How much time do you take to finish a track?

[LoveEnigma18]

Or how many tracks do you finish* in a month?

*finish = not necessarily release-ready, but until the point that a decently/DIY mastered wave file is exported from your DAW session for listening.

Simple question, not so simple answer I guess. Asking this to get some knowledge and inspiration while I am in idle mode from music production point of view.

Thanks in advance for the comments.

[jancivil]

I've done work for hire which had to be done in a day, with another day to mix it with the voice-over.
I did an adaptation, a very involved arrangement in five days but re-did the mix numerous times.

I've taken over a month to get something I'd even share. However I post works-in-progress where I get things from others I'd only get with some distance.
I take my time, even as the initial things tend to happen in a day or two. Some just don't, though, it's an explorative process and may involve new instruments and developing workflow.

[vurt]

i have different levels of "willing to share".
the majority of things ive posted, i would consider noodles, demos of equipment at best, aural masturbation otherwise
these tend to take as long to make as they do to listen to, with maybe half hours prep patching pedals or the synth

then i have "productions" these are where i take things ive picked up over the course of all the noodling above, and formalised a plan before hand, with an actual goal.
the current one of these is at least 18 months in the making, and barely anywhere near happy.
although, sometime it can have bursts, so may get more done in a given period of time, than the previous given period

so if you look at my 20 or so years online, ive probably posted 1000s of the former, but 3 of the latter
and i can see how far ive come too, as now my noodles are better than my early productions

[DMG68]

I mainly work on reggae and to do a full production and mix it is probably normally around 20-30 hours, sometimes less. Depends partly on the quality of the vocals that I’m sent and how much clean up and editing I have to do.

Drums are programmed so I put some time into that to try and make it sound somewhat realistic, sometimes use a live snare and/or timbale, live bass and guitars. With no distractions I can get a lot done in a 4-5 hour session, almost build out the whole track. If I’m feeling to add horns then that takes a little more time for me. The basic stuff goes fairly fast though once I’m focused.

[Forgotten]

Depends. Sometimes I'll pick up an acoustic guitar, pen and paper and have something finished in less than an hour. Might even record it in one take without overdubbing anything.

Other times it can take months of working on something because I think I can take it somewhere, but can't seem to quite get it right.

A lot of stuff falls somewhere in the middle. Often when I get a good idea I'll finish it in a few days at most. However, I might sometimes go back later and remix or remaster something.

[an-electric-heart]

My average would be three weeks to write and record a song, but I've finished songs in a couple of days.
I'm working on a new album right now, but I've been working on it for ages, some of the music was finished two years ago, but I'm only just recording the singing now, but that's just the way I'm doing this particular album; I recorded all the music for the whole album (more songs than I need, a couple have been dropped), and now I'm writing all the lyrics, and recording all the vocals.

[highkoo]

I love this question.
I want to ask it to all my favorites.
Its all about hours-per-track, to me. Or, hours-per-'task'.

It varies a lot for me. I follow my whims, just completely.
When I listen, and there is nothing I want to do to it, Im done.
Probably between four and forty hours.

[manytone]

Wish I could finish more of what I start. A lot of good ideas lately but sometimes lack of connection/direction/time to finish them off before moving onto something new. But yes for me it typically happens quickly or not at all. The occasional idea does get revisited though and eventually turned into something.. Food for thought.... nice post LoveEnigma18.

[Distorted Horizon]

Something between 2 hours to 6 months.. When I had more time to give to music, I pretty much made a track or two in a week.

[AdvancedFollower]

Measuring it in hours rather than days/weeks/years etc. probably makes more sense, since I tend to work more actively and consistently when I feel a track is going somewhere, and take breaks of weeks or longer when I feel stuck. That said, I actually have no idea how many hours I put into my tracks

I tend to upload a new track every 1-2 months, but at any time I have several tracks/ideas in various stages of completion and abandonment.

[DJ Warmonger]

It takes me about two months of life time each, even though actual tracks get done much quicker when I get down to it. About two weeks would be enough.

Could improve a lot if I had more time. Hopefully new job I got and new place will save me an hour and a half every day

[LoveEnigma18]

Wish I could finish more of what I start. A lot of good ideas lately but sometimes lack of connection/direction/time to finish them off before moving onto something new. But yes for me it typically happens quickly or not at all. The occasional idea does get revisited though and eventually turned into something.. Food for thought.... nice post LoveEnigma18.

Thanks friend. I am kinda in the same boat. But my personal situation hasn't allowed me the kind of time I used to get earlier. I haven't just been able to do what I did a couple of years ago. I feel inspired, but not able to really put in the efforts. Day job also makes it a bit difficult. I know, there should not be any excuses, and that I should have more focus and be more productive.

[LoveEnigma18]

I love this question.
I want to ask it to all my favorites.
Its all about hours-per-track, to me. Or, hours-per-'task'.

It varies a lot for me. I follow my whims, just completely.
When I listen, and there is nothing I want to do to it, Im done.
Probably between four and forty hours.

Thank you. Yes, that's right. It is indeed about hours, but the problem is when the hours spread over a few months time.

I wish those hours were constrained to weeks or maybe just one month. I posted this topic to gather inspiration and so far all the posts are nice to read.

[LoveEnigma18]

Thanks guys. It's really good to read about your practices. I am feeling inspired. Just need to have more focus and put in the efforts. Being tired due to everything else is not an excuse if I really want to make music.

Keep it coming...

[wickfut]

I take 1 day to write it and one day to mess about with mixing and altering stuff usually. I'm not a pro, I just like fiddling with stuff.