First of all, thank you EDMProd. This video was super helpful for me. I've been in an awful bout of writer's block recently and felt like I was just starting at 30+ projects with no sense of completion. This vid has given me a few ideas for how to conquer this. :) And, if I may offer my own tip for any other beginners out there, or people who feel stuck. For finishing songs or at least getting an idea of HOW artists finish theirs, try this: open your DAW and throw in a track in the same genre as the track you're making. Get the bpm of this reference track and line it up in your DAW. First, listen through the reference track. As you are listening, create a track for each new element you hear in the song (kick, snare, hi hat, shakers, synth pads, synth stabs, bass, synth leads, fx, EVERYTHING unique) and name each track created. After that, arrange the tracks in whatever makes logical sense to you (drum elements together, synths together, etc.). Now, you could stop here and try to make your own song just out of the tracks listed. OR you can try this next step, and this bit may take you longer - listen through the track again, but this time make midi regions that line up with the instruments in the song. Whenever you hear the bass playing, for example, make a MIDI region that lines up with it. Make sure to cut the midi region whenever the element isn't in. I would also make a note somewhere for any sections in the song that appear to have a change in the chord progression (likely the bridge of the song will have this). Now with a complete arrangement and song structure, you can do one of three things: try to recreate the reference track to the best of your ability, write your own new song with the structure, or insert one of your existing loops/ideas into the structure. If you do one of the latter two, you'll already have visible markers for the dynamic, gradual changes over time, etc. that Aden is talking about in this video. As they say, good artists borrow, great artists steal. Now, you don't have to keep doing this 100 times to get good at finishing songs. Just do it enough that you start to understand how to implement structure to your own loops so that you can get your own songs out faster. Strongly recommend following the advice in this video as well - but this tip has helped me a lot in my own music production.
The mentors I have call that the "Arrangement Exercise" and has been a big part of progressing as a producer as it's great for honing your critical listening skills, getting familiar with song structures/arrangements and understanding how much (or little) goes into any particular song. Doing this exercise to a wide variety of tracks can give you a bunch of practice along with a bunch of templates you can bring into projects to quickly arrange out your idea. (Having markers and the MIDI clips in place instead of just the number of sounds you hear as tracks does take extra time, but then you have a template you can use over and over). This is a great exercise and just wanted to +1 on your comment/recommendation
I have 500 half finished songs. All I do is load the song, play a section of it, dance round my room as if I’m playing out to a crowd of thousands and then close the song, open the next one and repeat.
Just copy and paste the whole loop up to 120-160 measures, delete parts out of some tracks, (especially at the start) then change a few things here and there...and you got ambient electronica, lol. Sometimes people just want to listen to ambient tracks where there's no much change, just a subtle variation, taking away notes in a sequence or adding more, also changing the timbre. Hope you can fix all those unfinished songs...I know it's a big problem. I myself have a problem with mixing, it sucks when it just doesn't sound clean, nice, and well compressed, EQ-d.
i gonna go delete any loop that sound clean of can progress from later today i finally found balance to make good music. My mixing skills have improved and melodies are there too. But sometime you can get away with simple track.
My best remedy for this problem is: limit yourself to two instrument and set out a structure first (verse, chorus etc...) do not do anything else before you have finished that. You can bring detail to structure, but it's much harder to bring structure to detail, that's the problem in a nutshell. When you start doodling around in these immense libraries we have today, you are leaking decision energy and end up with nothing. It's a bit like opening a dictionary hoping it will inspire you to write a book. I try to focus on the idea first and later fill it in.
Bonus Tip: Use a reference track during your arrangement session and literally just try to match all sections with it (intro, hook, break etc.). In that way you'll get a sense of what your track should look and sound like as a finished product. Thank me later.
I had been struggling with making music. The Loop gap and the perfectionist gap was my drawback, even though I have been producing for 4 years. I always had a habit of opening an empty FL project, make a loop, and straight up get depressed for not making it in the way how my favorite producers make. Thanks a lot for your solution , this is really helpful.
Yeah, I think recreating tracks can be a good way to learn. Copying people can be a good way to see methods other producers use for making music, and you can use those methods or similar methods in your own music.
This is good, thanks. As for changing your view of your music, just export it to a high-quality MP3 format, put it somewhere on your phone (I post it to "note to self" on signal), and then I listen to it outside of my studio. Ear buds at the gym; car speakers in the car; send it (or the important loop) to a friend. But, there's no excuse for listening only in your studio on your monitors or your headphones there. You will get ideas from external listening that you wouldn't get otherwise. And you'll start to calibrate your ears so that you know how to make up for the deficiencies in your studio monitoring setup. All this said, don't listen *too* much without making changes and repeating the process. There's a danger that you'll start to convince yourself that it's fine. :) Always, if possible, listen to your music sandwiched between two professional tracks. :)
Refrence track, if your making Lofi how does it sound next to other lofi beats made by someone more successful? If I'm making a DnB tune, how does it sound next to a cupple Pendulum track? Does it fit in a mix? Does your track bass and EQ sound similar? If it's all Yes then it's time to find trusted friends who will give you honest feedback.
I work backwards from most people. I compose and do the majority of mixing in mono on crappy macbook speakers, _then_ I move to my Neumann KH120a's and KRK monitors after. I find it a lot faster to get translatable mixes that way.
Good one, I totally relate. I got an mp3 folder synced with google drive automatically and then can access my wip songs everywhere.just an idea on how to maybe simplify the process :)
I really want to thank you, you don't even know I much it hurts me to feel stuck in the process, this is so comforting, I needed to hear that. I almost felt like I should gave up on producing.. so I took a loooong break to avoid it for a while and get rid of all that frustration. Now that I feel like I want to go back to my projects, this video is giving me the strength I needed 💪🏽 Thank you for this video, I'm sure it'll help many other people
I find that the best way to finish songs is to get all of the chords and vocals worked out on the guitar before I ever touch a sequencer or do any recording. The act of having to play it and sing it at the same time enforces some song structure and flow that doesn't always come naturally when starting arrangements on the computer. After I have a complete song that I can play, then I record it in the sequencer, and start adding synths and moving stuff around as necessary. But because the core is a complete song, I don't get lost in the loop.
at this point in my production "career" or "journey" or whatever you wanna call it, the arrangement often starts right away. it's been a long time since I found myself with just a good loop that idk what to do with. you have reminded me how far I have come, thankyou lol
EDMProd definitely needs to do the Song Finishing Accelerator course again in the future! I wanted to sign up, but we were moving across the country at the time, Next time!
the exporting trick is huge. gives you a lot of clarity on elements that maybe didn't need to be there, or even things you hear can be added in; definitely helps to see it from a different perspective.
Exporting and listening to your track in a totally different environment like for example in your car or with a different pair of headphones can also be very beneficial for discovering elements of your track that may need some tweaking and it can also give you additional incentives to finish that track.
I get stuck all the time. I've started to just put together my own sample/loop/midi library as apposed to just abandoning the project. This way you can go through things you've made when you're stuck.
Thanks to this man! I appreciate you. You're just in the right time. Been experiencing minor breakdowns these past days because of overthinking my first music project. I can say that it is really overwhelming and the same time chaotic to "finish" a "perfect" music/song. New subscriber here!
I'm the perfectionist type. I've been working on an album since June 2018. I've recorded the guitars 3 times, I've remixed it dozens of times, endlessly tweaking, changing the virtual instruments I'm using, getting new plugins, etc. However, it's paid off. It sounds better than ever. I used to release an album or EP, and then a year or two later, hate the mix and want to redo it, which I did for a bunch of my music. I'm not touching them again though. But this album is the first album under a new name and I want to make a good first impression and I don't want to look back on it and think of how much better I could have done. Usually if I leave a song unfinished, it's because I don't like it, or it's so good that I just can't figure out what could follow it up. I sat on a section of a song for like a year before I finished it and it's one of my best songs. That last point is so strange to me though. Being taught how to finish a song. I don't think it's something you can teach, it's something you feel. Maybe like in a paint by numbers sense you can teach how to write and finish a song, but I just go wherever my songs take me. If there's no bridge, if there's no second verse, it doesn't matter because it feels right. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
1) It's hard to create the music that you like so much it inspires you, there's a gap between what your current WIP sounds like and what you hoped it sounded like. I always have to remember "it doesn't sound that good because it's a WIP and missing a lot of elements to make it sound more full and complete". it's like you need a confidence that it will sound good when you have added all the elements it needs. 2) its hard to change the initial loop (like a barrier to change). i think there's a fear if you put in work to change it and progress the track that you will mess up the original idea or put work in that doesn't yield any better result. if you work on something and then it still sucks, its quite demotivating, lol. 3) loops happen organically most of the time, you just add sounds into a flow eventually the idea "appears" once you have added enough of the typical elements you know need to be there. after you have the loop now you have to actually think about the purpose of the loop and track, and its hard to come up with the idea of what the whole track will be (it doesn't happen as spontaneously as a loop). even if you have the idea you have to be good enough to execute it.
Also a lot of songs you hear - have some major people on it - musicians or engineers with a lifetime of experience. You can't expect to make stuff on that level. Maybe with time and experience you can get closer.
I good reason is you will end up starting a track at 8 or 9 pm, be working on it for 4 hours, maybe even 6 and really love what you have going on, but you’re tired now and it’s already the next day. You wake up the next morning and you’re not on the same wavelength you were when you were 6 hours deep into the night anymore, sometimes the song doesn’t even sound good to you anymore, other times there’s just a disconnect. Best solution is to just pin that project in your mind to come back to at night again, rather than being so excited you have to start working on it the minute you wake up the next day
This is really helpful and kinda relieving, thanks! I'm a noob when it comes to production itself, decent in theory, comfortable with the piano and have always loved music just like nothing else really, no day without etc. I've come to some conclusions about having a song structure (and maybe even a timer for every checkmark on your checklist, I've found it helps) and that I need to learn to have fun and accept it's gonna be crap, but the wealth of tips provided here is just next level. And because you describe the states of mind, I have no doubt this is preciselly what I needed. Very cool, thank you and subbed.
A point on the "Perfectionism" trap... I did an online music production course a year or two ago and one of the things that chap showed was spending so much time tweaking the tracks. And yet, I've made and recorded music with a hardware groovebox and I've done none of that per-track tweaking. I never even put it through a mastering bus. And people still like it!
Hit the nail on the head 😫 definitely been struggling with this for the last few weeks. I've tried a few of these strategies on my own and it's been helping. Especially exporting before I tell myself it's finished
The iTunes trick sounds like a very good idea. I find that when I listen to my WIPs away from the context of the DAW I come up with more ideas for variation or possible creative additions.
Awesome video, man. I've been struggling with this for years; I can't progress because I get caught in the desire to make something perfect and/or I get stuck in the loop phase. This means a lot to me, gracias!
Solid advice. I always make sure to stretch any idea out to 3 mins+ and export it. For one thing I come up with ideas while listening to the music away from the computer. Then I have a solid plan when I sit back down with it. Oh yeah, for a while i took my laptop whenever I took my kids to a class or something. I got more done in the 30 mins there using an on screen keyboard than I did with a few hours at home. Constraints are good.
This is so gooood! i used the loop method to practice getting in my DAW every single day and getting out of my perfectionism loop. but then i started noticing i wasn't able to finish the other tracks i was working on and kept getting stuck! spreading out the loops and just thinking of it as a cohesive longer project is such a helpful mindset to use. Thanks so much!
Great tips! To avoid the infamous looping trap, what I usually do is to load a reference track when I start a new song. After that I map all the parts like intro, chorus, verse before start creating my track. Then I just build the structure of the song, following the previous mapping.
I do like the mindset of the first three tips but I’d say for the last two- instead of buying plugins or sample packs reach out to an artist you look up to and spend that money on some instruction They will likely be able to answer the struggles you can’t really search for on UA-cam. The second thing is to watch as many start to finish courses as you can even if it’s outside your genre because it can bridge the gap of the choice paralysis we all run into. I think the point about presets and vsts are definitely a quick fix for beginners but I’d be wary about the spend money to finish music mentality. Most of the first party plugins you have in a daw are all you need to make professional sounds; it’s just a pain in the rear to learn to use them outside of conventional means. Finally, if I can add one more piece to this- learn to resample your own material as soon as you get stuck. Take your entire 8 bar loop and resample it through some effects and bounce it. Play with warp modes and pitching and you’ll suddenly find you are building material that works in your music (because it’s an amalgamation of your original work). Just my two cents, thanks for the content.
What you said about perfectionism is great advice. Songwriting is knowing how to balance the performer’s mind with the listener’s ear. There is a point where you have to step away and declare something as finished to truly hear how it sounds to an outsider. If you don’t step away you are always hearing it with the same ears and thinking with the same mindset, which comprises your long term growth. Over time you do get better about that innate feeling of something being “finished” but it takes time. And putting out rough mixes sometimes is the only way to begin to define what finished means to you.
Thanks from Aberdeen Scotland, first video I've seen of yours and well thanks! you have pointed out one important (for me at least) peice of advice that has been informative and helpful for me as a novice in recording editing or to sum it up polishing my turds- having a structured step by step check list, a plan persé, keeping the process which can be(most if not all of the time) very time consuming, it's helpful to know there's a general rule of thumb check list rather than one size fits all as you may know not all genres of music have only one applyable and exact science way of processing manually, therefore make a check list and keep it as simple as possible and if the project is not as complete or more like.. what's the word- visceral as can be then from that simple check list it'll be easier to know the most important parts of the process are already checked ✔️ done then adding or replacing effects or instruments or samples via plug ins can be added quite easily there onwards from that point of reference. I do have one request for advice if you may bro- EQ adjustments, my presets suck, or my recordings suck either way I'd love to hear how to properly approach setting EQs and how to approach doing so for instruments like drums and guitar both electric guitar. My equipment- im currently experimenting mic recording an older vox tube amp with condenser mic with focusrite scarlett 2i2 3rd gen audio interface and USB from Marshall code 50 modelling amp directly to audacity daw on laptop. Any advice would be much appreciated, also all your advice on this one and only tutorial vid of yours (s'far) I've watched- thanks again been very helpful 👍
Another twist you can add to the «export your track to make it more tangible» thing is to make an alternate version by duplicating the project file, and then work on it with the intention of making a finished track but without the pressure of making it good enough for release. Use those cheesy techniques and sounds you usually avoid, dont give a shit about perfecting the mix, dont try to impress anyone, blatantly copy or steal from other songs, you could even paste in an entire part like a drop, build, breakdown or whatever and use in between your own ones, whatever it takes to make the arrangement and outline of a full track. That might give you the inspiration you need to figure out what you could do after the drop, maybe you ended up using a sound that didnt really fit right, but that sound might inspire you to change all the other sounds around it and you’ve made a new part that works. I often find it a lot easier to fix something thats there than to create something from scratch. Kinda like how you’re easily able to give feedback and critique to other producers, but get stuck trying to find out how to fix your own. So in effect you basically just make a complete song, and treat it like someone else’s, which should be easy considering its probably gonna end up sounding different than what you’d normally make
This was a great video. I’ve been producing for 5 years now and I can’t finish songs because I get to picky. I’ve done most of these tips and they help so it’s cool to see others approach creation in the same way.
as an artist, the getting stuck thing reminds me of having an artblock. What i usually do to avoid getting stuck is roughly sketching the whole composition and main elements and then working my way through to the details. Like having a rough idea how to place the proportions is like a thousand times better than drawing a perfect eye but messing up the placement/relation to the other parts of the face. (also known as the notorious second eye phenomenon) You have to kinda have an overview/idea of the whole thing before you pin yourself down.
One of major reasons why I have 7 projects I want to finish, work on from time to time is I can't come up with melodies. Maybe because I can't find the base sounds that could inspire me. One thing that helps me get more done when I'm sort of tired of one particular project is to close it, take a break from making music (a short walk does just fine) and open up a different project - even idea that I didn't like much when first making can sound good when given opportunity. Great video! Thanks a lot for the tips!
ive banged out 3 songs in 1 nite with loops? its writing guitar n bass that takes a while. sometimes a song will be years in the making or 5 minutes. just keep creating.🤘🏻🍻
currently stuck in a loop because i cant add other layers, but maybe if i aproach it diferently and began to make it move i can add what it needs and build a full track
Been producing for 8 years and still deal with the loop issue quite often, probably 3/4 songs I do that lmao😂 I love your method tho imma start using that, I think it’ll help me make a good song start that gives me inspiration to finish it when I go back to it
I have hundreds of unfinished tracks and about half are loops but I dont really bother Me when a track gets finished, I put a bass down and finished a track I started in 2007. Sounds good, some tracks get finished in a cupple hours or less, just the way it is.
In my teens and early 20's I pumped out tracks, had endless joy sitting and crafting sounds, never really felt like they were finished but looking back I love my old ideas. Been in a rut for about a year now and come to hate everything and never finishing tracks. Looking for some ideas here :p
One thing that’s helped me finish tracks is using drum tracks. Not drum loops, drum TRACKS. Full length drum tracks with intros, verse, bridge and chorus sections serves as a starting point where I can fill out the other sections of the song and I already have a “template” that I’m following. Drumdrops has drum stem packs in different genres that I use. You can later decide to keep it in the mix or create your own drum track if you’re a purist but now you have all the other parts filled out
If you wanna finish your tracks: Force yourself to write a track in 1-2 hours. Try this for a week. Youll be surprised! It works better ithink because your brain gets trained to hear more possibilities. And you wont loose the creative flow momentum in that timespan! 👍
I find I have the most success at finishing songs when I take the first element that I create (whether it's a chord progression or melody) and make it the middle of the song and work my way out in both directions from the middle.
Notion is the best! I have a kanban setup for all my music and each "card" has these checklists on the template for them, so I have a ready-to-go template and checklist for each project I start.
My problem is I get the track mostly done, but I'm terrible at doing intros, so as soon as I get stuck on an intro, I just start another track. My second problem is that I always feel like there's too much empty space around the mid to higher frequencies. Infiltrator has been a huge help with that second problem, though I don't want to fall into a trap where I'm just using it as a band-aid.
Very helpful video! But I did feel like there wasn't enough of a positive emphasis put on the value of trying to make a habit out of "getting started". My general workflow is that i make 1 or 2 tracks each week that im proud of. and 5 projects that never become more than an idea. Why I wouldn't approach this as something to fix is because I feel like you will develop on all fronts by doing this. One day you get stuck on a loop but you start thinking of different approaches, another day you can't even get started cuz you feel like you can't find good samples. so you start to curate your library a bit. Or maybe you learn something fun with automation or a plugin in a fruitless 8 bar loop. But now you've added to your skillset. I feel like this is the way to go when you're a beginner in music production. Everyone needs these walls to run into (maybe over and over) to actually get motivated to improve. You wont truly see the value in currating samples for 5 hours until you've gotten frustrated a couple times over not finding what you need. But when you learn these things you'll never go back. My advice to any beginner, Try to spend as many hours as you can in your daw. its hard to tell someone "how to make good music" but if you can get to the point of being good enough to identify exactly what you don't understand (eq'ing, sound design, automation etc etc) that's when the giant "making good music" wall can be broken down into smaller roadblocks :) Anyone who wants to learn 1 specific thing about music can learn it. before you master some skills like that don't even think about making "good music"
This was not only helpful with my production approach but also my over all life and mentality in general. much appreciated. I’m going to recommend this video to my music buds.
Not really struggled with the "loop trap" as I've always listened to quite diverse music with changes/ebbs and flows etc... any tips of "reducing songs to beats"? 14min tracks/2min intros are great - once you've actually built an audience...
watching You tube videos like this is also a factor in distracting from actually do the music but do have the expectation that ultimate knowledge saves time
Finishing a track is simple, you have many options. For starters, perhaps a I chord, or a picardy third if your in minor. Or perhaps take the Hip Hip mixtape approach and abuptly cut to the sound of a bomb (Ala Funkmaster Flex) or the classic Mixtape Airhorn. Please for the love of god do not fade out. Me personally, I like to have a echoed reverb tail slowly die out.
It has taking me 10 years before one of my song until it is what I have today. Another song was wrote back in 89. And then it was not until now. That I've recorded it and finished it. And music Iis a feel.
ok I am firmly in the loop trap, but also I export what I've done to check how it will sound, and then loop that some more, so I basically accelerate me being absolutely sick of working on it. so be careful with exporting too
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First of all, thank you EDMProd. This video was super helpful for me. I've been in an awful bout of writer's block recently and felt like I was just starting at 30+ projects with no sense of completion. This vid has given me a few ideas for how to conquer this. :)
And, if I may offer my own tip for any other beginners out there, or people who feel stuck. For finishing songs or at least getting an idea of HOW artists finish theirs, try this: open your DAW and throw in a track in the same genre as the track you're making. Get the bpm of this reference track and line it up in your DAW.
First, listen through the reference track. As you are listening, create a track for each new element you hear in the song (kick, snare, hi hat, shakers, synth pads, synth stabs, bass, synth leads, fx, EVERYTHING unique) and name each track created. After that, arrange the tracks in whatever makes logical sense to you (drum elements together, synths together, etc.). Now, you could stop here and try to make your own song just out of the tracks listed.
OR you can try this next step, and this bit may take you longer - listen through the track again, but this time make midi regions that line up with the instruments in the song. Whenever you hear the bass playing, for example, make a MIDI region that lines up with it. Make sure to cut the midi region whenever the element isn't in. I would also make a note somewhere for any sections in the song that appear to have a change in the chord progression (likely the bridge of the song will have this).
Now with a complete arrangement and song structure, you can do one of three things: try to recreate the reference track to the best of your ability, write your own new song with the structure, or insert one of your existing loops/ideas into the structure. If you do one of the latter two, you'll already have visible markers for the dynamic, gradual changes over time, etc. that Aden is talking about in this video.
As they say, good artists borrow, great artists steal. Now, you don't have to keep doing this 100 times to get good at finishing songs. Just do it enough that you start to understand how to implement structure to your own loops so that you can get your own songs out faster. Strongly recommend following the advice in this video as well - but this tip has helped me a lot in my own music production.
I’ve started almost 100 projects and finished less than 10 since I started garage band in April
Me too 😔
The mentors I have call that the "Arrangement Exercise" and has been a big part of progressing as a producer as it's great for honing your critical listening skills, getting familiar with song structures/arrangements and understanding how much (or little) goes into any particular song. Doing this exercise to a wide variety of tracks can give you a bunch of practice along with a bunch of templates you can bring into projects to quickly arrange out your idea. (Having markers and the MIDI clips in place instead of just the number of sounds you hear as tracks does take extra time, but then you have a template you can use over and over).
This is a great exercise and just wanted to +1 on your comment/recommendation
@@ABunnyVTuber awesome thought process!
This!^^ this is solid advice
I have 500 half finished songs. All I do is load the song, play a section of it, dance round my room as if I’m playing out to a crowd of thousands and then close the song, open the next one and repeat.
Just copy and paste the whole loop up to 120-160 measures, delete parts out of some tracks, (especially at the start) then change a few things here and there...and you got ambient electronica, lol. Sometimes people just want to listen to ambient tracks where there's no much change, just a subtle variation, taking away notes in a sequence or adding more, also changing the timbre.
Hope you can fix all those unfinished songs...I know it's a big problem. I myself have a problem with mixing, it sucks when it just doesn't sound clean, nice, and well compressed, EQ-d.
😆 I do the same. Got a whole vault of unfinished demos
haha I love it, you know what, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you're happy, it makes you happy, then I love it.
i gonna go delete any loop that sound clean of can progress from later today i finally found balance to make good music. My mixing skills have improved and melodies are there too. But sometime you can get away with simple track.
It's called "composing a mobile phone ringing melody". 🙂
My best remedy for this problem is: limit yourself to two instrument and set out a structure first (verse, chorus etc...) do not do anything else before you have finished that. You can bring detail to structure, but it's much harder to bring structure to detail, that's the problem in a nutshell. When you start doodling around in these immense libraries we have today, you are leaking decision energy and end up with nothing. It's a bit like opening a dictionary hoping it will inspire you to write a book. I try to focus on the idea first and later fill it in.
Haha! Love it!
Great tip and beautifully said (typed)
This was my exact problem for years.
Analysis paralysis. Sometimes when you have so many choices you can't decide so you end up doing nothing.
🔥👏
0:41 "that's me, i struggle with finishing"
...the enthusiasm is remarkable
Bonus Tip: Use a reference track during your arrangement session and literally just try to match all sections with it (intro, hook, break etc.). In that way you'll get a sense of what your track should look and sound like as a finished product.
Thank me later.
Been meaning to try this! I think rickytunes did a dope video on that process.
Been doing this and it works magic. You'd be done with the beat before you realize what's going on.
Once I started doing that, It gave me more room to mess around with where to place the arrangement, good point
yeah I mean unless you wanna actually be creative about your songwriting and arrangement
@@darkskinwhite I feel like this method is more of a training wheel to get to learn or get familiar with the beat making tools.
I had been struggling with making music. The Loop gap and the perfectionist gap was my drawback, even though I have been producing for 4 years. I always had a habit of opening an empty FL project, make a loop, and straight up get depressed for not making it in the way how my favorite producers make.
Thanks a lot for your solution , this is really helpful.
Really glad it helped! :)
Same. This video is super helpful.
Yeah, I think recreating tracks can be a good way to learn. Copying people can be a good way to see methods other producers use for making music, and you can use those methods or similar methods in your own music.
I practiced every day
Sooo relatable
This is good, thanks. As for changing your view of your music, just export it to a high-quality MP3 format, put it somewhere on your phone (I post it to "note to self" on signal), and then I listen to it outside of my studio. Ear buds at the gym; car speakers in the car; send it (or the important loop) to a friend. But, there's no excuse for listening only in your studio on your monitors or your headphones there. You will get ideas from external listening that you wouldn't get otherwise. And you'll start to calibrate your ears so that you know how to make up for the deficiencies in your studio monitoring setup. All this said, don't listen *too* much without making changes and repeating the process. There's a danger that you'll start to convince yourself that it's fine. :) Always, if possible, listen to your music sandwiched between two professional tracks. :)
Refrence track, if your making Lofi how does it sound next to other lofi beats made by someone more successful? If I'm making a DnB tune, how does it sound next to a cupple Pendulum track? Does it fit in a mix? Does your track bass and EQ sound similar? If it's all Yes then it's time to find trusted friends who will give you honest feedback.
🔥
I work backwards from most people. I compose and do the majority of mixing in mono on crappy macbook speakers, _then_ I move to my Neumann KH120a's and KRK monitors after. I find it a lot faster to get translatable mixes that way.
Good tips!
Good one, I totally relate. I got an mp3 folder synced with google drive automatically and then can access my wip songs everywhere.just an idea on how to maybe simplify the process :)
I really want to thank you, you don't even know I much it hurts me to feel stuck in the process, this is so comforting, I needed to hear that.
I almost felt like I should gave up on producing.. so I took a loooong break to avoid it for a while and get rid of all that frustration.
Now that I feel like I want to go back to my projects, this video is giving me the strength I needed 💪🏽
Thank you for this video, I'm sure it'll help many other people
I find that the best way to finish songs is to get all of the chords and vocals worked out on the guitar before I ever touch a sequencer or do any recording. The act of having to play it and sing it at the same time enforces some song structure and flow that doesn't always come naturally when starting arrangements on the computer.
After I have a complete song that I can play, then I record it in the sequencer, and start adding synths and moving stuff around as necessary. But because the core is a complete song, I don't get lost in the loop.
Good tip. you don't want to get stuck in the details.
at this point in my production "career" or "journey" or whatever you wanna call it, the arrangement often starts right away. it's been a long time since I found myself with just a good loop that idk what to do with. you have reminded me how far I have come, thankyou lol
EDMProd definitely needs to do the Song Finishing Accelerator course again in the future! I wanted to sign up, but we were moving across the country at the time, Next time!
Dont evn make edm, but stumbled on ur page accidentally.... Had to sub!!! Salute!!!!!
the exporting trick is huge. gives you a lot of clarity on elements that maybe didn't need to be there, or even things you hear can be added in; definitely helps to see it from a different perspective.
Exporting and listening to your track in a totally different environment like for example in your car or with a different pair of headphones can also be very beneficial for discovering elements of your track that may need some tweaking and it can also give you additional incentives to finish that track.
I thought everyone does this.
I mix in monitor head phone then I listen on studio monitor then put on apple buds then my car. If it sounds the same on all then your done.
This was really needed. Thank you very much for these tips
I get stuck all the time. I've started to just put together my own sample/loop/midi library as apposed to just abandoning the project. This way you can go through things you've made when you're stuck.
Thanks to this man! I appreciate you. You're just in the right time.
Been experiencing minor breakdowns these past days because of overthinking my first music project. I can say that it is really overwhelming and the same time chaotic to "finish" a "perfect" music/song.
New subscriber here!
GREAT VIDEO BREV
I'm the perfectionist type. I've been working on an album since June 2018. I've recorded the guitars 3 times, I've remixed it dozens of times, endlessly tweaking, changing the virtual instruments I'm using, getting new plugins, etc. However, it's paid off. It sounds better than ever. I used to release an album or EP, and then a year or two later, hate the mix and want to redo it, which I did for a bunch of my music. I'm not touching them again though. But this album is the first album under a new name and I want to make a good first impression and I don't want to look back on it and think of how much better I could have done. Usually if I leave a song unfinished, it's because I don't like it, or it's so good that I just can't figure out what could follow it up. I sat on a section of a song for like a year before I finished it and it's one of my best songs.
That last point is so strange to me though. Being taught how to finish a song. I don't think it's something you can teach, it's something you feel. Maybe like in a paint by numbers sense you can teach how to write and finish a song, but I just go wherever my songs take me. If there's no bridge, if there's no second verse, it doesn't matter because it feels right. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
1) It's hard to create the music that you like so much it inspires you, there's a gap between what your current WIP sounds like and what you hoped it sounded like. I always have to remember "it doesn't sound that good because it's a WIP and missing a lot of elements to make it sound more full and complete". it's like you need a confidence that it will sound good when you have added all the elements it needs. 2) its hard to change the initial loop (like a barrier to change). i think there's a fear if you put in work to change it and progress the track that you will mess up the original idea or put work in that doesn't yield any better result. if you work on something and then it still sucks, its quite demotivating, lol. 3) loops happen organically most of the time, you just add sounds into a flow eventually the idea "appears" once you have added enough of the typical elements you know need to be there. after you have the loop now you have to actually think about the purpose of the loop and track, and its hard to come up with the idea of what the whole track will be (it doesn't happen as spontaneously as a loop). even if you have the idea you have to be good enough to execute it.
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Also a lot of songs you hear - have some major people on it - musicians or engineers with a lifetime of experience. You can't expect to make stuff on that level. Maybe with time and experience you can get closer.
I good reason is you will end up starting a track at 8 or 9 pm, be working on it for 4 hours, maybe even 6 and really love what you have going on, but you’re tired now and it’s already the next day. You wake up the next morning and you’re not on the same wavelength you were when you were 6 hours deep into the night anymore, sometimes the song doesn’t even sound good to you anymore, other times there’s just a disconnect. Best solution is to just pin that project in your mind to come back to at night again, rather than being so excited you have to start working on it the minute you wake up the next day
This is really helpful and kinda relieving, thanks! I'm a noob when it comes to production itself, decent in theory, comfortable with the piano and have always loved music just like nothing else really, no day without etc.
I've come to some conclusions about having a song structure (and maybe even a timer for every checkmark on your checklist, I've found it helps) and that I need to learn to have fun and accept it's gonna be crap, but the wealth of tips provided here is just next level. And because you describe the states of mind, I have no doubt this is preciselly what I needed.
Very cool, thank you and subbed.
Same I’m stuck on loops. I’m glad it’s common. Time for change
We have a saying in software architecture. "Perfection is the enemy of progress", which applies to many things including music production.
hold on a sec.........is THAT why most software sucks?
These are actually very good tips !
Thank you
A point on the "Perfectionism" trap... I did an online music production course a year or two ago and one of the things that chap showed was spending so much time tweaking the tracks. And yet, I've made and recorded music with a hardware groovebox and I've done none of that per-track tweaking. I never even put it through a mastering bus. And people still like it!
Thank you so much for this!
You have put into words exactly what I needed to hear.
Hit the nail on the head 😫 definitely been struggling with this for the last few weeks. I've tried a few of these strategies on my own and it's been helping. Especially exporting before I tell myself it's finished
This is a great video, concise and totally relatable. It’s had an immediate impact, thanks.
The iTunes trick sounds like a very good idea. I find that when I listen to my WIPs away from the context of the DAW I come up with more ideas for variation or possible creative additions.
Awesome video, man. I've been struggling with this for years; I can't progress because I get caught in the desire to make something perfect and/or I get stuck in the loop phase. This means a lot to me, gracias!
I like how this is a real practical advice that I can implement right away. Really great video I'm glad I stumbled upon.
Solid advice. I always make sure to stretch any idea out to 3 mins+ and export it. For one thing I come up with ideas while listening to the music away from the computer. Then I have a solid plan when I sit back down with it. Oh yeah, for a while i took my laptop whenever I took my kids to a class or something. I got more done in the 30 mins there using an on screen keyboard than I did with a few hours at home. Constraints are good.
I needed this! Thanks mate! 👌🤝
This is so gooood! i used the loop method to practice getting in my DAW every single day and getting out of my perfectionism loop. but then i started noticing i wasn't able to finish the other tracks i was working on and kept getting stuck! spreading out the loops and just thinking of it as a cohesive longer project is such a helpful mindset to use. Thanks so much!
THANK YOU! This make total sense. I'm excatly the same....loads of saved ideas and nothing finished.
Great tips!
To avoid the infamous looping trap, what I usually do is to load a reference track when I start a new song. After that I map all the parts like intro, chorus, verse before start creating my track. Then I just build the structure of the song, following the previous mapping.
I do like the mindset of the first three tips but I’d say for the last two- instead of buying plugins or sample packs reach out to an artist you look up to and spend that money on some instruction
They will likely be able to answer the struggles you can’t really search for on UA-cam.
The second thing is to watch as many start to finish courses as you can even if it’s outside your genre because it can bridge the gap of the choice paralysis we all run into.
I think the point about presets and vsts are definitely a quick fix for beginners but I’d be wary about the spend money to finish music mentality. Most of the first party plugins you have in a daw are all you need to make professional sounds; it’s just a pain in the rear to learn to use them outside of conventional means.
Finally, if I can add one more piece to this- learn to resample your own material as soon as you get stuck. Take your entire 8 bar loop and resample it through some effects and bounce it. Play with warp modes and pitching and you’ll suddenly find you are building material that works in your music (because it’s an amalgamation of your original work).
Just my two cents, thanks for the content.
Thank you 😄
this is a fantastic video. I don't have this problem lol but I still listened to the whole thing and think it's very helpful to new producers.
What you said about perfectionism is great advice. Songwriting is knowing how to balance the performer’s mind with the listener’s ear. There is a point where you have to step away and declare something as finished to truly hear how it sounds to an outsider. If you don’t step away you are always hearing it with the same ears and thinking with the same mindset, which comprises your long term growth.
Over time you do get better about that innate feeling of something being “finished” but it takes time. And putting out rough mixes sometimes is the only way to begin to define what finished means to you.
Thanks from Aberdeen Scotland, first video I've seen of yours and well thanks! you have pointed out one important (for me at least) peice of advice that has been informative and helpful for me as a novice in recording editing or to sum it up polishing my turds- having a structured step by step check list, a plan persé, keeping the process which can be(most if not all of the time) very time consuming, it's helpful to know there's a general rule of thumb check list rather than one size fits all as you may know not all genres of music have only one applyable and exact science way of processing manually, therefore make a check list and keep it as simple as possible and if the project is not as complete or more like.. what's the word- visceral as can be then from that simple check list it'll be easier to know the most important parts of the process are already checked ✔️ done then adding or replacing effects or instruments or samples via plug ins can be added quite easily there onwards from that point of reference.
I do have one request for advice if you may bro- EQ adjustments, my presets suck, or my recordings suck either way I'd love to hear how to properly approach setting EQs and how to approach doing so for instruments like drums and guitar both electric guitar. My equipment- im currently experimenting mic recording an older vox tube amp with condenser mic with focusrite scarlett 2i2 3rd gen audio interface and USB from Marshall code 50 modelling amp directly to audacity daw on laptop. Any advice would be much appreciated, also all your advice on this one and only tutorial vid of yours (s'far) I've watched- thanks again been very helpful 👍
Another twist you can add to the «export your track to make it more tangible» thing is to make an alternate version by duplicating the project file, and then work on it with the intention of making a finished track but without the pressure of making it good enough for release. Use those cheesy techniques and sounds you usually avoid, dont give a shit about perfecting the mix, dont try to impress anyone, blatantly copy or steal from other songs, you could even paste in an entire part like a drop, build, breakdown or whatever and use in between your own ones, whatever it takes to make the arrangement and outline of a full track.
That might give you the inspiration you need to figure out what you could do after the drop, maybe you ended up using a sound that didnt really fit right, but that sound might inspire you to change all the other sounds around it and you’ve made a new part that works.
I often find it a lot easier to fix something thats there than to create something from scratch. Kinda like how you’re easily able to give feedback and critique to other producers, but get stuck trying to find out how to fix your own.
So in effect you basically just make a complete song, and treat it like someone else’s, which should be easy considering its probably gonna end up sounding different than what you’d normally make
This was a great video. I’ve been producing for 5 years now and I can’t finish songs because I get to picky. I’ve done most of these tips and they help so it’s cool to see others approach creation in the same way.
as an artist, the getting stuck thing reminds me of having an artblock. What i usually do to avoid getting stuck is roughly sketching the whole composition and main elements and then working my way through to the details. Like having a rough idea how to place the proportions is like a thousand times better than drawing a perfect eye but messing up the placement/relation to the other parts of the face. (also known as the notorious second eye phenomenon)
You have to kinda have an overview/idea of the whole thing before you pin yourself down.
This is just what the doctor ordered! Thanks mate!
After several years into ableton and only coming to results I like very recently I can only say everything you said is pure honesty
One of major reasons why I have 7 projects I want to finish, work on from time to time is I can't come up with melodies. Maybe because I can't find the base sounds that could inspire me.
One thing that helps me get more done when I'm sort of tired of one particular project is to close it, take a break from making music (a short walk does just fine) and open up a different project - even idea that I didn't like much when first making can sound good when given opportunity.
Great video! Thanks a lot for the tips!
For melodies - start with fumbling around with chord tones whatever octaves, then add other passing notes. Hover around the root..
THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO BRO SUPER HELPFUL FELT LIKE YOU WERE SPEAKING DIRECTLY TO ME !!!
ive banged out 3 songs in 1 nite with loops? its writing guitar n bass that takes a while. sometimes a song will be years in the making or 5 minutes. just keep creating.🤘🏻🍻
Most helpful video with the most non talked about topic. Thank you for this Video.
currently stuck in a loop because i cant add other layers, but maybe if i aproach it diferently and began to make it move i can add what it needs and build a full track
lol the “just export” tip sounds so dumb but it really helps looking at projects as final files, even if they arent “final”
Been producing for 8 years and still deal with the loop issue quite often, probably 3/4 songs I do that lmao😂 I love your method tho imma start using that, I think it’ll help me make a good song start that gives me inspiration to finish it when I go back to it
This is such a great video I appreciate you giving these tools out for free :D how much is your Song Finishing Accelerator course?
i needed that video two years ago and i swear i would safe sooo much time
I have hundreds of unfinished tracks and about half are loops but I dont really bother Me when a track gets finished, I put a bass down and finished a track I started in 2007. Sounds good, some tracks get finished in a cupple hours or less, just the way it is.
In my teens and early 20's I pumped out tracks, had endless joy sitting and crafting sounds, never really felt like they were finished but looking back I love my old ideas. Been in a rut for about a year now and come to hate everything and never finishing tracks. Looking for some ideas here :p
One thing that’s helped me finish tracks is using drum tracks. Not drum loops, drum TRACKS. Full length drum tracks with intros, verse, bridge and chorus sections serves as a starting point where I can fill out the other sections of the song and I already have a “template” that I’m following. Drumdrops has drum stem packs in different genres that I use. You can later decide to keep it in the mix or create your own drum track if you’re a purist but now you have all the other parts filled out
This video is so helpful for us new beginner producing people! thank u!
Great video man very clearly put thanks :)
“Art is never finished, it’s abandoned”
Great perspective Love it!
don't skimp out sound design session - the practice of synthesizing from initial patch, find the sound, then save/
Never have I been called out so hard before. Thanks for the reminders, I basically fall into all of these at the same time
@ 5:00 WHAT IS THAT STYLE OF MUSIC. I've been meaning to make a track like it but idk what to look for
If you wanna finish your tracks: Force yourself to write a track in 1-2 hours. Try this for a week. Youll be surprised! It works better ithink because your brain gets trained to hear more possibilities. And you wont loose the creative flow momentum in that timespan! 👍
Sometimes going to make a different Kind of song helps you. Like move away from EDM and producing Dnb can help.
Damn man, your projects are all named good!!! Respect!
I find I have the most success at finishing songs when I take the first element that I create (whether it's a chord progression or melody) and make it the middle of the song and work my way out in both directions from the middle.
Awesome video, thanks man!
Notion is the best! I have a kanban setup for all my music and each "card" has these checklists on the template for them, so I have a ready-to-go template and checklist for each project I start.
this was a really good video, very helpful.
If you haven´t yet, could you make a clip about mastering ?
My problem is I get the track mostly done, but I'm terrible at doing intros, so as soon as I get stuck on an intro, I just start another track. My second problem is that I always feel like there's too much empty space around the mid to higher frequencies. Infiltrator has been a huge help with that second problem, though I don't want to fall into a trap where I'm just using it as a band-aid.
Very helpful video!
But I did feel like there wasn't enough of a positive emphasis put on the value of trying to make a habit out of "getting started".
My general workflow is that i make 1 or 2 tracks each week that im proud of. and 5 projects that never become more than an idea. Why I wouldn't approach this as something to fix is because I feel like you will develop on all fronts by doing this.
One day you get stuck on a loop but you start thinking of different approaches, another day you can't even get started cuz you feel like you can't find good samples. so you start to curate your library a bit. Or maybe you learn something fun with automation or a plugin in a fruitless 8 bar loop. But now you've added to your skillset.
I feel like this is the way to go when you're a beginner in music production. Everyone needs these walls to run into (maybe over and over) to actually get motivated to improve. You wont truly see the value in currating samples for 5 hours until you've gotten frustrated a couple times over not finding what you need. But when you learn these things you'll never go back.
My advice to any beginner, Try to spend as many hours as you can in your daw. its hard to tell someone "how to make good music" but if you can get to the point of being good enough to identify exactly what you don't understand (eq'ing, sound design, automation etc etc) that's when the giant "making good music" wall can be broken down into smaller roadblocks :)
Anyone who wants to learn 1 specific thing about music can learn it. before you master some skills like that don't even think about making "good music"
This was not only helpful with my production approach but also my over all life and mentality in general. much appreciated. I’m going to recommend this video to my music buds.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that spells "Bus" with 2 S's more times then I'd like to admit
Not liking the finished product is sometimes part of finishing the project. In the tree, part of the tree. Very simple.
Great advice applicable to anyone who makes music. THANK YOU!!
Great video !!!
Not really struggled with the "loop trap" as I've always listened to quite diverse music with changes/ebbs and flows etc... any tips of "reducing songs to beats"?
14min tracks/2min intros are great - once you've actually built an audience...
delete sections and adjust the transitions, which should be no problem for you since it seems you are used to thinking more broadly about the project
"Make your own kind of music. Sing your own special song. Make your own kind of music. Even if no one sings along." - Mama Cass ❤️🔥
Great vid!! Cheers
I got into production with loop pedals so I'm really stuck. I need a pedal that can switch between multiple loop banks
Love this, thanks team :)
watching You tube videos like this is also a factor in distracting from actually do the music but do have the expectation that ultimate knowledge saves time
thanks a lot you help me so much!!!
Finishing a track is simple, you have many options. For starters, perhaps a I chord, or a picardy third if your in minor. Or perhaps take the Hip Hip mixtape approach and abuptly cut to the sound of a bomb (Ala Funkmaster Flex) or the classic Mixtape Airhorn. Please for the love of god do not fade out.
Me personally, I like to have a echoed reverb tail slowly die out.
It has taking me 10 years before one of my song until it is what I have today. Another song was wrote back in 89. And then it was not until now. That I've recorded it and finished it. And music Iis a feel.
No. 1 reason I don't finish music: I have written the lyrics for the chorus and 2 verses, but I still need a 3rd verse and my mind just goes blank.
Good tips to get out of the rut
The guy on UA-cam said so! 🤣🤣😆😅😂
Underrated video
ok I am firmly in the loop trap, but also I export what I've done to check how it will sound, and then loop that some more, so I basically accelerate me being absolutely sick of working on it. so be careful with exporting too
Is your chair the Markus?
Finally a good tutorial on this topic. 😊
Amazing
Thank you 😮💨
The only problem that I have is that I live with 6 people in a 3 bedrooms apartment they are so loud that I can’t finish my vocals recording.😭😭
Love this!
i write all my music in my head before I loop it, i typically only loop it to play over and over when im ready in the mixing phase