More or Less at Peace with Myself

[jonheal]

After poking at Reason on and off for nearly seven years and still having no completed tracks — and not having that much time left in my life — I am coming to grips with the idea that "completed tunes" may never happen.
Many, many hundreds of dollars later, I've often stared at all the music crap before me and whimpered to myself, "Why?!" At this point, I generally get very self-loathing and suicidal and whatnot.
But I’m realizing there is something I do with Reason pretty regularly. I doodle. I’ll take a synth and play or record a few notes, loop it and just slowly pile stuff on and turn knobs semi-randomly, letting the sound evolve for 15 or 20 minutes. It may not be music, but it’s fun and it sounds interesting while it’s happening.
It’s also usually a completely ephemeral because I nearly always forget to hit the REC button, so it’s a one-time event that passes out of existence as soon as it happens. I have no idea what I did and no way to repeat it. But that kind of adds an interesting existential dimension to the process.
I am thinking that this is an acceptable end to the means for me. Maybe I’ll even remember to hit REC sometime.

[Some Desperate Glory]

Good for you!  For you the music is the process, not the product.  Making sounds and patterns and feeling them in the moment is powerful and a lot of my music time is spent just doing that.  Getting a beat playing and noodling with a bass synth can easily lead to a happy afternoon.

Reason is creative entertainment, whether you use it to make finished pop songs or to explore sound and let it wash over you.

I think coming to grips with how you use Reason and not letting any preconceived notions of what you're "supposed" to do with it is very healthy!

I had an Sequential Prophet-600 for 13 years and it only showed up on about 8 songs.  But I can't tell you how many happy hours I spent turning that filter cutoff knob while I played a bass pattern on it.

[bxbrkrz]

After poking at Reason on and off for nearly seven years and still having no completed tracks — and not having that much time left in my life — I am coming to grips with the idea that "completed tunes" may never happen.
Many, many hundreds of dollars later, I've often stared at all the music crap before me and whimpered to myself, "Why?!" At this point, I generally get very self-loathing and suicidal and whatnot.
But I’m realizing there IS something I do with Reason pretty regularly. I doodle. I’ll take a synth and play or record a few notes, loop it and just slowly pile stuff on and turn knobs semi-randomly, letting the sound evolve for 15 or 20 minutes. It may not be music, but it’s fun and it sounds interesting while it’s happening.
It’s also usually a completely ephemeral because I nearly always forget to hit the REC button, so it’s a one-time event that passes out of existence as soon as it happens. I have no idea what I did and no way to repeat it. But that kind of adds an interesting existential dimension to the process.
I am thinking that this is an acceptable end to the means for me. Maybe I’ll even remember to hit REC sometime.

I have many thousands of ideas. Actually I kept all my ideas since I got a yamaha PSS 470 (maybe?) back in so long ago. On cassette. Then all my floppies and my cubase files, then midi files all to reason. Maybe 1/10th are completed songs. It is so much fun playing those midi files and assigned them new sounds now. I've never once deleted any of them, no matter how stupid or short. 

Next time press RECORD first. Set the left and right locator for 2, 4, 8 hrs. Then move away from your studio and forget it is recording. Come back later and start doodling. Realize you recorded your doodling. Cut away the blank space. Done. A finish, never created before piece of music. We forget we have enough space in our hard drives to record for days non stop. People used to do this all the time with tape loops. 

[tibah]

I also enjoy making music just for the sake of making music. That's it. Songs sometimes feel "forced" and most likely, never turn out the way as those *innocent* noodles for myself!

[motuscott]

When I was laid off 5 years ago I thought it was time to do my first solo album. I was in there every day, working, enjoying but never finishing. That used to make me sad. Part of finishing is just stopping, part of it is a deadline, part is having some limitations. I have a few pseudo albums on SC and I'm pleased that I finally finished those songs. I hear flaws but I'm happy to have moved on to new unfinished songs. I gave up trying to make a living from music a long time ago, and recently care even less about finishing stuff. I just enjoy making music. I think that's good enough.
Also Bxbrkrs is right, hit record first.

[jonheal]

Next time press RECORD first. Set the left and right locator for 2, 4, 8 hrs.

This is a very good tip. I had actually set the length of my default template to what I thought was ample time, 25 minutes, but I've just lengthened it to four hours.

[Ostermilk]

After poking at Reason on and off for nearly seven years and still having no completed tracks — and not having that much time left in my life — I am coming to grips with the idea that "completed tunes" may never happen.
Many, many hundreds of dollars later, I've often stared at all the music crap before me and whimpered to myself, "Why?!" At this point, I generally get very self-loathing and suicidal and whatnot.
But I’m realizing there is something I do with Reason pretty regularly. I doodle. I’ll take a synth and play or record a few notes, loop it and just slowly pile stuff on and turn knobs semi-randomly, letting the sound evolve for 15 or 20 minutes. It may not be music, but it’s fun and it sounds interesting while it’s happening.
It’s also usually a completely ephemeral because I nearly always forget to hit the REC button, so it’s a one-time event that passes out of existence as soon as it happens. I have no idea what I did and no way to repeat it. But that kind of adds an interesting existential dimension to the process.
I am thinking that this is an acceptable end to the means for me. Maybe I’ll even remember to hit REC sometime.

This is a cool post.

For me being occupied with making music is far more pleasurable than trying to define what a finished article consists of.

When I make finished pieces it is normally to fulfil a brief, to complete my part in a collaboration or for the sake of making a vanity project.  During this time I tend to stick to methods that are familiar to me rather than being engaged in too much creative playtime.  IOW it's more like work.

Noodling with different sounds, toys, progressions, melodies to no particular end is far more fulfilling, informative and frankly much more fun.

Kids (of all species) learn life skills through play, it's what equips us all with the necessary knowledge to do what we need or wish to do later on.

If you can write a post with such candid honesty, as you often do, without trying to make out you are some big-time producer you are already streets ahead of those among us that clearly feel that they have to justify what they do with achievments and accolades (real or imagined) and it means you are already in a pretty good space compared to some.

If you are having fun then just keep on truckin'.  Hey, some people like doing jigsaw puzzles as a pastime and are perfectly happy doing so, if you are deriving pleasure from your music making, noodling or whatever that is a worthwhile and valuable end product in itself.

[selig]

I've had so many "personal" musical moments like you describe, most where recording gear wasn't available or wasn't set up. I enjoy those moments as much as any to be honest. Do I worry I've lost great ideas? Sure, but I also know that many of those ideas may have only been great in the moment. There are plenty of ideas I HAVE recorded thinking they were great, only to hear them later and realize I didn't have a clue what to do with them. So you never know, but I always enjoy the moment equally well whether recording or not.

So even if the ONLY thing you ever got out of music in your entire life was a some private moments of sublime sonic ecstasy, many would consider that enough. Remember, there are folks out there who would all but kill to be able to make ANYTHING resembling music.

Hey, but why not record, at least from time to time!

[jonheal]

Hey, but why not record, at least from time to time!

I've put a sticky next to the RECORD button on my keyboard: "<< Press me first!"

[Julibee]

I highly approve of this thread and this attitude. I plan on adopting it backward, to allow myself to NOT finish something, to NOT make it "better", to NOT keep playing with it until it's magic or some such thing.

I do have orphan bits of projects... But not that many. I'm a little bit stubborn. Just a little. A tiny bit. A lot. Massively. Planetsful of stubborn, really.

[selig]

I highly approve of this thread and this attitude. I plan on adopting it backward, to allow myself to NOT finish something, to NOT make it "better", to NOT keep playing with it until it's magic or some such thing. I do have orphan bits of projects... But not that many. I'm a little bit stubborn. Just a little. A tiny bit. A lot. Massively. Planetsful of stubborn, really.

Thing is, if you're being actively creative there's no time to go back and finish those orphan songs - you're too busy with all the new stuff coming into your head. At least, that's the goal.

[Yorick]

After poking at Reason on and off for nearly seven years and still having no completed tracks — and not having that much time left in my life — I am coming to grips with the idea that "completed tunes" may never happen.
Many, many hundreds of dollars later, I've often stared at all the music crap before me and whimpered to myself, "Why?!" At this point, I generally get very self-loathing and suicidal and whatnot.
But I’m realizing there is something I do with Reason pretty regularly. I doodle. I’ll take a synth and play or record a few notes, loop it and just slowly pile stuff on and turn knobs semi-randomly, letting the sound evolve for 15 or 20 minutes. It may not be music, but it’s fun and it sounds interesting while it’s happening.
It’s also usually a completely ephemeral because I nearly always forget to hit the REC button, so it’s a one-time event that passes out of existence as soon as it happens. I have no idea what I did and no way to repeat it. But that kind of adds an interesting existential dimension to the process.
I am thinking that this is an acceptable end to the means for me. Maybe I’ll even remember to hit REC sometime.

That sounds as valid as any other musician expression to me Jon. Music doesn't have to be a completed recording to have merit and value to it's creator. What you're doing sounds awesome. The time is well spent.

[Marketblandings]

I do have some finished work and more will come. But finishing is not really much fun at all. The noodling, playing with knobs, piling up junk is the real fun!
And if you routinely record, you will find accidental sections that sound like "real" music. Music that is far beyond what you could conjure up on purpose. Snip those out and try to pile onto those in a little more controlled fashion and you will be off and running.
People do inspired stuff accidentally all the time. They just goof up by rejecting it because it was accidental!

Enjoy!

[Tre Trelos]

After poking at Reason on and off for nearly seven years and still having no completed tracks — and not having that much time left in my life — I am coming to grips with the idea that "completed tunes" may never happen.
Many, many hundreds of dollars later, I've often stared at all the music crap before me and whimpered to myself, "Why?!" At this point, I generally get very self-loathing and suicidal and whatnot.
But I’m realizing there is something I do with Reason pretty regularly. I doodle. I’ll take a synth and play or record a few notes, loop it and just slowly pile stuff on and turn knobs semi-randomly, letting the sound evolve for 15 or 20 minutes. It may not be music, but it’s fun and it sounds interesting while it’s happening.
It’s also usually a completely ephemeral because I nearly always forget to hit the REC button, so it’s a one-time event that passes out of existence as soon as it happens. I have no idea what I did and no way to repeat it. But that kind of adds an interesting existential dimension to the process.
I am thinking that this is an acceptable end to the means for me. Maybe I’ll even remember to hit REC sometime.

Hey knock that self loathing and suicide shit off !!  We all get down on ourselves, but if you can noodle and doodle then you're the shizzle and twizzle.  What does that even mean?
I bet your noodles are awesome !!  Cut yourself some slack or I'm gonna come over and give you 50 lashes with a wet noodle.  :-)

[Jagwah]

 
But I’m realizing there is something I do with Reason pretty regularly. I doodle. I’ll take a synth and play or record a few notes, loop it and just slowly pile stuff on and turn knobs semi-randomly, letting the sound evolve for 15 or 20 minutes. It may not be music, but it’s fun and it sounds interesting while it’s happening.
 

This is just like some of those people with the massive modular systems, they do it for the sounds, the pleasure of creating it, and imo there is nothing like being creative. In my recent experience Quad is excellent for this purpose.

You should really see a documentary called 'I dream of wires,' you get a good understanding of why the guys do it, and sometimes shut out the rest of the world and do nothing else!

I could soon end up in the same place you are if I can't get a few things in to gear, I have already considered this and I came to a very calming conclusion that I am spending my time doing what I love and I think there isn't much else that is better than that.

I don't see any reason to stop setting certain goals with your music though, just bang on dude, do what makes you happy and if you think you could find much more enjoyment in completing tracks then go for it. :comp:

[Noplan]

You are not alone. I have thousands of projects and i finished not even 0,01 % of them. Every day i start a new song. 

But it is fun to discover old songs. I have an unplugged harddrive with tons of unfinished reason projects that are untouched for a decade now. I can't wait to play with them around and leave them unfinished.  :t0152:

[rvman]

I still have cassettes from the 80's full of me jamming on guitar. I would just push record and forget about it, then I would go back and listen. I got several songs out of doing that.

It's a lot easier to do that kind of thing now with the ability to instantly go back and forth and chop out the cool stuff.

[phasys]

After poking at Reason on and off for nearly seven years and still having no completed tracks — and not having that much time left in my life — I am coming to grips with the idea that "completed tunes" may never happen.
Many, many hundreds of dollars later, I've often stared at all the music crap before me and whimpered to myself, "Why?!" At this point, I generally get very self-loathing and suicidal and whatnot.
But I’m realizing there is something I do with Reason pretty regularly. I doodle. I’ll take a synth and play or record a few notes, loop it and just slowly pile stuff on and turn knobs semi-randomly, letting the sound evolve for 15 or 20 minutes. It may not be music, but it’s fun and it sounds interesting while it’s happening.
It’s also usually a completely ephemeral because I nearly always forget to hit the REC button, so it’s a one-time event that passes out of existence as soon as it happens. I have no idea what I did and no way to repeat it. But that kind of adds an interesting existential dimension to the process.
I am thinking that this is an acceptable end to the means for me. Maybe I’ll even remember to hit REC sometime.

Doodling (or noodling) is lots of fun. Finishing tracks and mixing them is most of the time a lot of "hard work". Just do what you're comfortable with, I guess. If you spend money on something you enjoy doing, there's nothing wrong with it, and nobody has to tell you that you're doing it wrong, or something.

[JiggeryPokery]

I do have orphan bits of projects... But not that many. I'm a little bit stubborn. Just a little. A tiny bit. A lot. Massively. Planetsful of stubborn, really.

Someone should start a websharing site where we could upload the old bits of crap we have floating around and give them to other people to make vast sums of cash out of!

[Gaja]

You are not alone. I have thousands of projects and i finished not even 0,01 % of them. Every day i start a new song. 

But it is fun to discover old songs. I have an unplugged harddrive with tons of unfinished reason projects that are untouched for a decade now. I can't wait to play with them around and leave them unfinished.  :t0152:

that means if you have one finished song, you must have made two unfinished ones every single day of roundabout 14 years that's a wicked exploit *sorry... Nothing to see, move on

[JiggeryPokery]

When creating patches I wonder about the masses of lost material due to not recording, just improvising and sound tweaking. I suppose it's just a genuinely unique and personal soundtrack for the moment.

[selig]

I do have orphan bits of projects... But not that many. I'm a little bit stubborn. Just a little. A tiny bit. A lot. Massively. Planetsful of stubborn, really.

Someone should start a websharing site where we could upload the old bits of crap we have floating around and give them to other people to make vast sums of cash out of!

Dream on dude!
Cool idea, but it would probably be ruined by arguments over copyright anyway…
;(

[Noplan]

that means if you have one finished song, you must have made two unfinished ones every single day of roundabout 14 years   that's a wicked exploit   *sorry... Nothing to see, move on

Well calculated sir.