a quick workflow tip to people who spend too long 'tweaking'

[staticcast]

this works for me. maybe it'll work for you too. ever since i started adhering (loosely) to this set of rules i find that i very rarely get caught up in 20-hour stretches of messing with individual sounds with no sense of direction.

obviously you first need to get the track to the point where you've got 60% of the structure and 50% of the mixdown sorted, otherwise it's not ready for this treatment yet. but once you're there..... give this a try. maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised by the results.

1) at the start of every session, open up notepad or textedit and make a blank text file.
2) open up itunes, NOT your DAW (or you'll end up fiddling with stuff). listen to the mixdown from the previous session (see [8]). it is VERY IMPORTANT that you don't fuck around with the sounds at this stage. just listen to what you've done, ideally from start to finish.
3) as you listen through, write down things that don't quite sound right, and the corresponding time in the track. eg "2:50 - bass doesn't drop hard enough" or "1:30 - maybe this drop should come earlier" or "3:00 - get rid of those second hihats"
4) listen a couple more times if you don't feel you had enough time to write down everything you'd like to change.
5) you should now have a list of specific things that are wrong with your WIP. maybe there's 1, maybe there are 15, whatever. it's probably best not to write down more than 15 or so per iteration.
6) NOW open up your DAW and open the last version of the project you were working on. click 'save as...' and increment the number on the end. ('my track v7.als')
7) go through your list. address on the things on your list, one by one. DO NOT WORK ON ANYTHING ELSE. if you have any brilliant ideas, write them down at the end of your idea list and do them at the end.
8) once you've addressed everything on your list, save your project and make a new mixdown. number the mixdown according to the project number. ('my track mixdown v7.wav')

repeat.


the REALLY IMPORTANT THING is this: every idea that you act upon must first be written down. that way, you don't lose track of what you set out to achieve. i'd lost count of the number of times i'd ended up tinkering with a filter envelope for 3 hours even though i'd actually set out intending to sort out the sidechain on that sub.

[Dreadfunk]

I do this already to a degree, but it's really nice to see this laid out the way you did. Really damn good advice.

I don't bounce down to listen in itunes, but I will turn the LCD screen off and just LISTEN and write down stuff.

[fds-]

great tip il have to try this. I too try to fix certain things each time i work on a project but have never tried actually writing them down maybe it will keep me more organized.

[jobbanaught]

i'd lost count of the number of times i'd ended up tinkering with a filter envelope for 3 hours even though i'd actually set out intending to sort out the sidechain on that sub.

[Ongelegen]

Great tip, will try this

[Debaser1]

Why are we being told this? Surely the only rule of music is that there are no rules? Do it however the fuck you like! There should be no formulas, no paradigms and no 'right' ways to do something. If you tweak stuff, you tweak stuff. If that's the process you have to go through to get the right mix/sound then so be it. I hate it when I'm told how to work with specific steps and guidelines. You do what you do how you want to do it. Why am I being told how to make music?

[Assassin]

I personally really like this idea and i'll try it out.

I think you need to chill out debaser. He wasn't telling you, it was just a suggestion.

Cool name by the way.

[Ongelegen]

Why are we being told this? Surely the only rule of music is that there are no rules? Do it however the fuck you like! There should be no formulas, no paradigms and no 'right' ways to do something. If you tweak stuff, you tweak stuff. If that's the process you have to go through to get the right mix/sound then so be it. I hate it when I'm told how to work with specific steps and guidelines. You do what you do how you want to do it. Why am I being told how to make music?

Nobody is telling you how to do your music. OP is just sharing a solution to the problem he has experienced, with the meaning to potentially help people who have the same problem.

[staticcast]

Why are we being told this? Surely the only rule of music is that there are no rules? Do it however the fuck you like! There should be no formulas, no paradigms and no 'right' ways to do something. If you tweak stuff, you tweak stuff. If that's the process you have to go through to get the right mix/sound then so be it. I hate it when I'm told how to work with specific steps and guidelines. You do what you do how you want to do it. Why am I being told how to make music?

uh, didn't you get the memo? the Committee For General Righteousness convened two weeks ago. now there actually is an officially correct way of making music. my post above was a verbatim extract from Steps And Guidelines, section 5, article 42.

and, uh, don't forget that employing incorrect Methods is an offense under the Formulae and Paradigms Act 2010. i hear mt eden runs the offender rehabilitation centre

[Promise One]

I do this too, but more on when I'm checking the mix down on different systems. I find like you it really helps. Especially to see all of the changes you've picked up on after the listen. Eventually you should get to a point on most systems where your mix and track is a good compromise on all of the systems you checked it on. Best mixing quote I ever heard is "Mixing is the art of compromise"

[wub]

Why are we being told this? Surely the only rule of music is that there are no rules? Do it however the fuck you like! There should be no formulas, no paradigms and no 'right' ways to do something. If you tweak stuff, you tweak stuff. If that's the process you have to go through to get the right mix/sound then so be it. I hate it when I'm told how to work with specific steps and guidelines. You do what you do how you want to do it. Why am I being told how to make music?

Methodology abstains from the same laws regarding constraints in production that would apply to technique, for example.

[Debaser1]

Okok I took it a bit far, I just don;t think you should apply limits to expression that's all. You should get across what you need to get across in whatever way suits you.

'Peace and love, peace and love' I didn't mean to come across as a tnuc, I just got into a David Mitchell-esque ranty mood

[contakt321]

I do this (the method Static described) as well and I find it especially helpful to finish songs and mixdowns.

It really helps me focus on the "how to get from here to done" part of making music.

[ogunslinger]

[Nacklewicket]

couple of days ago i spent all my afternoon literally about 5 hours just compressing,eqing,tweaking a kick drum. took a break for dinner and tried again after that, choose a different sample this time but really likely sounding, tweaked it with compressor and equalizer for not more than 5 minutes and it ended up sounding exactly what i was going for.. so i think in some cases if ur trying to get something to sound in a specific way, u spend loads of time trying to achieve it without succeeding the problem might not always be ur proccessing..

good tip on writing stuff down. i started doing this and it can be really helpful sometimes to get ur ideas just straight down on paper instead of trying to remember everything.

[Mad_EP]

sometimes i write it down in an organized list... but most times, i just bounce down all the tracks i am working on (i usually am actively working on 8 or so tracks at a time) to cd and make myself listen to it constantly in the car. all the mistakes become so grating to me that i have to fix them otherwise i will punch myself in the face.

[Ldizzy]

beautiful tip
might help me a lot

thanks from the bottom of my heart (sob+smile)

[antipode]

great thread. I've always done this to a certain extent.

all about the lights off, monitor off, laying on bed test

EDIT: Just had a go doing the exact method objekt described, with the notepad etc and it works a treat!
Gonna do this every time when it comes to the business end of finishing tunes.

All about fixing those little things that you tend to forget about, that's why writing them down is good.



(I just save over my new versions though. Nothing like a bit of destructive saving to keep you on your toes )

[wub]

Will respond fully when I get into work, but re the notepad idea, I have fl studio setup with an instance of Fruity Notepad on my master template for just thus reason. Also helps me to list any significant changes between versions in case I want to go back & revisit later.