I've been thinking a lot lately about how many of us got into music production. For most bedroom producers I know, it started with just messing around a pirated copy of FL Studio, maybe GarageBand, just making weird sounds at 2 AM because it felt good. Somewhere along the way, though, we started thinking every project file needs to become a finished track, every loop needs to hit streaming platforms. But what if we just... didn't? What if we went back to making music like we did in the beginning—just for the hell of it?

There's something that happens to your brain when you're deep in a session with zero intention of sharing it. You know that feeling when you accidentally make something cool while just experimenting? That's your brain on pure creativity, without the part that's constantly asking "is this good enough?" or "what genre is this supposed to be?" The science backs this up too, creating without pressure lights up different neural pathways than when you're trying to finish something "properly." It's like the difference between jamming with friends in a garage versus recording takes in a studio.

When you take away the endgame of releasing music, you also take away a lot of bullshit that kills creativity. No more A/B testing your mix against reference tracks for hours. No more worrying if your sub bass will translate on phone speakers. And honestly? No more dealing with the absolute dumpster fire that is releasing music in 2025: the playlist politics, the algorithm games, getting 0.003 cents per stream while some AI-generated "chill beats to study to" rack up millions. The industry is more fucked than ever, and sometimes the healthiest response is to just opt out entirely.

The mental health angle is real too. Sometimes after a rough day, I'll just open Ableton and make the ugliest, most dissonant thing possible. Other times I'll loop the same four chords for an hour, just tweaking filters and reverb tails. It's like journaling but with sound. You're processing stuff, but through faders and automation lanes instead of words. And unlike therapy, it's free and available 24/7. The music becomes a snapshot of your headspace, and honestly, most of those snapshots don't need to be public.

Look, I'm not saying stop releasing music or that sharing your work is bad. That will be ridiculous. Just trying to ease the pressure if someone are stressing themselves about the output like I've done so many times. Having a folder called "Just Because" or "Nobody Will Ever Hear This" on our hard drives is ok, be at peace with it and you'll feel good about it instead of guilty. Make garbage. Make masterpieces that only you'll ever know about. Make that weird fusion of genres that would get roasted in the feedback thread. And here's the thing: let them stay unfinished. I've got about 2.5 hours of unreleased rendered material across dozens of project files, and I'm completely at peace with it. They served their purpose the moment I made them. Not every musical idea needs to become a finished comercial ready product, sometimes they're just sketches, therapy sessions, or experiments that helped you figure out something else. The point is, your DAW is your playground first, don't let convert it into your auto-explotation factory.

TL;DR: Making music just for yourself, without the pressure to release it, is liberating and good for your mental health. The music industry is a mess right now, so having a folder of unfinished tracks you'll never share is actually healthy.

 

^^^^
Post of the Year for sure and imho ,
it is moments like this that I am glad I joined this community long time ago

 

Thank you!!!

 

Couldn't agree more. At the end of the day music is expression, not just another task to be completed or made to please others.

 

THIS, THIS is the path to mental happiness (in world of AI),

only remaining question is, how can "bedroom producers" perform fully immersive "jamming with friends" (without technical obstacles),
in order to reach the mental state of flow, jamming must be spontaneous and realtime

 

I'd rephrase it a litte:
Enjoying music just for yourself (doesn't matter if making, or playing along covers etc..), without the pressure of recording it, is liberating and good for your physical and mental health.

 

I too began on a warez'd FL Studio 7 to help a tutor student work on his big 10th grade project on the documenting his writing of a Dubstep song in or about 2007. That kick started my return to music production and I am so grateful his choice to go with music or I might not be where I am today.

That said, I just do what I do at in my room for the great joy that it gives me. The only deadline that I've allowed myself is regarding the Non-Contest thing on this forum which has been a very productive exercise for me. Other than that the only ones that hear my singer/songwriter tunes are my neighbors and passersby on the quiet street below our garden, a few folks here on these pages and the birds as they eat seeds and nuts at the feeder. My baseline blood pressure is 110/70 with a pulse rate of around 62 beats a minute...no worries about music here.

 

I think the process is the same whether you release it or not. The experience is very therapeutic though, and reason enough to do it.

 

The computer with its DAW, with its clear graphical user interface, makes it possible to make Digital music in the first place—a groundbreaking invention. The invention of the internet and the uploading of files, some free and some without control, also leads to more available information, files of human activity, and creativity. Anyone can post their ideas, no matter what, on the internet, whether they're sensible or not.

Theoretically, you could say that a lot of music is garbage, but in that time, millions more MIDI keyboards were sold, and x new jobs were created.

 

Last edited: Sep 17, 2025 at 4:57 PM

Now please listen to my most recent song on soundcloud. Hahaha great post, yah make music to make music, its reason enough!