Why You Need to Finish Bad Songs - Stream Theory Ep. 7
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- Опубліковано 19 тра 2024
- Do you find it hard to finish creative pursuits? Lately, I've been finding myself in a position I'm not used to, and I didn't like it. I've been frozen and paralyzed, dragging my feet, afraid of finishing my song.
I almost wanted to give up and start over, so I really had to snap myself out of that and remind myself why pushing through and finishing is so important.
So, I did.
But in case any of you can relate, I decided to record a few quick thoughts on the matter and share some (very embarrasing) evidence of how far the habit of finishing songs have taken me.
I hope things are going well for you, and thank you for watching.
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#StreamTheory #Creativity #solocreators
0:00-7:04 The importance of finishing creative pursuits
7:05-8:24 My story
8:25-10:03 The first song I ever wrote
This is public service right here. While I think you have to give time to yourself to be creative and not think about judging it, finishing something is 100% a muscle. Your brain is always going to find something to improve, but you have to learn when to stop, or even force yourself to stop. Done is better than perfect. And that does not have to be something that goes against the creative part of the process.
At least for me, if I don't force myself to finish songs, I just keep starting new ones and never finish anything. This is a good reminder to me to finish some songs since I haven't in a while ahah
It's a cool throwback to your past projects and songs to see your evolution and how your perspective changes through time :)
I couldn't agree more! Well said! And I'm definitely the same.
Totally agree, done is better than perfect. Just gotta find even the most straightforward of arrangements and click 'export' regularly.
Many nuggets of deep wisdom right there. It takes courage to push through these hardships. I've always identified myself as a "doer" who just vigorously does things but in recent years I've been weighed down by depression and burnout, on top of that not being able to finish my songs or not as many as I would have liked. Seeing people put out several EPs or albums while I put out only one song or so... it depressed me even more. I feel I'm back on track creating and exploring. One of the most important things I realized on my musical journey is to keep an attitude of non-judging exploration. The pressure of productivity, perfection and performing for people overshadows the act of simple, wondrous exploration. It seems as long as I keep that mindset of exploration, the creative juices flow.
Thank you for the comment! I can relate a lot to this in many ways, and I completely agree that non-judging exploration is vital. I think, whenever we assume and expect some sort of linear progression of things, we shoot ourselves in the foot.
And the most important one of all, in my opinion, is to not compare ourselves to others. If anything, that will mute and stifle the connection we have with OUR OWN creativity and taste, and diminish the respect and openess we should work on, with regards to our own trajectory as creative and explorative human beings.
Sorry, you didn't ask for a sermon but I guess this topic is dear to my heart! I hope you're having an awesome day and I appreciate the wise insights. Thanks again.
@@heitstrengningmusic I agree with you! So true. We need to honour our individual journeys. No artistic journey is like the other. Don't worry, I like the exchange. Thanks for your reply. I subscribed to your channel and am happy to see more. Got inspired by your hungarian minor video and instantly wrote a song with that mode! Good stuff
@@phosphorusmusick Thanks for subscribing! I really appreciate it. I hope to see more of your thoughtful feedback in the future then! Is there a way to hear what you came up with in hungarian minor?
@@heitstrengningmusic My pleasure! I have a tendency to hoarding dozens, if not hundreds of short demo snippets and phone recordings of ideas but I wanna push myself to make whole songs of them. Currently I'm already constructing a song but maybe the hungarian minor one is gonna be next afterwards. I'm gonna upload it on my yt as soon after I've done it as I can. I'll keep you in mind and shoot you a message. :)
@@phosphorusmusick Please do! And I'm with you, I hoard ideas too and sometimes take way too long to turn any of it into songs. Working on finishing a second song for my album now and it's been so slow.
Great insights as always.
I know for me personally I view the act of music creation as a moment of the divine working through me and coming into reality. I feel like this relationship with music keeps me from judging things so harshly. I approach music pieces im working on with more curiosity this way. Because I definitely understand that meme you brought up "this is great" to "this is trash". But if I view it as "wow this creation that moved through me is very special to me" i may not feel that way about it later, but i wont see it as trash, just see it as more curious or interesting, or that i need to just chew on the idea a little longer.
Also dig the McKenna sample. Listen to him a lot!
I think that's such a great perspective. And I definitely never meant to trivialize, or diminish the mystique or power of creative flow in any way. It was more a call to "show up" emotionally even when things aren't so glamorous, energizing and inspiring.
Kind of like how building a house is more than amazing design ideas, it's also a lot of hard work to see those designs transform into something tangible and livable. And some of that work is carrying heavy stuff repeatedly for a while, to get to the fun parts.
There was a time when the main "vocalist" on stuff I was involved in was Terence McKenna haha. I even have a Terence McKenna tattoo, in honor of the years spent in my late teens and early 20's listening to him like a man obsessed. What a mind!
@@heitstrengningmusic Terence McKenna would've made an amazing frontman for a group.
@@ghoststalkermusic If I'm not mistaken he did perform spoken word live on stage!