Author Topic: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?  (Read 17613 times)

MACH

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Hi guys,

I've been learning music production for 1 year and a half now, and even tough I feel that I have improved since I started, I still get the feeling that my tracks are pretty amateur compared to the ones that I like, and that is dismotivating me a lot. Has any of you guys ever felt this? Does it goes away as the time passes?
« Last Edit: May 22, 2016, 10:54:06 pm by MACH »

Marrow Machines

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2016, 11:00:37 pm »
6 years and after a few essential upgrades to my monitoring.

Though, not with out exploration and some investment into my sound.

i've always liked my tracks i worked on, but i feel better about what i make and how i make my tracks.
Josh Huval: Honestly, the guys who are making good art are spending their time making it.

MACH

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2016, 11:14:31 pm »
6 years and after a few essential upgrades to my monitoring.

Though, not with out exploration and some investment into my sound.

i've always liked my tracks i worked on, but i feel better about what i make and how i make my tracks.

Yeah, in the moment, when I'm making the track, I can't help but to like it, the problem is when I get out of my DAW and hear some "pro" songs, suddenly the bad quality of my songs becomes very palpable, and I kinda feel discouraged to continue.

And I understand that investment is part of it. I'm currently using Sennheiser's HD-202 as monitors, but just until I earn enough to buy a pair of Yamaha's Hs7.

Thx for replying btw =D

Marrow Machines

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2016, 01:32:27 am »
6 years and after a few essential upgrades to my monitoring.

Though, not with out exploration and some investment into my sound.

i've always liked my tracks i worked on, but i feel better about what i make and how i make my tracks.

Yeah, in the moment, when I'm making the track, I can't help but to like it, the problem is when I get out of my DAW and hear some "pro" songs, suddenly the bad quality of my songs becomes very palpable, and I kinda feel discouraged to continue.

And I understand that investment is part of it. I'm currently using Sennheiser's HD-202 as monitors, but just until I earn enough to buy a pair of Yamaha's Hs7.

Thx for replying btw =D

np. it's good to consider how they get things, but ultimately they have the resources and the time to be able to dedicate to activities.

It also probably started out as fun and maybe eventually turned into work for them.

Always good to gut check yourself every now and again!
Josh Huval: Honestly, the guys who are making good art are spending their time making it.

Lydian

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2016, 02:51:34 am »
2 years here and I still don't feel good about my tracks.
A young 14 year old me with a really bad haircut. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eMbftWV75w

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2016, 07:02:00 am »
8 years in and still having major issues with liking my own material. ...which is bommer when it comes to marketing yourself. "There! Here you go. Track I don't feel good about. Please promote it!" ...  ???
"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.

Arktopolis

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2016, 09:20:39 am »
Let's put it this way... If you ever feel what you make is 100% perfect, that's a sign you've hit a plateau.

A year and a half is such a short time, the ride you have signed up for is a looong one. Just make sure you keep improving; no point to expect Usain Bolt's times if you've started running a year ago. If you feel your progress isn't fast enough, reconsider your learning techniques.

vinceasot

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #7 on: May 23, 2016, 10:01:45 am »
i think its different for everybody but it took me about 4/5 years to start to feel good about my production quality

but then i dont think you ever feel good, you always want to learn and improve

this is an endless road

myda

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #8 on: May 23, 2016, 02:09:19 pm »
3 years in and I'm actually really confident and happy with my production skills,  but arrangement and composition is a pitfall for me. I've spent a majority of my time honing production techniques, and I think that makes it way easier to get my ideas down, but I wish I would've spent a lot more time working on composition

Marrow Machines

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #9 on: May 23, 2016, 03:17:44 pm »
3 years in and I'm actually really confident and happy with my production skills,  but arrangement and composition is a pitfall for me. I've spent a majority of my time honing production techniques, and I think that makes it way easier to get my ideas down, but I wish I would've spent a lot more time working on composition

Good time to start is now!!!!!


I will say, transitioning into a balanced knowledge and understanding is one of the more difficult things to do with your life and skills you will acquire as you grow.

Just understand that learning sucks, and it's a tough road regardless.

might of said this before, but my calculus 2 teacher describe how she went through graduate school.

"you do a little of this and a little of that. get frustrated and walk away. come back at it again, and get frustrated again. you may end up with an answer or you may not. you may even end up working at mcdonalds, instead of doing your work! but you gotta come back to it, and finish it. it's not easy..."

bit of a paraphrase and quotes (probably can say that lol)


embrace the suck, become the suck. then get back to work!
Josh Huval: Honestly, the guys who are making good art are spending their time making it.

Final Kindgom

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2016, 07:34:42 pm »
I've liked my songs from day 1. I knew I sucked when I started and didn't even bother comparing myself to professionals or hobbyists that are good. It would just bring me down and I wanted to have fun, so I didn't sabotage myself with those thoughts. I've improved a lot in the past year, but I know I could be better. Even so, I love each track more and more cuz I can hear the improvement, whether it's in the mixing, the arrangement, or the sound design.

Don't compare yourself to others, you're competing against yourself. Let the process be about you and the music and not you, the music, and someone else.

FarleyCZ

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #11 on: May 23, 2016, 08:13:56 pm »
Don't compare yourself to others, you're competing against yourself. Let the process be about you and the music and not you, the music, and someone else.
On the other hand, sometimes it's just damn hard to find yourself. Especially when you put your whole damn heart to something that turns out to be "objectively" bad. ...and you realize it after you've let it out to other people. That just crushes you. That whole "I made it for myself" thing doesn't work out of a sudden because you know you could have done better. ...or even should have, so people could have enjoyed your track more. So you start searching where the "mistake" might have happened and the only logical outcome of that is: Your taste. That's how doubts are born. ...and doubts are what lies between you and the good feeling about your stuff.
"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.

Final Kindgom

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #12 on: May 24, 2016, 03:52:54 am »
On the other hand, sometimes it's just damn hard to find yourself. Especially when you put your whole damn heart to something that turns out to be "objectively" bad. ...and you realize it after you've let it out to other people. That just crushes you. That whole "I made it for myself" thing doesn't work out of a sudden because you know you could have done better. ...or even should have, so people could have enjoyed your track more. So you start searching where the "mistake" might have happened and the only logical outcome of that is: Your taste. That's how doubts are born. ...and doubts are what lies between you and the good feeling about your stuff.

You're definitely not wrong about that. I've definitely felt that after sharing songs. I knew I was bad but didn't realize how bad lol at first I was down on myself about it but realized that I just have to keep pushing, fixing the mistakes, and practicing new concepts in order to be decent. The key to liking your own music imo is doing away with the doubts, which is obviously easier said than done. The way I see it is that it's not that my taste that made the song bad, it's just that I haven't bridged the gap between my taste and the skill needed to make the song good (basically Ira Glass's motivational speech). I think if more artists/creatives understood that, they would find it easier to like their own stuff.

FarleyCZ

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #13 on: May 24, 2016, 10:03:10 am »
The way I see it is that it's not that my taste that made the song bad, it's just that I haven't bridged the gap between my taste and the skill needed to make the song good.
...and that's precisely the thing I have huge troubles with. I'd looove to believe that it's the gap, but Occam's razor shi*t n' stuff...
"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.

Miles Dominic

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Re: How long did it take for you to feel good about your tracks?
« Reply #14 on: May 24, 2016, 10:16:18 am »
It took me about 2.5 years to get into that 'amateur, but good sounding' zone. After a bit under 3 years of producing it was starting to sound next to professional. But I'd say it took me a bit more than 3 years to get to a professional sounding level, where i could actually listen to my own music without cringing.