____twoism

I've been messing with making music just out of boredom for the past several years, but it's only ever gotten as far as maybe 10 second ideas or a sequence of chords I thought sounded nice. I've yet to ever really make a "track". Recently I decided it's time I actually make a full-fledged thing rather than just ideas. Videos from deadmau5 livestreams keep popping up on Youtube and I was surprised to see that a well known artist seems to have the same basic work flow I do in terms of making something (i.e. kinda just throw stuff on the piano roll and feel out the chord you think works for a sound, change the pitch of the whole track to further give yourself ideas on how to progress it, etc.)

Well, I've been trying for hours the past few days and I ditch anything I make. It all sucks. I don't get how people come up with ideas. So far nothing just sounds good or memorable. Maybe I'm just my harshest critic and not letting myself learn by just working with what I got, but I have a hard time being motivated to continue on a track when I feel like the main focus of the track is weak.

So what was everyone else's first experience like when you first decided to try making music? Did you spend days on end with nothing to show, did you hash out a few tracks even if you don't think they're the best thing ever? Found yourself making something that made you think "hey I might be on to something here..." only to then realize you were subconsciously ripping of a track from your favorite artist (happened twice to me already today)?

All you people that are capable of making anything, my hat's off to you because this is just so daunting for me.

the first song i ever recorded was a 2 minute cheesy pop punk track, the guitar was plugged straight into my computer with no effects and i micd the drumset with one radio shack dynamic mic. it sounded like pure garbage, and everyone i showed it to winced when they heard it. it was discouraging as hell and the next 100 or so songs i made didn't help that. that was about 12 years ago, and now im making stuff like this: https://clyp.it/lkjonrw2

keep experimenting, keep learning. pick a DAW (it doesnt matter which one, whether its ableton, fruityloops, logic, protools, etc), learn how to use it inside and out until it becomes second nature, watch thousands of youtube tutorials, learn how your favorite songs were produced, dissect how things sound and find out why they sound the way they do. keep making things, over and over. it's just a matter of time and muscle memory really. if you feel like an idea sucks, move on to a new idea and revisit the other one later. don't give up. and don't forget that ideas will always be more important than equipment.

First track I ever made was put together in Audacity by cutting, pasting and assembling vocal/mouth samples. All I had was an old desktop PC and a Zoom H2. The 5 minute track took me a month to put together overall. 9 years later and I am still assembling tracks in Audacity, though the approach is far more sophisticated these days.

Doing it is all that matters. Every hour you sink into it makes you a little better at it and you're making music the moment you play a note, twiddle a knob or record and loop a sample, even if it sounds horrible or cliche. Quantity over quality at first. Full songs will slowly emerge, fuller with each attempt.

Here's an approximation of what my first attempt at making music probably sounded like: http://vocaroo.com/i/s1XGk0wVhyn6
Just do that for many years and maybe one day you'll be as good as me!

Gosh, that was a long time ago! I started on a game called 'ejay' and then wanted to use samples so switched to 'Fruity Tracks' which was a crude audio sequencer. I was making hardcore techno and it was shite, but I loved it.

I decided to take things more serious and went to College to learn music tech, where I was taught cubase, and did that for 5 years ending up with a degree.

I would say if you're really serious, maybe look into a course that covers the basics. Like anything, a solid foundation of knowledge is really important.

You will always be your own worst critic, that's why it's best to post samples of what you're doing for others to comment on. Don't be shy - seeing what other people say will help you start looking at your work more objectively.

In terms of 'finishing' stuff, don't rush it. Wait until you're getting happier with your sound first. Then start setting yourself some deadlines. One month to finish a track, and once it's done it's done, move onto the next one.

Good luck!

Washburn acoustic, an old 4-track, 3 chords, and my prepubescent warbling. I thought I was Neil Young in the mid-90's.

Auditor wrote:Washburn acoustic, an old 4-track, 3 chords, and my prepubescent warbling. I thought I was Neil Young in the mid-90's.

Same for me, except I had a Guild acoustic and I thought I was Tom Waits.

Back in '95 a friend and I would set up a makeshift drum kit comprised of books, buckets, and metal weights for cymbals, we would belt out a tune, then proceed to destroy my room like it was some sort of hotel and we were rock stars. So, it was awesome!

My first time making music on a computer went a little something like this only... you know... bad.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i31qzAM2GaA[/media]

Horrid. Everything was assembled from samples ripped from youtube videos assembled together in audacity and all off beat and things. Nowadays, ive moved to using reel to reel machines and i'm a bit better at making stuff, but i still have no clue how to write a full song.

Bang on a keyboard in Garageband, and worked stuff down from there. (also i had trumpet lessons for the longest time with music theory and all that stuff, but hey)

I was convinced I was Timbaland.

mechanismj wrote:My first time making music on a computer went a little something like this only... you know... bad.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i31qzAM2GaA[/media]

Cool, my nephew had something similar.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pDCq0-QPsg[/media]

This was my first music program.

I had a toy Yamaha sampler and a portable tape player with 2 tape decks and I used to press play on one, record on the other and play samples in over the top. Then change tapes. Cheesy rave stuff drowned under 10 tracks of accumulated tape hiss. My gear slowly improved but it just slowed my workflow the more options I have. I've never got to a stage I'm making regular music also im terrible at killing my babies - I can't move on from bad tracks I keep trying to redo them. But lately actually I've got a bit better at tearing things apart and using bits of them in other tunes.

I had an orange that I was going to eat, and then I started tapping on the orange. So I decided to duct tape a tuning fork to the orange and plug it into a set of computer speakers. It worked, and I still use this workflow even today.

My birthday in 87 (i'm 33) I got an SK1 to bang on... It sat in a corner of my room untouched till like 92 or so when I got Mario Paint and a Talkboy for christmas. I then used Mario Paint as a primitive drum machine and the SK1 I would sample from Much Music or MTV. Then I recorded into the TalkBoy cassette at double speed and playback on slowmo mode into our cassette player or vhs. It was never in sync and and seldom comprehensible, lost in a sea of distortion and my parents hated me for household noise pollution. Some of the tracks though, like two were amazing and I wish I could find the cassettes.

I don't think I even made "music", I still have CDs of sound collage stuff I used to make when I was like 11.
I used to mine the games on my computer for sounds and record them.

It's just game sound effects pasted over each other in a stupid weird way. Sounds like music concrete mixed with vaporwave.

The Telepathic Kid wrote:I don't think I even made "music", I still have CDs of sound collage stuff I used to make when I was like 11.
I used to mine the games on my computer for sounds and record them.

It's just game sound effects pasted over each other in a stupid weird way. Sounds like music concrete mixed with vaporwave.

GIMME GIMME

Here is one of my first recorded tracks that i saved after all these years.

It was made with a Yamaha psr280 and a Line 6 ToneCore Echo Park guitar pedal recorded in acid 4.0.

https://soundcloud.com/user-345283577/helious-rip-off

The Telepathic Kid wrote:I don't think I even made "music", I still have CDs of sound collage stuff I used to make when I was like 11.
I used to mine the games on my computer for sounds and record them.

It's just game sound effects pasted over each other in a stupid weird way. Sounds like music concrete mixed with vaporwave.

Same. I did 'extended remixes' of songs by nirvana, hum, etc. and peppered them up with found sounds, weird goofs and spoofs, and lots of screaming.

I will upload some to the soundcloud archive in the not to distant future.

Goiter Sanchez wrote:First track I ever made was put together in Audacity by cutting, pasting and assembling vocal/mouth samples. All I had was an old desktop PC and a Zoom H2. The 5 minute track took me a month to put together overall. 9 years later and I am still assembling tracks in Audacity, though the approach is far more sophisticated these days.

Dude, it's fascinating to hear that you still assemble tracks in Audacity, as I do as well and I'm a big proponent of the software. It'll crash of course if you've got some big behemoth, and most of my tunes require a few different "masters" all exported into one HUGE file, but Audacity remains tried and true--I absolutely love it.

I use MASCHINE software through a Korg KP3 and a BOSS DD7 for my live set, relying on the controller as an AKAI-esque trigger station, sprinkled with an assortment of samples (usually extended one-shots) as I load the next track in MASCHINE.

In terms of the larger issue here, I think most of us are in agreement that the going is always slow and wrought with (unnecessary) self-abasement; if you trust yourself and don't jump to unwarranted conclusions, you'll slowly come into your own. It takes time and practice, unfortunately (or fortunately, as nothing worthwhile comes quickly--unless you're some kind of prodigy)...