At one point you have the mixing of the track ok but the track itself sucks, you work on the track and mess the mixing up and then mess the track up too - you’re fucked. Then you run out of inspiration and you’re stuck with one or two tracks and not making progress and it just drives you mad because you just can’t be satisfied with them and change them and change them until it’s just awful…All the while there are people here on the forums posting "first track ever lulz " and kicking ass from start to finish. Of course it takes time to learn all these things especially if it’s the first time you’re making electronic music, but still, it’s just frustrating sometimes.
So yeah, here’s the track I’ve been working on now this whole freaking year. The mix is absolutely fucked, but unfortunately I did the dumbest thing and now I have the “same track” on two tracks etc etc and right now I just want to get this out of my head for a while before I do anything to it.
So yeah, tips and such are very welcome. I’ll post the messy piece of shit xrns later for all pro’s and natural talents to laugh at
It sometimes helps to put the messed up track aside and start from scratch with a new one, using only the most inspiring elements from the old song.
Usually those things stick in your head the best and does not require you to relisten to the original song.
Don’t get stuck on setting too high standards for yourself, that is a trap most perfectionists suffer from (myself included).
I think vV’s tip is excellent; also your track sounds very introspective with the muffled sound (or is that bad mp3 compression ) and minimal structure… one very bright contrasting pad on top would already make it finished enough for me.
Now, messed up isn’t necessarily the same as being bad. I have lots of experience in messing up things, it’s fun!
I also like the track. Doesn’t seem “forced” at all.
hum, that track doesn’t sound messed up or overdone to me
chilled out minimal stuff … i enjoy that
tho’ one year is a little much for a track
what works for me … is simply not to think at all … about all that stuff, expectations, standards, music type, time, other music or whatever. you know,
Create a seperate folder for every project you start. Name your first version 001.xrns. Whenever you make a big change, like deleting different parts or trying something new with mixing, save it to a new file (e.g. 002.xrns). If you’re stuck or fucked up later on you can always go back this way!
Also, add a little description in your filename. Something like “005.xrns - New pads”. This will help you figure out what is different in each version.
Thanks for the comments, much appreciated. I guess I kind of over-stress with this specific song because it really is the first one I’ve ‘finished’ that I had an idea for from start to finish and ended up roughly the way I wanted it to, maybe I’m being too much of a perfectionist but it just keeps sounding “wrong” too much bass then too much treble etc etc. I guess I’ll just leave it like that, at least until a lot later.
A little over half-a-year, not a year but yeah I agree, it isn’t the only track I’ve been working on though, it just keeps haunting me in the folder, ha.
Yeah I started doing that after I fucked this one up, months ago. Though sometimes I just forget I did any significant changes and when I’m in a hurry when something else pops up I just close the thing and don’t save, possibly scrapping a days worth of work I guess it might be just good practice, doing the same things twice.
I enjoy the fragile and minimal mood here, back when I tried to get a track finished for the first time it sounded a whole lot worse. And they also took months to finish hehe…
A thing about mixing, the solution is often simple. I’d just be careful with the bass volumes (also maybe duck or high pass filter the pads slightly while the bass and kick are present) and think about adding one element with some high frequency transients here and there. It’ll be way easier to achieve that final balanced/bright sound, even if that element is something very minimal or quiet.
Anyway, when listening I get an impression like it’s meant to sound underwater so it won’t need that much imo - nice work.
vV’s tip is great btw, when music gets stuck it’s definitely worth a try to just reuse the nicest elements with some brand new ideas.
Hahaha, i know your feelings, same things happens for me…
But sometimes if your style is not well defined, it can take some times and tracks to know the good and the bad things to do, to sound. You know, on my hard drive I keep a dozen of real shit songs hoping that one day I could make a top one.
Maybe try to not force you patience, just work on different ideas, and note what you are satisfied in your songs (maybe the sound of one instrument, one pattern, a DSP effect etc…). I guess, after the 1337th xrns, we are ready to release the ultimate song…
Anyway your song is good IMHO. So sometimes we are not satisfied because after a so long time on it, we hope better… but your work is not lost.
When your not satisfied, it’s mostly because your ears are tired of listening the same thing (good are not, the tiredness is always the same). I think it’s because the song you made is never what you have exactly in your head, so your mind always try to correct what’s your listening and that’s the reason of the tiredness.
The best tips I can give is to forget your song for a week or more with no listening at all.
Yeah I know, I “explained” them in the first post. Basicaly I just started to do something with them but now I can’t be bothered to remove them and tweak the volume.
" and kicking ass from start to finish. Of course it takes time to learn all these things especially if it’s the first time you’re making electronic music, but still, it’s just frustrating sometimes.
) and minimal structure… one very bright contrasting pad on top would already make it finished enough for me.
too much bass then too much treble etc etc. I guess I’ll just leave it like that, at least until a lot later.
but yeah I agree, it isn’t the only track I’ve been working on though, it just keeps haunting me in the folder, ha.
I guess it might be just good practice, doing the same things twice.
And they also took months to finish hehe…
