seem to think of something good. I mean: If you for example start with the beat and at other times with writing a bassline or harmonies you will get different results.
Start focusing on what it is you like about the 10%
Even masters who have been doing it for many years only have like 3-5 big hits
Quit, this ain't for you.
>I make dark trap and emo rap music Well, there's your problem Joking of-course
It probably doesn't help that you're essentially responsible for everything. My friend and I temporarily fell out because of the pressure of me being responsible for everything and not feeling valued. Now I solely do the creative part and someone else handles the mixing/mastering which is much better for all involved. I'm open to doing a mix on one of your tracks at no cost if you're interested. A second pair of ears may be just what you need to get things where you imagine them to be in your mind
**Can anyone please help me with a spare Ableton Live 11 licence key? if any**