What's your work ethic in your studio? Mine hovers, if not directly falls on, a rather OCD-type "work" (I call it fun) ethic in my home studio. Religiously, I get up every single morning (I mean every single morning) between 1:30-2:30 a.m. and "do" music for two hours during the week, and at least double that on weekends*. It's rare that I don't compose and complete a song -- and my style is pop, with words/singing, one every two days. I've written so much crap that I don't even have time to listen to it all. But it seems I need to keep writing so I can keep hearing new songs...it's truly like an addiction. And I do try to make each one better than the last, but I really have no audience other than myself, which is just fine, as I'm the only one I'm trying to please...
As a side, I would think someone who's more into instrumental electronic music would spend much more time with a single song, as it's more about sound sculpting than writing hooks. When I listen to what you gals and guys do, it blows me away as to the level of creativity you all put into your synthesizer sounds.
*And every single morning I need to "step away" for a bit (15-20 minutes) and check out the forum and media so that I can come back with fresher ears and enlightened mind from getting your tips and thoughts.
Work Ethic
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- KVRAF
- 8078 posts since 9 Jan, 2003 from Saint Louis MO
I always do instrumental stuff and I thought the opposite. Writing lyrics is difficult for me and nobody, especially me, wants me to sing.Bodhisan wrote:As a side, I would think someone who's more into instrumental electronic music would spend much more time with a single song, as it's more about sound sculpting than writing hooks.
It's a matter of getting a flow going. I started 2016 determined to force myself to finish one song per week. It was a chore at first and a joy by the end, and I averaged 2.3 songs a week in 2016 and 5 a week in 2017 so far. It's not work, because my work ethic sucks (I'm writing this post while on the job
). It's just what I love doing.To me, the keys are:
1. Lots of practice/experience. Have a pretty good concept of how to achieve the kind of sounds you want, and the results of particular processes.
2. Be kind of Taoist about it... loose, casual, not perfectionist, wander and see where you find yourself, and take what comes to you. Explore and be led by what you find.
Those two don't conflict. Experimenting adds to your knowledge and experience, and often creates a jumping-off point for a song -- at which point, you want to draw on your knowledge of how to add somewhat more specific sounds to complement what you've found.
Often, trying to be a perfectionist about an individual song just leads to a different song, not a better one. Progress comes as a result of recording hundreds of songs, listening to them and figuring out what worked and what didn't.
Moving from 100% in the box to modular synths suited me very well. It encourages experimentation, and where computer-based music production is biased toward perfectionism, modular hardware leans away from it. But aside from consuming money and space, some people who get into modular get lost in making weird noises forever and don't make the jump to music -- so it's not the best approach for everybody.
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- KVRAF
- 1791 posts since 17 Sep, 2002
It's tricky for me because 80% of the time, I work from home, and my DAW computer is my work computer as well. I can scoot my office chair about 5 feet over and be sitting at my drum set. My computer desk has an 88-key controller built into it, so I'm always one or two clicks away from turning my workstation into a piano. I've got two guitars and a bass hanging on the walls around me. I also sleep in this room, because that's how apartment life can be. This room is decked out with DIY acoustic panels too. The sound is always nice in here. Sometimes it's hard to get work done because I just want to play. And sometimes it's hard to get playing/recording done because I know I should be working.
I've had to create a schedule of sorts. I try to make myself keep to normal working hours during the week. I pop on forums or read webcomics for a few minutes to take small breaks during the workday, like right now. But I've been trying to schedule blocks of time where I shut off the wi-fi and focus strictly on music for at least two hours a day. However, it has been less than successful, because I've been finding ways to use that time to do things that are musical without actually making music. What I mean is, testing plugins, creating new sounds and track templates, browsing through years-old unfinished projects, etc.
My most productive time comes when I do this thing with a friend of mine, remotely. We set aside a 3 hour block, and during those 3 hours we create an entire song, start to finish, from scratch. Sometimes we'll have rules and restrictions (e.g. only use 1 synth, or only use 4 tracks, must be exactly 1:07 long, must be about x movie/picture/book, must be boss-fight music for a cyberpunk rpg, etc), and sometimes it's completely free form. Then, at the 3 hour mark, we exchange mixdowns and give each other constructive feedback. It's just for fun, and for building those musical muscles (to the point where we've decided to call them "musicles.") Having this deadline is what gets me the most creative. There's no time for perfectionism or endless tweaking; you have to commit to an idea and see it through to the end.
Deadlines promote a better work ethic. I'm trying to somehow incorporate deadlines into my scheduled music time, to prevent "fuckaround-itis" and to actually get some songs done.
I've had to create a schedule of sorts. I try to make myself keep to normal working hours during the week. I pop on forums or read webcomics for a few minutes to take small breaks during the workday, like right now. But I've been trying to schedule blocks of time where I shut off the wi-fi and focus strictly on music for at least two hours a day. However, it has been less than successful, because I've been finding ways to use that time to do things that are musical without actually making music. What I mean is, testing plugins, creating new sounds and track templates, browsing through years-old unfinished projects, etc.
My most productive time comes when I do this thing with a friend of mine, remotely. We set aside a 3 hour block, and during those 3 hours we create an entire song, start to finish, from scratch. Sometimes we'll have rules and restrictions (e.g. only use 1 synth, or only use 4 tracks, must be exactly 1:07 long, must be about x movie/picture/book, must be boss-fight music for a cyberpunk rpg, etc), and sometimes it's completely free form. Then, at the 3 hour mark, we exchange mixdowns and give each other constructive feedback. It's just for fun, and for building those musical muscles (to the point where we've decided to call them "musicles.") Having this deadline is what gets me the most creative. There's no time for perfectionism or endless tweaking; you have to commit to an idea and see it through to the end.
Deadlines promote a better work ethic. I'm trying to somehow incorporate deadlines into my scheduled music time, to prevent "fuckaround-itis" and to actually get some songs done.
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- KVRAF
- 26033 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
I don't have any notion that I have to create in quantity. I'm results-oriented, but as I'm the only one responsible for the final result, things take time. I finish something, I do intend it to be something I can live with for the duration.
I've worked 24 hours a day with breaks to make instant coffee and toast. I've taken vacations, too.
I wouldn't make a distinction between types of track, a beat-driven thing with a simple melody vs very expansive 'sound sculpting', both take some time. I'm a perfectionist that nonetheless will cut losses and get on with it. I won't invest time in something that I'm going to dismiss.
I've worked 24 hours a day with breaks to make instant coffee and toast. I've taken vacations, too.
I wouldn't make a distinction between types of track, a beat-driven thing with a simple melody vs very expansive 'sound sculpting', both take some time. I'm a perfectionist that nonetheless will cut losses and get on with it. I won't invest time in something that I'm going to dismiss.