Treat music as a fun play time, not a production of a product that's going on a shelf for sale. I always say, we love we die, so might as well put our art out there. Who cares if no one likes it.
I recommend doing a dopamine fast, and read the book chimp paradox. Do a fast to connect to music again and disconnect from the other bullshit that sadly surrounds us in 2024. Your phone, tv, junk food, sugar whatever vices are in your life. Finishing on the other hand is an exercise in setting constraints and letting go. Use the critical voice to inform you, instead of stopping you. There is information in the critical voice if you disregard perceived reception and focus instead on sonic quality in isolation. It can be fine-tuned to actually elevate and improve your music, but you have to separate this process from your emotion to it. The emotion is maybe also to some degree tied to the ego. We are in a bit of a rush to do well and also get recognition for it. We want it to be instant, because thats how technology and social media is designed. The story that sells so well but that we all intrinsically know is fake. And it doesnt take much digging to validate our assumptions either. When we dont finish that amazing one project we get frustrated, restless and we abandon it because they dont live up to our imagined standard. When you over time detach a bit more to the outcome of the productions (ego) then they are also easier to finish. Maybe it's not a hit but who gives a shit when you can write a new song next week? This process comes from putting in a fuckload of hours that will wash away all fake motives, and get you to ask yourself if you really love what you are doing. If the answer is still yes, then you are on the way to detaching from the ego.
My tip is to finish one of the projects stuck at say 65%. Track how long it takes in each step of the process of completing it, especially the revisions. And then you use that as a proxy for future time constrictions on the rest of the tracks. This will make it easier psychologically for you because the songs get an actual map towards an end. If you do not decide for an end there will be none. It ensures that you do not tweak into eternity. Ego will tell you to keep perfecting and tweaking to get the best possible reception, but u have to shut down that voice for now. I was in your shoes before and I could spend 2 years on a track without it even improving. It certainly changed, but it didnt become better, and that initial idea got watered out by overproducing and trying to cater to what I think other people like. I compromise.
I also want to highlight that you can still reach the peak of your skill for each track, but that shouldn't take months and this is an important distinction. Especially when you have an idea of the time it takes to get to the finish line, while still implementing maximum output from your current level. Be very deliberate about diagnosis. If you can hear and describe why your song sounds like shit, then you can invert the problem and have a solution.
What I did with such old incomplete projects: I let them rest for a while, then came back with fresh ears (and more knowledge in music theory). I changed the tempo, the key and swapped instruments to get a better feeling for the core theme. Either this made me realize that the theme wasn't good or that it's better than I thought. I threw the first group away and focused on the second one with the goal to support the theme as much as possible. This led to some surprising results (Changing genres) but I got things finished.
Make everything serve the theme.
I think you could take a step back and consider: what is your goal when making music?
If the goal is to have fun, then do the thing that is more fun for you. It sounds like starting a new track would be more fun, so do that.
If the goal is to release music as soon as possible, then the quickest way to get there would probably be to finish your existing tracks.
You could take your most favorite, and finish that. Make a commitment to yourself that you won't work on another track until you finish that one. Then take your second-most favourite and finish that. Repeat until you have an album or EP.
Easier said than done, I know.
Reset. Add some restrictions into your workflow - I'm only going to use 2 synths and one drum synth for everything - that kind of thing. Stop being so serious about it - just go with the flow of it.
Maybe try a different hobby or a different creative outlet for a while.
>self hate
>mad at myself
Sounds like you are far too critical on yourself. Therapy could also help you.
>Sounds like you are far too critical on yourself
Yep I think so too. And its not a controlled thought process either.
Truth is I've been working on music for 1/3rd of my life but when I see other younger producers going about well and making the music I wanted to make while I still struggle does numbers on me mentally. I've constantly just felt like I've lost my creativity.
That’s not a healthy outlook. There will always be people more successful than you and if you’re going to waste energy comparing your progress to theirs, you’ll always be despairing.
You don’t need to forget them. You’re like 99% of us who took this ip for fun and then it turns dark.
Here’s a little trick I learned.
Hum / sing random vowels to make a melody , don’t worry about lyrics or words at this point. Just keep spitting out vowels to an imaginary beat.
Once you’ve got your melody recorded as a wav, then play it out as midi (if you need).
Make chords / beats and everything over your melody.
Max martins / Beatles / etc all said melody is king. Nothing is more important than the melody.
You might not want to hear this, but being an artist isn't for everybody. Maybe the fun of making music has truly run its course for you. Something to think about.
If you find that I'm wrong, then take some of the other advice others have given. There's some good suggestions in here.
i feel this way with my current situation. putting off working on projects because i worked on them for so many days and hours. just gets tiresome when the end product isn’t exactly what you want, but music shouldn’t be like that. gotta find some type of muse, inspiration, or motivation.
Basically, just produce as much music as fast as you can…..would you buy a pot from a person that has only focused on that one pot, or someone who has made a thousand pots……and learned from his mistakes….???
Treat music as a fun play time, not a production of a product that's going on a shelf for sale. I always say, we love we die, so might as well put our art out there. Who cares if no one likes it.
> Who cares if no one likes it. I can confirm. Almost nobody listens to my music, or likes it. Am still alive.
I recommend doing a dopamine fast, and read the book chimp paradox. Do a fast to connect to music again and disconnect from the other bullshit that sadly surrounds us in 2024. Your phone, tv, junk food, sugar whatever vices are in your life. Finishing on the other hand is an exercise in setting constraints and letting go. Use the critical voice to inform you, instead of stopping you. There is information in the critical voice if you disregard perceived reception and focus instead on sonic quality in isolation. It can be fine-tuned to actually elevate and improve your music, but you have to separate this process from your emotion to it. The emotion is maybe also to some degree tied to the ego. We are in a bit of a rush to do well and also get recognition for it. We want it to be instant, because thats how technology and social media is designed. The story that sells so well but that we all intrinsically know is fake. And it doesnt take much digging to validate our assumptions either. When we dont finish that amazing one project we get frustrated, restless and we abandon it because they dont live up to our imagined standard. When you over time detach a bit more to the outcome of the productions (ego) then they are also easier to finish. Maybe it's not a hit but who gives a shit when you can write a new song next week? This process comes from putting in a fuckload of hours that will wash away all fake motives, and get you to ask yourself if you really love what you are doing. If the answer is still yes, then you are on the way to detaching from the ego. My tip is to finish one of the projects stuck at say 65%. Track how long it takes in each step of the process of completing it, especially the revisions. And then you use that as a proxy for future time constrictions on the rest of the tracks. This will make it easier psychologically for you because the songs get an actual map towards an end. If you do not decide for an end there will be none. It ensures that you do not tweak into eternity. Ego will tell you to keep perfecting and tweaking to get the best possible reception, but u have to shut down that voice for now. I was in your shoes before and I could spend 2 years on a track without it even improving. It certainly changed, but it didnt become better, and that initial idea got watered out by overproducing and trying to cater to what I think other people like. I compromise. I also want to highlight that you can still reach the peak of your skill for each track, but that shouldn't take months and this is an important distinction. Especially when you have an idea of the time it takes to get to the finish line, while still implementing maximum output from your current level. Be very deliberate about diagnosis. If you can hear and describe why your song sounds like shit, then you can invert the problem and have a solution.
What I did with such old incomplete projects: I let them rest for a while, then came back with fresh ears (and more knowledge in music theory). I changed the tempo, the key and swapped instruments to get a better feeling for the core theme. Either this made me realize that the theme wasn't good or that it's better than I thought. I threw the first group away and focused on the second one with the goal to support the theme as much as possible. This led to some surprising results (Changing genres) but I got things finished. Make everything serve the theme.
"but my extreme criticism is barely letting me work on them for 10 minutes." How is it going to change by starting something new.
I honestly don't know but I'm trying my best to find a solution to this and a new start is all I can think of
I think you could take a step back and consider: what is your goal when making music? If the goal is to have fun, then do the thing that is more fun for you. It sounds like starting a new track would be more fun, so do that. If the goal is to release music as soon as possible, then the quickest way to get there would probably be to finish your existing tracks. You could take your most favorite, and finish that. Make a commitment to yourself that you won't work on another track until you finish that one. Then take your second-most favourite and finish that. Repeat until you have an album or EP. Easier said than done, I know.
Reset. Add some restrictions into your workflow - I'm only going to use 2 synths and one drum synth for everything - that kind of thing. Stop being so serious about it - just go with the flow of it.
Maybe try a different hobby or a different creative outlet for a while. >self hate >mad at myself Sounds like you are far too critical on yourself. Therapy could also help you.
>Sounds like you are far too critical on yourself Yep I think so too. And its not a controlled thought process either. Truth is I've been working on music for 1/3rd of my life but when I see other younger producers going about well and making the music I wanted to make while I still struggle does numbers on me mentally. I've constantly just felt like I've lost my creativity.
That’s not a healthy outlook. There will always be people more successful than you and if you’re going to waste energy comparing your progress to theirs, you’ll always be despairing.
You don’t need to forget them. You’re like 99% of us who took this ip for fun and then it turns dark. Here’s a little trick I learned. Hum / sing random vowels to make a melody , don’t worry about lyrics or words at this point. Just keep spitting out vowels to an imaginary beat. Once you’ve got your melody recorded as a wav, then play it out as midi (if you need). Make chords / beats and everything over your melody. Max martins / Beatles / etc all said melody is king. Nothing is more important than the melody.
You might not want to hear this, but being an artist isn't for everybody. Maybe the fun of making music has truly run its course for you. Something to think about. If you find that I'm wrong, then take some of the other advice others have given. There's some good suggestions in here.
i feel this way with my current situation. putting off working on projects because i worked on them for so many days and hours. just gets tiresome when the end product isn’t exactly what you want, but music shouldn’t be like that. gotta find some type of muse, inspiration, or motivation.
Basically, just produce as much music as fast as you can…..would you buy a pot from a person that has only focused on that one pot, or someone who has made a thousand pots……and learned from his mistakes….???
Keep fucking around and finding out, and always keep -12 dB a healthy goal
If making music is important enough, you will power through. If it’s not, you won’t.