if no one was ever going to hear your music would you still make music?

[Kevin Deas]

Ok I heard "Like it" from Kevin's page, the waltz one wanted me to sign up first. I think there should be more autotune, the main vocals are dry, for it to work there'd have to be massive support from instruments to complement the dry vox. The stereo claps sound good.

Thanks for your critique ....I forgot if a song has swears you have register....sorry. "Like It" was a throw away track I made in 20 minutes and it shows. Basically it sucks the big one!

[V0RT3X]

I think now since music creation has become so easily accessible that we will start to see some incredible development in musical expression and diversity. I believe the experimental diversity that comes from creating for ones self is important in the sense that it can be very therapeutic and rewarding and should be encouraged. Of course you do get those that are drawn to music for the wrong reasons such as those who just want to use it to get famous, but I think that goes with most arts.

[RunBeerRun]

It was still passable, and worked for the stereo claps coming in, the autotune was cool, but there could be a drum part accentuating the vocals on that one, that's what I'd expect on a commercial release.

[Arglebargle]

almost no one hears it anyway.

[ghettosynth]

I wrote a song called "Only These 4 Wallz" because that all that hears my music so I guess the answer is yes.http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?PID=311336&t=954 For the record this is 11 years old and I wrote a song today.

If you listened to others music you'd be surprised how many would listen to yours. ghettosynth

I'm sorry if I implied the wrong thing. The reason people don't listen to my music, or that I don't know that they do, is because of how I make it available. I'm so disinterested in that right now, that I'm not even going to share how. Some of "my" music is out there, but not on places like youtube or soundcloud where I would know that others listened, and that which is on my youtube account isn't public, and none of it is labeled "ghettosynth." In order to hear my music you would have to know my other pseudonyms. I'm not trying to get people to listen to my music ATM because I don't really like it.

In the past I've done a lot of live playing. Of course, when you do that, you know who's listening and how well you are keeping them drawn in. I've been asked locally if I'm still interested in doing that, so I might do a few shows again. I don't know, I go back and forth about my relationship with music and what about it matters to me. I do like playing live, but only if I believe that what I'm doing is a performance. I don't need to pick notes in time for that, but "I" don't value manipulation of prerecorded tracks, except in a DJing sense. That is, DJing is fine, but psuedo DJing is not, to me that is.

[Frantz]

I would continue with no listeners but I would put less effort into finishing things. It's fun to fire up the synths and make a noise for a few hours. It's work to finish a track so that is coherent, polished, and publicly presentable. With no listeners, I would probably stay in "fun mode" more often.

[Tricky-Loops]

I would continue with no listeners but I would put less effort into finishing things. It's fun to fire up the synths and make a noise for a few hours. It's work to finish a track so that is coherent, polished, and publicly presentable. With no listeners, I would probably stay in "fun mode" more often.

That's true. Even while working on my fun songs, only 30 % is fun (especially combining samples of funny videos), the rest is hard work... It's like a sketch in TV where you laugh 20 seconds about it but it was made in 20 hours...

(I need several hours to find appropriate samples in videos that I can use in my songs...)

[RunBeerRun]

I like to listen to my music in the car when by myself, it's consistent. Today I was listening to Black Sabbath, and the riffs and performance are really good, but the momentum keeps stopping and starting. Bloody hell pick a pace and stick with it.

I hate intros, outros, breakdowns, dropouts, come on I'm not asleep.

[metamorphosis]

I asked this many years ago, instead of digging for the thread I thought I would ask again to see how people feel today. The question doesn't need much explaining and there is no right answer, just curious

That's pretty much already been my situation for 10 years
In all seriousness though, if you're not making music for the self-expression and personal satisfaction, it is my belief you will make bad music, or at least soulless music.

[trimph1]

I asked this many years ago, instead of digging for the thread I thought I would ask again to see how people feel today. The question doesn't need much explaining and there is no right answer, just curious

That's pretty much already been my situation for 10 years
In all seriousness though, if you're not making music for the self-expression and personal satisfaction, it is my belief you will make bad music, or at least soulless music.

My situation here as well.
I just love the process so for me it is a no-brainer.

[jancivil]

It isn't really a choice for me. I could quit but my mind would be bugging me with ideas of something to execute. I can only be bothered with other things but so far, I'm useless for a job unless it's pretty menial. EDIT: that can't be really true because I can write my thoughts out, I just don't think I can care about making money for somebody else.

But as a thought experiment, what if there was never other people? What music would one come up with in a vacuum? So I think the question suggests a false dichotomy, everyone's music is informed by things 'outside' oneself and that oneself as the only audience is false, there are a lot of people in there from the get-go.

[highkoo]

I sometimes imagine that the music I create is affected by the food I am eating that day, or the day before, or something...
But I think thats in my head.

[lectrixboogaloo]

Some old lady knitting blanket and shawl after blanket and shawl that no one will ever use... I don't see how much different the situation would be. It happens all the time and there's nothing wrong with it, because the point is in the crafting and not the product. Still, there is something just slightly eerie in it.

But, sure, I do it (not knitting).

[Aleatoriac]

Yes, and I've tried to stop it, fearing I had some addiction. I've even given myself tinnitus, though I think that came from my job on a loading dock more than anything. I cannot stop. The noises must come out, the sonic exploration must continue. To do otherwise I become angry, feral, and a danger to others.

[camsr]

I would still make music for the pure aural pleasure of it.