Hi guys,
Does anyone have any tips/systems in place to finish tracks ?
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Good question!
Welp, sometimes i like to start from the āmiddleāā¦ or the thickest, most complex part of a song;
then peel back layers till i reach the the start / end of a section or the whole song.
Also, sometimes itās ok to not worry about mixing untill most of the composition is in place,
this can help to get notes down on paper so to speakā¦ then treat mixing/mastering as a next step.
Another thing is sometimes a song tells a story, so when you compose you can reach the ending.
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Listen + do stuff in a feedback loop until you like it 
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- Create your āmain patternā (all instruments of the āmain compositionā)
- Loop your main pattern and mute/unmute tracks until you know how to start the song
- Compose the build up from start to main pattern by using the ā2 instrument techniqueā
(which means if youāre adding instruments, it should be at least 2 at the same time) - Make sure thereās movement from start to finish, and donāt use any pattern twice
- After main pattern have a break and/or do a āside compositionā, but always keep the movement
- At the end of the song bring back some parts from the beginning
- And something like that, and so onā¦ But it also depends on what style you would like to do.
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Keep working on it til it stops getting better. Then itās done
Also, inspiration is a poor substitute for discipline.
If you get in the habit of writing every day, you will finish lots of songs
Thereās good advice in this thread, but I donāt think any amount of tricks will solve your problem. The most important question to ask yourself is: āwhy do I want to finish tracks?ā Do you want to release an album? Do you need new DJ material? Without a tangible, real-world aim, youāre going to be stuck doing what comes naturally to you.
Many artists are naturals at finishing things and find this kind of question a bit silly. Others are simply into the process of creation for its own sake. The angst arises for those who occupy the second group but feel unfulfilled by not having a substantial body of work. So, envision what you want that body of work to look like, and build towards it.
Iām speaking from personal experience. I love the process of making music, but Iāve spent a long time at it and have zero releases to my name. Finally deciding to work on an album (and committing to it) has vastly changed my relationship with music-making. Now I have to finish things; itās not really a choice.
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Wow , I definitely relate to the second option as well. Its amazing you managed to encapsulate what I have been going through for the past 10+ years of making music. It has always been for the rush of the creative process (or just process in general) but I have never stuck to a sound or a project.
Maybe I should do the same, I returned to college this year so am quite swamped in work I should be doing, but i am sure i can find time to work on a project. Thank you so much.
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I feel that many of us go through this, but itās hard to talk about. If Iāve managed to have any positive influence then Iām quite pleased. Enjoy your project!
@Bluethereal I am interested in your proposal.
However, I have not yet understood it to a level I am comfortable with.
Is it possible for you to share a blank template and a file of songs, etc. that document your rough trial-and-error compositions to the template?
Bumping an old thread, but this is something Iāve been thinking about a lot. Iām curious how many of you have tried the technique of writing one new track per day (or week, whatever you have time for) as a way of keeping things fresh and enforcing deadlines. The goal should be to get as far as possible, and avoid the feeling of āwell, thereās always laterā¦ā
I did this when I was starting with music creation back in 1991. Iāve created at least one track each day. Sometimes 2, sometimes 3 and sometimes even 4. But this was only possible because everything about mixing and mastering was left out completely (regardless of the fact that this wasnāt possible on SoundTracker anyway). And of course those tracks didnāt sound āprofessionalā at all, it was quite the opposite. Today I couldnāt even think of creating that way. If youāre rushing through production just to be finished at the end of the day or the week or whatever, creating would turn into a kind of assembly line work, which is bad for both composition and mix/master. The result would suck and you would never be satisfied with it. And thereās absolutely no point in releasing something youāre not satisfied with. So no, I refuse to use that technique.
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Interesting take, but I see things pretty differently. For me this is more of an exercise in killing perfectionism, not a mechanical effort to accumulate a mountain of work for release. For me the alternatives are typically: 1. start a new track almost daily anyway, and put off finishing it because time is infinite or 2. work for months on the same track until all the life is gone from it. So this experiment is more like a cold shower to shock myself out of those patterns, if that makes sense.
Besides, some of my favorite music was written and recorded in a day. Quality control is an orthogonal issue. 