KVR Audio

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 3:36 am

I can relate to this to some degree, but luckily I started off with a simpler type of music where I could really get away with a simple electric guitar and an amp. I really went a long time with not so much as an effect pedal. I learned a lot of songs and quickly realized I even had a knack for writing silly pop songs.

True is, I think I have more talent for writing than I do for playing. My guitar playing peaked and I just never pushed out of my plateau. I'm not bad, but let's just say I'm not in great demand for my guitar work. Still, I love doing it so I do it. Lately I've been teaching myself Beatles songs on a lavender ukulele that I got for my daughter. Total silly fun.

But my more serious music now has a lot to do with devices and while my playing is still fairly rudimentary, I get joy from it and I love the process of manipulating the audio I'm producing into something unique. I never beat myself up for my lack of virtuosity. In fact, when I think about some of the musicians I love the most, I can see that they weren't all that either. I always was a huge John Lennon fan and I've already far surpassed him in guitar skill... now if only I could sing and write a tune like him...

I also see part of my art as being a virtuoso at electronic gadgets. It didn't come quickly though, I spend a year studying at a school for audio engineering and many years after that scrounging money for bits of interesting kit and because money was always so tight, I had to really dig into what I had and that gave me a lot of perspective and experience.

viudu · Post by **viudu** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 4:26 am

It's pretty brave to put a subject line out there of such self deprecation, hoping for authentic consideration and support. I'm glad that you are getting such great advice and honest support from this group.

You should definitely give yourself a break, and try to enjoy what you are able to do on a daily basis, and log hours toward that 10,000 hour goal.

While you are doing it, simply be there with whatever you choose, with the guitar, piano or computer, give yourself the freedom to let the expectation and criticism go and focus simply on what to do for a 1/2 hour or 1 hour at at time. The rest will follow if you are able to tap into the simple act of making any form of music without the distraction of expectation.

Stop thinking about what you are doing and simply do it, and enjoy it while you can!

PurpleCatfishBettie · Post by **PurpleCatfishBettie** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 5:34 am

one thing about guitar... it's such a wide-ranging instrument that there's 'always' going to be something that you 'do on it' or 'find about it' that virtually no one else has.

it can be one thing to learn other people note-for-note, but then it's quite another to figure out what your own hands seem to do naturally. this is where you build your own style... some combination of note-for-note copying, and your own:

interpretations/voicings/riffs/flatpicking/fingerpicking/chickenpicking/strums/taps/harmonics, etc... etc....

...like an 'amalgam'.

ymmv

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 5:37 am

mrblitz wrote:one thing about guitar... it's such a wide-ranging instrument that there's 'always' going to be something that you 'do on it' or 'find about it' that virtually no one else has.

it can be one thing to learn other people note-for-note, but then it's quite another to figure out what your own hands seem to do naturally. this is where you build your own style... some combination of note-for-note copying, and your own:

interpretations/voicings/riffs/flatpicking/fingerpicking/chickenpicking/strums/taps/harmonics, etc... etc....

...like an 'amalgam'.

ymmv

dont forget alternate tunings, a great way to get out of a funk...it's like a new instrument you already know how to play

robogone · Post by **robogone** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:03 pm

Hink wrote:
mrblitz wrote:one thing about guitar... it's such a wide-ranging instrument that there's 'always' going to be something that you 'do on it' or 'find about it' that virtually no one else has.

it can be one thing to learn other people note-for-note, but then it's quite another to figure out what your own hands seem to do naturally. this is where you build your own style... some combination of note-for-note copying, and your own:

interpretations/voicings/riffs/flatpicking/fingerpicking/chickenpicking/strums/taps/harmonics, etc... etc....

...like an 'amalgam'.

ymmv
dont forget alternate tunings, a great way to get out of a funk...it's like a new instrument you already know how to play

Or go buy a slide (which might go along with the alternate tuning advice)

Sendy · Post by **Sendy** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:08 pm

rtkeeling wrote:
DSmolken wrote:try making music some college girls want to you to help them make.
This is probably the best advice yet! I just need to frame this up properly so I can run it by my wife ( ). I'll let you know how it goes...

Roy

If they have Internet access in hospital, get back to us

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:27 pm

I think Graham from the recording revolution has some good advise.

OzoneJunkie · Post by **OzoneJunkie** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:48 pm

The advice that you receive from others is subjective, and so by the same nature, this is as well. Having read your original post, I see similarities of my past self.

I think that what you say/wrote is a chance for you to undestand yourself better.

Taking responsibilty for oneself, and understanding oneself, and realizing that one's knowledge, one's ego, one's past is not who one is. Furthermore, we are free to change ourselves over time be it years or in a blink. And the catalyst to that change is often understanding ourselves at a deeper level than most surface level reflections reveal.

This was my path to change.

So, my only (subjective) advice is: reread your original post, and ask yourself what you can learn about yourself, and therefore are free to change.

jfingaz123 · Post by **jfingaz123** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 4:14 pm

I'd recommend learning to play the "piano" or "keyboard" for these 3 reasons.

1) The keyboard has all the notes laid out in a way that makes visualizing it easier when you are not on the keyboard.

2) Once you learn music and a bit of theory on the keyboard, it becomes MUCH easier to apply it to any other instrument later down the road.

3) If you can play keys, you can cover almost every part you need to lay down in the studio. Covers so much ground.

mcnoone · Post by **mcnoone** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 4:26 pm

I only get disgusted with myself right after wrestling the snake.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 5:38 pm

robojam wrote:
Hink wrote:
mrblitz wrote:one thing about guitar... it's such a wide-ranging instrument that there's 'always' going to be something that you 'do on it' or 'find about it' that virtually no one else has.

it can be one thing to learn other people note-for-note, but then it's quite another to figure out what your own hands seem to do naturally. this is where you build your own style... some combination of note-for-note copying, and your own:

interpretations/voicings/riffs/flatpicking/fingerpicking/chickenpicking/strums/taps/harmonics, etc... etc....

...like an 'amalgam'.

ymmv
dont forget alternate tunings, a great way to get out of a funk...it's like a new instrument you already know how to play
Or go buy a slide (which might go along with the alternate tuning advice)

given the fact that standard tuning is not the best tuning for slide I suspect you're right

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:45 pm

Jerry Bears wrote:So I find myself in a home studio, and a couple years in to this realize that, I'm not actually working on any material, and whenever I sit down to design sounds or work on a track, it feels like I'm beating my head against the wall and pulling teeth to be "musical" with it at all.

I just don't get that it has to be a requirement to make tracks, to be able to enjoy music.

Do people who are into motorcycle riding or vintage cars, feel that they have to race, they have to win all the time. Otherwise they are failures.

I have made enough tracks in my life, but at this point I enjoy mostly just playing and trying out synths. Just like I imagine a motorcycle rider, enjoy taking his bike for a spin, without the need to accomplish something, just for fun, a hobby.

nasenmann · Post by **nasenmann** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:45 am

Probably the stuff you get best at most often lies somewhere between hobby and obsession, shifting back and forth between the two. I guess "work" has its value as well, but only in the sense that it's something you do regularily, maybe earn a living with.
"Working" towards finally becoming good enough at music to enjoy it sometime in the future doesn't have a good ring to it.

Also, lots of college girls passing by here..maybe i should put up a sign reading "free music production 4 college girls"...?

nasenmann · Post by **nasenmann** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:52 am

Writing what i just did, i also realised i did everything right intuitively when starting out with computer music a decade ago...had a blast with every single shabby track.
Seems like the elements creating frustration only crept in at a later stage.

DSmolken · Post by **DSmolken** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 12:13 pm

nasenmann wrote:Also, lots of college girls passing by here..maybe i should put up a sign reading "free music production 4 college girls"...?

Hell, it's enough to go look for singers. Most of them are girls, college or high school age, and like Adele.

Feeling disgusted with myself musically