1 year producing and 5.5 tracks.

smoothassilk

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Thread title is my current workrate.

Seems a bit low to me. I appreciate that I'm only producing part time and sometimes other things get in the way, but on top of this I think I'm actually working really, really slowly. I get bogged down in tiny details and spend an hour making a fill which actually isn't that good, and I spend so long doing things that I'm sick of my track by the end.

How many hours does it take to finish a track? Do you have any tips to work through tracks faster and concentrate on the bigger picture?
 
i've been producing for 2.5 years... and i've never finished a tune. The reason for that is, there's really not much point unless it's good enough to put out to the world, so i treat it as a learning process.

there's no rule about how long it should take. Some of the best tracks ever made could have been shat out in an afternoon, or relentlessly tweaked for upwards of 3 years. It doesn't really matter, so don't worry about it.
 
I´ve produced 2 tracks in 2 days, but then again I produced my latest tune for 3 months which is a loooooooot of time. It depends really, but to me it seems if you can´t make a tune that works within few days then it´s probably not going anywhere and it would be wise to dump it or leave for better days(using stems and ideas in other tunes). Generally you want to split your tunemaking process into 2 bigger parts. One is the idea and shaping the flow of the track, after you have put down nearly a complete track in your DAW then it´s time for the second part which is working on a tiny details, mixing, mastering etc. It´s hard for a brain to shift from mixing to formulating an idea and then back again many times in a row. Wait for that creativity burst, make a good use of it and put down as much ideas as you can, then proceed with mixing when you have ran out of prime time.
 
i've been producing for 2.5 years... and i've never finished a tune. The reason for that is, there's really not much point unless it's good enough to put out to the world, so i treat it as a learning process.

there's no rule about how long it should take. Some of the best tracks ever made could have been shat out in an afternoon, or relentlessly tweaked for upwards of 3 years. It doesn't really matter, so don't worry about it.
this
 
i've been producing for 2.5 years... and i've never finished a tune. The reason for that is, there's really not much point unless it's good enough to put out to the world, so i treat it as a learning process.

there's no rule about how long it should take. Some of the best tracks ever made could have been shat out in an afternoon, or relentlessly tweaked for upwards of 3 years. It doesn't really matter, so don't worry about it.
The thing is... I'd actually really like to shit out a dozen half finished pseudo-bangers over the next month. Like you say, I'd learn a lot from it, and get some samples to use in other projects.
My point is, I don't think I can, because I get too bogged down in minutae.
 
sounds like you know already know whats stopping you (bogged down on details) but you're not actually doing anything about it.

Just go against all your current workflow habits and try a different approach, like actually map out a rough sketch of the track or something and then fill in the gaps, get a decent groove going using an old decent synth patch without changing it or whatever.

I duno, just force yourself to STOP fucking fiddling for ages. Shout at yourself until you stop and move on.
 
It is literally just that sometimes, i've recently really been struggling to listen objectively, my brain just keeps over focusing on one sound so i've had to scream in my head to listen to the whole tune, not just the most recently tweaked patch or slightly differently processed snare for example.
 
Are you enjoying your process? Is it fun to work in the details? Then don't compare yourself to others and keep doing your thing. If it's frustrating you and causing you not to want to make music, then start seeking out adjustments to your process.

I'm saying this as a notoriously slow producer. It is rare that I finish more than one piece a month (usually takes 2 months). Doesn't mean the extra time makes the pieces better, but I stop having fun as soon as I feel the pressure to rush through something.

- - - Updated - - -

Also if your daw is getting in your way and that is the real reason you are loosing time, spending a month learning different tools can pay off in the long run.
 
I've been producing for 1 year and a half now, and more or less share the same problem as you. Normally I takes me a month to "finish" a track. but my problem is that I normaly spend too much time on the mixing stage. I listen to the track countless of times before posting them here (and on other forums), and still the mixing isn't perfect.

what I find curious, though, is that for me it's easier to remix someone's track rather than making my own. I'm all creativity when remixing, but when I see that empty playlist (yeah, FL Studio), it kinda give me the chills.
 
what I find curious, though, is that for me it's easier to remix someone's track rather than making my own. I'm all creativity when remixing, but when I see that empty playlist (yeah, FL Studio), it kinda give me the chills.

Duno if you can in FL but templates have been mentioned to help this. I have a really decent one which has all my routing sorted with colour tracks and a sub patch ready to go etc. Saves a lot of time
 
Duno if you can in FL but templates have been mentioned to help this. I have a really decent one which has all my routing sorted with colour tracks and a sub patch ready to go etc. Saves a lot of time

Yeah, I know it's possible to have templates set up when you start a new project. But I'm really lazy to do one of my own...
 
I agree with there being no rule about how long it should take to finish a tune, but i think finishing tracks is one of the best things you can do in terms of progression and learning, especially when it comes to getting out of a sound design rut
 
The thing about producing when you are not a professional is your work sucks as compared to professional of semi professional music. Make tracks to the best of your ability and have fun doing it. Do not get bogged down trying to sound pro, and learn to say I have worked on this song long enough and stop. You can also give yourself some time away from the song to revisit it after you have fallen out of love with your own track, for the final tweaks.
Do not be afraid to force yourself sometimes to finish, a certain amount of work ethic should be instituted into all work, even fun work.
 
I've been producing since about 1997. I've found consistently that my best tracks are always the ones that come the quickest. After a while you will get to know how much time to spend on each element. Don't rush through a track, but don't spend unnecessary time on tiny tiny details. Know when to say something sounds cool. That's what matters in the end.

These days on average, I can produce a track in about 2 days of working almost nonstop on it.. .so IDK, roughly 20 hours realistically. However I also find that when I work nonstop on music I get a bit burnt out after a few tracks, so it's important to recuperate and let your mind do something else afterward.

Also, if something isn't flowing, if it doesn't excite me, I put it aside and perhaps come back to it, perhaps not.

I should also mention that with almost all tracks, it rarely comes out sounding anything like what i started with. It comes in several stages. The first part is making a "skeleton" to work with and add to, and that is usually the most work and the most exhausting. Once you are to where you are just adding stuff or taking stuff away to make something sound better, it becomes a lot more fun in my opinion.


Holohedron
 
I've been producing since about 1997. I've found consistently that my best tracks are always the ones that come the quickest. After a while you will get to know how much time to spend on each element. Don't rush through a track, but don't spend unnecessary time on tiny tiny details. Know when to say something sounds cool. That's what matters in the end.

I don't really agree with that :p, my best tunes are the ones I've spent 5-6 months on.
 
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