KVR Audio

newtoFL · Post by **newtoFL** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 3:43 am

Hello, I have been creating some songs every now and then for myself just as a hobby for ten years and the technology and terminology gets too confusing for me so I try to do what I can. Here has always been my major problem... I am not sure how long you guys spend creating a song, but I listen to a new song I created over and over again for any mistakes and after a while I find myself not even liking the song anymore.

However when I first created it and listened for the first few times I really loved it, but after replaying it over and over again to tweak it I have no emotion for it. My question is this, do you have this same problem and is it because I only listened to it carefully 1000 times but the song is just as awesome as when I first started with it?

I am working on a song now where I was dancing along with it and as I am adding my vocals I have to force myself to have passion like I did naturally when I first began with it. Once I am done I am not sure if people will just hear everything for the first time and love it as much as I did when I started. I guess I just want to make sure that I am not messing up the song by the time its done.

Musical Gym · Post by **Musical Gym** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 4:31 am

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 8:16 am

Yes.

Just focus on your goal and work faster. My most popular track was made in just 3 days

murnau · Post by **murnau** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:18 am

Thats an usual problem many have. I work in two or three tracks at the same time switching between them.

Also i find the right mixing just from the start is important because frequency clash make the ears tired too.

do_androids_dream · Post by **do_androids_dream** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:23 am

You have to separate the processes. Once you finish writing you have to separate that process from the mixing/mastering etc. Treat the mixing as if you're mixing someone else's track if you can. Remember that prospective listeners will be hearing it for the first time when you present it to the world - hopefully they will get the same feeling you had when you were first writing it.

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:31 am

newtoFL wrote:Hello, I have been creating some songs every now and then for myself just as a hobby for ten years and the technology and terminology gets too confusing for me so I try to do what I can. Here has always been my major problem... I am not sure how long you guys spend creating a song, but I listen to a new song I created over and over again for any mistakes and after a while I find myself not even liking the song anymore.

However when I first created it and listened for the first few times I really loved it, but after replaying it over and over again to tweak it I have no emotion for it. My question is this, do you have this same problem and is it because I only listened to it carefully 1000 times but the song is just as awesome as when I first started with it?

I am working on a song now where I was dancing along with it and as I am adding my vocals I have to force myself to have passion like I did naturally when I first began with it. Once I am done I am not sure if people will just hear everything for the first time and love it as much as I did when I started. I guess I just want to make sure that I am not messing up the song by the time its done.

Even your favourite meal will get boring if you eat it three times a day, for a year

If you aren't getting more into something the more you tweak it, then are the tweaks actually making it better?

Also, don't rule out the fact that a tune that doesn't survive the process, might be worht leaving on the cutting room floor

Winstontaneous · Post by **Winstontaneous** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 8:32 pm

There's no one answer to this...sometimes "first thought, best thought" applies, other times "you can't polish a turd."
Having other songs/projects to work on, and trusted friends/acquaintances to bounce ideas off of helps.

Hearing how much pro producers work on their biggest hits can give perspective. While working on U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" from the Joshua Tree, producer Brian Eno had to be physically tackled by the engineer when Eno was about to erase the entire song after months of dead end work. Pharrell Williams delivered 8 or 9 completely different versions of "Happy" before coming up with the final version that met both his standards and those of the "Despicable Me" movie makers.

Work-flow wise I find that committing to effects/arrangements and rendering audio tracks as I go is more productive than leaving everything as MIDI until the last minute.

Lejurai · Post by **Lejurai** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:13 pm

I don't listen to my song at all until it's near finished. Then I listen to it once to hear, how every part fit together. Then I listen to it once to hear if something's missing and make some finishing touches to mix, if I hear something to be wrong there. Then I just release it.

Of course I could spend years looping the song again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again... And again, polishing, tweaking, not making decisions.

IMO it's better to release fast since you can always remake it one year later

Lejurai · Post by **Lejurai** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:20 pm

newtoFL wrote:I guess I just want to make sure that I am not messing up the song by the time its done.

What are you afraid about in messing it up? Don't you have that song file in your finished projects folder? Do you really care that much about what other people possibly think about you and/or your songs?

People generally learn from their mistakes. And you can always re open the project, after some time have passed. And f**k those who hate your music and tell you about it. Rather focus on those who like it, even if they were in minority.

Googly Smythe · Post by **Googly Smythe** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:23 pm

Lejurai wrote:I don't listen to my song at all until it's near finished. Then I listen to it once to hear, how every part fit together. Then I listen to it once to hear if something's missing and make some finishing touches to mix, if I hear something to be wrong there. Then I just release it.

Of course I could spend years looping the song again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again... And again, polishing, tweaking, not making decisions.

IMO it's better to release fast since you can always remake it one year later

I also rarely listen to any of my stuff in full until I'm near the "mastering" stage. I work on one section at a time. Once I've finished with the recording stage, I listen to it all the way through, on various sytems in various places, making notes on what needs to be improved/changed/added.

The longest I took on a track was about 20 months, a good while ago - I couldn't play a guitar solo that fit in the middle section. Then one day, it just clicked. Next day I tried again, and again, couldn't play a solo that fit.

Googly Smythe · Post by **Googly Smythe** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:28 pm

Lejurai wrote:
newtoFL wrote:I guess I just want to make sure that I am not messing up the song by the time its done.
What are you afraid about in messing it up? Don't you have that song file in your finished projects folder? Do you really care that much about what other people possibly think about you and/or your songs?

People generally learn from their mistakes. And you can always re open the project, after some time have passed. And f**k those who hate your music and tell you about it. Rather focus on those who like it, even if they were in minority.

Again, +1.

And don't be afarid to change the direction of the track. You may start it off in one genre, but if it fits into another, go for it. I sometimes do songs in more than one genre, just for the fun of it.

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Sat Jul 23, 2016 9:28 pm

newtoFL wrote:However when I first created it and listened for the first few times I really loved it, but after replaying it over and over again to tweak it I have no emotion for it. My question is this, do you have this same problem and is it because I only listened to it carefully 1000 times but the song is just as awesome as when I first started with it?

I think it affects everybody.

Listening over and over again to the same song to tweak, for ages, it dulls the senses.

Think about the performing artist like Iron Maiden or Depeche Mode going on the road for a year, and having to perform the same thing over and over again every night.

I am amazed that they bother, but the money is good though.

newtoFL · Post by **newtoFL** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 12:26 am

Great replies thanks guys. One poster asked what I am afraid of messing up... I tend to adjust the volume or EQ of something and then think it's better but if I happen to listen to an older version I realized I had it right the first time and overwrote the backup. Once I finish a song I tend to leave it alone but I still listen to it for years and want to make sure it's done right. One song I made recently I barely spent any time on it and it's perfect whereas some songs I cannot get right.

xoxos · Post by **xoxos** » Sun Jul 24, 2016 6:20 pm

sounds like a bunch of processes most of us go through. generally over time one notices things affecting each other and works towards reducing unproductive dynamics, and during that time manages to produce a certain amount. perhaps often the skills/discretion we cultivate is more valuable than the particular recording. like once we establish we can "do something perfectly" knowing to take a production to that level and when it's not worth the energy.

disillusionment is part of any art or performing art i guess. if you objectify what it is that excites you or engages you about recording, it probably becomes easier to change that. though of course perpetual excitement isn't guaranteed. a recording of a song or composition is only a complex signal, material, it's entire significance comes from culture, and that is a tenuous foundation for the things in your life, as culture changes (and is changed) without concern. "all we are is dicks in the wind".

Jorgeelalto · Post by **Jorgeelalto** » Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:18 pm

DJ Warmonger wrote:Yes.

Just focus on your goal and work faster. My most popular track was made in just 3 days

That's it.

My biggest challenge ever with my music, get tired of song?