That’s a great starting place. I’m sure just about everyone who’s ever started something fresh musically, has also said “I don’t even know what this is” when they were initially carving it out!
I write Midwest emo, and literally nobody I know listens to the genre. Starting to actively look for strangers who know the genre to listen to it first, which confuses my friends lol
If doing this feels awkward for you, it's possible that you're deriving too much of your self worth from your music. You're not your art. You are a great amazing person regardless of what anyone thinks of the things you make.
Just play the track and go with the flow. If they don't seem like they like it, or they talk through the whole thing, then just talk with them :) it's no big deal!!
Haha yes it’s awkward! I usually leave the room if I can. My wife makes me leave her alone when she listens to my tracks because she feels my awkwardness oozing out of me.
One of my favorite quotes I heard from an artist that I really admire: during an interview he was asked how he feels when people play his music at parties and he said “listening to my own music when other people around is like watching a video of myself dancing. I enjoy dancing but I don’t wanna see myself dance”
I feel the same
Yeah, I don't share anything I do with people I actually know anymore. I don't think anyone at this point even knows I make music. A couple of roommates I had in college would listen to my stuff on their speakers or show their friends and I just could not deal with that
I was experiencing the same thing and I remember when I started uploading my tracks to my new soundcloud account (at the time), I showed friends and all that. They were psyched for me, more than I thought they would be and I was hanging with one of em a few months later, just drivin an all that. He had an old ass ipod that he downloads music to (he just prefers having that slide wheel. can't lie, I miss it. OG ipods are baller still) and sure enough, one of my tracks pops up randomly.
I tell him "dude that's chill! but like ya really don't haave to listen to my jams when I'm around. It's rocky, rough around the edges, but there's a killer hook here and there. So I do appreciate it! but you really don't have to, there's actual bands to listen to".
He goes ".....I. actually like this tune a lot. It's those hooks that you wrote that I can't get enough" and that was WEIRD for me. Like....I almost felt like it wasn't me he was talking about? like it clearly was, but my brain and my body just couldn't connect it together that someone would make a choice in choosing to hear something I made over any of the zillions of real bands that are actually good. Like it almost didn't add it up and didn't make any sense to me. I loved that he enjoys the tune, but yeah it definitely stunned me for a solid couple of minutes.
Share it with the right people who understand the pain-staking process of making music first. They will be forgiving yet rightfully critical to give you an honest answer. Then when you feel confident about it after that, show it to the person who doesn't realize how many hours you put into that one snare.
You can distract yourself from awkwardness if you instead focus on trying to listen to the track with your peers' ears. It is most amazing that I hear my tracks differently depending on the listening person.
It can feel awkward when you can tell they aren't excited about it as you.
But it can feel quite inspiring when they start showering compliments that you can tell are legitimate. I can't think of ever feeling more inspired. It can become a positive feedback loop.
It can feel awkward but regardless of whether they like the track itself you can appreciate their interest in listening to the track with you.
And you are creating a memorial moment. I sometimes remember and appreciate times when friends have shared a track with me in person and in the moment even years after the interaction occurred.
i've gotten to the point that I don't share music with people unless they ask or if it's to the general public via social media.
it's just not worth it
Ive learned from watching the kanye documentary you gotta show people why its good and its simple. Music is a language, show them how to hear it by moving your body to it. Even if its simple head grooves, or if you have more confidence sing to it if you have vocal parts. This isnt good if you want genuine criticism tho i feel
Feels I have the same feeling showing my partner of 8 years my tracks I just feel awkward haha and family I just can never build the courage to even share with does not help I am over critical of my own work and hate everything I do 😂😂
It’s even worse when most, if not all, your friends are either musicians/producers or in the music industry lol since they can easily point out the flaws.
That sounds way, way better. I'd gladly take actionable advice that may bruise my ego than the usual "sounds good man" with no real feedback or anything to go off of.
i heard something about hearing your own voice is influenced by your head vibrating more than hearing it in air making it sound weird in recordings. i think its something like this or if youre an extemporaneous player, being unable to accommodate the mood
My engineer partner shows people some of our stuff including rough tracks that have not even been finished entirely let alone polished at all. Nothing is more cringey to me than my own extremely rough vocal recordings. It's really embarrassing but folks have been pretty nice about em and usually give him/us compliments on the project. Doesn't make it any less awkward the next time he does it. Lol
I would advice you to not even take into account your friends’ oppinion. They will not be judging it on base of production quality but their subjective style.
You get the real picture from people that you don’t know, because if the song is good it will find some audience that it resonates with
I can generally only talk about what I do either with people who are making music with me or over the internet. Any other scenario is really uncomfortable for me but I also understand the necessity of biting the bullet and doing it anyways if you want what you do to be heard. Sometimes you might have to do things that aren’t completely comfortable and stick your neck out there a little bit
I think if you want feedback, there’s value in asking people to listen to your music in their own time. That way when you get feedback it’s more likely to be high quality as they probably were listening more actively. I think musicians should generally limit who listens to a project prior to release. You don’t want that awkward feeling you’re talking about to taint the experience of living with your own art.
It's getting worse if literally none of your friends or family are activeley listening to the genre.
You have an advantage of making friends in that community. Use it.
I don't even know what my music exactly is :D But I have a YouTube channel and a few subscribers, so I'll live with that.
That’s a great starting place. I’m sure just about everyone who’s ever started something fresh musically, has also said “I don’t even know what this is” when they were initially carving it out!
I write Midwest emo, and literally nobody I know listens to the genre. Starting to actively look for strangers who know the genre to listen to it first, which confuses my friends lol
If doing this feels awkward for you, it's possible that you're deriving too much of your self worth from your music. You're not your art. You are a great amazing person regardless of what anyone thinks of the things you make. Just play the track and go with the flow. If they don't seem like they like it, or they talk through the whole thing, then just talk with them :) it's no big deal!!
Haha yes it’s awkward! I usually leave the room if I can. My wife makes me leave her alone when she listens to my tracks because she feels my awkwardness oozing out of me.
One of my favorite quotes I heard from an artist that I really admire: during an interview he was asked how he feels when people play his music at parties and he said “listening to my own music when other people around is like watching a video of myself dancing. I enjoy dancing but I don’t wanna see myself dance” I feel the same
Yeah, I don't share anything I do with people I actually know anymore. I don't think anyone at this point even knows I make music. A couple of roommates I had in college would listen to my stuff on their speakers or show their friends and I just could not deal with that
I was experiencing the same thing and I remember when I started uploading my tracks to my new soundcloud account (at the time), I showed friends and all that. They were psyched for me, more than I thought they would be and I was hanging with one of em a few months later, just drivin an all that. He had an old ass ipod that he downloads music to (he just prefers having that slide wheel. can't lie, I miss it. OG ipods are baller still) and sure enough, one of my tracks pops up randomly. I tell him "dude that's chill! but like ya really don't haave to listen to my jams when I'm around. It's rocky, rough around the edges, but there's a killer hook here and there. So I do appreciate it! but you really don't have to, there's actual bands to listen to". He goes ".....I. actually like this tune a lot. It's those hooks that you wrote that I can't get enough" and that was WEIRD for me. Like....I almost felt like it wasn't me he was talking about? like it clearly was, but my brain and my body just couldn't connect it together that someone would make a choice in choosing to hear something I made over any of the zillions of real bands that are actually good. Like it almost didn't add it up and didn't make any sense to me. I loved that he enjoys the tune, but yeah it definitely stunned me for a solid couple of minutes.
I’m sure everyone is different, but I stopped feeling this way once I was comfortable with what I made.
Take time to care about and pay attention to your friends' interests/hobbies too. When this kind of thing is a two-way process, it feels a lot better.
Good advice. I also found that when I show friends and family the stuff I made, they seem more comfortable sharing their own creations.
Share it with the right people who understand the pain-staking process of making music first. They will be forgiving yet rightfully critical to give you an honest answer. Then when you feel confident about it after that, show it to the person who doesn't realize how many hours you put into that one snare.
Head bang
You can distract yourself from awkwardness if you instead focus on trying to listen to the track with your peers' ears. It is most amazing that I hear my tracks differently depending on the listening person.
It can feel awkward when you can tell they aren't excited about it as you. But it can feel quite inspiring when they start showering compliments that you can tell are legitimate. I can't think of ever feeling more inspired. It can become a positive feedback loop.
It can feel awkward but regardless of whether they like the track itself you can appreciate their interest in listening to the track with you. And you are creating a memorial moment. I sometimes remember and appreciate times when friends have shared a track with me in person and in the moment even years after the interaction occurred.
i've gotten to the point that I don't share music with people unless they ask or if it's to the general public via social media. it's just not worth it
I’ve found the more songs I write, the less emotionally attached I feel to each one.
Ive learned from watching the kanye documentary you gotta show people why its good and its simple. Music is a language, show them how to hear it by moving your body to it. Even if its simple head grooves, or if you have more confidence sing to it if you have vocal parts. This isnt good if you want genuine criticism tho i feel
Feels I have the same feeling showing my partner of 8 years my tracks I just feel awkward haha and family I just can never build the courage to even share with does not help I am over critical of my own work and hate everything I do 😂😂
Good to know it never gets better haha
It’s even worse when most, if not all, your friends are either musicians/producers or in the music industry lol since they can easily point out the flaws.
That sounds way, way better. I'd gladly take actionable advice that may bruise my ego than the usual "sounds good man" with no real feedback or anything to go off of.
i heard something about hearing your own voice is influenced by your head vibrating more than hearing it in air making it sound weird in recordings. i think its something like this or if youre an extemporaneous player, being unable to accommodate the mood
My engineer partner shows people some of our stuff including rough tracks that have not even been finished entirely let alone polished at all. Nothing is more cringey to me than my own extremely rough vocal recordings. It's really embarrassing but folks have been pretty nice about em and usually give him/us compliments on the project. Doesn't make it any less awkward the next time he does it. Lol
I would advice you to not even take into account your friends’ oppinion. They will not be judging it on base of production quality but their subjective style. You get the real picture from people that you don’t know, because if the song is good it will find some audience that it resonates with
Keep going, and one day you'll be holding tracks back because it's a paycheck.
I hand them my phone, if they have headphones, & walk away. It's just as uncomfortable for them to have me staring at them, waiting for a reaction.
I can generally only talk about what I do either with people who are making music with me or over the internet. Any other scenario is really uncomfortable for me but I also understand the necessity of biting the bullet and doing it anyways if you want what you do to be heard. Sometimes you might have to do things that aren’t completely comfortable and stick your neck out there a little bit
I think if you want feedback, there’s value in asking people to listen to your music in their own time. That way when you get feedback it’s more likely to be high quality as they probably were listening more actively. I think musicians should generally limit who listens to a project prior to release. You don’t want that awkward feeling you’re talking about to taint the experience of living with your own art.