Producing electronic music as a hobby-- explain this to me.

[Sharmaji]

^ this is all really interesting stuff guys, very cool to read. keep it up! self-motivation, internal competition, pure creativity and the bliss that comes from it-- all really good to hear.

Fragments, it got really frustrating in 2010 that all the bangers started to sound exactly the same; every crowd expected the same absurd drop in every song, all night. Something like "night" would never be considered a huge dubstep tune these days-- so i certainly feel you on that.

While making music on a computer gets more and more popular each day-- you only have to swing through guitar center to see how huge each area's recording/production area is and how much they grow-- i don't know if it's more "mainstream." Our high school peeps, is it "cool" to be a producer these days? I presume it's not the same as playing clarinet in the marching band.

[ehbes]

Our high school peeps, is it "cool" to be a producer these days? I presume it's not the same as playing clarinet in the marching band.

this is an odd one. On one hand, you have a lot of bro/tearout/flavor of the month type people who aren't very good but everyone thinks is really good. and then you have others (like me) who make less popular sounds but don't wanna talk about it in fear of being grouped in with the people who make shitty music. at least thats my take. I think 2-3 people in my school know i make music and thats a bit too much for me....

[twilitez]

So i guess for me its just a personal drive to make things that i can be proud of.

And once in a while you make something that makes a couple of other people happy too.
Personally i dont have a clue where im going, except maybe for being more sample based since i got an H2N. I like techno, i like a bit more laidback dubstep but occassionally some 'broish' stuff (worst genre name ever) sounds very pleasing too if only for the sick sound design and such. I like alot of other things too though and i have a chronical problem of pretending to multitask when sitting at the pc which is pretty counterproductive probably. But i digress. As corny as this may sound, the key thing really is being creative on its own. Creating something unique that hopefully really is your own, it can be therapeutic and healthy in a very literal sense. And fuck, if anything, it beats zombieing out to the telly, always, no matter what.

[fragments]

^ this is all really interesting stuff guys, very cool to read. keep it up! self-motivation, internal competition, pure creativity and the bliss that comes from it-- all really good to hear.

Fragments, it got really frustrating in 2010 that all the bangers started to sound exactly the same; every crowd expected the same absurd drop in every song, all night. Something like "night" would never be considered a huge dubstep tune these days-- so i certainly feel you on that.

While making music on a computer gets more and more popular each day-- you only have to swing through guitar center to see how huge each area's recording/production area is and how much they grow-- i don't know if it's more "mainstream." Our high school peeps, is it "cool" to be a producer these days? I presume it's not the same as playing clarinet in the marching band.

I think the "bangers started sounding the same" before that...if you listened to DnB in the States it got terrible, It was jump up garbage same boom...tick boom tick/bassline in every song with over done cheesey gangster movie samples...I mean there were people like Spor keeping things dark and gritty and some people doing some absolutely cold tech-step beats... and the only good Dubstep I ever heard (EVER) was at the Virus/RAM Records party at Winter Music Conference in Miami in like 2009...that what had me fall in love with Dubstep but it ended up being a huge tease, lol anyway...sorry beers and rambling.

But yea, I loved the music for a long time, I grew up listening to classic/acid rock, the beach boys, jazz, classical. Music was very encouraged in my house hold. My brother and dad played instruments, I never had the knack for it. The first EDM CD I ever picked up was "Surrender" by the Chemical Brothers. It took me a long time and lots of listening to EDM, raving, book learning on literary theory and trying my hand at different creative outlets (went to grad school for creative writing, was an art kid in high school) to figure out that was is possible composing music on a computer and with machines is the perfect outlet for creative expression. You can easily integrate computer music into many multi media situations. The possibilities are fascinating. Also, I'm an old (ish) raver and love mindless dance tunes

[twilitez]

I still listen to 2006 breezeblock dubstep wars sortof regularly, and what happened there was something that got lost within 3 years it seems.

[fragments]

I still listen to 2006 breezeblock dubstep wars sortof regularly, and what happened there was something that got lost within 3 years it seems.

Been rinsing that

[Genevieve]

I feel like language is a pretty shitty tool at communicating emotions. It's rigid and culture bound. Doesn't take into account the emotions we have 'between' the ones we have words for.

If you take "language" out of that sentence and put "music" there instead, the sentence is still completely applicable. Music is also rigid and culture bound (especially in western music). Since the last decades of this world have finally made possible for cultures to start communicating deeply between themselves, we've seen a lot of good composers from other cultures talk about how our (western) notions of harmony and melody and everything based on pitches might as well have "missed the whole point" of music, according to their own perspective of course. So, freeing yourself from cultural bounds is a conscient and free decision you have to make, whether you write music or do any other kind of artistic/cultural stuff. If you get in front of a piano and just play notes, it's not "natural" -in a biological, not-possible-to-be-otherwise way- to find a C-G "progression" pleasing. It's cultural. Not using words doesn't make you any freer. I think.

I wasn't saying that the music I make is a perfect tool for communication (art is open for interpretation anyway). Just that my relationship to my music can't be put into words.

[Maxxan]

I'm from a metalcore/hardcore background and I got into dubstep and mainly electro because it had a similair energy which I liked. The reason I started producing is because I had a hard time finding other people who shared my vision and commitment to music and I was sick of people holding me back, so being part of a 5 man band wasn't working out for me when the other people didn't put their work in and with production I could do it all by myself, how I wanted it.

I prefer the technical aspects of production most of the time. Composition and arrangement is sometimes a little too demanding if I'm low on energy after a day at work or whatever, but mixing down a track is so mechanical. I can sort of do it on instinct so it's just this mechanical hands-on process I can do pretty easily which I guess is a little relaxing, and also I think it's fun. I really enjoy writing music as well, especially when you come up with a piece that sounds good, but I'm not always in the right mindset for that. I love the feeling of a finished track when you get to show it off to people as well though, and the sense of accomplishment you get from it. Also when you get kids writing to you that they listen to your music in the gym or that they played it at a gig or whatever, that stuff is really awesome too.

With that said, I'd love to make a career out of it if I could too though.

[Sharmaji]

I think the "bangers started sounding the same" before that...if you listened to DnB in the States it got terrible

was thinking only about dubstep; 05-08 was pretty divine, up until everything sounding like "spongebob" and the cracks started to show...and then everything sounded like skrillex. Part of the reason dubstep struck me so hard back then is that, yeah, d&b had become just terrible. there was a short moment 2000-2002 or so where d&b was in this really interesting broad-spectrum place. it faded really quickly.

[dickman69]

playing drums is mad fun

too bad my brother switched mine around so i cant play them

[fragments]

I think the "bangers started sounding the same" before that...if you listened to DnB in the States it got terrible

was thinking only about dubstep; 05-08 was pretty divine, up until everything sounding like "spongebob" and the cracks started to show...and then everything sounded like skrillex. Part of the reason dubstep struck me so hard back then is that, yeah, d&b had become just terrible. there was a short moment 2000-2002 or so where d&b was in this really interesting broad-spectrum place. it faded really quickly.

That's pretty much my story too. 2000-2002 was when I started getting into DnB...it was such a fucking tease!

[Artie_Fufkin]

There's an episode of hey arnold that pertains to this

[fv2k]

Some people are just more technically inclined. If someone has very well developed technical skills in other areas, wouldn't it make sense to stick to that side when making music? You might see that as busywork, but for some learning about compressors (or anything else) can be fun regardless of musical context.

In some cases it's probably a crutch too. It's a clearer path to success when you focus on technical skills rather than abstractions like creativity. There's also more manuals on youtube that talk about wobble bass.

[Snarfie]

@OP--Is it really hard for you to wrap your head around that learning sound design, music theory, creating a sonic landscape from scratch, etc isn't fun? That when your neurons fire proactively in the reward part of you brain when you can finally conceptually understand a production technique isn't fun?

I play piano and i'm sub-par at alto saxophone so I understand where you're coming from with real instruments... but come on... really? I have the most fun when I create a synth from scratch and get lost in improv on my keyboard and I finally snap to and say wow this sounds good--I'm going to record this and do X Y Z to it and it's going to sound great. Do you get what i'm saying man?

[aeser]

I think for a lot of people, myself included, it's not a straight up choice to do it as a hobby as a necessity if you are going to do it at all, as making any money at music is notoriously difficult to impossible even if you are good, then add to that the fact that most people are not very good and you're left with doing music as a hobby if you are to do it at all.

I've been making music since I was 10 years old (35 now) I do play guitar and other instruments and also make decent grindcore/death metal/indie rock, but I never got anywhere near what I would call good at electronic music, but I still love it to death and badly want to get to the point where I can make some electronic music that I like, but I am nowhere near the level of anyone else wanting to hear my electronic stuff.

I did go for it for a good portion of my life, released records, toured, etc. but never made any money (not like there's any money to be made in grindcore period so I was obviously making the wrong kind of music if I wanted to ever make a nickel off my music) but it got prohibitively expensive to do it in this all out way, and I've had to have a decent day job my entire adult life to support myself and my music bullshit, and the older I get and as much as I would loved to have gotten somewhere with music, I'm kind of glad I do have a stable 9-5 m-f day job for a decent salary with benefits and so on as the life of a professional musician/producer is unstable at best. Many people I know who kept "going for it" as I did are routinely homeless, basically unhirable in any normal 9-5, and have nothing but "trying to be a rockstar" to put on their resume for the last 10+ years.

I look at it like, I love to make music, I'm very happy with some of my music and unsatisfied with where I'm at with other stuff but my life situation affords me the luxury of a steady paycheck and a DAW to fuck around with music whenever I feel like it, and thanks to the internet I no longer have to dig into my pocket to record and put music out, so I'm cool with being at this hobbyist level as it's about as good as my life is going to get at this point. I still wouldn't turn down money if anyone ever wanted to give me any for stuff I'd done, but that would just be the cherry on top for me now instead of a necessity I have to chase day in and day out.

[SKIN E]

I find this a little bit of a strange question, I purely make music/EDM as a hobby, its just simply great fun, takes your mind of things after a long day of work and I don't have to hear and feel anything else but my music. It is very satisfying, very fun, and a great way to spend your time.

What I don't understand is how you feel playing or learning an instrument is more enjoyable than playing or learning how to produce music? I think there is much more to it, and I also had to learn myself from scratch how to play a midi keyboard, isn't that an instrument?

"how the notes work, how you fit with other musicians, how rhythm and melody and harmony all work together to increase or decrease an emotional moment" To me this applies exactly to producing electronic music.

"is a SOCIAL thing. it's means to celebrate, the reason people gather at festivals, what people listen to at parties. That's where the fun is." Could not disagree more! I find it a bit hard to believe that you think the fun is at getting your sound out there, it seems unless your music is heard by other people, you are not having any fun doing it.

[wub]

I'm a nerd and like doing weird things to make weird sounds. For me making music is an escapism the same way that going out to a club to hear new music and/or going raving with the missus is.

Sometimes the stuff I noodle around making can fit into one category or another, but I'm not setting out to make bangers for ze dancefloor. I mess around and make weird sounds and if it turns into one thing or another, so be it.

I'm fortunate enough that my job gives me enough flexibility and disposable income that I can invest into my hobby, but if I don't see a return on said investment then it doesn't really bother me.

I think everyone needs a hobby. It could be a fishing rod, Fender Strat, battered pair of 1210s, or a synthesiser, but every man has earned the right to hone a skill which has no practical or pecuniary value. It's a protein shake for the soul.

[fragments]

I'm a nerd and like doing weird things to make weird sounds. For me making music is an escapism the same way that going out to a club to hear new music and/or going raving with the missus is.

Sometimes the stuff I noodle around making can fit into one category or another, but I'm not setting out to make bangers for ze dancefloor. I mess around and make weird sounds and if it turns into one thing or another, so be it.

I'm fortunate enough that my job gives me enough flexibility and disposable income that I can invest into my hobby, but if I don't see a return on said investment then it doesn't really bother me.

I think everyone needs a hobby. It could be a fishing rod, Fender Strat, battered pair of 1210s, or a synthesiser, but every man has earned the right to hone a skill which has no practical or pecuniary value. It's a protein shake for the soul.

Just because I'm a nerd, I keep a job that pays less but is more flexable because I want free time in general, and I enjoy a good protein shake for the soul

[Genevieve]

I have a love-hate relationship with the technical aspect of it. Like 99% hate, 1% love. The music I make REQUIRES me to be technical, I tried to do it otherwise, but I can't. So I downright DETEST 90% of the music making aspect. I fucking hate it, it literally drains my soul and I don't really get any pleasure out of getting something technical 'right'. I'm a songwriter at heart. I want to get a vibe out.

But if I get results after months of techniques, like months of wanting to quit, give up, getting no pleasure out of the process, if after all that time, I get something I can be proud of, then it makes all that torture completely worth it.

[drake89]

so much truth. i'm trying to become more proficient at playing insturments, producing, and dj'ing. sometimes i think it'd be funner just to play an insturment and I dig what you were saying. The rub is that I can put in less effort and time, and be better at producing than most of the people round here, than say learning to play guitar. That's what keeps me in front of the screen, which, I'm trying to break away from with more hardware and more actual recording of myself and others.