Hi Everyone,

I recently wrote an article on the topic of comparison and the lies we tell ourselves as producers. I want to thank @PulseWave for the inspiration behind it, specifically on the psychological disorder that's based around childhood neglect, which he originally touched on in this thread. If you take the time to read it, I would love to know your thoughts. Thank you!

https://aymat.org/the-producer-who-doesnt-exist/

 

Last edited: Jul 12, 2026 at 9:49 AM

Just a question, have you ever though about making a "diagram" sort of a labyrinth drawing for solving small production crisis loops..?

I´ve been thinking recently, i actually felt it being heavy, like how many people are spending time in a DAW, mixing producing and it will never go anywhere, on a grand scale huge amount time and energy is being spent. And i´m looking at the last 5 years bashing my head against every single step and i realize, every musician needs help, even hubby guys and i don't thing youtube videos are enough...

But i´m not sure how to solve it, one step would be mandatory having transformers in every single interface because this digital thing is going nowhere really fast.

sorry for bashing the thread

 

Very useful article , thanks for sharing this with us I enjoyed reading it because I was researching on the same subject.
One thing that was always bugged me was the 'fame factor'
A lot of times people who try to derail an musician producer or someone is mastering their craft is they start implanting the artist with the idea that the hero or the famous musician of 0 skills is better and more successful than the original artist in the making...
I wish we see less people of this kind in the future those who choose to hurt an artist! for fun or out of jealousy like it's their brainslop mindless cyberfriend with some random ID names...
✨
Great read...

 

Last edited: Jul 14, 2026 at 12:45 AM

Fascinating and written very well. I saw myself a lot in these paragraphs and I know exactly why it is. I've only admitted what that is recently and began finishing more music by setting session timers and calling it a day 5 mins before and fleshing out what I have. Sometimes I go back and mix for 30-45 mins. When I upload things I'm not sure of they seem to get a better reaction than stuff I 'really like' or am proud of so who knows what's perfect or what's not? Thank you =]

 

Lovely tunes btw. Really well produced, maybe a new hero in town

 

You're not bashing at all and I think the diagram is a great idea. I will definitely put that together for a future article, thank you!

I've said it before, AS is a great place because the input here is tremendous, producers from every level and the constructive dialogue helps me flesh out a lot of the ideas for articles. So I truly appreciate your input.

As far as process, I wrote a series that walks you through the steps I took to get past the loop of starting but never finishing music:

https://aymat.org/notes/where-to-begin/

Keep in mind, a lot of what you're experiencing are things that every producer encounters at some point. We all go through it so youre not alone. I still get stuck from time to time but being aware of when and why its happening is the biggest take away. Once you have that, it makes it so much easier to keep moving forward.

 

@ManMythMaschine Thank you so much!

Nowadays there's just so much smoke and mirrors its hard to find valuable input. I've always been cautiously aware of false idols, because I've never been big on hype. But there's still plenty of producers and musicians who genuinely provide great insights into producing that are genuinely there to help. Just being aware of red flags is usually enough to help steer you in the right direction.

One thing I'd like to say is that we as producers are so much better than we give ourselves credit for. I've talked about this in the past but the average bedroom producer today has accumulated more production knowledge than an pro audio engineer in the 1970s. There's a lot to unwrap there but the point is even with all that knowledge, producers still have a difficult time finishing music. There are so many factors involved for why that is, but sometimes old adages like "less is more" or "ignorance is bliss" are the reason why those general truths have stood the test of time.

 

About the difficult time finishing , what I realized is the whole spirit of being an audio engineer or a producer at least comparing my days of mid 00s to today's world is kinda forgot, that their job is to provide quality, but there are definitely ones that are doing it seriously both in their craft and outerworld providing quality to the listeners ranging from average listener to pro audiophiles...
We need more of these engineers/artists/producers who value quality

One of the challenges today is there is no filter , there's no one or any place that acts as quality control and there are toooooo many people doing the same thing with same equipment and same sound and just outnumber the numbers of being same...

I know Comparing 00s and now are comparing two different worlds but honestly the rasio of low quality productions with fancy plugins and samples produced by hobbiest or attentionists are very alarming in terms of audio production standards right now, 9 out of 10 skipping tracks is a energy and resource waste stat , (at least it's for me...)
Both for bedroom or pro engineers and the listener...
This is a real life scenario that I saw in a taxi that those material are so unlistenble that even average listener skips it...
But I sometimes think these things that I mentioned are very multisided and I done my best to not losing the point.theres a lot we can do as works we can consider constrictive works.
Wishing you all the bests!✨

 

Last edited: Jul 13, 2026 at 12:50 PM

On ideas or songs getting nowhere
One of the sides is
I would say it's depends on a solid initial idea of the song
The initial idea is the seed that you plant in the soil
Any song that has written without certainty or solid initial idea you can hear it in the first few second or bars...It tells everything by itself...

 

Last edited: Jul 14, 2026 at 12:48 AM

I liked the reflection. It’s precisely this sort of depth that makes me enjoy being here at Audiosex Pro!

Man, this whole question of identity is really complicated. It only shows how flawed and problematic the human mind, and more broadly, the human project, can be (I say that even from the perspective of people who think humans are a wonderful creation, etc.).

Talking about identity is tricky. My wife is a psychologist. Recently I started having analytic sessions and I’ve even brought this up, because anyone who works with some form of art will eventually face the issue of identity.

From what I’ve gathered in conversations with my analyst and quick checks with my wife, identity is the center of continuity of the “self.” If, despite various changes, a person continues “being who they are,” that sense of continuity protects the mind. On the other hand, when someone has to stop being who they are to live or do something, the change stops being merely practical and becomes existential (it requires abandoning constitutive traits of identity, ceasing to be a simple adaptation and becoming a reconfiguration of being... and that can be enriching, but it can also be painful).

For artists seeking “a place in the sun,” it can be even more complicated: the problem appears when identity becomes too rigid. Note the difference between saying I: "—I have my values", and II: "—There is only one possible way for me to remain myself." Practically speaking, I is like a tree that keeps its identity but bends with the wind. II is like a glass rod that holds exactly the same shape... until it falls and shatters! And this is where the lousy human mind creates associations like adaptation = surrender. Adulthood requires negotiating, losing, reorganizing... adapting! For artists, if every adaptation feels like mutilation, life becomes an exhausting battle. And there are paradoxes: the more someone tries to protect their identity, the more they can end up trapped and rigid... and the more they may suffer for it.

In short, thinking about what a healthier mind might look like, psychological maturity wouldn’t be abandoning one’s identity, but rather discovering/understanding/accepting that a solid identity doesn’t have to be so fragile that it treats every adaptation as a threat meant to destroy you. To adapt is to continue being, just in another way.

Something like that.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read through it and your thoughtful response! <3

We all have our process of doing this and the majority of us are just trying to figure things out and make sense of it all. Your approach is going about it the right way and the fact that you're finishing more music is proof of that. If youre interested, I wrote another article a short while back on about distractions which I think you might also enjoy: https://aymat.org/the-biggest-distraction-is-you/

I was recently talking to a friend about this. I still cant figure out why some tracks I make fall short of my expectations, yet others which if Im being honest, are not my favorites, but get so much more attention. Not much different than trying to figure out a winning lottery ticket... all we can do is keep making music and hope it lands well lol

Ha! Not sure how much of a hero a 51 year old dnb producer still trying to figure things out can be but I appreciate the kind words

 

There is such complexity to music production and the road to finishing something is rough(also finishing means different thing for everyone, in my case i want it to sound PRO).
I haven't finished anything for like 3, 4 years until a month ago when i started slowly actually having the horsepower and torqe to actually work work work again.

I saw an interview from trance guys(Astral Projection) saying they worked on their track Life On Mars for 9 months on the AtariST. Talking bout "un-instant" gratification. No internet, saving takes 5 minutes, you can´t pull up youtube and watch family guy or soccer freekicks, or ducks and dogs, phone is not buzzing, not a lot of options and..... me cracking my phone and not getting a new one for like some time now showed me i´ll be regretting every minute spend watching the screen if i don't get the control over these digital monsters.

Anyway, Aymat, probably a year or two ago i heard your track(forgot the name) that had Biggie sample on, i still remember the vibe.

All the best!

 

just a number bro!

 

Goodonyamate for the thoughtfulness and care behind the writing of this article. I took the time to read it. I do have a couple of questions however, about "When the skills of a producer we admire seem out of reach..."

First, exactly what skills might those be, and how - barring being a fly on the wall during said sessions - might one gauge how skillful one producer is?

And second, what kind of a producer are we talking about? An old school producer a la George Martin, Ken Scott, Quincy Jones, Phil Ramone, or Trevor Horn producer; a new school producer a la Jam & Lewis, Babyface, Dr Luke, or Max Martin; a hip hop/rap/trap/crap producer a la Dr Dre, Marley Marl, Timbaland, Rick Rubin, or RZA; or an all around rock/pop/whatever producer a la Jim Wirt, Butch Walker, Jack Antonoff, or Finneas?

Just wondering if you might consider writing a follow-up article illustrating. It's cool if you're not up for it; I thought I'd ask.

 

@Mynock Beautifully written <3

Identity really is a fascinating topic, especially around self-preservation and how it ties into the human condition. What I find interesting are people who are presented with that premise and still choosing the blue pill. And you're right, reconfiguring can be a total shock to the system, even though I think the ability is built into all of us, if we're lucky enough to go through it. Matrix reference aside, I generally believe most people, given enough time and experience, eventually adapt. For the ones who struggle with it, having someone to guide them through it as clearly as you just did is such a valuable and powerful thing.

@Balisani thank you!

To answer your first question, I think that varies between all of us, but speaking for myself, the producers I admire are usually the ones who have a skill set I either lack or needs work. For example, I personally struggle with creating good chord progressions and I tend to put a large portion of my time trying to understand the theory behind how they work. Ive worked on that long enough now where I can skate by but I'm no Jaron Lopez. There's certain producers and musicians that will always be more skilled at certain aspects of music production than I ever will be but I don't let that stop me. I just try to get better at it and do what I can.

Again it varies, but it can be any producer really. I'll give you an interesting example... I remember the first time I found out that Goldie wasn't the sole producer of Inner City Life . It wasn't until I started producing that I became obsessed with understanding how I could improve my production skills using that track as a reference, never once realizing that Rob Playford had a lot to do with how that track was engineered. I'm not saying that to take away from who Goldie is as a producer, but it made me realize that he is a collaborative producer that leans more on the idea and creative aspects of a track rather than the technical aspects. Point being is, that track would not exist without either one of those producers and they were both integral in what that track became and represents. For me that was a realization that a lot of the music that I admire isn't just one guy making it and that music production has many levels.

As far as a follow up article, I reference my previous articles a lot so in the future it's entirely possible I'll revisit and even consider putting together a follow up.

Oh man I forgot about those guys! I think I had one of their albums dubbed on cassette and listened to it on repeat when I worked out lol

I just had to replace my 8 year old OnePlus, I think its a miracle it even lasted as long as it did, great fucking phone. Replaced it with the latest version but honestly I barely touch it apart from answering texts or reading the occasional news article.

This one? Right on my man, glad you liked it

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jul 13, 2026 at 9:57 PM