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i guess it depends on how much distance you can put between analysing and just plain listening.

Auan wrote:

ikeaboy wrote:I'm selling my Virus C.

How much?

I'll PM you. Anyone else interested please PM me. (EMU sampler going too)

does producing ruin my enjoyment of the music?

Yeah, but only of shit music

instead it makes me enjoy good music even more cos i'm in awe of how they done it if its technically good, and even more in awe if they done something technically weak that still kills for other reasons. get me?

i can c why people might have this problem, but seriously i dont feel this at all. producing hasnt made me any kind of a technical chin stroker snob, i feelin all kinds of shit from the totally raw guitar, voice and a mic of old 1930s blues, to some super slick protools edited futuristic shit.

instead it seems 2 me that knowing how something was done should allow you 2 hear beyond the trickery and listen to the music just as music without the shock and awe of all the gadget tweakin colouring yr judgement.

means u judge shit for if u like the sound of it, not just cos u r impressed that they done something u dont know how to do. Theres no secret production techniques to a Son House tune, its often just him tapping his foot or clapping his hands to keep time as he sings, but knowing how he does it doesnt make it any less impressive...

and like some others have said already, when something's so good it makes u want 2 quit, its time to try harder

"getting blazed and getting in a kind of meditation to real deep music is probably the closest i get... "
Exactly, brother!
There's a zen proverb/koan that says, before you first practice Zen, atree is a tree and a mountain a mountain. While you learn zen, a tree is no longer a tree, nor a mountain. When you know Zen, a tree is once again a tree, and a mountain is once again a mountain. Now, (apologies, for I have blazeth!!!)
you know when you're working on a tune, you get 100% into it, you get the sounds you need without thinking, everything flows into place, and it's finished in what seems like no time. You listen the next day, sounds wicked.
That's Zen for me. However, I spend most of my time not getting into that state, but then I work on building up my sample library, making presets and noises. At those times, I can listen to music properly! It's kida make OR listen for me, anyways.

Oh dear, philosophy with Don, all my friends favourite pastime.... Ahem!!

a sign of really really good music, is when you listen to it without being able to analyze it.

there are certain tunes that i just get completely lost in because they are so good.

music that isn't so great leaves you trying to reproduce it in your head, often trying to work out how you would have done things differently.

Battle Gong wrote:does producing ruin my enjoyment of the music?

Yeah, but only of shit music

instead it makes me enjoy good music even more cos i'm in awe of how they done it if its technically good, and even more in awe if they done something technically weak that still kills for other reasons. get me?

Totally. imho Burial's new album is a prime example of a piece of work that sounds amazing if you're into it, but next-level-oh-my-god-this-is-sick amazing if you've done a bit of production & know how hard it is to make a quality tune. On the other hand when i hear a track that i think is lazily produced or badly mixed it completely spoils it for me.

Similar situation when i go out to a club - bad mixing becomes painfully apparent, whereas i can really appreciate the skill and creativity that goes into a great set from a talented DJ.

For the first 9 months of this year i went backpacking so had no computer & sequencer. The time away from production has done my tunes a power of good because it forced me to sit back, listen and dissect tunes in my head. At the time it sucked but it's paying off now because I came back with heaps of ideas.

Just my £0.02
Peas