Back at uni...any tips for working on a tight schedule?

[lyons238]

iv been at my college for about 1-2 week and im finding it very hard to produce. i have no motivation to get in my daw or any ideas or time. during the summer i worked a land scaping job and it became so routine that while working i would come up with all sorts of ideas in my head and be able to try and capture them when i got home.

now that im at uni i dont have time to think about ideas for tracks during the day because my mind is completely consumed with school and being so busy. then i get out of class and i have work and homework and partying.

im thinking i need to change my work habits as far as production goes in order to compensate for my lack of time and head space that i had in the summer. im thinking about maybe collecting all of my sounds for one song and getting very familiar with them. that way i know the sounds im working with and can more easily think of a bass line etc...

i still have no problem programming drums but when it comes to writing bass lines and melodies i really need that time during the day when im away from my computer to think of ideas. does anyone have any tips for working on a very tight schedule?

oh, also im going to start reading up on musical theory. i think that will help me out because then i will be able to write out melodies much faster. like now i try and jam out some melodies for an hour to barely find one tiny riff that i like for the song. pretty frustrating

[ChadDub]

Just do well in school so you can be a docter

[lyons238]

Just do well in school so you can be a docter

chad im going for a major in business management and a minor in marketing

[ChadDub]

oh that's tight.

My advice is just chill.

[lyons238]

oh that's tight.

My advice is just chill.

lol as stated in my first post i dont have time to chill otherwise i wouldn't be writing this post lol. sorry chad you fail

[OlzaMK]

Templates really help a lot. Do everything you can to streamline your digital workstation before you even start making beats.

eg. Custom instrument racks, Filters, Effects, etc

[lyons238]

Templates really help a lot. Do everything you can to streamline your digital workstation before you even start making beats.

eg. Custom instrument racks, Filters, Effects, etc

yeah i do have a template made. mainly its just having my drums each have their own mixer channel and then a master mix channel on all of them. i suppose i should look into bettering my template for instant idea layage lol.

[Atac]

Haha fuck partying dude!

There's nothing better than sitting in on a Friday night with a fresh pot of coffee and the place to yourself.

From what I heard I think you had enough fun this summer
Yes that was a Ketamine joke.

[lyons238]

Haha fuck partying dude!

There's nothing better than sitting in on a Friday night with a fresh pot of coffee and the place to yourself.

From what I heard I think you had enough fun this summer
Yes that was a Ketamine joke.

haha u fucker no ones ever gonna let me live that one down.. (wow that expression is weird to see typed out )

but you got yourself a point. its just so damn tempting to go out on weekend nights after school and work...which leaves me unmotivated to produce.

during the summer in the middle of the week i loved landscaping and having so many ideas to come home to play around with. its just not the same when im back at school.

but yeah your right i should stay in maybe 1 weekend night a week and just produce. im also gonna have to find some other things that can help me stay productive and progressing.

[drooka]

Just do well in school so you can be a docter

chad im going for a major in business management and a minor in marketing

going for the same thing lyons haha...

anyway, i just got back to uni as well, and believe it or not, i'm having less trouble producing on a tight schedule. i think that if you can get yourself to sit down for around an hour or 2 every day, around the same time each day if possible, you might start to find that the time constraints actually speed up your production ability because you'll work pretty hard to get as much in as possible. over the whole summer finished 3 tunes, but this past week working on that condensed schedule, i took a tune from start to finish in 3 days (though it sounds like i might have a bit more time on my hands to work with than you do).

perhaps, if its possible,try gettin up and working on tunes before you head out to your first class. you'll be fresh and won't have all sorts of business crap jumbling up your mind.

hope this helps out man, best of luck in your productions and your studies

cheers

[mikeyp]

when I was in school i'd always bring my laptop and headphones with me, and if I had a break of like 15 or 30 minutes in between classes i'd always open her up and get something going. during class i'd usually have some idea bouncing around in my head so it was a good way to get it down asap. sometimes i wouldn't want to stop and i'd be late for class though, lol.

[lyons238]

Just do well in school so you can be a docter

chad im going for a major in business management and a minor in marketing

going for the same thing lyons haha...

anyway, i just got back to uni as well, and believe it or not, i'm having less trouble producing on a tight schedule. i think that if you can get yourself to sit down for around an hour or 2 every day, around the same time each day if possible, you might start to find that the time constraints actually speed up your production ability because you'll work pretty hard to get as much in as possible. over the whole summer finished 3 tunes, but this past week working on that condensed schedule, i took a tune from start to finish in 3 days (though it sounds like i might have a bit more time on my hands to work with than you do).

perhaps, if its possible,try gettin up and working on tunes before you head out to your first class. you'll be fresh and won't have all sorts of business crap jumbling up your mind.

hope this helps out man, best of luck in your productions and your studies

cheers

thanks man. ill try and at least get in my daw for two hours every other day. best of luck to you as well

when I was in school i'd always bring my laptop and headphones with me, and if I had a break of like 15 or 30 minutes in between classes i'd always open her up and get something going. during class i'd usually have some idea bouncing around in my head so it was a good way to get it down asap. sometimes i wouldn't want to stop and i'd be late for class though, lol.

yeah i do that sometimes as well but it usually never ends up to be anything usable unless im doing something minor. 15 mins or so isn't enough for me to get anything done really at all. i need at least an hour to focus properly etc. but as i progress id imagine i will be able to work in smaller increments like that.

[mikeyp]

yeah i do that sometimes as well but it usually never ends up to be anything usable unless im doing something minor. 15 mins or so isn't enough for me to get anything done really at all. i need at least an hour to focus properly etc. but as i progress id imagine i will be able to work in smaller increments like that.

yeah I hear ya but being limited actually helped with creativity for me. instead of being able to sit down and go through a normal process i just fucked around with things i usually wouldn't have and ended up with some decent results to go play with at home later

[Manic Harmonic]

I think it will figure itself out once you get used to school again... I'm at a point now where I can balance school with producing, and I'm on an accelerated curriculum. Although I don't sleep nearly as much as I should... Pull all nighters twice a week, works for me!

[Atac]

Haha fuck partying dude!

There's nothing better than sitting in on a Friday night with a fresh pot of coffee and the place to yourself.

From what I heard I think you had enough fun this summer
Yes that was a Ketamine joke.

haha u fucker no ones ever gonna let me live that one down.. (wow that expression is weird to see typed out )

but you got yourself a point. its just so damn tempting to go out on weekend nights after school and work...which leaves me unmotivated to produce.

during the summer in the middle of the week i loved landscaping and having so many ideas to come home to play around with. its just not the same when im back at school.

but yeah your right i should stay in maybe 1 weekend night a week and just produce. im also gonna have to find some other things that can help me stay productive and progressing.

Heh heh heh, I just had to.

But yeah I think any big schedule change like what you're going through right now just takes time to dial down.
Once you get your rhythm going with school and everything, I'm sure it will slowly get easier to slot in some music time.

It's also very nice to wake up early on a weekend morning and just start going, if you get something good out of it then you still have the whole day to work on it!

[RandoRando]

lets see...get k-holed every weekend, do it again the next weekend..and so on...

produce that weekend instead of partying, get more popular and sell tracks and get famous and buy a house next to the dubstep originator timbaland.

ill take the house, kthxbai

[daft cunt]

I'm in the same boat. Just started a week ago, I don't even have much work yet but I just can't be bothered making music.
I guess it'll evolve at some point. Just do what you gotta do until then imo.

[hasezwei]

lately i've been thinking of quitting the whole go out-get hammered-wake up-go out again thing and just chilling at home making music instead.

cause i found that after a while all your social contacts end up being people you party/get drunk with and that really sucks.
every friday you'll be like "finally i have some time to make tracks" and then on a sunday afternoon you'll notice you haven't done anything cause you were too hungover but then its too late cause you gotta finish your homework and fix up the place before the weekend is over.

[lyons238]

lately i've been thinking of quitting the whole go out-get hammered-wake up-go out again thing and just chilling at home making music instead.

cause i found that after a while all your social contacts end up being people you party/get drunk with and that really sucks.
every friday you'll be like "finally i have some time to make tracks" and then on a sunday afternoon you'll notice you haven't done anything cause you were too hungover but then its too late cause you gotta finish your homework and fix up the place before the weekend is over.

yeah i mean i still have my friends that i chill with regardless of getting fucked up. but your right i do have a group of friends where all we do is get fucked up. i really am getting sick of the partying but its just like all there is to do in college. same shit over and over. get fucked up, spend the day hungover and remorseful, get fucked up...

and by fix the place up if you meant clean up my room etc...yeah cuz i produce better when my area is neat. actually i feel a lot better when my room is clean and everything is organized. i think i have slight OCD so thats probably why. plus it does save time when getting ready and looking for stuff.

but yeah hopefully i can find a balance this year between school, producing, fun, and work. luckily my grades are good. 3.68 gpa. but i def do need to work on some things this year.

[viberous]

Its nice when your independent study is in electronic music What I do is bring my laptop everywhere with me. Get a good set of headphones and work on ideas/loops/sample hunting in between class if you got like 30 minutes or so. After every class I used to go back to my dorm before going to my other classes, but now I just go to the library or sit somewhere and work a little at a time. But ya.....getting blitzed on the weekend is a lot of fun, but nobody wants to make kicks or eq sub/midrange bass when they're hung over.
Best of luck!