Make & finish a tune a week

[FSTZ]

I'm pretty sure wub is an undercover superstar

[Basic A]

I'm pretty sure wub is an undercover superstar

Nah, just wub. Wub IS a superstar. Dont get it twisted.

I saw him on the bookface once I think.

[um4mi]

For what its worth i rarely spend more than a few days on.. Though granted its usually and obsessive, feverish few days but still..

I've mentioned this before on here but its worth repeating, in his RBMA lecture Addison Groove said he rarely spends more than 4 hours on the creative process of a tune because he loses the vibe after a while. You don't have to like his music to recognize that he is a successful producer and that when he says something like that it is somewhat noteworthy. Worth thinking about anyway..

[Skrew]

For over a year now, I haven't finished a project. I just spend hours everyday coming up with new Massive patches or making drum loops and I don't even save them. What can inspire me to actually start a song? I have so many ideas in my head that keeps me up at night yet when I open Pro Tools or FL, my mind goes blank.


Any advice?

[cheshirebeats]

I had this problem for a long time... You just have to work through the crap. I have produced probably at least an album's worth of terrible songs, and now I'm starting to get stuff I'm happy with (or at least... getting closer). Just finish it no matter how unhappy you are. Just lay out a song structure, make the damn thing and call it finished even if its terrible. From there you can learn a lot, especially about what NOT to do lololol. This is why people stress the whole "finish a song a week" thing (I think), and its because when you do that you really learn a lot with each one of those tracks, even if they're not great.

[Skrew]

I just quit easily. If I can't EQ the kick perfectly I start over, if I can't find a certain pad or lead, I quit. I have ADHD.

Last time I finished a song was maybe when I was 15 or 16. I'm 18.

[ogunslinger]

start saving your patches for starters

record melodys 8 - 16 bars ... save these too

make tune

[Skrew]

What would be a reasonable goal?

[hifi]

if just finishing a tune is your problem then just finish one. one simple tune, make that your goal for right now. for inspiration I suppose you should listen to songs outside of the genre you are trying to create or try listening to a lot of songs in the genre you are trying to create(which a lot of people on this forum don't recommend since you may be copying but do what you want to do, you can copy or innovate your choice)

[mitchAUS]

If I'm stuck for ideas I do a remix. Bootlegging seems to be my gateway out of writers block.

[Eat Bass]

i never finish tunes for a couple reasons

i get bored of it and have ideas for another track

i don't think its up to my standards so i ditch it and start a new one

etc

[naroja]

I have ADHD.

I've got ADSR. I spend hours on basslines because of it...

[mikeyp]

+1 for remixing.

sometimes all it takes is a melody someone else made and for you to just expand and change on it.

also, try to not start a project with drums and a massive patch. that's been my usual way of going about things and it just leads you nowhere.
start different. save those things for last. since you do those the most, i'm assuming those are what you're best at. as you're constructing a tune without those, you'll be able to hear them in your head and know what you're going to do with the drums and massive patch so you don't need it in there now. build up around them. structure your pads and your other synths and make a full arrangement of a song. for example put a sweep leading to the 33rd bar (or wherever you want the drop to be) & put a crash or some shit at the beginning of a breakdown, and then work between those two instead of having an infinitely long space after whatever part of the song you're on now.

i've had the same problem and i know this is how it's going to be fixed for me and it's working so far, so give it a try yourself.

[Skrew]

Well thanks. Wasn't a question I asked in the OP but I always had trouble constructing drops. What you just said made perfect sense adding a crash then working behind it.

[Kaslo]

Inspiration is what it takes to start the song. Finishing it is more about "perspiration" - your commitment to stick with it and follow through to the end. There's no real easy way to go about it other than to just power through and do it.

Don't expect to be in love with it when it's finished, though - I like to get a rough arrangement and mixdown done until I THINK it's more or less fitting the vibe I loved when I started it, then leave it for a couple of weeks or so, not listening to it at all. Come back with a fresh set of ears and then you either LOVE it, or immediately see something that needs a brief tweak that can be fixed in like, two seconds, so it's a win-win.

A favourite quote of mine was said (not sure if originally) by Grasp the Erro at a workshop I went to a few months back - "built by ambition, powered by hustle." The thing that separates a good artist from the thousands of other producers with great one-bar loops is the ability to follow through and flesh said loops out into songs.

[llennnn16]

i never finish tunes for a couple reasons

i get bored of it and have ideas for another track

i don't think its up to my standards so i ditch it and start a new one

etc

i do this a lot. i have high standards and i most of the time just want to make a new track and move on.

i think the best thing to do is to push urself to work on one track. mold it to sound how you want it, and keep adding thing that you find fit the track and the mood. in time you will have the patterns or loops to make a full track. now it's just a matter or arranging and editing.

[mekha]

This little image has helped me a lot.

[naroja]

amazing post mekha, very inspirational, definitely true.

[daeMTHAFKNkim]

This little image has helped me a lot.

Nice quote/find. I made this my backround wallpaper hoping I'll read it everyday and get shit done. I have a problem to even start a track.....in the past 7months I've made music I've only made about 2-3finished tracks.....A lot of half-ass tracks that I just give up on........And the 2-3 tracks that I've got done only took about 2 days each....And I'm just lurking the internet when I can be making music.

I HAVE A PROBLEM OF STARTING A TRACK THEN TRYING MY HARDEST TO FINISH IT. IF I START A TRACK AND LEAVE IT ALONE FOR 2 DAYS THEN I CAN'T FINISH IT FOR SOME REASON. I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO FOCUS LIKE A MOFO.

I have a problem! Someone help me please. The only times I actually finish/tryhard on a track is when it's like 11pm-2am when I'm hella tired I just get really focused into producing and zone out/not wanting to stop making it and I get shit done. Anyone else got this?

[ascent]

I had the problem of never finishing tunes, then i banned myself from EQing and made genres which weren't dubstep