Dear all,

Your honest advice/opinion can change my entire life path.

To make sense of my entire situation, please give the following a read :

For the past 6 years, I've been heavily investing almost all of my time into (electronic) music and then shortly after i came to know about this wonderful world of music production, but never got my hands on it as i couldn't afford any decent laptop/device back then. Flash forward after six years and here are my observations :

• I've been collecting songs, soundtracks, music production tutorials, magazines (mind you i have 3 TB of them!) thinking that i'll consume all of it and make my own music in near future.
• Up until recently i purchased a laptop for music production and was shocked to see that i just couldn't do anything with it. I'd just Fire up the DAW, play some presets on vst synth and close it, that's it.
• I just couldn't gather the courage to face that empty DAW screen. All these years, i've been dreaming of making music and now when i have resources with me, I'm running away from it.

I don't know what is going on with me, I still love watching production videos, following up on newly released products, reviews of different gears, interviews of producers, etc. BUT when it comes to executing all of that knowledge i just go blank.

I'm torn apart as on one side there's music and nothing else matters to me and on the other side is this internal resistance towards music production.

I can't believe how can it be that I'm so obsessed with music production and yet not comfortable while doing it. I really can't think of anything else other than this and yet can't do it.

What am i doing wrong ?
Or I don't have what it takes to be a producer ?

What do you think is the problem ????

(And just so you know about my background, I come from a highly academically inclined family so i've zero knowledge of music theory or any musical instrument)

I truly appreciate you reading uptil here and will strongly consider your suggestion.

Thank you for your time !

 

hey ! try to wake up one morning listen to piece of music that you love and jam on it , dance or whatever , then open your fuckin daw and make a beat

 

"Or I don't have what it takes to be a producer ?
What do you think is the problem ????"
That answer's not possible since you haven't tried yet.

Try using some psychology on yourself. That is, open your daw and say, "I just have to do one little thing, just one. Then I can feel I made a start and lessen my fear."
It doesn't matter what the "one little thing" is, say, something like, "I'm just gonna add an instrument track, and if I want to stop there, it's ok--"Because I just tricked myself into actually doing something to make a start. And I allowed it to be something really easy."
Keep doing that for a few sessions and I'll bet you $100 you'll gradually get over what you're feeling and start doing more and more. THEN we'll know if you're the next genius producer or not...and you could be if you try and see first.

Yeah, there's two trailers down by the river...

 

Welcome to the 99.9% of us... hope you dont feel so alone now ;)

 

Hey man,

Music production can be a daunting task at first, since you're just starting out I would recommend that you start off by making "blocks", start simple.

Start by making a simple drum beat, kick on every beat, clap on every other beat, hihat inbetween those. After you've done that you add one of those presets on top and dot in a little melody and suddenly you've made some progress. Now you can apply some effects to your little loop to test out the various effects you have at your disposal. After a little while you'll start feeling more comfortable with your DAW and then you'll be making music in no time.

 

I read your entire fucking monologe now post a beat please for any actual input

 

Hello I feel identified with you I like to produce psytrance, when I listen to music of this style I am filled with inspiration but at the moment of starting to make a track the mind goes blank. one way to start is to simply start doing, no one will do it for you, start with something small and little by little you will advance in that production that you want. for the musical production there to have a lot of patience since it requires a lot of knowledge and dedication.

 

i'm in the same situation, it's basically fear to others critics or opinion, that make decrease the crativity and the desire of making music. I have unfinished song from the past year so i understand you. You just have to awake and don't let the others opinion or music inhibits you and your desire for make music and create you own "child"

 

You dont need to be creative at first, just try to recreate your favourite song at the moment. After you recreate 5-6 songs then you will have inspiration to make something similar. You need to set yourself a target and that target is to recreate few songs just to get in the mood of producing. And make yourself a template, blank project in your daw is not inspiring

 

I may be stretching a bit, so it this is incorrect in some assumptions just disregard. But to me it sounds like you have an some minor obsessive compulsive traits that manifest in digital hoarding and obsessing over certain interests, so much that the hoarding itself takes time out of the act of doing what interests you (and likely time out of doing other things you should be as well?). I can get like this at times too with all kinds of things. You might be an extremely organized person, or at least have systems of organization? Obsess over making timelines to accomplish things, but find the act of writing lists more engaging than doing the things on your list?

You're directing the energy you put into music over reading about, collecting and thinking about doing things rather than executing on those things. You have this mental energy to dedicate, as well as the time, but in the grand scheme are not using it because you think more is needed for some reason even though the logical part of you knows it isn't.

You need to find ways to manifest your energy in a way that ends in produced music (if that is a real desire that is). If you obsess over organization, spend your time organizing a template to make music from within a DAW rather than spending time organizing your folder structures for hoarded files (for example). Make a template from which you can open and go right into the creative process in a way that you've designed, set colors for layers, load it with specific instruments, label everything, and then use it when it's ready. If you plan to use the classes you've downloaded, dedicate 3 hours of your week to watching through those from start to finish. Connect your videos to your TV and take a step away from the computer, sit and absorb the information you're watching so you are not getting distracted.

Stuff like that.

Delete useless stuff. Separate yourself from it. There is not a need for 200 different synth plugins, you can manage fine with 3 or 4 good ones that operate differently. Delete Kontakt libraries you will never in a thousand years use, you don't need 100 different pianos. Samples are always good to have a lot of, but try using what you have collected already rather than adding more at this point. Learn how to warp, bend and manipulate the samples you have already.

 

Don't be afraid bro, you're just starting at producing really, it's like you know the theory, but you need to feel confortable with your daw and tools, it's a matter of time and test... Btw, I had some similar problems in the past related to my anxiety problem and one advice that I can give you is: Don't overthink, do one thing at time, it's kinda play lego... create or choose a kickdrum (I recommend start with it) then go ahead and create the most important instrument of your genre (in my case is the bass), then place a snare or clap to get the feel of the drum, and so on... when you realize you will already have your track done... and of course you can always get back and change anything, don't worry... It should be pleasing. Enjoy the creation of your track.

 

the best inspiration is youtube you will find really shit productions with millions of likes, then you will say to yourself "why can't i make music" trust me pal. in my genre (metal) i find a lot of shit that inspirate me...

 

Everything you said is true, on the other hand everything you said is so not metal..

 

Well known traps all around. Stop watching tutorials etc. Start, just start. Bounce, don't fiddle endlessly within instruments. Focus on results. Result may be not pleasing. But still you have a result. Move on in a track. Don't be stuck. Try "one track a day". yadda dadda

This guy pretty much opened my eyes:

Also there may be a deeper psychological thing behind it all. The "not being able" to finish anything" syndrome... Not taking a position. Not knowing who you are. Basically you literally avoid finishing things... Well I know all this from myself :D

 

Last edited: Oct 12, 2017

I can only speak from my personal experience, but I made a lot of "musical junk" before I made something I wasn't embarrassed to show people. Once I was more confident in making music, I found collaborating with people was my biggest source of inspiration.

 

Don't start with thinking you can make a complete track. That's nuts. You'll have to have knowledge about the different parts first - you need to know how bassline goes, how a drumset plays, how keys are played and so on. It takes practice, but become easier with time and knowledge.

Instead just start off with f.i. an 8 bar beat - as in drums only. When you've done that and learned what it takes to choose sounds which will compliment each other etc, try adding a layer to your drums. Bass, keys, guitar or whatever you want. Continue doing so untill you have 8 bars of something that actually sounds like music - then you can begin to arrange it into a track, but this little process should take you a while to master - IMO dont try to make a complete track before you can make 8 good sounding bars.

This method is called (in my country) the layer method - it was the same way people recorded when they had 8 tracks, starting with a track and just building layers on it.

 

baby steps
set small goals, and complete them.
start with very easy goals and a timeline. like making your bed.. for one day. check, done. next
give yourself rewards for success.
more small goals,and timeline. like make your bed for two days, and draw four kick drum midi dots. save it
check, done. next

next, wean yourself from the hoarding
cold turkey works good for this
instead of checking a website, read the preface of a book. and open your kick drum midi one bar and expand it
check, done. next
reward yourself some more for your success

next, make longer small commitments, like making your bed every day
open you little kick drum idea project atleast three times a week now. save something, even if its one change

 

Last edited: Oct 12, 2017

All previous suggestions have been solid.
I'll add to this, by noting that you're an academic.
So, were others can wing it, you function far better with structure.
Open one of your DAW's demos and see how
a song is constructed and arranged.
See which plugins are used and why.
Solo tracks and listen to how they help to construct the whole.
Listen, to get a better sense of the macro, by analyzing the micro.
This will help you hear and see that songs are made of many ideas working together.
I know you have many ideas you'd like to put together and create music.
So, listen, deconstruct and implement what you've learned, with your own ideas.
Just do it. One sound, note and part at a time, until things start coming together.
Ultimately, that's how it gets done in the end.

It's not mandatory and don't let this be a delay to the creative process, but as an academic,
learning some music theory will go a long way.

 

I started the same way a few years back, I started with loops to learn structure. Then tutorials to apply vst's and chop up samples. Then I learned how to make my own melodies and how to use drum kits. Practice, Progression, Focus and Fun. Post your music (Progress) whenever you can. Collab and learn.

 

Start with just one track. Then add to it.