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

[shinra]

i used to get frustrated when my stuff didn't sound how i wanted it and give up. after producing on and off for a while, i started hearing my thoughts come to life. so now, it's fun routing a side chain, adding a return track...because it all contributes to the ultimate destination i have in mind. when i learned to enjoy the routine aspects of working on a track my productions jumped up a level. now if you'll excuse me, i have a snare that isn't quite hitting in the right spot...and i'm going to fucking enjoy getting it to sit in with the rest of the instruments.

[shinra]

additionally, when i hear something that puts my work to shame, that really, really blows me out of the water, it just makes me want to learn more. the fact that you can make evocative music using only a laptop blows my mind.

[Ghost of Muttley]

cute. Illiterate and irrelvant, but cute nonethieless.

How irony.

Let's talk why not?

What do folks find enjoyable about producing EDM--not specifically dubstep--if you're not coming from some sort of bigger picture? Without an end goal, it seems to me that all the little bits of production-- sound design, synthesis, arrangement, mixing, etc etc etc is just busywork.

Song, end goal is.
Future think is big picture
Now think is moments of energy.
Play well creativity does not big picture plan with .

[FAARE FACED]

Even though I can't read it all right know, i think there are some really good points in this topic but I would like to add a "reason" that push people to produce which hasn't been mentioned in the handful of posts I read.

You (OP), said you saw the fun of playing an instrument. I don't know if you consider DJing (whether it's on TT, CDJs, controllers...) playing an instrument, but I sort of feel this way.
Being in front of people, and sharing music I loved and I tried to get them into (dubstep is not THAT popular in France, even brostep isnt..) is a really good experience to me. However, as time goes, I began to be frustrated in a way meaning that I was sharing other people's work, and not mine. It was not personal as I wanted it to be, and I had a feeling of "cheating", and "stealing" the hype over the artists who actually MADE the tracks that I was spinning.
That's why I decided that producing would be a great idea. I still haven't played a track of mine on stage, but I'm really looking forward for this moment, because even though my music will still be far from perfect, I managed to be true, at least 3 minutes in a set, to an audience having fun.

On the other hand, it's true that producing can lead to an emotinal sine wave, from the excitement of a evil sounding reese to the frustration of a muddy mixdown. It's not always fun, but the harder it is, the more satisfied you are with the ending result. But think about some athletes, training several hours a day, only to qualify for the Olympics, even if they know they won't go far.. It's just personnal accomplishment. What's great about music is that a purely selfish will at start to be proud of yourself can lead into other people having pleasure. Isn't that awesome ?

After all, art is sometimes defined as a way to leave something to posterity. You did something that will last even when you'll be gone, and that's both frightening and exciting.

[Aufnahmewindwuschel]

why do people care about others i never understood that

[lloydy]

why do people care about others i never understood that

Heartless bastard!!!

[Sharmaji]

@Faare-- yours is a great post, thanks for sharing.

i love DJing, have since i started way back with reggae 7" back in the mid 90s, and while it's not something that I do all that much these days-- i still approach making dance music, especially remixes, as a DJ. There's so much to dj'ing, besides the nerd-appeal of beat-matching tracks and the obvious fun whipping dancefloor into a frenzy, the detail in djing goes deep. It lets you take a much broader view of music than your standard musician has-- picking the exact right tune at the right time, learning how to bridge the gap from the previous dj's last tune to your set, playing loooooong 6+ hour sets-- all of these are, coming from a musician background, some next-level shit.

I understand that you might feel like you're "cheating" or "stealing," but hell-- you paid for the record (right??????) or were sent it as a promo, etc-- you're the center of this circus, play what you want!

I definitely find it interesting that folks produce dance music without having a DJ or raver background-- the 2 really go hand-in-hand. it's a sign of how popular EDM is these days, i guess, that you don't need 1 to open the door to the other.

[Genevieve]

I definitely find it interesting that folks produce dance music without having a DJ or raver background-- the 2 really go hand-in-hand. it's a sign of how popular EDM is these days, i guess, that you don't need 1 to open the door to the other.

Good lord. No dude, they don't go hand-in-hand. They go hand-in-hand for you. You made that connection in your head and you get inspiration for making electronic music from DJ'ing and raving. You hear a breakbeat or a 4x4 and you're reminded of the dance. You automate a filter and you're reminded of mixing in a tune into another. Other people hear breaks and remember their dad's funk collection or make a riser out of a filter cuz to them it sounds like rolling up the gain knob on their old Jackson guitar, from their metal days.

The only reason you find this all so 'fascinating' is because you're unwilling to look past your way of doing things and your experiences. Those cool little connections in your head, where you take inspiration from, they're really just inside your head. And you perceive the whole world through the lense that is your head.

It's not a sign of how popular dance music is getting. It's a sign that people can go about things very differently from you

[FAARE FACED]

I understand that you might feel like you're "cheating" or "stealing," but hell-- you paid for the record (right??????) or were sent it as a promo, etc-- you're the center of this circus, play what you want!

This impression is on a much more artistical and "psychological" aspect than on copyrights or anything. I was embarrased to only play other peoples music, because anyone could pretty much do the same thing. However, if you produce music, you are supposed "unique", unless you produce top 40 autotuned fluo stuff.

[lloydy]

I make music because i enjoy being creative,for me the technical side involved has vastly improved over the years to the point it doesn't really get in the way of my creative decisions.You know i'd kill to have a musical and instrument background like you sharm because i feel it would help my music ten fold but it's not the crux of everything for me.The technical aspect of producing edm will bog the producer down if that is all he focuses on but for me all the practice and learning you put in will also help with teaching the mind to be creative.
For me music is a release from long hard days,as soon as my headphones or monitors are on it's just me and the music which is how it should be.

[Sharmaji]

i'd kill to have a musical and instrument background like you sharm because i feel it would help my music ten fold

and meanwhile i wind up writing a lot of melodies using my mpd pads, or on guitar, because i've internalized everything that's correct in a scale/mode/etc while looking at a keyboard. grass is always greener!

Just wrapped a 4-hour writing session w/a singer and a co-writer. brought a full intro/verse/pre/chorus/verse/pre/chorus structure, and some vocal production ideas, starting from nothing. music is a good thing. I'm still constantly amazed by how much can come from 1 session.

[lloydy]

and meanwhile i wind up writing a lot of melodies using my mpd pads, or on guitar, because i've internalized everything that's correct in a scale/mode/etc while looking at a keyboard. grass is always greener!

Just wrapped a 4-hour writing session w/a singer and a co-writer. brought a full intro/verse/pre/chorus/verse/pre/chorus structure, and some vocal production ideas, starting from nothing. music is a good thing. I'm still constantly amazed by how much can come from 1 session.

See if i had the time to pick up an instrument and learn i would,don't get me wrong i can play a bit of keys but not fluid.Also played a little of guitar when i was younger but again not a lot.The amount i work and family stuff i get too few hours to really produce so learning an instrument would eat into that time.
Honestly i would love to be where you are but am no spring chicken,i find what i do rewarding even if it is just sitting in front of a daw and building layers,soundscapes,writing beats or sound design.
For me the whole creative process that goes into it is more than enough and where i get my reward.Sitting down and putting a track together for me is heaven when it just flows,i use to sit there for hours listening to the same 16 bars over and over and over because i simply got lost in the technical side,had very little musical knowledge and was pretty tone deaf.I sit there and listen to how far i've come on my own and think for me personally i've achieved as much as you even in the eyes of everyone else i haven't.See it's been a fucking long journey and at points i have really honestly thought about quitting,no one up until recently to bounce ideas off,no one to help point me in the correct direction and no one teaching me the ropes so you know i really don't think i need to pick up an instrument!

[lloydy]

Suppose what i'm trying to say really is what is one mans steak is another mans burger!!!!
You most definitely have the steak but for me my burger is the nuts(even if it may contain horse)

[Mad_EP]

@lloydy -

If you really want to get better at an instrument, there is no reason not to do so. I certainly understand time restraints - myself having a wife, 2 kids and working several jobs/angles in music.

But I can honestly say that if you practice at least 15-20 minutes a day - *every* day, you will get better guaranteed. 15 minutes each day is much better developmentally than 1 hour once a week. Anyone can find 15 minutes a day - and if you are focused on results rather than punching a time card, you will get better.

[lloydy]

@lloydy -

If you really want to get better at an instrument, there is no reason not to do so. I certainly understand time restraints - myself having a wife, 2 kids and working several jobs/angles in music.

But I can honestly say that if you practice at least 15-20 minutes a day - *every* day, you will get better guaranteed. 15 minutes each day is much better developmentally than 1 hour once a week. Anyone can find 15 minutes a day - and if you are focused on results rather than punching a time card, you will get better.

I hear exactly what you are saying and have been there,i picked up a music theory book a few years back and took the time to learn the basics which helped me heaps.
I'm not saying i will never pick an instrument up but just don't see the need at this point in my development.Being a logic user for 10+years so i'm pretty fluid with it and it does everything i need for the type of music i want to make.I would love to have yours or sharms knowledge or even half of the careers you both have but i'm still happy,that is all i'm saying.
Well after typing that i will admit i'm working a proper sounding dub tune which is crying out for horns and i have spent the whole evening looking for samples and it hasn't gone well
I have arturias brass but sounds to plasticy so maybe your right.