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Listening to your own tunes

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 5:54 pm
by 86.
As far as home listening is concerned...do you throw one of your own tunes on. Like "what do I want to listen to right? yeah I'll play this beat I made 3 months ago"

or are you simply fed up with them...only play them when you play out?

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:12 pm
by heidi m.
I sometimes listen to older stuff I've done and get boppin' and think 'man, I rock'!! Then I think 'where's the magic gone', haha.
But seriously, if it don't float your boat it ain't gonna do much for anyone else.
Someone once said "I make music for myself, if anyone else likes it, that's a bonus"(or summat similar). Adhere to this and your on to a winner.

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:23 pm
by 86.
yeah exactly....

it's usually more like....a week/two weeks or so after finishing it I'll listen. but I guess that's natural.

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:31 pm
by DOOMTROOPER/T40
Some of my tunes from 6 months to a year ago I listen and think how much I have progressed and think how at the time I thought it was a brilliant track. But others I listen to sound really good still in my opinion.
But yeah as HEiDi M was saying if you're not happy with it yourself, it's likely that only a select few would like it if you released it.

A lot of the time I do listen to my tunes though, I love blasting them out when i can. :twisted:

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:38 pm
by relik
I tend to not listen to my stuff very often once it's finished just because I listen to it a million times while I'm making it. I don't really play my tunes out much either. It's just a hobby to waste time I suppose. It's always fun dropping one of your tunes and watching people go nuts only to tell them later it's yours :D

Guess I'm just a recluse with my tunes and too critical most of the time. Used to give my dubstep tunes out to all the local djs, but the dubstep scene around here kind of split ways and I don't really play dubstep myself.

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:16 pm
by abZ
I always equated listening to your tunes like looking in the mirror. You never quite see/hear what other people hear and I am sure you aren't going to whack off to yourself in the mirror unless you have some issues. Likewise if you listen to your own tunes constantly then there is probably something wrong with you. I make tunes for myself yeah but not for myself to listen to necessarily. I get my enjoyment out of the process rather than enjoying the fruit of the labor. Once it's done it is for everyone else, or whoever digs it.

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:25 pm
by therapist
Ha, what that guy said. That's the plan anyway, but it's a shame when you lose the buzz for finishing a track because you're so bored of hearing it for the 1000th time in one day.

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:31 pm
by 86.
Therapist wrote:Ha, what that guy said. That's the plan anyway, but it's a shame when you lose the buzz for finishing a track because you're so bored of hearing it for the 1000th time in one day.
I know...my workaround for that is many, many cigarette breaks and one break for....

Image

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:34 pm
by hurlingdervish
reflecting is a necessary part of creation and growth of your skills, whether you do that during the writing process or after an early mixdown, its up to you.

personally though, i make music to bump in my car, that's why I started. There isn't as much instant joy in producing as there is in say playing in a band, so the final product is as important as the process.

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:49 pm
by defekt
I think I enjoy the process more, but afterwards I'm usually too embarassed to listen to my tune because I can pick out everything that I could do better, and for some reason I never go back to make the changes, I just go on to making the next tune.

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:50 pm
by gravity
i make tunes how i want them to be - so i happily listen to them quite a lot.

i find listening to your tunes a lot helps you to improve. you analyse whats good about them and whats bad about them and you can do it much deeper than with other music because you know exactly how you made it.

if i didn't want to listen to my own tunes i reckon i'd be doing something very wrong tbh.

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:29 pm
by tripaddict
i analyse the m more than play them

... what have i done right

... what have i done wrong

... how can i make it better next time i produce something


i cringe if i listen too far back to my early stuff lol

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:43 pm
by Disco Nutter
I sometimes love listening to old tracks. I sometimes hate this. Depends on the track actually... also depends on the mood if been producing it in.
While listening to some old school archives a week or two ago I couldn't help but feel soo nostalgic and remembering certain faces, places and emotions.
I love certain pieces, even if they lack any exceptional sound quality or breakthrough ideas! :)

Some tracks act like a page in a diary... you play them and they evoke so much memories, that sometimes it's like being hit in the head with a brick!

Jason

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 11:35 pm
by scooterjack
abZ wrote:I always equated listening to your tunes like looking in the mirror. You never quite see/hear what other people hear and I am sure you aren't going to whack off to yourself in the mirror unless you have some issues. Likewise if you listen to your own tunes constantly then there is probably something wrong with you. I make tunes for myself yeah but not for myself to listen to necessarily. I get my enjoyment out of the process rather than enjoying the fruit of the labor. Once it's done it is for everyone else, or whoever digs it.

pretty much ditto


although i listen to my collaborations with other artists a ton

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 3:30 am
by ninjadog
Part of the reason I started producing was because I thought I could make better tunes than what I could find at the time. For me it would be hypercritical not to listen to my music.

I totally dig listening to my tunes, I wonder if I heard the exact same song from someone else if I would like it as much. I found most people I know who dont produce really like my tunes, but people who produce are more likely to think it's not up to par with the professional standard or doesent follow a formula and therefore cant like the tune.

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 5:37 am
by boomstix
i usually to listen to mine a fair bit as they are being created and finished. as a group of tracks comes together i will usually listen to them a lot as a group to see how they fit and what else needs to be added.

once i release the ep or album then i probably can't stand listening to them for a month or two. i need to move on and start fresh.

then after a while of not hearing them i can enjoy them just as tracks, some more than others.

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:04 am
by rubixdub
I can't really listen to my own tunes unless i'm fairly stoned.

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:27 am
by legend4ry
gravity wrote:i make tunes how i want them to be - so i happily listen to them quite a lot.

i find listening to your tunes a lot helps you to improve. you analyse whats good about them and whats bad about them and you can do it much deeper than with other music because you know exactly how you made it.

if i didn't want to listen to my own tunes i reckon i'd be doing something very wrong tbh.
This

I listen to my own music more than I do other peoples due to the simple fact...

Its either make music or find new music to listen too...And I have heeps of my own work and usually have the "my tunes" playlist open as the last time I opened the media player - I was dragging in a new tune to the playlist..

I don't care about brocking out to my own tunes ! I make them cause I make the music I want to hear :lol:

I am proud of most of my tunes ive made - even the early ones so I have no shame in saying that I listen to myself a lot.

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 10:55 am
by Mad_EP
Like others, my primary reason for making music in the first place is to create something I want to hear. However, due to the extreme amount I listen to a track while writing it/mixing/polishing etc... by the time it is completed, I usually need a break from it.

It's part of the reason I always work on several tracks (and often in different styles) at the same time... the variety helps battle the fatigue of repetitive listening.

Once I have the opportunity to step away from the tracks (after they are done) for a whiel I do enjoy listening to them again. I only finish the tracks I like best and would want to continue listening to anyway.

Re: Listening to your own tunes

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 10:58 am
by serox
86 Position wrote:As far as home listening is concerned...do you throw one of your own tunes on. Like "what do I want to listen to right? yeah I'll play this beat I made 3 months ago"

or are you simply fed up with them...only play them when you play out?
fed up with everything I make within a month. Sometimes when i check out old things I made I hear some nice moments but overall I hate.