Concentrating too much on the technical side

[kama]

I find that I make much better tunes when I bother myself as little as possible with where the kick is hitting or if there's enough 200hz on the snare. Of course there are things that do need some more attention but going with instinct is much more fruitful, not to mention fun than having an epic 3 hour bass mid crafting session.

Different stuff of course works for different people but I just like to create something instead of engineering it.

Opinions?

 

[noddynoodle]

Yeah, music is an art of sorts, so a creative approach is usually better than a "scientific" one. Just go with the flow and then fix up on the technical stuff later, imo.

 

[Mr Fletch]

I've found that since I've spent alot of time trying to understand and learn the technical aspect of production, my creative talent has hit rock bottom!

Before I new about EQ and frequency spectrums my music was far more original, now I concentrate so hard on getting stuff to sit right in the mix and my creativity has suffered immensely because of it...

 

[miszt]

speed is the key once you hit a certain technical level i think, you need to be able to do all the technical stuff without thinking about it, like when a pianist plays a piece of music, they dont think about the notes, they just play the music....same thing with writing music, the fast you can get your ideas down, the better the creativity flows, well thats how it seems for me personally, i spent about 6months writing total nonsense, but really focusing on the technical aspects, now when i write a track, it evolves in my brain and goes into ableton at the same time....keep at it! Kama u make wikid tracks, you aswell Fletch...writers block is normal for all artists, just keept at it!

 

[Pixelscum]

Have been thinking about this for a few days. Used to be so proud when I'd finished a tune I thought musically sounded good, now I'm just getting more and more frustrated because my sounds aren't good enough. You become more and more aware of the way your music sounds in the mix and stuff. Shit really isn't motivating...

 

[T:M]

Yeah, I also find I spend to much time on certain aspects, which usually leads to another body for the 4 bars forever grave. I find I work much better if I just open up Logic and jam as opposed to sitting down and thinking "Imma create a tune like this". So I'll usually sit for hours making just making patches and saving them for future use, channel strips too... I have a ridiculous number of those.

 

[subprime]

Have been thinking about this for a few days. Used to be so proud when I'd finished a tune I thought musically sounded good, now I'm just getting more and more frustrated because my sounds aren't good enough. You become more and more aware of the way your music sounds in the mix and stuff. Shit really isn't motivating...

This. It sucks.
I need to work on the technical side at the minute, but not at the same time as trying to write a tune, that just seems to not work.

@Miszt: exactly! that would be nice to be at that stage.

---------- Post added at 11:58 ---------- Previous post was at 11:58 ----------

I also find I spend to much time on certain aspects, which usually leads to another body for the 4 bars forever grave.

haha so true

 

[Attire]

I'm finding this as well!
But once the technical side has been improved... I dunno maybe when working on musical aspects it won't seem as hard.

 

[tv_g]

speed is the key once you hit a certain technical level i think, you need to be able to do all the technical stuff without thinking about it

this. the technical side should be objective.

but one of the stuggles is having to gut a sound because it isn't technically right. i try not to let making that decision ever stall me too much.

 

[noddynoodle]

What kind of works for me is writing riffs in a plain saw 3x osc channel with no effects or anything. That way I don't have to worry about the sound, and can focus on trying to write a good riff/melody. Then I'll just cut the piano rolls over into fancier channels later :p

I should add that I don't always do this (unfortunately), but some of my better riffs were born this way.

 

[RevTech]

When I concentrate on the music itself it always benefits me, the technical side of it all comes out automatically for me. I've had it such a habbit to mix as I go along, EQ as I go along, that it all in the end helps to make interesting keychanges, arpeggios and such. It really helps to jam out on a midi keyboard (I actually hooked up the guitar hero keyboard thru midi in so I can play notes with two arms like a boss).

 

[miszt]

remember to save your patches and FX chains aswell! really helps! if you run out of inspiration, go back thru all your favorite projects and save the FX chains (Group to Instrument Rack in ableton, other daws have diffrent methods, some may not give that option), Patches etc etc, organize them all into folders that you can access easily inside your daw, that way you have a nice pallette ready to go at a moments notice, when you hear a sound in your head, you can just drop it as you need, also means that you only have to tweek sounds to fit the track, rather than building from scratch every time

 

[dar kist]

i fucked around for 12 months making fuck all because i was trying to be very scientific with my shit, but once a got there i have started to smash out tunes without thinking about the techy side of things and am more focused on being creative its a hard balance.

 

[kama]

Yeah, I also find I spend to much time on certain aspects, which usually leads to another body for the 4 bars forever grave.

That used to be a problem for me as well but I got over it by just leaving the loop if I noticed that it isn't leading anywhere. Then when I'm feeling a bit more creative, I open the project again and see how I could move forward with it. After some time you get a better objective view of it and might get some new ideas to it. Happy surprises as well when you rediscover that 16 bar loop that sounded good but never got anywhere, and then you just bang that track out. Lots of tunes I've finished recently have been born this way.

 

[Labrat]

I got way to stuck in that tech side for months, but i haven't been stuck for making tunes in a while just by focusing on aspects of a concept for a song.
I find it helps breaking down what parts you want to make rather then how you make them. Doing heaps of resampling of everything and trying things that are not part of your normal workflow always has a good result too or just works for me.

I think once you know what you want to make before you start it helps a lot with your confidence to keep making music also, i remember when i started producing i would get so bogged down about my tunes being shit(not they are up to standard yet..), but when i look back now (4 years or so of producing ) i cant tell every song ive improved or learn t something new and i get this nice nostalgia also listening to em, too many blazed nights.

 

[logikz]

i just surfaced from a good 59 hrs + in the studio. i didnt sleep yet but i have a feeling metal and phyical collapse is now very near. just wanted to throw my 2 euro cent in there, if i focus solely on the music and dont do the eq and compression and stereo work i get a song faster but its almost always too unmanageable fix in post in the end its like music with a bass and a clap and THEN AMEN AND A LEAD WITH SWOOSHY NOISE and then music with a bass and clap and vocal AND THEN BAAAAASS AND AAAAAAAAAAMEEEEEEEN its volume issues im sure you understand. ill go now ill see you on monday if my brain ever lives this one down.

 

[miszt]

i just surfaced from a good 59 hrs + in the studio. i didnt sleep yet but i have a feeling metal and phyical collapse is now very near. just wanted to throw my 2 euro cent in there, if i focus solely on the music and dont do the eq and compression and stereo work i get a song faster but its almost always too unmanageable fix in post in the end its like music with a bass and a clap and THEN AMEN AND A LEAD WITH SWOOSHY NOISE and then music with a bass and clap and vocal AND THEN BAAAAASS AND AAAAAAAAAAMEEEEEEEN its volume issues im sure you understand. ill go now ill see you on monday if my brain ever lives this one down.

get some sleep and then come back and write that again

 

[IV4]

I view making music as a hobby. I don't want to be the worlds next greatest producer throwing down tracks around the world. I just want to be as good as him, and have fun in the process. Getting stuck trying to fiqure out a lead or bass sound takes me away from life as much as writing the
melody that best describes my stress with real life. Some times I get very frustrated with the fact I can not make the noise I hear in my head but I also love the reward of when I do figure it out. Another big reward is when I have no muse one of my kids have a melody to sing to me, or they
really like the most god aweful sample out of a sample pack and want to hear it in a song. This always gets my creative juices flowing. My biggest problem with all of this is I can not spend as much time as I want to making music. Life sucks. But this part of life, technicle, artistic, fun,
creative, or just plain rocking the fuck out is what I love about drum and bass.(also the reese) So don't get upset about one thing or another just
be patient. If we stick with it one day maby all of us could be where we want.

 

[Simply D.]

speed is the key once you hit a certain technical level i think, you need to be able to do all the technical stuff without thinking about it, like when a pianist plays a piece of music, they dont think about the notes, they just play the music....

This. What i did, was i stopped worrying so much about musical content for a little while and focused only on learning techniques/formulas like how to make reverse reverb, or constructing a drum break, or frequency splitting.

After a bit of practice, now i just think "i think i'll split this bass up" and do it without a hitch. focusing on tech will also help your creativity in the long run, since more complex formulas will be simple to you. then you'll be thinking what if, what if, what if.

 

[ARTFX]

This. What i did, was i stopped worrying so much about musical content for a little while and focused only on learning techniques/formulas like how to make reverse reverb, or constructing a drum break, or frequency splitting.

After a bit of practice, now i just think "i think i'll split this bass up" and do it without a hitch. focusing on tech will also help your creativity in the long run, since more complex formulas will be simple to you. then you'll be thinking what if, what if, what if.

Totally true mate, I used to spend hours and hours learning the techical side of audio production. Nowadays I can make almost everything that I have in my head.