Taron, love listening to your music and reading your words of wisdom. I wish I could have your attitude but the truth is, I'm just too competitive. And when I don't do something well, I stop doing it. I've been this way my whole life with the exception of, ironically, my music. Because you see, I've never really done music all that well even at my best. I was never blessed with the best timing when playing which makes bringing my ideas to reality a chore. That's why I went to writing stuff in Finale with my classical compositions. But then I'm limited to the libraries compatible with Finale which, at best, don't sound all that great. The only reason I keep doing my music at all is because if I didn't, I might as well not exist. But in that same universe, there is music I "enjoy" doing and music I'd just assume not do. The OSC hes become something I'd just assume not do because it's become too frustrating. I am glad I wrote that track for MUX. It finished 15th and is one of my personal favorite pieces. But outside of that, I can't even remember the other things I've done for OSCs. That's how bad they were.Taron wrote:I would drop that conversation at this point, really. No need to put our wonderfully wacky wag on the spot, while he's already bouncing around on it. Before this subject gains even more weight than it already has, I would love to suggest what I always (in so many ways) suggest to wag: Take a deep breath, do what you love to do when you love to do it and don't concern yourself with all the measuring nonsense. You have the same fantastic generosity we all have, who offer the fruit of our passion to everyone. While you, wag, are worried about the quality of your stuff, we all take a bite from it the same way we sample every track that makes its way into the OSC and- as far as I believe- we're all grateful for every taste (even the ones we "kinda hate" ...I'm still a bit sorry about that!) ...so, yeah, relax, speak with your music, I mean, don't write big posts about how you feel, make music about it instead!liqih wrote:Cool, but if you hated the rules why entering the OSC at first?wagtunes wrote:...
Your English is fine and you make perfect sense. In a nutshell, yeah, that's about the size of it. I hate the rules. I don't like working within the restrictions and ultimately it's just not as fun as creating a track with vocals and 33 different synths and any FX I want including samples and what not. THAT'S fun. This isn't.
At least not for me.
(I can vaguely guess an answer)
I personally completely and utterly love the challenge to squeeze something magical out of a single synth, as long as it doesn't crash my machine every 2 minutes or melts down its insides (and mine). I love this challenge for my own sake as well as the pride that goes with sharing the magic itself. It's really about 30% the "look at me"-factor ...and easy 70% the "wow, check this out for what it can do"-factor. Maybe even just 20/80, come to think of it. With enough praise it may appear reversed, but when I work on this stuff it is 100% "wow, that's so fascinating and fun"-factor.
I do my fair share of lamenting, too, when a synth disappoints me by sending me into a kind of hell, but I've learned my lesson and simply skip those then. I could add a list here, but that would be nasty, I'm afraid, haha.
Anyway, always focus on the craft, always focus on your degree of delight for the sake of your creative experience. Don't waste time on judging beyond the means of improving your track to the best of your ability. When you hear a weak spot, try to formulate the weakness and write it into google, for example! Take some common words that could describe the trouble you find and see what you'll find!
For me my mixing world changed already alone when I had learned about the existence of "limiters".
But I have been a very confident and stubborn musician for a long, long time, not because of how secure I was about the "quality of my music", but about how sincere I felt about it. That might sound weird...hmmm... anyway, like I knew "This has been my music, it is what I wanted, I used the best of my understanding to craft it and invested the most honest focus I could offer". Every time I do that, what ever feedback I get will allow me to build upon my sincere level of skills, I will learn to express myself a bit more clear in a way.
Talking about big posts...hmmm... enough, I guess. Anyway...
- Always do what you want, wag, and know that we're happy to have you!
- Don't ever be ashamed! Only cheating would be shameful and the only kind of failure there is!
- Express yourself through your music and don't release it until you personally feel like it says what you wanted to tell! Then just let it speak for you!
- Rock On!
Thanks, by the way!
So this really is for the best since there are only so many hours in the day and I'd rather spend those hours, when I'm not working, doing music that I really enjoy doing. Aside from that one track and meeting you and doctor bob and a few other people who have been really cool to me (BJ, Z, Jasinksi, a few others) the OSC won't go down as one of my fondest experiences.
Of course my music life in general has been bittersweet at best.