Since you've sworn off UA-cam tutorials, try this handy (free) eBook containing my favorite Compositional Concepts that have helped me make more music over the last couple decades. bit.ly/FREEcompositionguide *disclaimer: this eBook is just as worthless as a UA-cam tutorial if you never put it down and actually start trying stuff on your own :)
Yes. This is the kind of thing I need to find the most succinct way of saying and get it tattooed on my forearm. Another thing that has helped me finish my first two tracks so far was telling everyone even moderately close to me what due date I had given myself (and encouraged them to bug me about it as the time got closer). That kind of public accountability always puts the fire under me, even if I know they won’t really care if I don’t finish by that date and there won’t be any “real” consequences. My brain is very good at filling in the feeling of imminent consequence. Advantage of being a chronic people-pleaser, I guess: you feel like you’ll let someone down even if that person is only yourself…
My favourite fable is the art teacher who took half the class and said to make a flower pot every day for a month, and the other half had to make 1 perfect pot and spend all month on it. The half that did a new pot each day had way better pots.
Also worth noting... The stuff you do early on is probably gonna suck. Doesn't matter. Keep creating. Most things worth doing take time to get good at. Embrace the suck
Yes, this!!! "what are you going to do with all them ducks when they are finally in a row" - Seth Godin" stop lining 'em up, stop theory crafting, get started.
Another way to think about it is to do what painters and illustrators do: keep and use a sketchbook. While I don't do this consistently, I make "sketches" - or what can be called "demos" - where it's just a simple recording of me playing something that "catches my ear". They often come about whenever I go through my various instruments, either auditioning sounds or figuring out how the instrument works. These are never meant to be final recordings in of themselves (though sometimes that has been the case), but they do often spin-off into a final work. This "sketchbook" approach is also equivalent to a ritual/exercise writers can do where you write every day, either a certain number of words or for a certain length of time. The aim is still the same.
Yes. That is key - grabbing snippets of inspiration when they come. I do that with song lyrics and musical ideas. The part I struggle with is pushing everything thing else aside to turn the snippets into a finished work.
@@NeuroPetehaha yep same. I’ve got tons of rhythmic, melodic, and even a few bassline sketches. From my instruments, or just my mouth when I’m out and about and get an idea. But going back and finishing them… With my visual art I only ink maybe 1 in 10 sketches, the ones that “need finishing” usually jump out at me and make themselves known. So I was thinking I just needed to do way more musical sketches until they “jumped out at me” in the same way. But now I’m thinking I’ll need to force myself to do at least a few full tracks before I get a proper sense for what needs finishing and what doesn’t. Which makes sense, after all I had to ink and colour everything for a few years to get the sense of which ones looked better as sketches.
Thats true with many aspects of life Sometimes i feel like people on social media watch other people having lifes they could have on their own if they just stopped watching them
A quote that has really stuck with me and that this video reminds me of: “Quality beats quantity. But quality quantity beats quality. But in order to get quality, you need quantity. That’s the irony”
I think that some variation of pareto principle holds very well when it comes to this topic, make 100 songs and maybe 20 of those are quality products. This is my personal experience over the years.
Yeah. Since I've decided to go down this path professionally, I tried stuff like: making an entire song (one with lyrics) from scratch, including arrangement, recording, mixing...end product in just 24 hours. I found out I can do that. Just because I want it and put myself into workflow by time pressure.
I’ve been hearing this so much everywhere and I’m glad you’ve reaffirmed it. I’m so tired of watching tutorials and ready to have experiences again. Experiences through the shit I create
You hit this topic right as I have realized it myself. I have spent so much time pouring over the internet to find the "right way" to think about music theory, DAWs, and the creative process. None of those countless hours matter when I am producing music because no tutorial is going to truly experience for my brain. I have to find out where I am short myself, focus those areas, and walk the path myself.
This hits home. There are times I catch myself making the music my subscribers want to hear rather than capturing that thing that inspires me in that moment. Then I get into my head which leads to overthinking things.
I've been wanting to learn how to produce for over a decade, feels impossible for me to learn it all on my own (adhd go brrr) and I can not afford the courses I see offered throughout the years in general. (even fl studio will be a few months of saving up) Keep beating myself for not getting the ball rolling (would mess around in a free daw, but get upset at it being bad despite me being completely new to this, spend hours on tutorials and just get more lost) but this advice helps, just need to figure out proper resources for the foundations and CREATE. Perfectionism is the beast I need to defeat. Edit: Just noticed the links in the description! Thank you for providing free resources.
100% solid advice. I think watching tutorials instead of doing falls into the same bucket as buying gear instead of using it to make music. As the saying goes "create more than you consume". Your soul will feel far more satiated. Thanks for your thoughtful videos. 🙏
As someone who is looking to do a soft relaunch of their own channel and return to creating more music and achieving a healthy sustainable balance I really needed this video, thank you!
Ditto! I decided to make a melody and chord progression recently. I thought it sounded pretty good. But I asked myself, what if I could do better? So I tried again a couple of times. Boy, was I amazed... Having reinvested my time this way, the structure and arrangement of my music came together much, much smoother. I believe it is because the main thematic and melodic ideas were solid enough to build upon, such as a foundation. Keep philosophizing!
Reminds me of how it’s usually better to just redraw a line, even 100 times, than to try and perfectly select and skew, warp, and stretch it to look how you’d imagined. Problem is, I know how to apply that to composition or execution of a specific melodic idea on a specific instrument… just like with visual art they’re pretty quick to do each time even if you spend 10-20 minutes on the total effort. But I’m not sure what the equivalent would be for a whole DAW project 😅
When I was young I was told not be afraid of failing, that’s just the part of the whole process. If you were meant to fail, good job, you are already moving forward. Another thing is that many people tend to stop.
Finally! A tutorial for how to not watch tutorials. I've watched it several times already but don't understand all the steps. With some hard work and dedication, I will get there! 😁
Oh wow lolol The title made me laugh loudly. Thanks for that. Didn't watch the video because I'm busy making music right now, but appreciate the laugh so cheers!!
Hi Jameson, I REALLY like your calm honest style. We are a lot of Independent artist trapped in between excitement and hopelessness being overwhelmed about all the fantastic possibilities, strategies, hacks and commitments. For me your channel that I just discovered has given me some comfort in the process - and now I will head over and continue my practice routine. All the best to you from New Zealand, Mads
UA-cam is the greatest tool to procrastinate. As an independent artist I use it to see how much better other artists are and over analyze my own music. So thanks again. I am going to watch this everyday at the beginning of my daily jam sessions.
One thing that can stall a beginner is finding a process, especially how the process begins. Some start with the drums, some find a sample that inspires them, and some will start by building a chord progression. If your starting point doesn't work for you creatively, it won't be a solid foundation to build upon, and everyone's starting point is different. In my experience, a lot of the early suck comes from experimenting with different creative processes and the hardest part is finding that initial jumping-off point.
I find the opposite - it's very natural to get a nice loop / jam / sketch going (whenever inspiration strikes), but stall when it comes to finishing it off in to a complete track...
@@G.Man- Sure, I think we all develop a start point to the process after some experimentation, but with so many possibilities, a beginner can take a while to find what works for them. I tend to use the saturation method for expanding a loop into a full track. I just keep adding sounds and variations on the theme to the loop until it's a wall of sound that all fits together but is too much all at once. I'll then group together tracks that work well together and spread the groups across the timeline, making sure to overlap them or create transitions to lead from one part into the next. Make an intro and an outro using 1 or 2 melodic tracks and and you're pretty much done.
Wise words-thank you! I'd just add that it can go the other way too sometimes. I stopped making UA-cam music tutorials for the past two months, and my creative productivity has skyrocketed. (On the other hand, there was a time when making the videos also boosted it, as it focused my attention on certain aspects of music and made me explore and hone my skills with them more than I would have otherwise. But then it became too much a center of focus and thus a distraction. Man, this stuff complicated...)
I set myself with some gear... and a weekly show. For the most part of the show I just live mix some ambient music... but then I decided to do a small step up and offer a small (10 to 20 minutes out of the two hours the show lasts) semi-improvised live music. It gives me a week to prepare a set list, and then, prepare the loops, patterns and sounds I will use to play two different songs. And yes, I have made a lot more music, some are just... well, listenable. Others, I want to go, record the tracks and make a full song. So yeah, it works: Go and make music.
Excellent advice. Thank you! Although my experience in all fields shows that, on the grand scale, the artist is not the best judge of their own work and how it is received, however, on a daily basis, exploring ideas, getting over the terror of the blank canvas and learning to differentiate the more promising parts of what we do will ultimately result in work that we can feel some pride in. Not making that mark or that sound results in nothing at all. All the songs you never wrote come out that way.
I'm in a state where I feel completely empty at the moment - like I have absolutely nothing to add to whatever I have done before. I know from experience it's just a phase and it too will pass, but for now I'll just watch another tutorial thank you very much.
I remember watching a video about how prolific Mozart was, and it inspired me to just make as much stuff as possible, just like you're describing here. I did this 2018. So much creativity came out of those sessions that it sort of snowballed into 2 or 3 albums worth of material that is culminating in a huge project that should finally be done this year.
I watched UA-cam tutorials for 3 years learning my DAW and the craft of being a mix engineer/recording engineer.....and in my 4th year I recorded my first album and then another band. I did need to know how to record, but the REAL things I needed to learn came AFTER I hit the record button, not before. You are NOT the only idiot here. I am proof of that. :D
As some one who is intentionally putting off music production until the next year. Because of wanting to pursue other skills. I found your video as the best first step when i inevitably jump into music in the future. Also found a connection between your advice to my passion of learning drawing. So in conclusion great video
You are right. Some might call it "Get things done". I try to finish any song I am working on. It doesn't matter how "good" it is in the first place. It is important to complete the journey during the song. In a second step, I spice the song up. Some might call it "Mastering", but I won't ever call me a mastering engineer. And so, the actual song grows and grows. And suddenly, it's ready to release. But I won't play the Social Media game. We all spend more than enough time on those platforms. Sometimes the people like what I do, sometimes not. That's life. But as long as I am happy with my song, I won't give a dime on algorithms and stuff.
This made me think about how with my visual art, I looked at exactly one colour theory tutorial and then just… drew, and drew, and drew. I’ll see tips and tricks now and then, but I’m not seeking out image composition tutorials etc. (Though I am making use of photography composition lessons I learned 15 years ago.) Heck, I already was doing that when it came to playing my instruments. I needed a more scattered and varied introduction to music theory from various angles, but I’ve got enough of that now to get going too. I should just do the same with my music production. It’s just so easy to get tunnel vision on one DAW project, instead of doing a dozen little things like I do with my visual art or my live playing. But clearly, watching various videos about people’s process isn’t helping me get closer. Only so many times you can watch “I do the beat, then the melody, then the bass”; “well I do the bass, then the melody, then the beat!” before it stops being illuminating or inspiring or even interesting. I don’t even have writers block on specific elements. I’ve got a ton of melodic and rhythmic sketches I’ve done over the last few years. I’ve been thinking this was an inertia thing, to overcome by building-up enough momentum and just bashing out all the tracks I’ve got planned and sketched and so on. Maybe it’s actually a psychological thing, where the permanence turns me into a perfectionist. I did have that problem with my visual art as well, until I threw away digital tools and focused on my sketchbook. After a couple of years I was able to come back to digital art tools with a sketchbook mindset, so rather than constantly tweaking the first line I’d just do ten more and so on. I hope I don’t need the equivalent of a paper sketchbook, a PortaStudio with re-recording bounced layered tracks, to also gain that mindset when it comes to working with audio.
Jason Timothy would approve this message. He would like your Mental Game. Quantity > Quality. Ready, Fire, Aim. 15 minutes a day at least. "I don't feel like it" means to do it. Bound to Divide in his 8 hour Ableton lesson just says do everything he does.
I've found this to be true too, but the hardest part was actually getting myself to do the thing regularly. Something I found that really helped was giving myself small, approachable creative exercises that I could do in about 15 minutes every day. For instance, for lyric writing, I found one where you just use a random word generator to spit out 5 random nouns and 5 random emotions, and then you just pick one from each list and write a metaphor using them together. Or another one where you take a random noun, use a rhyme dictionary to find a word that rhymes with it but that you wouldn't normally associate with the original word, and then try to write a few lines of poetry around that rhyme. I think the fact that the exercise uses random words kinda separates it from your ego a little bit, which makes it easier to practice quieting that inner critic and just do anything, even if it's not "good" because it doesn't feel precious to you.
You resonated with me when you said that you had researched all about creating videos… but you weren’t creating videos… I understand all about mid/side eq and how to unmask frequencies, but I don’t produce any music. You have made me question “what am I actually doing?” That’s a good thing btw Much thanks buddy
Repetition is key with one caveat. In my days of mastering the art of playing the piano, I had a teacher, a mentor, who would guide that repetition and help me improve at least marginally over each next iteration. Without a guide, one can tread the same circular path ad infinitum, like my amateur piano player neighbor, who kept playing Motzart's Turkish march for 20 years with the same mistakes every time. I don't know where to find such guidance in the production of music. YT only gets you so far.
forums, anyone interested in the styles you losely aim for ans seems to have a good ear. a musician friend or even another one lookig for mutual feedback (trade your feedback on your respective works), a local art group...
even yourself : listen back to your stuff from a distance with an alaytical ear : what do you like, dont like, does it seems close to another piece or artist ? why ? is it close to what you remember you were aiming for ? why ? why not ? then you can also be more focused on working or even seeking the right teacher or mentor for some aspect
yep i've made over 100+ tracks over the last 2 years and eventually i made some stuff that didínt suck completely . it still crap but it's getting better
People fail to realize that even though practice can help, knowing if you're practicing correctly is what will make you improve quicker. Saying, "Practice," or "Get good," doesn't tell you what you're doing wrong and what you're doing correctly.
During COVID, i went to work at a meat market since everything else was closed, I knew nothing about cutting or anything related to it. 4 years later I'm a professional certified meat cutter. The moral of the story, I never thought I would ever be the thing I imagined going in and ended up doing so by doing it every day learning from my mistakes.
Nailed it. Also sometimes you get good at something by accident, just because life made you do a lot of it for some reasons...( ofc it's also because of you xD )
i use tutorials as my ear rest time. nothing resets your ears and gets you excited to work on actual music like listening to someone talk about compression for hours
Maybe I learn differently but watching a UA-cam video does give me ideas what I could try out, I do learn some techniques that I never knew and seeing some stuff does make me want to try it myself and it motivates me. Then again, I am not a professional musician which means I can take my time and do whatever I want. I needn't make a song every day. I'd get better at making music, for sure. But I'd probably miss out on something else, be it my GF or a sunny day or an afternoon nap. Who cares? 😉
Yep. I noticed that after I started to take actual paid music making courses (including a composition course and a synthesizer course from some dude called Jameson Nathan Jones) , my productions have grinded to a halt even though I try to actively utilize the learning from the courses. I mean, I'm learning a lot from all the courses, but still...
Totally get it. I think it takes both: continuing to pursue knowledge/new ideas, paired with actively experimenting with how you can use that knowledge in your own way (by making stuff). It's easy to get stuck in the "researching" phase.
The first tutorial I ever watched was an abelton 10 tutorial. Its time length was a few hours divided into 2 parts. I watched the first 20 minutes before turning it off to never watch it again. That was 5 years ago…. Today I watch tutorials on the basics when receiving a new piece of gear to learn about certain functions. I’ve NEVER watched video telling me how to make the actual music that “I” want to make because that info’s already flowing through my veins, Even THIS video was stoped at the 3 second mark to drop this comment and after I press the send arrow I again will turn this video and my phone off to go create More of the Music that I’m inspired to make, am I influenced by others? Of course I’m sure ! But it comes in the form of inspiration and even those inspirations are from every single thing around me as I live day by grateful day. Hence the reason I don’t use samples but that’s another topic. Thank you @JamesonNathanJones For bringing this up and saying whatever it is you’re about to share with everyone because this really needs to be discussed more. Everyone, Allow your Heart and Soul to be your greatest tutor. 0:03
I always say education is useless if it is not applied. Therefore, like you said, experience is the best teacher. At least when it comes to music making. 😅
I made music and in my twenties stopped because of work, life, family, time etc...I'm in my fifties now and last month I decided that I wanted to start making music again. Which leads me to your video and needing to stop watching tutorials. It's a difficult balance for me because 30 years ago, there was no DAW and plug ins. So I need to watch tutorials but your video comes at a time where I'm noticing that it's all I'm doing...watching tutorials...Being kind of a perfectionist is not helping either. I need to go back to the playing now otherwise I'll still be listening to classes in 6 months. Time has passed, I won't get these years back no matter how many classes or videos I watch. When I got my first keyboard and looked at it trying to figure out how it worked, I played with it and I figured it out. There was no internet so I had no other choice but to figure it out. I had less resources to help me learn but also no distractions. I need to do that again right now. I need to play and figure things out as I go along. I know there will be times that I'll feel lost. Then I'll go watch a tutorial but at least I will have started making something.
You need both. Far too many think the way to become an artist is through creativity alone. It is not. You need meticulous study of the craft of others and the traditions of your genre as well. You could not have made that music without the knowledge you brought with you.
I agree. But knowledge without action is useless. As I mentioned, more specific problems reveal themselves after you've taken action. At that point you can go research specific things instead of imagined things.
@@JamesonNathanJones Studying specifics after seeing a need is very effective, but inspiration from new knowledge can come unexpectedly too. You don't know what you don't know until you learn it.
Unfortunately all these tutorials have done was make me too afraid to start. "Why doesn't it sound like that," I asked. Recently I've been able to experiment without immediately hating everything I make, which means I'm finally enjoying music again
Since you've sworn off UA-cam tutorials, try this handy (free) eBook containing my favorite Compositional Concepts that have helped me make more music over the last couple decades. bit.ly/FREEcompositionguide
*disclaimer: this eBook is just as worthless as a UA-cam tutorial if you never put it down and actually start trying stuff on your own :)
I already have this excellent free PDF. I’m off to learn how to scare cats by using a cucumber.
Thanks for the levelheaded and fun uploads. 🫡
You do have to let UA-cam go and get on some serious next blockbusters scoring because you're made for it !
Me watching a video about "How to stop watching tutorials and start making music" instead of making music :p
It's quite literally the story of my life
Bruh
Me writing a comment about a comment on a video about...
YUP
Yes. This is the kind of thing I need to find the most succinct way of saying and get it tattooed on my forearm. Another thing that has helped me finish my first two tracks so far was telling everyone even moderately close to me what due date I had given myself (and encouraged them to bug me about it as the time got closer). That kind of public accountability always puts the fire under me, even if I know they won’t really care if I don’t finish by that date and there won’t be any “real” consequences. My brain is very good at filling in the feeling of imminent consequence. Advantage of being a chronic people-pleaser, I guess: you feel like you’ll let someone down even if that person is only yourself…
I've often been asked by people, "How did you learn to do that?" And my answer is usually, "By doing it. Badly. And gradually getting better."
My favourite fable is the art teacher who took half the class and said to make a flower pot every day for a month, and the other half had to make 1 perfect pot and spend all month on it. The half that did a new pot each day had way better pots.
This reminds me of the quote by Seth Goden: "Bad writing over time, if you do enough of it, can't persist. Good writing will slip trough."
and one day you find ten years have gone behind you, no one told you when to run you missed the starting gun.
Also worth noting... The stuff you do early on is probably gonna suck. Doesn't matter. Keep creating. Most things worth doing take time to get good at. Embrace the suck
Absolutely.
Suck the embrace
embrace your inner cringe lol orchestrate using bongo cat band only and delay lama
Yes, this!!!
"what are you going to do with all them ducks when they are finally in a row" - Seth Godin"
stop lining 'em up, stop theory crafting, get started.
Another way to think about it is to do what painters and illustrators do: keep and use a sketchbook. While I don't do this consistently, I make "sketches" - or what can be called "demos" - where it's just a simple recording of me playing something that "catches my ear". They often come about whenever I go through my various instruments, either auditioning sounds or figuring out how the instrument works. These are never meant to be final recordings in of themselves (though sometimes that has been the case), but they do often spin-off into a final work.
This "sketchbook" approach is also equivalent to a ritual/exercise writers can do where you write every day, either a certain number of words or for a certain length of time. The aim is still the same.
Yes. That is key - grabbing snippets of inspiration when they come. I do that with song lyrics and musical ideas. The part I struggle with is pushing everything thing else aside to turn the snippets into a finished work.
@@NeuroPetehaha yep same. I’ve got tons of rhythmic, melodic, and even a few bassline sketches. From my instruments, or just my mouth when I’m out and about and get an idea. But going back and finishing them…
With my visual art I only ink maybe 1 in 10 sketches, the ones that “need finishing” usually jump out at me and make themselves known. So I was thinking I just needed to do way more musical sketches until they “jumped out at me” in the same way.
But now I’m thinking I’ll need to force myself to do at least a few full tracks before I get a proper sense for what needs finishing and what doesn’t. Which makes sense, after all I had to ink and colour everything for a few years to get the sense of which ones looked better as sketches.
Thats true with many aspects of life
Sometimes i feel like people on social media watch other people having lifes they could have on their own if they just stopped watching them
A quote that has really stuck with me and that this video reminds me of: “Quality beats quantity. But quality quantity beats quality. But in order to get quality, you need quantity. That’s the irony”
I think that some variation of pareto principle holds very well when it comes to this topic, make 100 songs and maybe 20 of those are quality products.
This is my personal experience over the years.
@@RYTMIKEISARI reminds me of how I have about 10 sketches for every 1 inked (and coloured, sometimes) piece.
Yeah. Since I've decided to go down this path professionally, I tried stuff like: making an entire song (one with lyrics) from scratch, including arrangement, recording, mixing...end product in just 24 hours. I found out I can do that. Just because I want it and put myself into workflow by time pressure.
"You don't like being bad at things" THIS WORD. Social Platforms as practice is really a game changing idea. Thank you!
I’ve been hearing this so much everywhere and I’m glad you’ve reaffirmed it. I’m so tired of watching tutorials and ready to have experiences again. Experiences through the shit I create
Signal is still one of the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.
Wow thank you
@@JamesonNathanJones That's not how it works, thank you!
Thanks. I needed to hear that. Recently joined a song writing group to make me accountable for 1 song every 2 weeks
Absolutely! We have to produce /compose a lot of garbage, to, from time to time, find a gem on the pile. Thanks for sharing. Stay safe.
You hit this topic right as I have realized it myself.
I have spent so much time pouring over the internet to find the "right way" to think about music theory, DAWs, and the creative process. None of those countless hours matter when I am producing music because no tutorial is going to truly experience for my brain. I have to find out where I am short myself, focus those areas, and walk the path myself.
This hits home. There are times I catch myself making the music my subscribers want to hear rather than capturing that thing that inspires me in that moment. Then I get into my head which leads to overthinking things.
I've been wanting to learn how to produce for over a decade, feels impossible for me to learn it all on my own (adhd go brrr) and I can not afford the courses I see offered throughout the years in general. (even fl studio will be a few months of saving up) Keep beating myself for not getting the ball rolling (would mess around in a free daw, but get upset at it being bad despite me being completely new to this, spend hours on tutorials and just get more lost) but this advice helps, just need to figure out proper resources for the foundations and CREATE. Perfectionism is the beast I need to defeat.
Edit: Just noticed the links in the description! Thank you for providing free resources.
100% solid advice. I think watching tutorials instead of doing falls into the same bucket as buying gear instead of using it to make music. As the saying goes "create more than you consume". Your soul will feel far more satiated. Thanks for your thoughtful videos. 🙏
As someone who is looking to do a soft relaunch of their own channel and return to creating more music and achieving a healthy sustainable balance I really needed this video, thank you!
Ditto! I decided to make a melody and chord progression recently. I thought it sounded pretty good. But I asked myself, what if I could do better? So I tried again a couple of times. Boy, was I amazed...
Having reinvested my time this way, the structure and arrangement of my music came together much, much smoother. I believe it is because the main thematic and melodic ideas were solid enough to build upon, such as a foundation.
Keep philosophizing!
Reminds me of how it’s usually better to just redraw a line, even 100 times, than to try and perfectly select and skew, warp, and stretch it to look how you’d imagined.
Problem is, I know how to apply that to composition or execution of a specific melodic idea on a specific instrument… just like with visual art they’re pretty quick to do each time even if you spend 10-20 minutes on the total effort. But I’m not sure what the equivalent would be for a whole DAW project 😅
When I was young I was told not be afraid of failing, that’s just the part of the whole process. If you were meant to fail, good job, you are already moving forward. Another thing is that many people tend to stop.
Finally! A tutorial for how to not watch tutorials. I've watched it several times already but don't understand all the steps. With some hard work and dedication, I will get there! 😁
Oh wow lolol
The title made me laugh loudly. Thanks for that.
Didn't watch the video because I'm busy making music right now, but appreciate the laugh so cheers!!
Hi Jameson,
I REALLY like your calm honest style. We are a lot of Independent artist trapped in between excitement and hopelessness being overwhelmed about all the fantastic possibilities, strategies, hacks and commitments.
For me your channel that I just discovered has given me some comfort in the process - and now I will head over and continue my practice routine.
All the best to you from New Zealand, Mads
UA-cam is the greatest tool to procrastinate. As an independent artist I use it to see how much better other artists are and over analyze my own music. So thanks again. I am going to watch this everyday at the beginning of my daily jam sessions.
True for every craft, every form of art, every ability, just everything. Do it!
One thing that can stall a beginner is finding a process, especially how the process begins. Some start with the drums, some find a sample that inspires them, and some will start by building a chord progression. If your starting point doesn't work for you creatively, it won't be a solid foundation to build upon, and everyone's starting point is different. In my experience, a lot of the early suck comes from experimenting with different creative processes and the hardest part is finding that initial jumping-off point.
I find the opposite - it's very natural to get a nice loop / jam / sketch going (whenever inspiration strikes), but stall when it comes to finishing it off in to a complete track...
@@G.Man- Sure, I think we all develop a start point to the process after some experimentation, but with so many possibilities, a beginner can take a while to find what works for them. I tend to use the saturation method for expanding a loop into a full track. I just keep adding sounds and variations on the theme to the loop until it's a wall of sound that all fits together but is too much all at once. I'll then group together tracks that work well together and spread the groups across the timeline, making sure to overlap them or create transitions to lead from one part into the next. Make an intro and an outro using 1 or 2 melodic tracks and and you're pretty much done.
Wise words-thank you! I'd just add that it can go the other way too sometimes. I stopped making UA-cam music tutorials for the past two months, and my creative productivity has skyrocketed. (On the other hand, there was a time when making the videos also boosted it, as it focused my attention on certain aspects of music and made me explore and hone my skills with them more than I would have otherwise. But then it became too much a center of focus and thus a distraction. Man, this stuff complicated...)
I set myself with some gear... and a weekly show. For the most part of the show I just live mix some ambient music... but then I decided to do a small step up and offer a small (10 to 20 minutes out of the two hours the show lasts) semi-improvised live music. It gives me a week to prepare a set list, and then, prepare the loops, patterns and sounds I will use to play two different songs.
And yes, I have made a lot more music, some are just... well, listenable. Others, I want to go, record the tracks and make a full song. So yeah, it works: Go and make music.
As a music producer and recent UA-camr I feel like this video was hand crafted for me - really loved the insight in this
Excellent advice. Thank you!
Although my experience in all fields shows that, on the grand scale, the artist is not the best judge of their own work and how it is received, however, on a daily basis, exploring ideas, getting over the terror of the blank canvas and learning to differentiate the more promising parts of what we do will ultimately result in work that we can feel some pride in.
Not making that mark or that sound results in nothing at all. All the songs you never wrote come out that way.
I'm in a state where I feel completely empty at the moment - like I have absolutely nothing to add to whatever I have done before. I know from experience it's just a phase and it too will pass, but for now I'll just watch another tutorial thank you very much.
You are simply wonderful - thank you.
I remember watching a video about how prolific Mozart was, and it inspired me to just make as much stuff as possible, just like you're describing here. I did this 2018. So much creativity came out of those sessions that it sort of snowballed into 2 or 3 albums worth of material that is culminating in a huge project that should finally be done this year.
I watched UA-cam tutorials for 3 years learning my DAW and the craft of being a mix engineer/recording engineer.....and in my 4th year I recorded my first album and then another band.
I did need to know how to record, but the REAL things I needed to learn came AFTER I hit the record button, not before.
You are NOT the only idiot here. I am proof of that. :D
wise words. listening you tour tunes on tidal. reminds me a little of jon hopkins...which is excellent!
As some one who is intentionally putting off music production until the next year. Because of wanting to pursue other skills. I found your video as the best first step when i inevitably jump into music in the future. Also found a connection between your advice to my passion of learning drawing.
So in conclusion great video
You are right. Some might call it "Get things done". I try to finish any song I am working on. It doesn't matter how "good" it is in the first place. It is important to complete the journey during the song. In a second step, I spice the song up. Some might call it "Mastering", but I won't ever call me a mastering engineer. And so, the actual song grows and grows. And suddenly, it's ready to release.
But I won't play the Social Media game. We all spend more than enough time on those platforms. Sometimes the people like what I do, sometimes not. That's life. But as long as I am happy with my song, I won't give a dime on algorithms and stuff.
Thank you, Jameson!
Hitting the nail on the head, again.. Thank you.
This made me think about how with my visual art, I looked at exactly one colour theory tutorial and then just… drew, and drew, and drew.
I’ll see tips and tricks now and then, but I’m not seeking out image composition tutorials etc. (Though I am making use of photography composition lessons I learned 15 years ago.)
Heck, I already was doing that when it came to playing my instruments. I needed a more scattered and varied introduction to music theory from various angles, but I’ve got enough of that now to get going too.
I should just do the same with my music production. It’s just so easy to get tunnel vision on one DAW project, instead of doing a dozen little things like I do with my visual art or my live playing.
But clearly, watching various videos about people’s process isn’t helping me get closer. Only so many times you can watch “I do the beat, then the melody, then the bass”; “well I do the bass, then the melody, then the beat!” before it stops being illuminating or inspiring or even interesting.
I don’t even have writers block on specific elements. I’ve got a ton of melodic and rhythmic sketches I’ve done over the last few years.
I’ve been thinking this was an inertia thing, to overcome by building-up enough momentum and just bashing out all the tracks I’ve got planned and sketched and so on. Maybe it’s actually a psychological thing, where the permanence turns me into a perfectionist.
I did have that problem with my visual art as well, until I threw away digital tools and focused on my sketchbook. After a couple of years I was able to come back to digital art tools with a sketchbook mindset, so rather than constantly tweaking the first line I’d just do ten more and so on. I hope I don’t need the equivalent of a paper sketchbook, a PortaStudio with re-recording bounced layered tracks, to also gain that mindset when it comes to working with audio.
Jason Timothy would approve this message. He would like your Mental Game. Quantity > Quality. Ready, Fire, Aim. 15 minutes a day at least. "I don't feel like it" means to do it. Bound to Divide in his 8 hour Ableton lesson just says do everything he does.
I turn on the synths and i touch them. ❤
I've found this to be true too, but the hardest part was actually getting myself to do the thing regularly. Something I found that really helped was giving myself small, approachable creative exercises that I could do in about 15 minutes every day. For instance, for lyric writing, I found one where you just use a random word generator to spit out 5 random nouns and 5 random emotions, and then you just pick one from each list and write a metaphor using them together. Or another one where you take a random noun, use a rhyme dictionary to find a word that rhymes with it but that you wouldn't normally associate with the original word, and then try to write a few lines of poetry around that rhyme. I think the fact that the exercise uses random words kinda separates it from your ego a little bit, which makes it easier to practice quieting that inner critic and just do anything, even if it's not "good" because it doesn't feel precious to you.
Thank you for this. Truly.
So smart he is. Inspiring idea to just make a lot more much more frequently.
Ok, going to go make music now. Thanks.
You resonated with me when you said that you had researched all about creating videos… but you weren’t creating videos…
I understand all about mid/side eq and how to unmask frequencies, but I don’t produce any music.
You have made me question “what am I actually doing?” That’s a good thing btw
Much thanks buddy
Thank you.
All the best, from the king of procrastination.
Long time listener first time commenter, but also frequent drinker so who knows, fabulous advice. Thanks for all you do!
Repetition is key with one caveat. In my days of mastering the art of playing the piano, I had a teacher, a mentor, who would guide that repetition and help me improve at least marginally over each next iteration. Without a guide, one can tread the same circular path ad infinitum, like my amateur piano player neighbor, who kept playing Motzart's Turkish march for 20 years with the same mistakes every time.
I don't know where to find such guidance in the production of music. YT only gets you so far.
forums, anyone interested in the styles you losely aim for ans seems to have a good ear. a musician friend or even another one lookig for mutual feedback (trade your feedback on your respective works), a local art group...
even yourself : listen back to your stuff from a distance with an alaytical ear : what do you like, dont like, does it seems close to another piece or artist ? why ? is it close to what you remember you were aiming for ? why ? why not ?
then you can also be more focused on working or even seeking the right teacher or mentor for some aspect
yep i've made over 100+ tracks over the last 2 years and eventually i made some stuff that didínt suck completely . it still crap but it's getting better
all posted to youtube , if you want to have a listen
“Signals” is an outstanding record 🎉
Thank you!
Excellent, well articulated advice. I resonate with your subdued and sincere delivery - subbed.
Somehow you are right
Thank you and after many, many, months coming to your channel I decided to sub today. Cheers!
the music in the background hit me hard.. great video! informative.
Great video. Just what I needed.
People fail to realize that even though practice can help, knowing if you're practicing correctly is what will make you improve quicker. Saying, "Practice," or "Get good," doesn't tell you what you're doing wrong and what you're doing correctly.
I waaaaaaaas working on the iridium, then this dropped
Yep, Great Reminder!!! Thanks....
During COVID, i went to work at a meat market since everything else was closed, I knew nothing about cutting or anything related to it. 4 years later I'm a professional certified meat cutter.
The moral of the story, I never thought I would ever be the thing I imagined going in and ended up doing so by doing it every day learning from my mistakes.
Nailed it.
Also sometimes you get good at something by accident, just because life made you do a lot of it for some reasons...( ofc it's also because of you xD )
I read the title of this video and the Universe collapsed
Incredibly grateful for this. ❤Thank you.
Just thank you, simple important words.
Such a timely video. Thanks for this!
This is so important, thank you for talking about it!!
Thanks man! Hope you're doing well and still making bangers :)
Really appreciate this -thank you
i thankfully got the inverse going on where i could never sit down to watch some 15 min tutorial without dying of boredom
Will be right in it after finishing next two bars 😂
Best ambient, soulful album ever ❤
Another excellent video that I needed in my life 🖤
Wait a minute, I was led to believe that if I master all the tricks and get the right gear, the music would take care of itself.
Yup. 👍
I've noticed it is much easier to watch UA-cam videos about making music and buy expensive virtual instruments than it is to make music.
i use tutorials as my ear rest time. nothing resets your ears and gets you excited to work on actual music like listening to someone talk about compression for hours
Well said.
Maybe I learn differently but watching a UA-cam video does give me ideas what I could try out, I do learn some techniques that I never knew and seeing some stuff does make me want to try it myself and it motivates me. Then again, I am not a professional musician which means I can take my time and do whatever I want. I needn't make a song every day. I'd get better at making music, for sure. But I'd probably miss out on something else, be it my GF or a sunny day or an afternoon nap. Who cares? 😉
I have no problem making music. I have a focus problem. I make noises without purpose or form and never really save or arrange. 😅
Yep. I noticed that after I started to take actual paid music making courses (including a composition course and a synthesizer course from some dude called Jameson Nathan Jones) , my productions have grinded to a halt even though I try to actively utilize the learning from the courses. I mean, I'm learning a lot from all the courses, but still...
Totally get it. I think it takes both: continuing to pursue knowledge/new ideas, paired with actively experimenting with how you can use that knowledge in your own way (by making stuff). It's easy to get stuck in the "researching" phase.
The first tutorial I ever watched was an abelton 10 tutorial. Its time length was a few hours divided into 2 parts. I watched the first 20 minutes before turning it off to never watch it again.
That was 5 years ago….
Today I watch tutorials on the basics when receiving a new piece of gear to learn about certain functions. I’ve NEVER watched video telling me how to make the actual music that “I” want to make because that info’s already flowing through my veins,
Even THIS video was stoped at the 3 second mark to drop this comment and after I press the send arrow I again will turn this video and my phone off to go create More of the Music that I’m inspired to make, am I influenced by others? Of course I’m sure ! But it comes in the form of inspiration and even those inspirations are from every single thing around me as I live day by grateful day. Hence the reason I don’t use samples but that’s another topic.
Thank you @JamesonNathanJones
For bringing this up and saying whatever it is you’re about to share with everyone because this really needs to be discussed more.
Everyone, Allow your Heart and Soul to be your greatest tutor.
0:03
Than You 🙏🏻
I always say education is useless if it is not applied. Therefore, like you said, experience is the best teacher. At least when it comes to music making. 😅
Haven't watched the video yet, but the title gave me a giggle, so have a 'Like'
nice man
Can wait for the follow-up to this: How to stop making tutorials and start making music :)
As in all other things; moderation. The trick is to know when to stop using the 'textbook' and start using the tools.
Picasso said, "The medium is the teacher".
Thanks for this also dug the sounds in the one! 🌊
Thanks!
I made music and in my twenties stopped because of work, life, family, time etc...I'm in my fifties now and last month I decided that I wanted to start making music again. Which leads me to your video and needing to stop watching tutorials. It's a difficult balance for me because 30 years ago, there was no DAW and plug ins. So I need to watch tutorials but your video comes at a time where I'm noticing that it's all I'm doing...watching tutorials...Being kind of a perfectionist is not helping either.
I need to go back to the playing now otherwise I'll still be listening to classes in 6 months.
Time has passed, I won't get these years back no matter how many classes or videos I watch.
When I got my first keyboard and looked at it trying to figure out how it worked, I played with it and I figured it out. There was no internet so I had no other choice but to figure it out. I had less resources to help me learn but also no distractions. I need to do that again right now. I need to play and figure things out as I go along. I know there will be times that I'll feel lost. Then I'll go watch a tutorial but at least I will have started making something.
Thank you!
Great video!
You need both. Far too many think the way to become an artist is through creativity alone. It is not. You need meticulous study of the craft of others and the traditions of your genre as well. You could not have made that music without the knowledge you brought with you.
I agree. But knowledge without action is useless. As I mentioned, more specific problems reveal themselves after you've taken action. At that point you can go research specific things instead of imagined things.
@@JamesonNathanJones Studying specifics after seeing a need is very effective, but inspiration from new knowledge can come unexpectedly too. You don't know what you don't know until you learn it.
but what if you dont knowhow to do anything
"Don't think, Do!" --John Kennedy Sr, Aussie Rules football coach in the 1970s. Says it all, really...
Unfortunately all these tutorials have done was make me too afraid to start. "Why doesn't it sound like that," I asked. Recently I've been able to experiment without immediately hating everything I make, which means I'm finally enjoying music again