| Author
|
How to avoid boredom/discouragement when composing?
|
3l3ctromonk
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
30
Posts :
89
Posted : Jun 30, 2008 19:49:33
|
Hello all
I experience this a lot of times.Whenever I compose a track I start up with lots of energy.Slowly when days pass I have a rough format of the track.I then start polishing it.
After somedays working on it, say 15-20 I tend to get bored and discouraged with the track.The outcome is unpolished tracks.There are issues with mixing and mastering and sometimes arrangment.
How can I stop this and concentrate so that I can have well polished perfect tracks.Is there a way to stick at it?
Thanks:-)
  "We surely know by some nameless instinct more about our futures than we think we know."
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
|
|
|
Colin OOOD
Moderator
Started Topics :
95
Posts :
5380
Posted : Jun 30, 2008 20:01
|
Needs discipline but yes I think there is a way. When you get bored and discouraged with a track, put it aside and start something new. Then, say one week a month, make yourself sit down and go back to one of your unfinished tracks and finish it. It sounds like you generally have almost all of the track done before you get bored, and when you come to work on a track again you'll have pretty much forgotten what it sounds like and might be quite surprised at how little you'll actually need to do to the track to finish it. The discipline comes in making regular time to finish tunes.
Mastering - http://mastering.OOOD.net :: www.is.gd/mastering
OOOD 5th album 'You Think You Are' - www.is.gd/tobuyoood :: www.OOOD.net
www.facebook.com/OOOD.music :: www.soundcloud.com/oood
Contact for bookings/mastering - colin@oood.net |
|
|
|
Medea
Aedem/Medea
Started Topics :
127
Posts :
1132
Posted : Jun 30, 2008 20:32
|
Yes, start a new one. I have two folders, "finished" and "not finished", the "not finished" folder always contains about 15-20 track project folders. The "finshed" folder slowly grows up  , the trick is to keep balance between them =)
Some of my tracks were finished in one-two nights of work after more than a year of maturing in "not finished" folder , so that is ok.
http://soundcloud.com/aedem |
|
|
|
JUGGERNAUT
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
18
Posts :
111
Posted : Jul 1, 2008 05:43
|
Smoke a fat one!
but , yes , i have the same problem... |
|
|
|
Upavas
Upavas
Started Topics :
150
Posts :
3315
Posted : Jul 1, 2008 08:03
|
I do it like you Medea, a lot of times I have to be careful to not work too long on 1 track, I usually drop it after a few hours, next day I have totally new ears for it. When it gets too much I just let it sit for a while and do something else. It also helps to do different styles at times...
Upavas - Here And Now (Sangoma Rec.) new EP out Oct.29th, get it here:
http://timecode.bandcamp.com
http://upavas.com
http://soundcloud.com/upavas-1/ |
|
|
|
fuzzikitten
Annunaki
Started Topics :
40
Posts :
603
Posted : Jul 1, 2008 17:17
|
Quote:
|
On 2008-06-30 20:01, Colin OOOD wrote:
...When you get bored and discouraged with a track, put it aside and start something new.
|
|
Second that. As soon as I start to get discouraged/bored, I shut it down and switch to something else. Usually I'll go to another unfinished song. If I'm just bored, I'll go to a less-finished song. If I'm bored and discouraged I'll go to a song that's closer to finished that I really like - this helps pick my mood up.
Then after some time I'll go back to the old song. 99% of the time that song that I was getting discouraged with will sound totally fresh and inspiring, and I'll have new ideas to try.
Also, by switching from song to song and adding bits and pieces my songs start to have pleasing similarities. I find that I'll have a 'favorite bag of tricks' that changes moment to moment, day to day, week to week. One week I might be in a mood to cut up audio and add one-shot FX and do reverses and stuff, another week I might be in a mood to program really thick saw osc leads with resonance, and then another week I might be in a pad mood. By going from unfinished song to unfinished song, I can indulge these whims without overdoing it on a single track. In turn my tracks start to have a nice balance of the tricks I know.
Lastly - you think you have a hard time finishing songs?
I HAVE A HARD TIME.
Maybe Colin remembers me whining to Ott about this on another forum about this.  (his advice still stands - you just finish them)
I started trying to write songs in 2002. Since then I have about... 12 that I would consider 'done'. For those 12 'done' songs, there are 30-40 songs on my computer that are 'in progress' - some ranging from a couple minutes of interesting ideas to some being 3/4 of the way through and needing an ending.
Anyways, here are a fewthings I've found that has helped tremendously:
1) I keep my creation phases seperate from arrangement phases.
Creation phases are fun, exploratory, altered moments. I do simple arrangement while I'm making noises, but I try to get a lot of creative ideas out all at once and whip up a skeleton of a track. Having more raw material is like having a nice big block of stone - it gives me more to work with and whittle away down to the statue.
After a spell of creation and simple arrangement, I'll let the song sit for a bit. Then I'll go back and do a lot of arrangement, giving a fresh ear to pieces and moving things around.
2) After I do step 1 a few times and start to get a song, I begin a second step of refinement:
I burn the song to a CD.
I listen to it at work.
I make notes as I listen to it about changes I should make.
Here's an example:
"_Damage_
0:36 - Fade ramp back out before kick comes in
1:26 - Pop
2:52 - undo stutter on needly lead, don't fade around
3:41 - Pop
4:12 - Ehhh, liked it better before
4:30 - everything too quiet here, maybe rush of 'verb?
4:46+ - Need more content here to end"
While at work I can go through a dozen songs like this. Then when I get home I sit down at the computer and...
...and I have a fucking "To Do" list. Even though I'm tired from work, all I have to do is go through the list and fix the things I noted earlier.
This is exactly what Ott meant when he told me "you just finish them". This is what Colin means about 'The discipline comes in making regular time to finish tunes'. It's simple hard work.
Each pass through the song I brush out more errors and fix weak spots and the song gets a little longer. This method doesn't guarentee GOOD songs, but it does guarentee that I'll finish them.
anyways, cheers, hope that helps.
-Alex |
|
|
|
Upavas
Upavas
Started Topics :
150
Posts :
3315
Posted : Jul 1, 2008 23:58
|
|
Elad
Tsabeat/Sattel Battle
Started Topics :
158
Posts :
5306
Posted : Jul 2, 2008 04:15
|
yes , "to do list" is pritty cool
i listen 20 times when i think im almost done and write down what must be done and do it maybe in 4 minutes maybe in 4 days but finish this and the track is done like it should be
example for my possible to do list:
1:25 needs new bassline until the big brake
3:00 make shorter and faster brake
4:50 add 1 bar of extra brake b4 the big boom
5:12-5:35 add some small reverse fx
General : make group for the percussion and add something to make them more in the front
btw i dont know about boring but sometimes working on loop can make me totaly sleepy , is that conected to the sounds or more to the weed smokin lol ? |
|
|
|
Andrew
Voice Of Cod / Zuloop
Started Topics :
14
Posts :
218
Posted : Jul 2, 2008 10:49
|
hehe... yes working on a loop can make you totally crazy - see the advice of dr bill which has helped me out a few times.
http://tinyurl.com/6s3szf
I agree with all the other stuff on this thread. Breaks from working on one tune, and sometimes going for the hard yards and getting it done. For example, if I have a gig coming up I usually have a tune in mind that I want to play and if I get sick of working on it, it gets hard, but I push through and usually it works out. If not, oh well, I don't end up playing it and I count my blessings otherwise. But yeah having a bunch of unfinished stuff and switching around helps me.
http://www.reverbnation.com/thecontrolzeds |
|
|
|
3l3ctromonk
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
30
Posts :
89
Posted : Jul 3, 2008 23:15
|
Thankyou all for advicing me on how to acoid boredom.I think making 2 folders "finished" and "unfinished" would be of great help as I can always go to other tracks if I am bores with one.That way I can work on bunch of tracks at a time.
And yes also making a "to do" list will be very helpful and will keep me always on track.Discipline is definately very important.
Thanks once again!!!:-)
"We surely know by some nameless instinct more about our futures than we think we know."
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
|
|
|
