Finishing tunes

lowpass · Post by **lowpass** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:00 pm

Just saw this on DOA and thought it was interesting

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pound of pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B", and so on. Those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot -- albeit a perfect one -- to get an "A". Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes -- the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

maybe it will be as useful to you as it was for me

beerz · Post by **beerz** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:04 am

thats quite good. but if there's someone out there hu's only been working on 1 track ever in their life......i'd like to hear the finished product

cosmic revenge · Post by **cosmic revenge** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:06 am

that's actually pretty encouraging. thanks for posting, finishing my tunes is a constant struggle to say the least

DZA · Post by **DZA** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:39 am

hmm intresting

dj vision · Post by **dj vision** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:42 am

i definitely learn by doing

ive been churning out songs like crazy over the last month and every time i learn something new and my sound just keeps getting better

i made an entire song today, spent about 8 hours on it total though, and i have to say im very satisfied!

3rdeye · Post by **3rdeye** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:43 am

Lowpass wrote:Just saw this on DOA and thought it was interesting

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pound of pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B", and so on. Those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot -- albeit a perfect one -- to get an "A". Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes -- the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

maybe it will be as useful to you as it was for me

so, so true, this analogy

good post lowpass!

drokkr · Post by **drokkr** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 8:49 am

that's spot on. for ages i was churning them out at crazy rate but learned some much while i was doing that.
now, i have slowed down a bit a since then the quantity may have gone down but the standard has gone way up.

paradigm_x · Post by **paradigm_x** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 9:19 am

Interesting.

As someone who takes forever each tune maybe I should bang out a few more.

Finishing a tune is the hardest thing.

serox · Post by **serox** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 9:48 am

thirdandarmyst wrote:that's actually pretty encouraging. thanks for posting, finishing my tunes is a constant struggle to say the least

I am the same. I am a perfectionist and have never been happy with any work I have done.

I use to be well into my art and I would throw it away and still do.

legend4ry · Post by **legend4ry** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 10:01 am

I agree with this, luckily i have kinda found my style and the perfect way for my work flow.. Its what I am comfortable doing its just what comes out when I don't care about what I am aiming for .. I just make 145bpm music whats influenced from "space, pace and bass" dubstep, people say I have a "different" take of dubstep or a "unique sound" but to me its just what comes out innit and tracks these days take at least a week to be finished but I work very slowly..

When I first started, up until about 4 months ago I used to chern out tracks in a few hours - day or two.. These days I sit down and slowly go through the track and not really making it "perfect" but making sure I got it how I want it.. Quantity over quality helps you learn and its good for ideas and quick bursts inspiration...... But these days I'll go for the quality approach as I have made around..... 50-full tracks since I started producing 4 years ago... And about 15 of those are ones I am proud of and about 5-7 of those get air play / played out so...Quantity failure.

Although...digging into the "WIP" folder is good.. Where quantity turns into quality

xxxy · Post by **xxxy** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 10:10 am

By finishing tunes i have picked up on loads of techniques which are ingrained in my brain and i reach for without thinking. It also helps you learn your tools quicker. Go through your plug in folder and delete everything you don't need. I guarantee with less choice you will finish more tunes also go through your sample collection and delete every sample you know you will never use.

paradigm_x · Post by **paradigm_x** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 10:18 am

xx xy wrote:go through your plug in folder and delete everything you don't need. I guarantee with less choice you will finish more tunes also go through your sample collection and delete every sample you know you will never use.

xxxy · Post by **xxxy** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 10:39 am

If you have the time. Open up your samples in a playlist in a media player and listen to them all by folder. If you like one throw it in a new folder and delete the crap. If you do this with drums, atmospheres, pads etc you will have a folder full of samples you want to use then you can open up your sequencer and get cracking.
I should really stop giving out my secrets.

mumble · Post by **mumble** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 5:35 pm

I think Im still yet to actually finish a track ! Ive come close a few times but I only like to finish things that are perfect, I hate creating poor tracks.

scooterjack · Post by **scooterjack** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 6:26 pm

My best tracks are the ones i finish the fastest

Ya have to know when to stop fiddling with minute things like automation and trying to get the most precise eq cuts ever. It's well too easy to keep trying for "fix" things and never finish. Gotta realize that a good finished track is a lot more useful than a 'perfect' unfinished tune.

max · Post by **max** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:02 pm

I'm not really into pottery. Bit of a strange one to post in a music forum.

scooterjack · Post by **scooterjack** » Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:14 pm

Max wrote:I'm not really into pottery. Bit of a strange one to post in a music forum.

Analogy
Pronunciation: \ə-ˈna-lə-jē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural anal·o·gies
Date: 15th century

1: inference that if two or more things agree with one another in some respects they will probably agree in others
2 a: resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unlike : similarity b: comparison based on such resemblance
3: correspondence between the members of pairs or sets of linguistic forms that serves as a basis for the creation of another form
4: correspondence in function between anatomical parts of different structure and origin — compare

Finishing tunes

Finishing tunes

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