Progress?

[skyphox]

How does someone go from producing shitty loops to professional quality tracks? Just a thought that's been bugging me for a while... It just doesn't make sense to me. Does skill improve over time? How can repeating the same thing over and over eventually make you better? Maybe it's just that I'm not putting in enough time, but I don't see huge improvements in my stuff. Anyone else have the same problem?

New here btw, great forum

[wub]

How does someone go from producing shitty loops to professional quality tracks?

Practice.

Does skill improve over time?

Yes, through practice.

How can repeating the same thing over and over eventually make you better?

Patience + practice = talent. The more you do something, the better you get at it. You'll learn your tools better and this will in turn help you to better transfer the ideas in your head into the end product.

Maybe it's just that I'm not putting in enough time, but I don't see huge improvements in my stuff.

If you're having to question whether you're putting enough time in, then you're either not committed or not very far into things. Music production isn't an overnight thing, you don't suddenly get good. If you're expecting to be signed and releasing DUB SMASHERS after 6 months, then it's probably not going to happen.

Anyone else have the same problem?

Wouldn't call it a problem, TBH. If you want to get good at something, you put the time in. Instant gratification on what you're doing isn;t necessarily the same machination that everyone has for making music.

New here btw, great forum

Thanks.

[Add9]

If you're just starting out you won't see big improvements for a while. I hit a plateau in my first year of producing and it lasted a while. It was only at the end of my second year (which was a few months ago) that I really felt like I was making progress. But I'm still nowhere near where I need to be. So anyway don't get discouraged, just keep making mixes and keep up with the discussions in forums like this one. Watch a bunch of tutorials too, it's sometimes hard to find the ones that are really worth watching but about 1 out of 10 will leave you saying "holy shit how did I not think of that?"

Producing music is one of the hardest things to do on earth I think... even though ironically it appears to be one of the easiest at first glance. It requires LOTS of time and practice, and you will gradually improve as you keep making music. One year from now when you compare your new tunes to the ones you're making now, you will definitely notice a difference. I think skill accelerates as well... eventually you will start to notice yourself improving at a faster and faster rate.

So yeah that's my 2 cents on the issue... this is all based on what I've experienced in only about 2 years of serious producing so I'm kind of a noob at this as well

[outbound]

I would like to expand on what Wub mentioned about talent:-

I would say that in order for practice to be efficient it needs to incorporate innovation to step outside your comfort zone:-

Innovation + practice + time (patience) = talent

Making this relevant to the OP. Making a 4 bar loop over and over again isn't going to make you great at writing a song (it will possibly make you good at making a 4 bar loop though! so as well as practising your skill set we need to innovate our technique, so e.g make an 8 bar loop, make a loop in a different style, different bpm, different vibe, make many variations, make subtle variations, make drastic variations etc. Practising what we know and then expanding that outwards will stretch our skillset and build out technique so that we can build better songs/loops/opera's if you feel like it!

So keep going at it, put the hours in, find new ways to create your music and you will improve!

[skyphox]

Thanks guys, I'll make sure to put all of that into practice . I've been making music on and off for almost three years. I guess I just haven't practiced as much as I should. I checked out all of your soundclouds btw, great stuff .