KVR Audio

Sepheritoh · Post by **Sepheritoh** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 1:58 pm

Finishing songs sometimes goes quick. If I'm pressed for some deadline I'll do the final mix & master in a day. If nothing is pressing me I'll just keep on tweaking and not really improving anything.

Starting is often a problem. I may take weeks to start... then delete..start over...scrap...play games...surf the web...read KvR...start again...scrap...maybe I like...

Once I get going it takes a week to take shape max. I have done songs from start to finish in one day, but that is more an exception.

dystonia_ek · Post by **dystonia_ek** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 4:24 pm

For improv stuff, not much longer than the time it takes to listen to it. Everything else ranges from under an hour to several years(!)

declassified · Post by **declassified** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 4:40 pm

When I get an idea, it takes me about two hours until I have a finished track.

But that doesn't occur often...

My improvised piano stuff takes as long to finish as it takes to hear (of course).

nool · Post by **nool** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 4:44 pm

its all about inspiration, with the right amount of it, it can take hours-days :p

without it, its brutal

Warmonger · Post by **Warmonger** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 4:56 pm

Typically, around 6 months for me. Of course, I'm almost always working on multiple songs, and some songs I'll leave for a couple of weeks (or even months!) before going back to work on them. Actual amount of time spent working on an individual song, including stuff I decide to scrap: ~50 hours per song.

videzyrah · Post by **videzyrah** » Sun Dec 05, 2004 5:17 pm

My brain seems to think in small segments; i.e. it seems I have somewhat of a knack for making beats/loops but turning them into full-length songs proves much more difficult. Therefore, usually the case is I'll throw together a beat in about 30 minutes when I feel inspired by a particular synth or sample sound / melody I'm fiddling with. From there, that beat can sit on my hard drive for days, weeks, months, etc. until I get an idea for mixing it with another beat or force myself to sit down and make some complimentary grooves / song transitions for it. It took me about a year to 'finish' my first two tracks. But I think it will go alot faster now that I have a better focus on what type of music I'm trying to make and which types of sounds I like to work with, and a more complete understanding of the software I'm using.

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 3:03 am

30 years so far!

ahja · Post by **ahja** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 3:29 am

Electronic stuff, few days to a few weeks... I like to take my time and make everything perfect, atleast as much as it can be. Detail is a big thing with me, though I'm sure 90% of the listening crowd would never even hear the little psychoacoustic weirdness I tend to focus on. I like music that sounds basic on the top coat, but if you dare to dwell and think about the sound... The entertainment is waiting.

Traditional stuff takes a much shorter length of time, since that comes pretty easy to me, and there is no real point to "tweaking it out". Simple chord progression.. hook.. verse.. chorus.. bridge.. blah blah blah.. It's not really fun, so I don't do it too often.

drez · Post by **drez** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:18 am

soundaddik wrote:counting from the first note you've sat down to program to a complete finnished song on a CD.

I'll let you know.

MDMAchine · Post by **MDMAchine** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:34 am

It takes me about 2-4 hours, I usually try to get the bulk fo it done, as I have a nasty habit of starting a new track, without finishing the last...

ugo · Post by **ugo** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:52 am

typically, the majority of the work will be done within the first day or two, then take up to another week or so (as time permits) to finish it up and get the mixing and mastering better. but thats only if im inspired to actually get that far. if an idea doesnt grab me strongly enough to get most of the song structure done within the first day or two, it will probably never go back to it and it will never get finished.

i end up with tons of 4, 8, 16 bar sequences saved on my drive; nearly all over 4 tracks deep. but when i listen to them, even if i dig where i was going, im probably no longer in that mood / frame of mind, and therefore im not inspired to get back to work on it. so the sequence sits unfinished while i try to write something else. i guess this is something where a band member would come in handy. if one person becomes uninspired or looses focus on sequence, the other person might pick it up and rejuvinate the idea. but as it stands for me now, as a 'solo act', if a song idea doesnt get damn far within the first few days, it probably wont ever get done.

so once or twice a year i'll go through my files and trash everything i didnt finish thats older than a week or two.

-ugo

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 9:36 pm

stuff I dont care about- I could finish in 1-6 hours. Songs with potential- I work on for about 1 month. After burning out on them I then let them stew for a few months, and I work on them by playing them on the piano or guitar until I get pretty good at playing it, then I improvise, then I re-record. and re-record. and re-record until I am happy. so if I were to land a deal, my albums would be release once every 8 years.

bugs · Post by **bugs** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 10:43 pm

Have been working very intensely for the last five month and probably have another five or six to go, but the projected length of the piece about 65-70 mins.

topaz · Post by **topaz** » Mon Dec 06, 2004 10:51 pm

I have yet to work out what it takes to write a song let alone finish it.

it's a mystery to me still but pressure for sure works, like having a deadline to finish something.

once I get past the "is this good enuff" phase it all flows, problem is only 1 out of 20 gets to that stage (for me)

BC · Post by BC » Mon Dec 06, 2004 11:05 pm

What's the saying? "It's 10% inspiration and 90% persperation"? It's always the most fun and rewarding in those moments when the creative spark ignites and you get 'the idea'. Conversely, it can feel like a drag putting in the time it takes to flesh out the whole arrangement, getting the specific sounds and mix down.

It takes work, lots of work - at least in my case.

how long does it take You to finish a song?