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when did you
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mk47
Inactive User
Started Topics :
118
Posts :
4444
Posted : May 2, 2007 09:17
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hello to all the nice people on this board .. ok .. so iv been trying to make some beats of my own .. been little less than a couple years at it now .. i started just out of boredom , don't intend to do it professionally or commercially , i got proper business to take care of etc so i do it sporadically , every now n then ill open the sequencer and start laying down a few beats , hey ,.even managed to make a couple of full tracks .. problem is.. i suck .. ugly sound etc .. lol .. its quiet irritating .. i want to make nice music .. not the crap i generally manage to put out after hours of laboring over a few bars .. my question to u all is .. when did you stop sucking at this .. when did those results start to show for you .. will they ever show for me ? .. only consolation is that sometimes i come across other amature stuff thats even uglier than my own ugly beats .. that makes me smile ..lolol . but hey thats not the point is it ? hey if ur so bad at something .. why do it .. doubts doubts ..
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Tomos
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
84
Posts :
981
Posted : May 2, 2007 13:51
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You only begin to start getting better when you start to take it seriously. Unfortunately I think good sound is a life choice! Lots of reading, lots of subjective listening, rearrange your room, then rearrange it again, buy some foam for your walls, listen to the same mix 100 times, start to know what each frequency sounds like, read up on theory, learn an instrument.. every little thing you do contributes the tiniest amount to getting better. It is a long, hard and frustrating road. You'll have your doubts, then 3 months later, your old doubt will be a memory and you'll be at the next hurdle.
It goes on like this forever.
My only advice is, learn your tools and learn them well, don't spread yourself thinly over several sequencers, get a good work flow going, learn the shortcuts, take regular breaks and set yourself goals.
Always finish a track, even if it sucks, that way you can look back and hear the slow progression to a better sound.
Always remember to have fun (rather contradictory as a lot of the process is painfully slow) because if you never get to where you aim to be, at least you can say you enjoyed the ride. |
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The_Guardians_Of_Truth
Atma
Started Topics :
16
Posts :
379
Posted : May 2, 2007 14:56
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Quote:
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On 2007-05-02 13:51, Tomos wrote:
You only begin to start getting better when you start to take it seriously. Unfortunately I think good sound is a life choice! Lots of reading, lots of subjective listening, rearrange your room, then rearrange it again, buy some foam for your walls, listen to the same mix 100 times, start to know what each frequency sounds like, read up on theory, learn an instrument.. every little thing you do contributes the tiniest amount to getting better. It is a long, hard and frustrating road. You'll have your doubts, then 3 months later, your old doubt will be a memory and you'll be at the next hurdle.
It goes on like this forever.
My only advice is, learn your tools and learn them well, don't spread yourself thinly over several sequencers, get a good work flow going, learn the shortcuts, take regular breaks and set yourself goals.
Always finish a track, even if it sucks, that way you can look back and hear the slow progression to a better sound.
Always remember to have fun (rather contradictory as a lot of the process is painfully slow) because if you never get to where you aim to be, at least you can say you enjoyed the ride.
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good advice ! 
 NEW ALBUM OUT SOON !!!
"ATMA - Music Revolution"
www.myspace.com/atmastudio |
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Freeflow
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
60
Posts :
3709
Posted : May 2, 2007 15:24
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Practise makes perfect, even if perfect is utopia the road to make something better is what counts.
i can take a quick example. You make some drumbeats all with the same velocity, you make a melody and some stuff and you think it sound okej.
Now you listen some more and you notice the drums sounds static, so you go and make some velocity changes to every singel hit, all of a sudden the track sounds more alive, not so static.
For me this is the hardest part, making something that sounds okej is pretty simple, but making something that sounds better than okej takes more energy. Devil is in the detail.
I think most of us knows whats needs to be done but we dont take the time and energy to do it.
Its easy to forget that hard work is the key to make something good..
i remember when i decided to learn to juggle with 4 balls, i practised everyday and one day i could do it and i kept practising and became better and better.. This goes for everything. keep practise and you will for sure become better.
Though sometimes we try too hard to make things better that we get blind to what really is good. Like when you start adding Eqs and compressors without really knowing why. So like Tomos say, "learn your tools" im really guilty to not doing this.
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vipal
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
123
Posts :
1397
Posted : May 2, 2007 15:48
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meet people (around producing music) that have positive attitude.
ask for feedback on your music-details from them and work out improvements on a detail as soon as possible.
dont listen to released crapmusic as it can confuse your music-mind.
and most of all stop talking and thinking like this about yourself : "not the crap i generally manage to put out after hours of laboring over a few bars"
and yes... the 'crisis' you describe is recognised here.
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mk47
Inactive User
Started Topics :
118
Posts :
4444
Posted : May 3, 2007 00:51
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heya .. some nice replies here people .. cheers .. but nobody mentioned how long it was before they started getting good results .... i figure 3 years or so maby ? 2 ? ..1 ? 6 months ? 2 months ? .. came outta mommys womb twiddling a knob ? lol . muaha  ..
peace
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bandarlog
Bandarlog
Started Topics :
44
Posts :
809
Posted : May 3, 2007 01:09
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Quote:
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On 2007-05-02 09:17, mk47 wrote: i want to make nice music .. not the crap i generally manage to put out after hours of laboring over a few bars .. my question to u all is .. when did you stop sucking at this .. |
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Brilliantly put! Cheers for that!
Now as for sucking and stopping to suck:
It took me 3 years of tweaking and learning on a computer (I had a groovebox before but that never worked out ) on an almost daily basis (not like hours and hours, let's say 5 hours a week) to be able to put a song of myself next to a song I like without evaluating my song as total crap. Nevertheless I ALWAYS had big fun producing, even if it was crap.
As for tips:
- Always believe in yourself and the outcome of your efforts (sounds corny). When you/I start a song, it sounds like crap. And it keeps on sounding like crap untill almost the final stage.
- Take enough time for one song. Dunno bout the others but for me it's not like an hour or an evening... It's more like 20-80 hours per song. I produe about one song every 1-2 months. The songs I made more than one year ago sound (technically)...you guessed it: like crap.
- All the good tips above (especially: learn 1 sequencer/some vsti's/some techniques that make you good/different/happy thoroughly, it's better than being able to talk about every vsti and sequencer a bit on fora without knowing one like your right hand).
So be patient & have fun
http://www.soundcloud.com/bandarlog
http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/bandarlog-memoirs-of-the-moment |
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Tomos
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
84
Posts :
981
Posted : May 3, 2007 01:12
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There is no exact figure. Everyone is different, some people are never going to get it, some people need a little more time than others to let information sink in, others become happy at a certain level and have no desire to improve.
Personally I'm at the 3 year self taught production mark, with the nagging feeling I'm about to break through to the beginnings of my desired sound quality level. I've bought and read a mountain of books, bled the internet dry and I try to read as many magazines as I can before being thrown out of the shop for not buying anything.
I've got over 10 years piano behind me and so some parts of the musical process come more naturally.
Theres also the whole learning to use a computer thing. I expect some people may be musicians that have never used a computer and there is that to overcome too. I'm lucky there as I had my first computer when I was 8 and now have my own computer repair company - which is handy as I happily put together my own studio and keep everything in it running minty fresh. |
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Upavas
Upavas
Started Topics :
150
Posts :
3315
Posted : May 3, 2007 09:32
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I played guitar for 10 years, learned (self taught) 5 years sound on a computer and am currently enrolled @ Vancouver Filmschool. And the journey is far from over. We can get better and better at what we do, workflow composition, mastering and all. And I think the above advice on keeping on practising, shortcuts and so on is great! The better we become at technical skills, the more close we come to express perfection in our music.
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/ |
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PoM
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
162
Posts :
8087
Posted : May 3, 2007 10:31
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mk47 you ll be never happy with your production and tracks,it s like that for everyone...just don t stop writing tracks but if you open your sequencer every now and then to have some fun ,you can t get the same result as someone who is in the studio all days and who live for that,it s a lot of time and dedication. |
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faxinadu
Faxi Nadu / Elmooht
Started Topics :
282
Posts :
3394
Posted : May 3, 2007 11:22
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we never stop learning, true in life, true especially in music production.
think about it this way - electronic music has been around for about 50 years, recorded music in general has been around for less than 100.
humanity as a whole is still learning this music production thing, so don't despair if it takes you time.
just keep at it, be confidant while also willing to learn, and you will get there.
The Way Back
https://faxinadu.bandcamp.com/album/the-way-back |
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Elad
Tsabeat/Sattel Battle
Started Topics :
158
Posts :
5306
Posted : May 3, 2007 12:30
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Quote:
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On 2007-05-02 09:17, mk47 wrote:
.. only consolation is that sometimes i come across other amature stuff thats even uglier than my own ugly beats .. that makes me smile ..lolol . but hey thats not the point is it ?
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yes it is.
when realesed stuff will sound "uglier" to you , know u did it 
www.sattelbattle.com
http://yoavweinberg.weebly.com/ |
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Freeflow
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
60
Posts :
3709
Posted : May 3, 2007 23:16
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Quote:
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On 2007-05-03 12:30, tsabeat wrote:
Quote:
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On 2007-05-02 09:17, mk47 wrote:
.. only consolation is that sometimes i come across other amature stuff thats even uglier than my own ugly beats .. that makes me smile ..lolol . but hey thats not the point is it ?
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yes it is.
when realesed stuff will sound "uglier" to you , know u did it
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I dont agree! it just show how whack the music industry is..
Its good to have high standards, if you gonna compare your self(which most of the times is daunting) do it against what you think sounds great..
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aXis
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
116
Posts :
2562
Posted : May 4, 2007 11:00
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if u think that ur music will sound to u as the arrangements GOW did or Derango did... its not possible.
And the biggest mistake is that u compare ur stuff wit others.
just think of it like this - Like a singer whn he learns to sing is always never the best, but sooner or later u realise over a period of training the singer can touch the opera notes.
While during this period the singer has learnt so much more that he is in a constant race wit Himself to improve his last mark.
Some where in between is when u stop sucking and come out wit ur own style =)
I hope it makes it a little clearer if not harder. |
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aXis
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
116
Posts :
2562
Posted : May 4, 2007 11:02
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and once again dont compare wit others , let others compare their work to urs 
U just do it cos u gotta do it and have to . |
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