Do you still finish tracks that...Suck?

[Hink]

Every track should be finished. If a part or some elements suck go a step back and fix this part
It makes no sense to leave this as it is and try to finish a track... stuff which doesn't work must be immediately fixed => Trial & Error.

I have to agree with this approach.
A wise man once said, "A job being done, is a job that deserves to be done well."

except sometimes other inspirations come along and become distractions, should they be ignored?

If you mean the working on different projects, this is often a good idea. If I play with a synth and this ends with a interesting idea, this will become a new "unreleased project". Which means it's a project where I have not the time to finish it immediately so it's added to my todo list.
But I would limit this projects so it's something which can be finished in the next weeks/month.

I not sure I am comfortable with that word, that's just me but I really do not care for the concept. Not all my playing is meant to be productive, sometimes I'm just playing and sometimes those are my most inspirational moments. Limit just seems so wrong in that context. Even more important to me is forcing myself to work on something my heart isn't in at that moment does not seem to be the best route to a job well done for me.

[4damind]

Limit just seems so wrong in that context. Even more important to me is forcing myself to work on something my heart isn't in at that moment does not seem to be the best route to a job well done for me.

This "limitation" means a bit different thing... I think more of having not too many unfinished projects so it doesn't need a very long time to put the hands on it again. If you start a song, you are in a special mood which is not the same every day. One year later you think different, you feel different and would make things different. If you listen to older songs, how often do you think "what a crap... I would make this a lot better today"? And this is the problem... There is a good chance you will never finish a song because you invest more time to change/modify already finished parts because after some time they sounding boring and not good enough.

I don't think there is the "best route" but a song must be finished, this is the only thing which counts. If it's more for fun there is of course often not so much time available but I would try not to need much longer than 1 month for a typical song (we don't speak about an opera or big orchestral stuff where you must rent a studio, musicians etc).

[Hink]

Limit just seems so wrong in that context. Even more important to me is forcing myself to work on something my heart isn't in at that moment does not seem to be the best route to a job well done for me.

This "limitation" means a bit different thing... I think more of having not too many unfinished projects so it doesn't need a very long time to put the hands on it again. If you start a song, you are in a special mood which is not the same every day. One year later you think different, you feel different and would make things different. If you listen to older songs, how often do you think "what a crap... I would make this a lot better today"? And this is the problem... There is a good chance you will never finish a song because you invest more time to change/modify already finished parts because after some time they sounding boring and not good enough.

I don't think there is the "best route" but a song must be finished, this is the only thing which counts. If it's more for fun there is of course often not so much time available but I would try not to need much longer than 1 month for a typical song (we don't speak about an opera or big orchestral stuff where you must rent a studio, musicians etc).

that is the only thing that counts for you which is a very important distinction to make. Your goals likely differ than mine. Like I said, I play for me and when I am done with a song it has done for me all I ask it to do for me (or at least for the time being). I am not in the business of making music, playing guitar is my passion and I do not like encumbrances placed on my passion for playing. The song is secondary to my growth as an artist and a guitarist, said growth brings more ways to expand upon my passion. I do not need validation from outside sources, my guitar takes me to my place and that is enough for me.

Of course I could look at my older music and say I could make this better today but I didn't make it today and I can look at it and see my growth which in turn brings me the satisfaction of knowing that over the years I have been continuing to achieve my goals of growth. When such growth stops I'm not sure the answer for me is becoming a song mill though I can see how people would find satisfaction in such mastery, instead I seek other directions. An example of this would be how back in the mid 90's after 25 years of playing in nothing but standard tuning I started branching out exploring new tunings to which there seems to be endless possibilities. I have found in the past where a song I was working on didn't quite work at the time in the tuning I was using (or with the gear I was using at the time) and years later I stumble on that piece and now it works or I find something about it to bring it back. It didn't suck, it just wasn't working for me then but is now.

I dont have any desire to be in a band, I dont want to subject my ears to such abuse, I really am not a very social person and I have learned when my cycles are in sync for different aspects of my life. There are times I grow as an artist by not pursuing my art at all and pursuing other areas in life they need attention. I do understand that there are many who wish to pursue a career in music, I do understand that many people are of the mindset where it's important to do what you love for a living. However that does not always mean do what you love the most for a living which is where I come from. Playing is personal for me, it's spiritual, it's healing, it's reflective and it's revitalizing. I will admit it took me a very long time to accept that this is my niche in music and not the wannabe dreams of my youth but I can look back and say I am still playing, I am still growing and music is still the wind in my sails. No one single song is going to give me all of that...but again that's just me.

[musikmachine]

I forgot to give the reason why i do and it's relative but simply by finishing tracks IME you get better.

A couple of years a ago i hadn't finished a track in a long time, i was waiting till i reached a certain level and had all the technical know how to produce great tracks but i course i took kinda flipped that concept on it's head and i just started finishing tracks to the best of my ability and i've finished a bunch since then that sucked and learnt a bunch through the process, my weak areas etc and addressing them.

Guess it depends what you mean by 'sucks', i wasn't happy with the standard of my tracks for while but that would never have changed if i hadn't finished a few turkeys. If i don't like a track now i still finish but yeah if you're releasing music and trying to get EPs out and build momentum finishing tracks that suck may not be the best use of time but the point of it is to take what you learn forward.

I'll just say that tracks i thought sounded good 6 months a year ago now suck to me but that's cause i've got better so it's kinda relative. Also some tracks i don't like other people do so i finish 'em anyway and things now are going better than ever.

Just my 2c.

[Musical Gym]

.. some tracks i don't like other people do so i finish 'em anyway ...

amen bro

[Lejurai]

I mean, not all our tracks can be hits, right? Do you still finish tracks even if you know they arent very good? I find myself giving up on certain projects because they aren't working out the way I want them. Is it good practice to push through and still finish those tracks? Should I keep working on them and trying to fix them, or should I just know when to quit? What do you guys think?

I know a lot of people who say that "if it sucks, delete it". Still though, I do finish all my tracks since that's the best way of learning why they suck and what to do differently. And quite often, there's something that can be salvaged and be used better way. Melody, beat, synth sound..

[handoman]

Good thing I just do this for fun(for now) and I have tons of time to experiment and mess around. Sometimes when I have something that doesnt sound too good, I think "There is always a way to fix something that sounds bad." That helps me through hard times because I know theres a way to fix something, I just have to figure it out.

[acYm]

to paraphrase, "everything sucks until it doesn't anymore".

[musikmachine]

If I have a piece that is unsalvagable it gets deleted. All of it.
This after changing the drums, shifting parts around, adding, subtracting, leaving it for a few weeks, etc.

Yeah that's definitely the point of no return. You have to learn not to get too attached to tracks as well, if something isn't working just let it go but salvage anything that has potential for a future track.

[musikmachine]

I mean, not all our tracks can be hits, right? Do you still finish tracks even if you know they arent very good? I find myself giving up on certain projects because they aren't working out the way I want them. Is it good practice to push through and still finish those tracks? Should I keep working on them and trying to fix them, or should I just know when to quit? What do you guys think?

I know a lot of people who say that "if it sucks, delete it". Still though, I do finish all my tracks since that's the best way of learning why they suck and what to do differently. And quite often, there's something that can be salvaged and be used better way. Melody, beat, synth sound..

Exactly, build on your successes and your mistakes.

[Axis1~SL61]

I always finish anything that I start -- Lately (since some years ago) if a track isn't working and I can't find a good way to make it sound interesting, I just abbreviate it and finish it by adding a quick proper final, like 2 bars of a very brief outro (generally in the root chord of the scale, the same of the start of the song) and a final hit in that same root chord.
So my tracks that suck get reduced to between 1 to 1:15 mins, but always with a proper ending! -- Trrah tah-dah-tah!... Boom! ...and I'm done with it and move on to the next one.
Later I can use them by using whatever good elements it had and make a new piece or even new a revisited theme version, if I find the inspiration.

[Frantz]

I don't finish tracks that suck by being strategic about what I work on. I always have several fragments of songs available. I pick the fragment that seems the most promising and try to create a complete skeleton from it. If the skeleton has potential then I add the details and complete it. If at any point in the process the track seems to going nowhere, I shelve it but may revisit it later.

For me, the key is not to start the detailed, time consuming work on a track until I have a complete skeleton that I think can be turned into a finished song. This is how I avoid the dreaded 8 bar loop dead end.