Life Vs. Music

GV1 · Post by **GV1** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 5:02 pm

You know you have a passion for music when you'd be willing to drop everything in life that takes up your time to focus on music.

How many of us feel like this at times? Would you be willing to ditch your 9-5, and live life for music? Stick your fingers up to your family, and your girlfriend, and everyone else who don't believe in you?

I watched Everywhere + Nowhere last night. It's a mediocre film, I wasn't impressed, but it got me thinking.

As producers, there is so much to do and learn. Synth programming, is a life long learning curve. If you get involved in Reaktor Core, or MaxMSP, you've got a learning curve like no other. To become something different, and to produce something different, takes up so much time. Learning VST's (especially NI's stuff) to a level where you can do what you like, plus learning the hardware etc. Then you have mixing, and mastering to add to list of things to do. So much to learn, so little time. It seems the most successful eat, sleep, and live for the music. It's all they know, and they give it everything to put the bread on the table.

But, then there's the hobbyists, like myself, and many of you reading this. The ones that can't afford to do music 24/7, or are scared to take the leap and drop their life for what they truly enjoy.

I've no doubt if I sacrificed money, and my job, for music, that in a couple of years I'd be further ahead of myself in terms of production than I'd ever be if I stick to my current path. I'm bored shitless with life. Spending all my time working online chasing money ... it's a sack of shit. I'm constantly learning daily, but nothing related to music. And for me, my real passion has always been music. Since I was 15 I've been producing, I worked at a youth center as a producer for 3 years, and up until now (27 y/o) I still have the same passion.

Imagine if we put the effort we put into everything else in life, into music ... what could you become?

I'm babbling on. It's Sunday. I'm bored. Anyone feel what I'm saying though?

fragments · Post by **fragments** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 5:50 pm

I'm absolutely feeling this post. I don't have a whole lot to say because I think you really said it all. Though I will say that at times I've told friends, family, girlfriend that I want to work on music instead of whatever else is going on. I've been fairly inactive in advancing the career that pays my bills because where I'm at leaves a lot of time for my music. I've taken "mental health days" on a Tuesday because I woke up on a Monday and felt a burning drive to make music. I've said fuck my student loan payment to buy a piece of gear on occasion.

unwind · Post by **unwind** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 5:51 pm

I hear ya mate and I think this every day. Just such a big leap to make. Honestly the reason I haven't done it yet is because I don't know where I'd begin, which is why I decided a few months ago to start saving 400 quid(ish) a month for a music production course at Point Blank. It's almost 10 grand, so I'm gonna have to save up for a good few years, but the way I see it i can use those 'few' years to learn about synthesis and mastering in my spare time so that if/when i do start this course, I'll have a head start, or so to speak.

GV1 · Post by **GV1** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 6:03 pm

I am so glad I am not alone in thinking this.

If I was to take the leap, I'd have so many people laugh, call me stupid, etc. But you live once. We'll get to an age where it's too late and you will look back and think "I should have just done it". I'm drilling it into my mind to take the leap where I can say to myself I am at an age where I can afford to take a risk for a couple of years. It's those couple of years we need to develop. My mindset and passion won't be felt by everyone, that's understandable. But for those that do feel the same will understand.

I can so related to blowing the student loan on music gear lol! I pissed mine on an MPC 2500. Then had to sell it because I was broke.

I've got a tonne of gear, but you'd be right in saying that it's all just for show at the minute. My Octatrack ... I've not even had time to learn it fully. My Korg Radias, I've not used it in 3 months. Plus Komplete, and MSP, and the rest of my gear list ... there is so much to learn. I have gear gathering dust. I look at it, and my heart sinks. Because it's sitting there going to waste.

I have everything I could ever want to succeed ... including the determination and passion. The one thing I, and others, lack is the time to do it.

Babbling again, lol.

Thanks for the replies though. Put a smile on my face.

hudson · Post by **hudson** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 6:29 pm

I don't think I could concentrate on music with all my fingers up my whole family, nevermind just my girlfriend.

GV1 · Post by **GV1** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 6:30 pm

hudson wrote:I don't think I could concentrate on music with all my fingers up my whole family, nevermind just my girlfriend.

Lol!

sargentpilcher · Post by **sargentpilcher** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 6:50 pm

OP, you are absolutely correct. There is an amazing book, that while not required, I recomend you read, or at least look into called "Outliers". This book is the story of success, and goes through many successful people throughout the world, from the beatles, beethoven, sports players, and bill gates, and what they all share in common (Besides being in the right place at the right time), is that the dedicated so much time to their craft that they were better than everybody else. The magic number is 10,000 hours. That's how much time you need to dedicate to anything to become an expert. Beethoven was not a child prodigy, but he spent so much time playing piano as a child, that he got his 10,000 hours in before other people, so he was better than them at an earlier age.

90% of hockey players are all born in the same month. The reason? They get as far as they do because the month they were born in happened to make them the oldest ones on their teams, thus the biggest, which gave them an advantage, and coaches wouldn't bench them as much, so they got more practice than other kids. All that added play time made them better and better until they got their 10,000 hours.

The beatles? Played at bars for YEARS, hours nightly, in Germany developing skills, playing together tightly, developing a style before they ever hit it big.

Bill Gates? Happened to live by a campus with a computer lab in it. He would literally sneak out of his house instead of sleeping to work on the computers when they weren't occupied, so when the time came for him to start microsoft, he was one of the few people in the world with 10,000 hours of experience with computers.

So you want to be an expert? You need to dedicate time. A LOT of time to your craft. 10,000 hours is roughly 3 hours a day, EVERYday for 10 years. Imagine how fast you could do it if you did it 8 hours a day, or 12 hours a day. That's what it takes. Nobody is born with these skills, they learn them. Practice makes perfect. So sure, you can live a comfortable life working a shit job you hate until you retire, or you can become a starving musician. Say goodbye to the money, but do what you love.

If I could share my personal story. I was laid off a few months ago, and have spent every moment I can aside from other responsibilities working on music. Learning, creating, making mistakes, and fixing them, and my skills have improved tenfold from what I accomplished when I was working. I'm getting better everyday.

Anne Droid · Post by **Anne Droid** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 7:06 pm

are you playing out already?

acrap · Post by **acrap** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 7:08 pm

lol i love how i run into an inspiring thread like this after i'm feeling completely unproductive and begin to fall out of my drive to produce. gives me that initial push that got me wanting to produce from the beggining.

tuckerlinen · Post by **tuckerlinen** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 7:15 pm

I love music
but it could never replace important relationships

@sargentpilcher
some guy is trying to become a pro golfer this way, seeing if with 10000 hours of deliberate practice he can qualify for the PGA

drooka · Post by **drooka** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 7:19 pm

i feel you op. this past summer when i was on break from college, i had the luxury of having a pretty flexible job that paid well, so i was able to devote a lot of free time to music. it definitely gave me a taste of the leaps in skill you can take when music (or anything for that matter) becomes the focal point of your life. guess that really you just have to work your ass off and hope that you're lucky enough to stumble upon an opportunity that allows you to drop your 9/5. but at the end of the day it really is all about passion for what you do. but im not sure if i could ever give the boot to my friends and family for music. girls, on the other hand...

on a side note though, i saw you mention maxmsp op. i have some experience with that from a computer music course i took last semester and was wondering if you've (or anyone else) managed to come up with anything cool in there. Definitely a totally different way of looking at production and whatnot, and hard as hell to get a hang off, but i feel like theres a load of possibility in that program.

GV1 · Post by **GV1** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 7:21 pm

sargentpilcher wrote:OP, you are absolutely correct. There is an amazing book, that while not required, I recomend you read, or at least look into called "Outliers". This book is the story of success, and goes through many successful people throughout the world, from the beatles, beethoven, sports players, and bill gates, and what they all share in common (Besides being in the right place at the right time), is that the dedicated so much time to their craft that they were better than everybody else. The magic number is 10,000 hours. That's how much time you need to dedicate to anything to become an expert. Beethoven was not a child prodigy, but he spent so much time playing piano as a child, that he got his 10,000 hours in before other people, so he was better than them at an earlier age.

90% of hockey players are all born in the same month. The reason? They get as far as they do because the month they were born in happened to make them the oldest ones on their teams, thus the biggest, which gave them an advantage, and coaches wouldn't bench them as much, so they got more practice than other kids. All that added play time made them better and better until they got their 10,000 hours.

The beatles? Played at bars for YEARS, hours nightly, in Germany developing skills, playing together tightly, developing a style before they ever hit it big.

Bill Gates? Happened to live by a campus with a computer lab in it. He would literally sneak out of his house instead of sleeping to work on the computers when they weren't occupied, so when the time came for him to start microsoft, he was one of the few people in the world with 10,000 hours of experience with computers.

So you want to be an expert? You need to dedicate time. A LOT of time to your craft. 10,000 hours is roughly 3 hours a day, EVERYday for 10 years. Imagine how fast you could do it if you did it 8 hours a day, or 12 hours a day. That's what it takes. Nobody is born with these skills, they learn them. Practice makes perfect. So sure, you can live a comfortable life working a shit job you hate until you retire, or you can become a starving musician. Say goodbye to the money, but do what you love.

If I could share my personal story. I was laid off a few months ago, and have spent every moment I can aside from other responsibilities working on music. Learning, creating, making mistakes, and fixing them, and my skills have improved tenfold from what I accomplished when I was working. I'm getting better everyday.

I will defiantly give this book a read. Sounds very interesting and makes perfect sense too.

GV1 · Post by **GV1** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 7:25 pm

drooka wrote:on a side note though, i saw you mention maxmsp op. i have some experience with that from a computer music course i took last semester and was wondering if you've (or anyone else) managed to come up with anything cool in there. Definitely a totally different way of looking at production and whatnot, and hard as hell to get a hang off, but i feel like theres a load of possibility in that program.

Sadly not. I'm a C++ programmer, so alot of the programming side of it comes naturally, it's the DSP side of things I'm learning at the moment, Signal processing is slowly becoming demystified. But, it demands a lot of time. I've got a huge collection of electronics components, and my aim was to build some wacky midi interface that integrated with MSP ... I'll get there one day.

If anyone is interested in creating midi interfaces with MaxMSP I seriously suggest you look into the arduino card. You can get one for around $25, very easy to program and you can do all sorts of crazy stuff with it. Anything you can imagine in terms of controllers.

I've just got a free upgrade to 6 ... I'm giving it an hour or so a night though at the moment during bed time.

drooka · Post by **drooka** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 7:31 pm

GV1 wrote:
drooka wrote:on a side note though, i saw you mention maxmsp op. i have some experience with that from a computer music course i took last semester and was wondering if you've (or anyone else) managed to come up with anything cool in there. Definitely a totally different way of looking at production and whatnot, and hard as hell to get a hang off, but i feel like theres a load of possibility in that program.
Sadly not. I'm a C++ programmer, so alot of the programming side of it comes naturally, it's the DSP side of things I'm learning at the moment, Signal processing is slowly becoming demystified. But, it demands a lot of time. I've got a huge collection of electronics components, and my aim was to build some wacky midi interface that integrated with MSP ... I'll get there one day.

I've just got a free upgrade to 6 ... I'm giving it an hour or so a night though at the moment during bed time.

yeah, i never had much of a programming background, so the whole premise was a bit foreign to me. there were a few final projects in my class that integrated some interesting midi and other hardware things, but i didnt really understand a whole lot of what was going on as far as electronic interaction goes. i managed to put together a softsynth with some envelopes and such but had an awful time trying to incorporate it with anything else in the program.

VirtualMark · Post by **VirtualMark** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 7:50 pm

i agree with this post to a point. as we are all limited by time, then it becomes essential to focus on the main tasks to making music. i would not say that this includes building your own synths from scratch. this can take years to learn, and there are so many awesome synths out there already its unlikely that you could make a better one. again with mastering - just send your finished tune off to a mastering engineer, let them do that.

Shum · Post by **Shum** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:05 pm

I find it interesting that in your description of things a producer can do and learn you fail to mention writing music.

samurai · Post by **samurai** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:25 pm

on the whole 10,000 hours thing. I think it's a load of bullshit. maybe you can can invest a lot of time into something if you want to be the beethoven or the beatles of your chosen subject, but not everybody can be brilliant. and sometimes in life we have to accept that...
although I do agree with the mantra that practice makes perfect. obviously the more you apply yourself to something, the better you will become at it. it is very easy to sit back and procrastinate in regards to music (or anything really) and that gets you nowhere. just the whole TEN THOUSAND HOURS IS THE MAGICAL NUMBER TO MAKE YOU A MASTER is a load of bullshit. everybody's different. I mean it makes a great tagline but really it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you practice a lot you will improve.

I will relate this to my current situation. I'm currently in my 2nd year of music tech. we're doing a lot of bullshit that I don't care about, but we're also covering a lot of stuff that is really helping me improve. stuff that's broadening my horizons, and not just from a musical perspective. this semester we're doing some works in bands, a lot of music theory and max/msp. I love the max/msp stuff but the music theory and band shit (like playing REAL instruments) does not come naturally to me at all. but I struggle through it and it has improved my production immensely. I have little time to work on tracks nowadays but I have a few days off now due to midterm and I was able to knock out some stuff that wasn't totally horrible, this in part was due to my greater understanding of chord theory.

in regards to the max/msp stuff. although I really love the program, and this course has provided me with a great segway into learning it (I'm an idiot and wasn't able to grasp it whenever I tried on my own initiative before), I don't think I will pursue it that make after I finish my college course. initially I was extremely excited about the program, the range of possibilities is mind boggling. but it soon became very clear that the hours that I would need to invest would not yield a high enough reward, for what I want to achieve anyway. maybe I will feel different in the fututre. hours spent investing in max/msp could be better spent (for me at least) somewhere. that of course is only how I feel atm, that may change in time as I become more familiar with the program.

one more thing. how's the octatrack? worth the money? I know you said you didn't have much time to learn it, but I'm really itching to get one at xmas. if I can find a buyer for my MPC 1000 I'm definitely grabbing one.

GV1 · Post by **GV1** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:35 pm

Shum wrote:I find it interesting that in your description of things a producer can do and learn you fail to mention writing music.

There was to much to mention in the post, but yes, this is another aspect of producing music that requires time.

GV1 · Post by **GV1** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:36 pm

samurai wrote:one more thing. how's the octatrack? worth the money? I know you said you didn't have much time to learn it, but I'm really itching to get one at xmas. if I can find a buyer for my MPC 1000 I'm definitely grabbing one.

Yes, defiantly worth it!

ChadDub · Post by **ChadDub** » Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:47 pm

About 2 weeks ago I realized that I have no real love for music right now, so I haven't opened FL or even listened to a lot of music in weeks. Haven't played my guitar either. Music just seems so meaningless to me right now and I just think more important things should be done in the world before anymore music should come out. The world doesn't NEED new music anyway, we have tons.

All my life music has been my thing, and I have a certain passion for it, but as of now I wouldn't say it's what my life should be based around.

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