How Long Does It Take You To Finish A Song?

[BONES]

Well, we're not even that regular. Our last one came out in 2020 and we'll have another this year. The longest gap was between albums 3 and 4, which was 7 years, but there were many reasons for that, not least of which being my complete lack of motivation to finish it. I suspect anyone who is pumping out multiple albums a year is probably producing rubbish.

[infinitebulldozer]

The first 90% often happens within a month or so. And then the last 10% takes orders of magnitude longer.

[BONES]

Yeah, it's easy to make something that gets you excited at the time, it's much harder to make something that still excites you 10 years later.

[kmonkey]

Yeah, it's easy to make something that gets you excited at the time, it's much harder to make something that still excites you 10 years later.

That's actually a good description of good work.

I imagine if I am a producer and my track can move people and me 10 years after the release - then that's a job properly done!

[brownjolyon]

Finishing? I think that's my next personal challenge is learning how to not chase perfection. Some of the tips on this thread are useful for that so hopefully I can kick the habit!

[soulata]

Sometimes years; but then, I'm strictly a hobbyist.

Sometimes years.

And I'm not strictly a hobbyist. I actually get paid to do it (this makes around 20% of my income probably).

I used to have 4-8 singles out (with different artist) per year, now it's down to one or two.

Kids...

(Not only mine, the people I work for are having them, too)

[soulata]

My bigger issue these days is how long it takes me to start a song

I'm not quite sure how it happened but we've somehow got ourselves onto the album release treadmill, which tends to force your hand a bit when it comes to making new songs. It's something I thought I'd hate but imposing it on ourselves has turned out to be a great way to get moving. I'm sure we'd hate it if our label tried to impose it on us but because we do it ourselves, it actually works.

Ditto. If shit needs to be done it will be done.

My problem now is, the shit really doesn't need to be done (although I'd like to get it done), so my wife uses every op to hand me over the kids

[soulata]

I keep having to wait for faster CPUs to mix all of my plugins.

Really? I recently downgraded from Core i7 to Core i5 without any problems.

Well, as I’ve discussed, I will create an entire string section with SWAM solo strings, and I use console and tape emulation on every channel. It’s the IK Tape Machines that are real CPU killers. I’m finally able to enable tape on every channel (typically around 16) without choking now, with the native M1 versions on my MacBook Pro. But I still max it out on a few tracks that also use Organteq, which uses ridiculous amounts of CPU.

Christ!



Ever thought of having tape plugins only on master bus or group tracks?

[PieBerger]

I keep having to wait for faster CPUs to mix all of my plugins.

Really? I recently downgraded from Core i7 to Core i5 without any problems.

Well, as I’ve discussed, I will create an entire string section with SWAM solo strings, and I use console and tape emulation on every channel. It’s the IK Tape Machines that are real CPU killers. I’m finally able to enable tape on every channel (typically around 16) without choking now, with the native M1 versions on my MacBook Pro. But I still max it out on a few tracks that also use Organteq, which uses ridiculous amounts of CPU.

Christ!



Ever thought of having tape plugins only on master bus or group tracks?

and or bouncing as you go. There's no good reason to be mixing with instruments, especially CPU-intensive ones, running in real time. That's a cause to switch up workflow, not pine for ever more powerful CPUs, imo.

[jamcat]

I keep having to wait for faster CPUs to mix all of my plugins.

Really? I recently downgraded from Core i7 to Core i5 without any problems.

Well, as I’ve discussed, I will create an entire string section with SWAM solo strings, and I use console and tape emulation on every channel. It’s the IK Tape Machines that are real CPU killers. I’m finally able to enable tape on every channel (typically around 16) without choking now, with the native M1 versions on my MacBook Pro. But I still max it out on a few tracks that also use Organteq, which uses ridiculous amounts of CPU.

Christ!



Ever thought of having tape plugins only on master bus or group tracks?

I buss all string players to a single group and use one tape instance on the entire string section there, of course, since all string players would be playing together in one room, and recorded in stereo to two tape tracks.

I'm using a tape instance on each channel, because each channel would have been recorded to its own track on the multitrack tape. How the signal hits the tape is going to be specific to the programme material of that channel, and how hard it is driven by the preamps.

There is also a tape instance on the 2-buss, because the song would be mixed down to 2-channel tape.

[FranklyFlawless]

I strictly improvise now, so I never start or finish songs anymore. The best I ever do is refine my instrumental technique and expand my tonal palette.

[MVRCK]

It all depends on who I'm producing for and the genre. R&B takes a lot longer than Hip Hop for me.

[wagtunes]

I used to knock out a song a day. Now I do a song every 1-3 weeks. Not sure the music is much better but it's more relaxing.

[soulata]

Sometimes a year or so. Not always my fault.

[tundra5]

25 years