KVR Audio

LeVzi · Post by **LeVzi** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:47 am

I've noticed over the last few years, i've not actually completed anything, started so many projects, made progress, designed sounds, created kicks, etc etc, started to compose the track, then get bored and cannot stay focussed on it, and I end up deleting the whole project.

I really cannot seem to work through to the end of anything. I have a project going right now, I want to finish it, but I just think "This sounds shit" and want to delete and try something else.

Has anyone actually his this issue ? Years ago I had no problems, I could start and finish a whole project, not a problem. Now I can't get halfway without wanting to trash it.

AsPeeXXXVIII · Post by **AsPeeXXXVIII** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 8:58 am

This has been a recurring problem for me ever since I began involving myself in creative endeavors. In a lot of the cases, the reason has been either lack of motivation or the project itself being overambitious, and thus I scrapped them early on. If I had tips for coping with it, I'd happily share them.

If I had tips.

Zombie Queen · Post by **Zombie Queen** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:11 pm

Tip 1. Stop posting at KVR every five minutes, focus on music. Offline DAW should help.

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:28 pm

Zombie Queen wrote:Tip 1. Stop posting at KVR every five minutes, focus on music. Offline DAW should help.

My tips:

- Before you start, write down what do you want to do. What's your idea and goal? What's the track supposed to be like and what not?
- Start from most important motiffs / sounds or techniques that define your track. Do not start from kick, just pick a stock one to get things running.

bbtr · Post by **bbtr** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:32 pm

1. Find another hobby.

2. See 1.

3. Fish and chips.

foosnark · Post by **foosnark** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 2:17 pm

LeVzi wrote:I've noticed over the last few years, i've not actually completed anything, started so many projects, made progress, designed sounds, created kicks, etc etc, started to compose the track, then get bored and cannot stay focussed on it, and I end up deleting the whole project.

Would you say you get bogged down too much in perfectionism?

Something that worked really well for me was concentrating on speed -- starting from scratch, finish a track in one single session, 4 hours or less. You don't have to plan it unless you really think that will help, and you shouldn't have any expectation of what the result will be (even the genre). Think rough draft, just slam stuff out. Work fast and loose, don't get lost in endless tweaking. Get that "final" stereo audio recording and delete the source files because you're not going to go back and tweak it again, it's done.

Do this once a week or so, whether it's fun or not. And then do it more often if you feel so inclined. Keep doing it until it's a habit and it's easy.

Then, listen to what you've done, and judge it. You might find, for instance, that you hate your hi-hat parts. You have two choices: work on that as a skill (whether it's the compositon, groove, sound design/production, etc.) or drop them entirely and go hatless. Or you might find that you're much better with some styles of music than others; again you can choose your best styles to focus on or you can shore up your weak points. But the idea is to improve your overall quality without spending a lot more time on each individual song.

Then if you're starting to feel good about that, identify where spending more time does help and where it just slows you down, bores you, and makes it harder to finish.

....the complete opposite of this advice would be to forget about finishing things and just enjoy jamming, rather than creating "products." But which of those is more satisfying depends on you.

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 2:36 pm

I never delete any projects. Sometimes its really easy to get bored with a track during the writing phase. I would just save my work, and go back to it later.

It can be surprising how good it sounds after a few weeks.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 2:47 pm

thecontrolcentre wrote:I never delete any projects. Sometimes its really easy to get bored with a track during the writing phase. I would just save my work, and go back to it later.

It can be surprising how good it sounds after a few weeks.

weeks? Sometimes I go through my folders and discover stuff years old that I forgot all about when I put it on the back burner

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:05 pm

Hink wrote:
thecontrolcentre wrote:I never delete any projects. Sometimes its really easy to get bored with a track during the writing phase. I would just save my work, and go back to it later.

It can be surprising how good it sounds after a few weeks.
weeks? Sometimes I go through my folders and discover stuff years old that I forgot all about when I put it on the back burner

Well yeah ... I often find stuff from years back and think "did I write this?"

harryupbabble · Post by **harryupbabble** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:25 pm

“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.” — Leonard Bernstein

rollasoc · Post by **rollasoc** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:28 pm

Hink wrote:
weeks? Sometimes I go through my folders and discover stuff years old that I forgot all about when I put it on the back burner

I do the same, sometimes I even find things I have no recollection of ever writing. Some of it is pretty good.

ATN69 · Post by **ATN69** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:42 pm

Lately I started to change my workflow. Now I don't care about sound design, EQ, compression, etc, while creating the song. I put in sounds that are good enough for the song creation and lay out the whole song with drums and chords from start to finish. Once the structure is done I start the EQ, compression, sound design, automation, etc.

The reason I never finished much was because I got caught up in the mixing process and zooming in on each sound, trying to make it perfect, and trying to make everything sit well in the mix. In the end it sort of killed the creativity.

harryupbabble · Post by **harryupbabble** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:58 pm

Here's more examples of the importance of having deadlines. Excuse me if I may have totally misinterpreted the message:

"Let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late" - Bob Dylan
"Let us not talk falsely now, the owl is getting laid" - Jimi Hendrix

And here's one (I'm just guessing) that is not a quote but a mentality:
I gotta get something done before I'm 27. - Kurt Cobain

That's a feat because it seems that Kurt Cobain had attention deficit disorder.

Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 4:02 pm

I have found that the internet has screwed with my ability to concen....

oh look, a squirrel!!

No, really. A møøse bite can be pretty painful!

What were we talking about? Oh yeah...

Seriously. There are more and more data that indicate the internet messes with our ability to concentrate. You might want to cut down the amount of time you spend online.

harryupbabble · Post by **harryupbabble** » Wed Jul 18, 2018 4:50 pm

Also, here at KVR, look at the people that are getting things done... people who participate in contests like the one synth challenge, the mix challenge, the song challenge, etc.
And look at the KVR Developer Challenge. People on deadlines get things done. Better than not getting anything done. Not always better, getting things done I mean.

Yeah, on the other hand, speed scrabble is one deadline after another, word after word, done in 10 seconds each or less. But I'm not getting anything done. I'm just getting my jollies. Not very productive.

But if you complete a song like Greensleeves, it may last 400 years or more and it would be proof that you got focused and got something done on planet Earth... like those hand prints in caves in France, supposedly made by focused cavemen, or cavewomen. Anonymous artists.

Speaking of cavemen, this caveperson has got to go and mow the lawn. It's so hot that I want to do it naked but I don't want to get a police record for disturbing the peace of the old lady next door. Okay, bye.

Staying focussed...