Set yourself regular non-negotiable production deadlines. X number of tracks per week/month/year. I’ve been doing a weekly production challenge this year (weeklybeats), and it’s been by far my most productive year in a long time. On the down side, things aren’t always as polished as I’d like, but if I get inspired, a week is usually more than enough time to hammer out a finished (enough) piece. The flip side being to keep working on it till it stops getting better. Then you know it’s done
What do they say? Inspiration is a sorry substitute for discipline. So much of making music is just prioritizing the act of creation for its own sake. Inspiration almost always comes when you show up to do the work.
@slujr dispensed excellent advise. Hard (external) deadlines help a lot.
Though, there are some draw backs to pumping out a track every week. It’s very useful when you’re starting out. Especially if you set yourself to experiment with new ideas and techniques. You’ll learn a lot quickly. And it’s very effective when you’re highly experienced. When whatever you make is already good to begin with.
The thing is, when you’re in the middle of the skill spectrum I think you’re better served with making something that’s good rather than making more mediocre things. Quality over quantity.
And focus your attention on the fundamentals of music. Write good melodies, create interesting progressions and come up with good rhythms. Music is a form of communication. So use it to say something interesting. That’s some general advise I would give to anyone, including myself.
for sure. short deadlines in the beginning just to get experience, a track a month once you know somewhat what you’re doing. Honestly, I think a track every two weeks to a month is ideal for a polished product, but if you have the time, it’s a good challenge to crank out tracks every week to boost efficiency, destroy writer’s block, explore new ideas, etc.
First of all, your songs ARE finished when YOU say it’s finished. What matters is that YOU are happy with the result. If you listen to your song without the feeling that something is missing or has to be changed, then it’s definitely finished. Otherwise not. Someone with higher expectations isn’t easily pleased, and when you’re talking about layering I can imagine you as a person with higher expectations. So my advice is to not release anything until you are 100% satisfied with the result, but never ever expect a PERFECT result because there is no perfect result. Don’t listen to your song every day while you’re working at it, you need to have breaks of at least a couple of days to readjust your impressions. Once you’ve done that you will listen to the song differently so that missing things or needed changes are much easier to recognize, furthermore new ideas and/or improvements will pop up. This way finishing a song is easier and faster. But even if you’re satisfied with the result and you’re about to release the song, wait at least another 3 days. Then listen to your song again and if your feeling about it hasn’t changed it’s ready for the release. This way you can ensure that there’s quality in composition AND sound, even if this method prevents the possibility of releasing music every week. But honestly, what’s the point of releasing music if you’re not happy with the result? I also could release a song every single day, but I wouldn’t be pleased with the result, because my expectations had grown over time, especially in the recent years. So if I’m stuck I take a break and continue afterwards. If I’m not pleased I take a break and change it afterwards. If I’m not sure I take a break and relisten afterwards. It doesn’t matter if it takes a day, a week or a month until a song is finished. Breaks are absolutely ok and necessary as long as they’re not too long. And you could also work on another song if you’re stuck with your current composition. It’s important to gain some other impressions during your breaks.
Finally someone who is delivering Electro after announcing Electro. I appreciate that.
I really like your oldschool 80s Electro style track with some other elements from other styles. Nice composition and as always a good quality. I like your music in general. Weitermachen!
Hello ! I have a new album : “Azias”.
Though I worked a lot with renoise in the past, this time around was mainly a reaper thing, mixing piano, some Perfourmer MK2 and a string quartet (by vst), among other stuff. Hope someone enjoys it. I sure did enjoy doing it.
You have no idea about genres, Mr. namesake. And that’s how your music sounds. Your music has its own style. If someone would show me 100 instrumental tracks of electronic music and one of them is yours, I would recognize your song right away. Yes, you’re using typical instruments and sounds which are well known from several genres and you’re combining them in your songs, but you’re always using them differently. For example the Acid bass in “Phreaks”, that’s not how an Acid bassline sounds like. It’s clearly an Acid bass, but it’s your own way of setting notes and effects. It’s completely atypical for an Acid bassline. And “Phreaks” is full of Garfonic elements. All the melodies are weird and there’s also crooked notes stuff going on, but it makes sense and it fits when it all comes together. And when listening to your music you can always hear that you’ve listened to a lot of Amiga demoscene stuff and that you were part of this scene yourself. So yes, your style is kinda unique, and that’s a good thing. Especially in terms of electronic music.
I haven’t had pictures of yellow leaves falling off the trees like @stoiximan, but I can see a different picture when listening to your track. My picture is someone trying to climb a castle wall during a cloudy full moon night in late autumn or early winter to infiltrate the castle in order to save a beloved person. It’s most intense in the first minute.
Haha that sounds pretty spot on but it really is slightly annoying as i do try my best not to sound too demoscene oriented, I’m sure I’ll make more palatable music some day… when I’m 70 years old
By the way the acid bassline is made with Phoscyon 1 but on Oct. 15 I’ll have another tune ready with Phoscyon 2 sounds… I’ve gotten really hooked on using the 303 sound.
Hope all is well there and that your wrist has improved, mine has recovered like 75% I’d say.
You seem to be suffering from the same syndrome as i have to deal with, the awkward genre syndrome.
I’m really not trying too much to fit into a specifc genre anyway, what’s the point with sounding like everyone else?
There aren’t many who have their own style in electronic music, so yes, you definitely will.
Glad to hear that. Unfortunately my wrists won’t recover that fast, but I can cope with everyday’s life and I can even do some sports again, even though I have to limit myself in terms of weights and loads in general.
Don’t worry, WW1 and the Versailles Treaty destroyed Germany forever and thanks to WW2 there’s no more german pride, no more german patriotism, no more german power, no more Germany itself. Today we’ve got left-wing extremism ruling the country to death. Here’s an update of nowadays Germany:
But I really like your composition! Nice sound, nice use of instruments and the talking fits quite well. The only thing I would do is to check your mix. Through headphones it’s great, but through speakers the hats are way too loud, the kick has no punch, the bass is a little bit too weak and the sidechain of the talking too strong.
Thanks TNT, it’s just a fun project that ended up completely different from the thing it started out as. I just thought the old recording was too cool to keep it stored on my drive unused. I have only tried it through my cheap ass bluetooth speakers and my headphones, so i haven’t really heard it on proper speakers yet. I adjusted the sidchain on purpose because it was a bit hard to hear what she says, maybe i can go a bit easier on it.
The recording is from 1944 and found on internet archive btw. I had to ‘polish’ it quite a bit as the quality wasn’t great.
My thoughts exactly.I always start with a blank template to avoid doing the same stuff and when i write music i completely isolate my thoughts thinking nothing but what my mind tells me that very moment.I like all kinds of music but i really don’t want to do what others do.Do your thing that is what matters
Guys, I assume that you know that you can sound absolutely unique within one specific genre. You don’t have to mash up several styles to create a unique sound. Of course it’s clearer if you do so, but that’s not the crucial point. The crucial point is your creativity.
Indeed, it sounds unusual for a record of talking from the 40s.
This thread is fun, good job @stoiximan. I like our exchanges of ideas, hints, comments and else, so thanks for that. I could learn a few things since I joined the forum again a couple of years ago and I was able to listen to a lot of tracks of many different Renoisers. I don’t know why I ignored this forum for 7 or 8 years. Without this thread or music in general the forum would only be worth half. So keep it up! I listen to most of the stuff shown here, even though I don’t comment on everything for several reasons.
I’ve gotten really hooked on using the 303 sound.
