Author Topic: Admit your bad habits  (Read 19079 times)

FarleyCZ

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Admit your bad habits
« on: February 06, 2016, 07:23:27 pm »
Here's a track to set the topic's mood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2H4l9RpkwM :D

We all have them. We all fight them. So let's start a little group therapy here:

I fight with several bad habits:
- I have a big fear that I might upload something that I like, but it's actually sh***y. Happened before, wasn't nice, thus the fear.
- I have this urge to make a prominent melody even when it's not needed, or when it's actually a bad idea.
- I forget about how important little details are.
- I press play and try to come up with next step when the song is playing. That makes over-listening comming really quick every time.
- I don't give up on projects that even kill me to listen to. Big one.
- I tend to do mix adjustments after the track was uploaded to soundcloud.
- I do prety drastic musical changes really late in production process. That makes re-sampling totally irelevant technique for me.
...and more.

What's yours? :)
« Last Edit: February 06, 2016, 09:20:44 pm by FarleyCZ »
"Earth is round right? Look at it from right angle and you'll be always on top of the world."
...but don't overdo it, because that's called being a d***k.

Bertie South

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #1 on: February 06, 2016, 09:08:37 pm »
- Impatience, and therefore not being methodical when trying to learn/figure things out
- Adding effects to a channel, not being sure whether they really make it sound better, leaving them on anyway
- Wanting to keep things because I've put a lot of work into them, not because they make my track better
- Defaulting to 'add something' when I feel a track needs to be better
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birdwork

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2016, 09:21:17 pm »
Mine is the opposite problem- I'm too methodical and detail focused. I analyze the smallest details and lose track of the big picture.  It's especially bad when I work on headphones, I'll listen the next day with monitors and you can't even hear the details I spent hours on.

Final Kindgom

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #3 on: February 06, 2016, 10:11:15 pm »
I listen to the track over and over without actually doing anything to make progress. Mainly because I get distracted with the internet :P

vinceasot

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #4 on: February 06, 2016, 10:49:56 pm »
its the thoughts in my head that i battle with, i struggle to control with that, i need much better psychology lol

social media is a distraction..

getting the ideas on the daw is tricky, i need better focus

alex 1

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2016, 07:12:40 am »

- I do prety drastic musical changes really late in production process. That makes re-sampling totally irelevant technique for me.
>:(
this. so much of this.
the thing is, most of the time i dont regret it, but when i do, its really not funny.
worse is when i end up with 2 different versions of the same track, and both sound good

Bertie South

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2016, 11:06:55 am »
I always put my tunes on blast instead of working at low volumes
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cryophonik

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2016, 06:18:46 pm »
Staying in my comfort zone.  I tend to go on autopilot and stick with what I'm confident will work, rather than experimenting.
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Zundara

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #8 on: February 07, 2016, 08:06:01 pm »
I tend to create chords & melodies then after I make a sound I THOUGHT I liked then, I end up changing it drastically, so like I'd try to go D&B then I go to chill out. I jump ship easily

I'd have samples in a certain order to help improve the track, like they'd provide a second sound apart from just being just a vocal if you know what I mean. Sorry it's hard to explain what I mean if you're confused, anyways then I'd move the sample but a certain sound wouldn't sound the same because the punch was provided by the sample I moved. So It would be moving samples late the process

Changing the style of the song.

making a different track within the track I'm working on lol

I tend to focus way to much on one sound and forget about creating harmonies with the rest of the track, by that I mean I create a certain sound to be the most important part, so like I put a lot of pressure on one sound to carry the entire song

I mix while I work

I get scared & compare my music to more experienced producer while I try to listen for inspiration. Examples: guys like WRLD, Above & Beyond Seven Lions etc lol

alex 1

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #9 on: February 07, 2016, 08:25:10 pm »
Staying in my comfort zone.  I tend to go on autopilot and stick with what I'm confident will work, rather than experimenting.

yep, you know what works, and you wanna get something down as quick as possible, i know the feeling.
thing is, when i do go outside my comfort zone, i always surprise myself, and kick myself for being so robotic.

we seem to think that everything's been done, but the thing is, everyone else thinks the same, and thats why it doesnt really take that much effort to sound a little bit unique

alex 1

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #10 on: February 07, 2016, 08:28:19 pm »

making a different track within the track I'm working on lol


i hate that. you make an awesome melody, but it just changes the track too much, so you cant delete it and you cant keep it

Bertie South

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #11 on: February 07, 2016, 08:30:35 pm »

I mix while I work

Not necessarily a bad thing. At least Deadmau5 said so anyway :p I found that sidechaining and doing some master EQ/compression on the thing I was working on last motivated me a little as it was starting to sound pretty sweet.
Drum 'n' bass mixes: https://soundcloud.com/beenisss
Neither drum 'n' bass nor mixes: https://soundcloud.com/myboyfriendbob
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alex 1

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #12 on: February 07, 2016, 08:39:24 pm »

I mix while I work

Not necessarily a bad thing.

totally agree.
if you dont eq and balance the levels, everything gonna sound like garbage. even the nicest melodies will get boring fast, if the track levels are all over the place

Wontolla

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #13 on: February 08, 2016, 01:28:19 am »
I always pre-write before opening the session. Not necessarily a bad thing, but then there are the times I come up with a sick drop and have no clue what to do with it.

And there are some musical ideas I use too much, like the Em-G-D-C/A progression, or always putting a half time bridge in house tracks. The trick is to find patterns before they become clichés.

Arktopolis

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Re: Admit your bad habits
« Reply #14 on: February 08, 2016, 05:17:27 am »
I might write a melody or create a sound really fast as a "placeholder", then never even try to improve it because it starts to sound familiar.