The Artist's Guide to Un-F**king Your Music
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- Опубліковано 4 вер 2023
- Howdy! Today I want to talk about what I've been up to lately, and how I almost screwed it all up. Turns out, learning to get out of your own way is hard.
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Wake up babe, music Eeyore is back. Slightly more personal/random video this time around, but hopefully you (and the algo gods) enjoy it!
Extremely excited to share the music in a future update for Ground Branch coming soon-ish! In the meantime, pls check out my new CUBE expansion 😅
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I like your style not afraid to try new things.
absolutely loved this video, so raw and authentic and the ending... just perfect
Hey, take care of yourself. See you soon.
Have a good 😌 one Cameron and lol 😂 I don’t even use the cube lol 😂
Eeyore was a pet name given to me by a girl I used to date a long while ago. Who cares! Anyway, I just wanted to take the time after working all day on one of my audio productions, to just say thank you Cameron! I know this feeling of exhaustion and self reflection....what the hell am I doing??? But, luckily it usually passes, and you remind yourself of how good of a writer/musician you are and that you put in the time/heart and body for your music, you bleed for this...take care my friend. I'm still listening...you keep writing. By the by, your Volitions library is exquisite!!! Just purchased MotorLab a few hours ago, time to play....
Something I genuinely appreciate about this channel is that you don't hide the frustrating part of creating from us. It's very honest.
Same here, thanks Cameron!
It was i particularly noticed in this video as well!
I relate to it a lot, and it's great to see I'm not the only one!
That is what I always really liked about his channel, how genuine he is. Cameron works very hard for what is shown to us, I just wish the powers to be (YT), would realize this. But...ya know, it doesn't work that way for creative minds. It's a revenue engine. It's very painful to see your work, your creations, your love for what you do be taken away...it's indescribably horrific, and it leaves you feeling empty and lost
Yeah it's the main idea of this channel I guess
Well said! Agree
Its crazy how we can watch 1000s of tutorials online, take classes and read tons of material but can get the most from just watching someone actually going through the creative process. I feel like I gained so much as a musician and an artist from watching this. Thanks for sharing this very vulnerable part of being a creative.
You are so right!
Right there with ya
The part around 10:39 really touched me. I produced, mixed and mastered a song for an album not so long ago and the release date was last Friday, after listening to it once more, I had a lot of criticism for myself. I sent the link to friends, family and just shared it with whoever and they all liked it. As creators, since we know how things are made and what they could be, I think that’s why we tend to be so hard on ourselves. We also realize in a way what we could be, but aren’t. The strange thing is, in the past, we could’ve only dreamt to be where we are today and that’s what makes it beautiful.
love that for you, and yes, we are our harshest critic. "Iterate, don't Ruminate" helps me when I'm stuck in a fixation loop
"The imperfections in our work that keep us up at night are often the ones that are most invisible to those experiencing it." Couldn't be more true. Deep and powerful words man. I love how genuinely authentic you are on this channel. A friend introduced me to you and now I watch a video every time you release. I know you're frustrated with UA-cam but please don't stop posting. Really great stuff.
It's our imperfections that make us human and define us as human beings
That's true, if you're good at what you do. Although, people that do mediocre or subpar work tend to sleep very well at night.
Wow, I am truly at a loss for how deeply this touched me. Thank you for showing the true nature of what it's like as a music creative and not always polishing it for the sake of "views" and "likes." Whether you feel like it or not, your impact on those of us who watch you is far reaching and effective. Thanks for all you do @VenusTheory.
Limitations actually help me. Here are a few things I've tried in the past which REALLY helped me:
- Limit the number of channels in your session
- Limit yourself to set pieces of gear or particular soft synths
- Work only with a pre-determined selection of samples
- Set yourself a time limit for stages of the process
- When you finish a stage, save tracks as audio, and load the stems into another session
- Set a length for the piece of music
- and break the track sequence down into time chunks
- Record to a stereo mix-down rather than multi-tracking
I hope these help.
I made a whole video (on my channel) about strategies I've learned which help me to finish music.
Yup definately. Restrictions are sooo helpful, whether it's time or just choices...choice paralysis is not helpful at all 👍
I AGREE!! The infatuation with Potential and "what it could be" often ends up with nothing to show.
The saying "One in Hand is worth Two in the Bush" comes to mind@@elone3997
It may be weird to say that but seeing you go through frustrating moments is inspiring. There's too much content out there making it seem like everything works so effortlessly for everyone who tries to create something. Seeing a master facing difficulties and pushing through them gives me hope. It makes me feel less alone.
I relate to this video so much. It's wild that after so many years, I can have days where I sit down and start making music and it flows perfectly and everything comes together, and then I have days where I spend an entire day and realize that I wasted my time and I have to start all over. I made 7 tracks for our last video and some of these came together in a couple hours, and some of them took almost a week of tweaking, experimenting and starting over from scratch. It's comforting to see that someone as talented and prolific as you deals with impostor syndrome and goes through the same struggles as the rest of us.
I think the key takeaway from this video is that you have to be putting stuff out for people to hear, and for me at least, the main reason for this is that it will teach you that these tiny imperfections and issues that you obsess over will be completely glossed over by nearly everyone. You can obsess over a track and tweak it endlessly, but this is a dangerous trap to fall into, and you are far better off putting something out that you're not 100% satisfied with than spending weeks/months on a track that you'll never finish.
Bravo and thank you for what you do! Love your channel, love your content, love your music - keep being amazing!
Not only are those "imperfections" often invisible... sometimes the things we loathe about our own work become touchstones and favorite moments for those who are listening or for those who hired us. Hard to pin down before there's a real human response. Dig your work, thanks for sharing this!
"Statistically, one of them has to be good." There is so much magic in that statement.
One of my first composition teachers gave me a year long exercise to write a tune each day, whether it was a 12-bar blues lead sheet, or whatever, just a fully formed idea. The act of creating something everyday taught me to create first, then judge the idea after that. My results after that year were about 200+ short tunes, and about 20 of those were worth keeping and turning into pieces to perform with my jazz group friends. Sure, its a 10% yield, but realistically, the best tracks are your top 10% anyway.
Thanks for taking us along with the creative struggle. 💪
I love the idea of 16 - 32 bar what I call 'song seeds' . As someone who tends to spend all my time intellectualizing instead of actually doing, I feel like these kinds of tips are a great way to get started. And for newbies, quantity vs. quality, is the best way of learning what 'your sound' is.
I struggled for years with decision-paralysis and impostor syndrome when making tracks, marred every step of the way by overthinking, over critiquing, and self-doubting. And eventually, I found it was because I cared too much...the best stuff I ever made was when I just sat down and made something without giving a damn about the outcome. I lost contracts with major labels cos I was too focused on the quality I imagined they expected, and conversely got new ones with tracks I thought were just a joke, made in a single afternoon.
Easier said than done, I know, but just pretend like the thing doesn't matter, like its almost a joke, like no one is counting on it being good or that you can't pay the rent at the end of the month if it sucks...that's when Mr creativity comes out and makes shit you never expected. You are, and always will be, your own worst enemy.
Totally on point. It’s the same lesson confronting me all the time these days. Learning/refining/honing so often takes the front seat instead of being a response in the creative process. Make stuff, learn from it. Make more stuff, learn from that. I feel like the real trap of UA-cam is that we get stuck in an endless cycle of learning but never applying. And then because the standard is set so impossibly high, when we DO get around to creating something, we agonize. Bleh.
You're seriously one of the most down-to-earth, realistic and genuine musicians on here. An incredible example for the producer community and I appreciate you being so brutally honest about it all. 🙏🏻
I love the raw-ness of these rants man!
Musicians, writers, painters etc... have a mythical aura to them, they are held as icons of creation, weaving their art into being like fantasy magicians
we need to break that myth, we need to talk about the toil and the sweat and the work that goes into all of this
Thank you !
Personally I think that the imperfections is what makes the art. When I listen to what I consider really good art, I go out of my way sometimes to try to pick up on these imperfections and be in awe of them. I think it's what makes something unique and worth admiring.
Another fantastic video VT, much love
Oh yeah! I am a professional, mixing and mastering engineer, and every time the pre-mix notes say something like we trust you do what you think is best or something along those lines I have a mild heart attack 😂! They usually end up being the projects with the most revisions to top it off.
Cameron, my story: Quite some years ago, I was taking part in a community of indie 2D game developers. One day, a guy asked me, if I would want to do the music for his game. I played it for a while and was blown away. It was such a cool idea and so well worked out. I said yes. And pretty much immediately after the fear of failure grew. I wanted to create music that had to be at least as good as the game, to emphasize its beauty and not making it bad. I also got total freedom, apart from one rule: make songs, not atmospheres. I started, and after two weeks, all I got was one measly idea of a 16 bar loop. I was so disappointed in myself. I turned to my best friend, saying that I won't be able to pull this off. She answered, "stop thinking, just do it, it doesn't matter, what you think, it only matters, what he thinks, and you can't influence that beforehand."
That gave me a new perspective. Free yourself from the outer world, and just make music. I tried not to think, and it happened. After 2 weeks, I had 10 songs, each dedicated to a figure in the game, roughly mixed. He loved all of them. And even more, he pointed me to something surprising. He was in awe of the melodies I came up with, called them beautiful and mind-blowing, how I came up with them. Melodies, I just played along in one or two takes without thinking at all, almost like jamming along. And there you go. Sometimes, the things you consider the least effort are the most precious to others.
I too suffer greatly from imposter syndrome which is why I hardly ever put anything out there to be judged or ridiculed
I have so much respect for you for having the guts to do what you do so many of us wouldn't be able to cope
I am so envious
Your content is always honest and inspiring and much appreciated
These days it’s really ok to just share and let your art be heard seen or whatever. Take care
I've come to understand that when I really start to hate a song, it's about done. Thanks for the insight.
You're absolutely right about imperfections. I was working on a video advertisement and training a new hire today, and while the imperfections of the image were apparent to me, he saw none of them. Instead, he saw how quickly I could work to produce a creative and informative piece of visual information. He was the perfect target audience and I remember saying to him that it doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to do the job. Maybe I was saying that more to myself so I could finish the project and stop dicking around with it.
I was realizing that my room smells very bad, didnt know the reason behind, then I realised it was my own farrt, so I opened the windows
I laughed, I cried and I agree.
😂
Seeking perfection is artistically destructive when one cannot embrace one's own joy of expression. Once our creative work is deemed "important", i.e. enough to attract money, we fold & collapse into ourselves like a dark star, fretting over the pressure & risk.
I love this concept you highlight... just push on and do the hard yards, leverage your sense of joy in creating to overcome the pressure.
You know, I've been struggling with finishing a sound redesign for a personal project and I've come up against that wall of not being sure that I'm actually doing something worthwhile. It's both comforting and frustrating to know that the feeling never really goes away. Thank you for sharing this. Now I need to go and finish my project.
gl with that!
"Maybe you should just do what you think is best, because making decisions, even imperfect ones, is the only way to actually make progress. Then you just do it again."
I totally believe in this. Thank you for this video.
Part of what I’ve learned as a creative musician is to fail fast. If an idea isn’t working, store it, start again and come up with something new. Generally, it takes me less time to find an idea that has potential than it does to try to force an inappropriate idea to work. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea, it just means it’s not the right thing for right now. “Bad” ideas can be good in the right places!
I just did a remix contest,my first finished music thing. I kept waffling between "it's nice, i like it" and "it's terrible, I hate it everone will hate it." for sure the hardest part is getting started, even with 99.9% of the work done by the original musician. Keep on keeping on!❤
“Do what you think is best” means “We don’t know what we want” and gives them too many opportunities to criticise what you’ve done for them. As you said, less than ideal, but you’re a star Cameron. You’ll win.
These are the important videos that people really need in their creative lives. We all feel this with you!
it's hugely refreshing to see an artist share the all too relatable and difficult journeys towards a creative goal rather than the refined and tutorial-ised "it's easy just do xyz" approach.
The hard thing: you're working solo. Everything's on you. Objectivity flies out the window. There's no feedback on the fly, no collaboration etc. Only the slog of small steps gets you thru...
Well, this is a perfect example of why "Fail Faster" is a game design mantra.
One of my favorite quotes:
"Don't try to create and analyze at the same time" -Sister Corita Kent
Anyone know what that midi controller on the desk (with the 5 sliders and knobs) is?
Yo! That's a Sparrow 5x5 - I picked it up after upgrading my keyboard to the new Casio unit. Super handy for automating and stuff in a session since my new keyboard doesn't have the sliders/knobs that my old one (Keylab 61 mkii) did.
"To search for perfection is all very well, but to look for heaven, is to live here in hell" -Sting, from the song Consider Me Gone. We can only do the work, and by doing the work, and having to submit it, or finish it, lack of "perfection" be damned, is the only way to get better. I trained in the fine arts in college, whatever that means, and that was the biggest lesson I learned in my studies. A deadline had to be met, and you can only do your best.
They hired you for you, and what you do, and clearly, that was enough.
I like that you had no music/score for when they loved the track. That's exactly what it feels like when you're so nervous about a project, finally send it and they like it. No fireworks...barely even relief actually. lol you just sit there like....huh... (at least in my experience)
What is the dust cover on your main keyboard?? The one you removed at 12:26pm?
It actually comes with the keyboard! I have a Casio PX-S7000, beautiful keyboard and the included dust cover is great. Two dogs, so prevents much of the damn dog hair haha.
One of the biggest lessons is this… if you are not sure about something, a track, a sound etc, if you are not sure then it is WRONG. Get rid IMMEDIATELY and stop procrastinating. Move on and you will not regret it.
I find the hardest thing for me is to say "okay I'm leaving it that way". I deliberately don't say "it's done" or "it's finished" since I rarely find I'm truly done with something.
In the end I believe it's better to leave a project as it is and pour your creativity in a new one instead of forcing yourself to make everything a masterpiece.
Some people think that the work is never good enough when in fact, the work is a gift to others. You're a gifted dude. That's the problem. Just roll with it and be blessed like you are.
“Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.”
- Ray Bradbury
It has been more years than I'm going to say here since I was asked "to do" something and left to my own devices.
I was triggered in under 3 minutes. 🤣
I feel you..We're in different fields professionally (I do graphics) but the biggest struggles I've faced is with myself. Perfectionism is a straight up killer and it's certainly had quite a negative effect on my work at times. The times where I've switched off my head and just zoned out have led to some amazing things. Kinda like when Luke switches off the targeting computer and goes in full manual in the Starwars trench run.
Getting into that state is tricky but at least I know now when I can feel myself pixel fu**ing and just moving things around. Not improving, just moving, or at worst, actually making it worse as you mentioned. The major thing I learnt (sadly very late) was to take LOTS of breaks. It seems counter intuitive to not be working but I find that when I'm away from the monitor, new ideas come thick and fast which would never have happened at the computer as I'd still be just moving s**t around and pretending it was better than 2 hours ago. It also means when I return, I can often see all the problems straight away almost like there is a neon sign pointing towards it. The worst time I had was working on a design for weeks and had been so under pressure and so tunnel vision on it that I hadn't come up for air. I finally finished it thinking I may have just made the single greatest collection of pixels ever. When I returned to it days later, the realisation kicked in. It was terrible. I mean, like literally the worst thing I'd ever designed. That hit hard. I don't work like that anymore thankfully ☺️ Like you also mentioned, the things that I thought were hyper important often turn out to be nothing and it's another symptom of the tunnel vision/blinkers.. Glad you got good feedback and that they were all cool 👍☺️ ps The worst brief I ever got was 'I'll know it when I see it'.. 😬
I remember my first "big job". Writing music for a show. Modern drama. I was overthinking stuff...but than I just sat down at my laptop and recorded what I thought would suit best the subject. And the director said:"That's it! That's the sound!". Overthinking stuff is killing the process I think. Thanks for the video❤
Got me hooked in the first 6 words
that feeling when you work on an idea for way too long only to listen back and realize its trash is the worst feeling in the world
I'm working on the soundtrack to my first real game project right now and I am constantly struggling with this exact problem. Good to know that no matter how much experience you have behind you, the fun never ends 😅
On the weekend I was in a theater. A show with lots of life music. And at the pause I told my girlfriend, that I thought the singer rescued the last track very well and earned even bigger respect with that. He played some synth sang together with a drummer, than the synth went of and he kept singing some rock song, really into it, picked up his guitar, but it didn't made any sound either, so he kept singing, fiddled a bit arround on the cables and than just went on finishing the song just drums and voice. Sounded epic.
My girlfriend didn't even notice all of that and thought everything went as planned 👀
So good on that musician.
As a producer, i resonate with this video so much. Nothing hits more than realizing you are indeed polishing a turd.
The project im working on right now has me feeling this way(gonna be the first project I release), I’ll spend hours on it just to fuck it up then spend hours trying to ‘fix it’ and I’m so close to working something else for now. It’s just hard because I’m so committed finishing this and making it perfect since it’s my first release😞
I'm in a similar boat, setting my own deadline for this weekend. Was almost done but fucked up some settings and ruined it, almost deleted it but came up with a banging drum arrangement on accident that reignited the track now i'm so close to finishing it. best of luck to all the creative collective out there!
@@brunofrye hell yeah hoping the same happens to me lol well good luck man you got this! And thanks🙏
The painful difference between an audience and a brief: fans can be aggressively precise with their expectations; clients can say things like "make it sound... bouncier but not too vague".
You scare me shitless and make me want to follow a creative path, all at the same time.
Hope you're doing well, Cameron.
I'm an Art Director in the games industry and 35 years of development experience has confirmed quantity comes first then you refine down and polish.
For any new assets or features (and even my own personal music work) we initially go wide using very rough sketches to explore all random ideas that come to mind. We want to create a large amount of concepts just illustrated as simple thumbnails. At this point no idea get more than a few minutes thought, you simply capture it and move on. Most will be rubbish, but a few will stick out. These then get evolved and blended, and some will even be saved for other projects.
We gradually refine down through various specific development stages, adding detail and complexity, until eventually we end up with our final polished assets.
To keep the creative process interesting and efficient, you should work fast, not be precious and let go of being a perfectionist. Which I think you touched on well in the video.
Hans Zimmer has a similar workflow where he initially spends days just creating a huge bunch of music sketches which he then goes through and explores, and from this exploration a score evolves.
I think that's every artist's biggest enemy, the difficulty of actually being subjective about your art. Great video!
When I edit a 4 hour gameplay into a 15 minute video, I first do a rough cut with the most important story advancing bits, that is usually more like 25 minutes long, then I rewatch it and throw out everything that is boring, then I do the detail wirk, like the cross-fadings, adjust the game sound and voiceover volume, then I rewatch it, cut out a few more seconds and add some titles, then I rewatch it to find the very last tiny mistakes ... and sometimes I just call it a day as it isn't worth another 3 hours of rendering for the tiniest volume adjustment that only I can hear. In the very end, I have something that I'm quite proud of as it's better and more entertaining than when I started with a blank sheet. In fact, I try evading a blank sheet by starting "with at least something". So yeah, I save all the details work for last. I do a rough framing first and throw out whatever I dislike. I can't start with a precise, detailed story telling video. So I do pretty much what you did there - I slowly encircle the best result 😉
On the back of "Departures from the Northern Wasteland" by Michael Hoenig (1977): "Perfection is a matter of quantity, not quality"
Quality vs quantity - I'm reminded of the story about a ceramics class from the book Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland:
"The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.
His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot - albeit a perfect one - to get an “A”.
Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes - the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay."
I heard this great interview with Seth Goden where he said: bad writing over time, if you do enough of it, can’t persist. Good writing will slip through.
Thank you for sharing this vulnerable moment with us Cameron.
Strong message, and this goes with everything, not only music. Often people don't see the hard work and baskets of trash, but just the end product. And that is perfectly fine, it's the process and craft.
Quantity leads to quality, trust the process. ❤ Thank you.
Impressive video quality
Thanks! I spend way too much time obsessing over it haha. Glad it at least comes through on screen!
@@VenusTheory it is an artwork itself, I admire you
Sometimes, frustratingly, to find what works you have to spend a whole bunch of time on what doesn’t! And no admission of “well, that was a dumb idea…let’s trash it and start again” is an easy admission!
I've been in a horrible writers block for months now.
I've been making excuses upon excuses for not making music; if it wasn't school keeping me busy then it was someting else, and just like that time flew by.
It's been so hard getting back into making music, which is paradoxically what most fills me up with joy and gratification, and thinking about it made me even more mad, knowing that i was giving up my happiness and future career, so... you can imagine what a viscious cicle it has been.
I wanna express my gratitude towards you for making these kinds of videos, i just sat down at my desk with my pc and Okygen Pro Mini, and this video was incredibly helpful.
The idea to just make whatever i feel like, or to try to make X bars loops is neat!! Im gonna do just that and i'll try my best to be consistent and do something everyday to get back at it.
Yup, this was a long, perhaps uninteresting rant, but writing down what i was feeling has helped me a ton!
So thank you Cameron for everything you do!
p.s. You looked exhausted in this video, i hope the worst is over now!
Wish you the best and take some time to enjoy yourself and what you do! :)
A hit is a hit, even in 8-bit. My approach is to first go for quantity and then pick the quality and polish it. Not every song will be a banger, no matter how good you are. Have known this for many years, I'm amazed such an accomplished person as you realizes that so late.
A lot of people idolize others, put them on a pedestal, have this fantasy scenario that what we hear them release is the only music they made and as such are geniuses and etc. They then easily forget other artists can suck at it too. Tbh, I am unsure which part of our human psyche can make someone think that way. Is it they lie to themselves? Low self esteem? Low self confidence? Imposter syndrome? Comparing themselves? Competition? Envy? Not sure, that's one weird bit about humans tbh.
I am surprised too that some people finds this difficult to understand, but that's how it is apparently.
@@speakingcolors well, you answered your question in the first sentence. Idolization doesn't happen randomly, it is consciously provoked. The artists, their labels, and everyone around them will work hard in order to make them look bigger and brighter than the average Joe - because that's what sells.
The resulting feeling of inferiority is a logical consequence of that distorted perception of reality, alas the distortion doesn't take part on the recipient's end, but on the sender's end.
This can result in or enforce low self-esteem, low confidence, etc. Those things are not necessarily required when you compare yourself to data that is basically "cheated".
The good news is, that there are many ways to overcome that. You could have success, you could learn through experience or looking behind the curtain of other producers, etc... But you can also learn to accept, that not everybody can be equally talented, and yet, even untalented people find major success - if they hit a nerve or have the "right people" backing and blowing up their stuff.
Nice lyrics tho! I got the rhymes:
hit - bit - it, banger - matter?, amazed-late
You should polish them ;)
Wen I make it Imma thank u n shout u out. Bc ur the reason I will
@@yakOtoN When you make it, it will be your own accomplishment! Don't give it away.
I'll still take that shoutout, though! Best of luck!
"If it sounds good, leave it, it's perfect" - Dimebag Darrell
Being a carpenter for man years, there were occasions when I was told to do what I thought best on a project. I refused every time. Not because I didn't have ideas - I did - but because if it all went tits up it was all entirely on me. It's as if the client has no real idea what they want and are too lazy to decide, and if you don't know what they want you don't know what they DON'T want.
I was working on a musical once and it drove the director mad ( we lived together ) to see me not working on it for 2 weeks straight.
She didn't get my creative process at all, I just thought about it all the time and when I had a clear vision of it in my mind I just worked on it and within 2 days the work was done 🤷
Freelance editor and sound design/editor. the hardest thing is just letting go and letting your instinct kick in. In my world, I justified it thusly. They hired you hired for your instinct, so use it. Tell the story. and sometimes, a single piano note....... tells everything you need to know about the story. Glad it worked out.
I loved this video. This is my life whenever I'm submitting new music to a brief from my library. My brain swirls around the idea "is my music good enough?" "am I just a hack, and only I think it's good?" ... then I hit send and wait ... to see if the client liked my music enough to use it. I finally decided that its better to go through this process as often as I can then to sit there and second-guess myself. One of the things that gave me comfort, in an unexpected way, was reading the biography of Paul McCartney. He told stories of the early days of the Beatles when they would schedule studio time 2 weeks before an album was due, usually when they had a break in their touring schedule. So the band was always under the gun to deliver fresh music for the next album. It forced him and John Lennon to constantly write more music, and move quickly whenever they were had the next recording session. I think that this scenario of having a deadline over our head and holding ourselves accountable to delivering something (even if we don't think its perfect) helps us to make better music in the end.
This is one of the most honest videos I’ve seen in a while. Can totally relate to that as I have a couple of deadline projects (songs/live sets for gigs) as well and it describes the frustration of “creating against the clock” super well. Thanks for sharing, I appreciate you. 💚
The imposter syndrome, I feel you, man. Same here. Every single time, I get a major project, I feel terrible and anxious. When it's over, huge relief, and calm, and feel like an idiot who worries too much.
quality over quantity is important for output or the public facing side of creation
but it's a trap when it comes to developing skill
you simply will not have quality without quantity while you are learning/ exploring
no one sees your waste bin, so do not worry about quality when searching for the right project to work on
quantity is where it's at, instead of spending a day trying to perfect your first idea, spend a day trying to make as many ideas as possible
the quality will find you, you just have to be willing to let go of all the turds you make in this process, from this point on focus on quality
it's all about taking action, going forward and see/learn what you get out of it...simply said of course
Your pain is inspiring.
Obviously not in a nasty way,
But as someone in the comments said:
"you dont hide your frustration away from us"
So YOU just keep on trucking and show us the pain you go through.
We cant just see it but feel it as any of us that take creating music seriously know that pain and its inspiring to aim for the pain.
Sometimes to find a diamond you gotta swim blindly through sand and glass.
There is quality to be found inside of the quantity - KEEP GOING
"You don't need to make the right thing on the first try - you just need to make it *once*." That's a gem of wisdom right there. Thankyou for the further encouragement to just try a bunch of stuff and keep an ear out for the bit that works. Also, your willingness to publicly display this kind of vulnerability is incredibly reassuring.
what i’ve found helps for the last few months is I lay down some pretty basic version of what i am trying to make - just a chord progression, simple drums and maybe some bass just to set the mood and tempo and then i actually start producing. sometimes i don’t even use 90% of that starting phase but it’s really easier to start with a very rough sketch than with a blank canvas.
Venus Theory is a philosophy channel presenting as a music producer channel. (Keep doing what you're doing).
I recently wrote a song that I love. In order to write it, I had to write 75% of a song that I felt was going no f'ing where. But the drums were solid and I did a thing with the bass I really liked. So I had to have the courage to let go of the suck and focus on the great ifea that came from the "bad" one that I had initiated. As your mind expands in order to not continually repeat the same things you've done before... this will happen. The joy is knowing qhen you've struck pay-dirt and focusing your efforts THERE. Keep going, Cameron. You are a talented guy and not an imposter.
You are such a breath of fresh air after a frustrating bout of sitting for 12 hrs to make 5 seconds of audio. Thank you very much for doing what you do. I am just starting out, this was supposed to be an outlet but it's counterintuitive coz it gets frustrating in itself haha. But your videos are a good reminder that everyone goes through this phase.
Dude, i feel like you are just 5 years ahead of me... and you are a legend to me as I am on a similar journy. In a few years you will be a few years ahead of me yet, and I will be the legend I perceive you to be now. KEEP on INSPIRING.
This is like a psychological thriller for producers
What a GREAT title! Anyone who makes music in this way (not necessarily in a DAW, but responsible for more aspects of the songs than just play an instrument or singing…) knows exactly what this struggle is about based solely on the title.
"Quantity Is What Creates Quality"
You've truly captured the creative process. It's not just about raw talent or natural ability, but a pursuit that demands complete focus: a fusion of technical expertise, imaginative vision, and unwavering dedication-and a rebellion to the waltz. Thanks for also revealing the behind-the-scenes struggles.
This may be a touch extreme but, if you're really stuck, stop. Delete it all. Come back when ready and give yourself a pretty tight deadline. Has worked for me a surprisingly decent amount of times. YMMV, but if you've got is a well-buffed poop, being a bit ruthless can really help...
Probably the worst thing our UA-camr friend can do right now is read comments. Comments are generally someone making a point or observation, and that's taking up headspace, and what you need for creativity and originality is direct experience in 360 degrees, full-on somatic mode. Thinking, analyzing, organizing, reading and responding to comments is analytical, stressful, and can be downright soul-sucking, even for ones that are well intentioned and helpful and valid. Creativity is maximized when it's just you and the music and there's a direct line with no static, no noise, no criticism, no judgment. Look at young kids - they don't have thoughts of "what if this doesn't work?" or "how am I gonna do this?" - they just start grabbing paints, crayons, blocks, sticks, mud, whatever is at hand, and they let loose. Create, fail, fail beautifully, fail tragically, fail miserably, but create from the child within!
You're an inspiration Venus. Thank you for being so good at what you do here.
Glad to be of service - may the 'stache be with you
Back in the day when I was doing remixes for well-known bands using official stems, I can tell you that given only 6 weeks seem to be more problematic for me than taking 6 weeks to create a bootleg from scratch. I think when the expectations are high, so is the mental wall that you have to climb. But when you build your own wall, you know how that wall was built and how to negotiate it.
I think I need to watch this video every day now.
Make some music instead.
@@tristen_grant take your own advice.
Ah the curse of creatives/craftsmen/etc!
My wife knits and crochets and knows EVERY SINGLE MISTAKE in a project she makes, gives, uses, sells, etc and so often the person who got it doesn't even nor will even notice! Like, it's a curse for her!
For me, I do all sorts of things from 3D printing yarn bowls to turning pens and making cutting boards and other woodworking items and without fail I see every error (though it's typically after it's finished and in the hands of the person who bought/received it) though they, unless they themselves are a craftsmen of that specific item won't even be able to tell, it still feels like I failed just a little bit!
All this is to say, I think what I've learned the most is real things made by people have character. That character is slight flaws that make it unique and if someone wanted a perfect cutting board, pen, sweater, etc they'd have gone to a big box store and paid 19.95 for that thing they wanted instead of $40 dollars if it's cash or $45 so I can pay the CC fee and taxes! And yes, I've literally told someone eyeing one of my products when they say "why is this y price instead of z" to which I say, I made it, a machine in china didn't.
FIRST! LOVE YA, MUSTACHIO
🤠
@@VenusTheory Messaged you at your website.... David Winn, here....
THE CREATIVE PROCESS:
1. This is awesome!
2. This is tricky.
3. This is shit.
4. I am shit.
5. This might be ok.
6. This is awesome!
7. I’m awesome!!!
Happens to the best of us. Sometimes you have to go down the wrong path for quite a while before you realize it's just the wrong path. Good old-fashioned analysis paralysis.
This is an important video. Guy Michelmore has his "sunglasses of doubt", but he doesn't really talk about sef-doubt and the uncertainty of the creative process. Watch enough videos from composers with UA-cam channels, and one is inclined to think that composers get up in the morning, write 256 bars of amazing content and go to bed feeling content in their talent and abilities. You may feel otherwise, but it was good to see that this is not so. "When you're going through hell, keep going," it has been said. That is the lesson I heard in this video (plus the lesson, "you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince," or something like that.)
Do you have a background in photography/cinematography? Every video of yours I watch is like a class in not only storytelling, but in lighting, composition, depth of field and color. And pretty much every one relates not just to music, but the creative process in general. It applies to photography and video as well as music and writing. Thanks for sharing.
Haha somewhat - always been very into photo/video stuff and dabbled a bit in photography in another life. Super passionate about it though and I spend wayyyyyyyyyy too much time shooting/coloring/lighting these videos. Glad it comes through on screen though!
It is hilarious how much pain and angst this thing we apparently love causes us!
Sometimes I think about returning to my career in music. This video cured me.
11:00 ... And then it hit him like a dwarven crafted ukelele of exceptional quality... The greatest game song ever conceived :P
Sometimes you have to just "do", and not worry about whether you like them or not.
I have often found that the imperfections that I try and try to fix.. are the ones that when I leave them in, people tend to think are the best parts!
You say exactly what I feel and deal with internally every project I get. And now I have gone from a consistent 9-5 for the last 15 years to doing music and mixing a full tube gig. Keep making great videos like this. Not to many open and honest music producers on UA-cam. They all seem to just share the good moments and never the real interval struggles we have as creatives. Imposter syndrome is a MF