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I have been working on a song for months now and there is always those little things I adjust.
Also I changed the songs chords, tempo, melody and effects a bunch of times.
Now Im thinking maybe I never get to finish this track because there is always something to do.

When do you guys feel like the song is ready for the next step?
When do you state that the track is finished?

I tend to not work too long on a track, because i get bored hearing it. So i try to get the basics as quick as possible, even the basic arrangement. After that i make adjustments for stereo placement, fx, fixing loudness, EQuing and so on - so i focus on more technical things. Often when i hear the track i "hear" missing things or adjustments that i introduce or fix, but i stop me from overdoing things that may get too complicated for ppl not listening to the same loop for 30 minutes.

If i have another cool idea that could be introduced into the song after all those stages, i start a new one. I often noticed, the idea has a complete different feeling, mood or whatever to realy fit into the song.

Another important thing is, i make it 30% shorter, than i would normally do it, because the normal listener would quickly get bored on some things.

TBH, i never had worked a month on a song. May feelings change too much in that time, even from one day to another. Thats the main reason i try to make a "prototype" as quick as possible and focus more on technical and some small changes after that. Working too long on a track makes it worse in most cases imo.

BUT: if you can overcome my limitations you can work longer and produce great stuff. I jsut remember an album i bought years ago, where the producer changed some things over and over again, collected feedback from friends and so on... worked 1,5years on the album and it becomes on of my absolutely favorite ones ever. But 50% of my friends hated it, the other 50% loved it. It was "Witchcraft" from "Sandman", just to let you know. In the end its your decision...

Sometimes it comes down to deciding to stop making the changes. Are they actually improving the song in a noticeable way? When we’re working on a track it’s easy to be too in your own head and tweaking things that most listeners will never notice.

I generally go of energy and emotion. Does it make me excited or feel something? If it’s reaching the levels I want then I know I’m done or close as far as writing goes.
For the technical side, I’ve usually (over) built up a track as I’m writing, so at this point it’s about cutting things that aren’t noticeable or aren’t contributing positively to the song’s direction.
If you think things are taking too long, get someone else to listen to it. If they think it’s good, than maybe it’s time to move on to the mixing stage and not let yourself make changes (unless you find some glaring oversight or mistake).
Sometimes you have to make rules and set limits for yourself. I had to a couple years ago and I kept super strict about them for a little over a year. I learned a lot about myself and my writing process through it. Since then, I’ve been easing off of them, but I know now what it takes for me to do what I need to do and I have (almost) no problems finishing tracks now. My music has also improved a lot because I was able to finish and move on to better stuff.
I’m not trying to make this about me, just trying to give an encouraging example of experiencing the same thing and how I got past it.

Maybe post the track here and get some constructive feedback. Maybe it’s ready, or maybe people can point you in a direction that helps you close this one out.


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Still working on a track from the civil war, it's really going to stitch this nation together...

"Art is never finished, only abandoned" - Leonardo da Vinci.

There will come a time when it needs to be abandoned. You will know when this time comes. When you can let it go.

Redster wrote: ↑

21 Nov 2017

"Art is never finished, only abandoned" - Leonardo da Vinci.

There will come a time when it needs to be abandoned. You will know when this time comes. When you can let it go.

AFAIR he had several unfinished projects

When its over

Redster wrote: ↑

21 Nov 2017

"Art is never finished, only abandoned" - Leonardo da Vinci.

There will come a time when it needs to be abandoned. You will know when this time comes. When you can let it go.

Don't agree. In terms of releasing music it's usually done when its released.
That said I had a remix come out, best thing I ever did IMO, and they mastered and released the wrong version. So I finished it myself and it goes into mixes n stuff. I still love it. It's actually finished.

I tend to work in bursts on things, work fast, try not to over do it. I don't like over polished music so I tend to leave things a little rough which makes my process easier. I guess if you're a perfectionist it's more of a pain. Mostly I don't think things will ever be perfect. My music is like a window into another world where things might be, where it might itself be perfect. So I find it easy to tie things off and shrug if it's not quite right.

I also don't have a problem just tweaking things after release for personal reasons.

Just a couple things I've learned over the years:
1) Don't let the perfect plan be the death of a good plan.
2) It's good to be task oriented, but it's better to couple it with being results-oriented, too -- i.e., what's the big picture? What's the end goal? Do you want to release it to have others enjoy your music? Or do you want to indefinitely keep playing with it to make yourself happier with every finer adjustment (which, btw, is only gonna be something you will notice the difference with).

I've learned to slowly move away from doing those final, minor never-ending fixes to simply releasing it.

I am currently working on a song I started in 2002. I just reexported some of the samples it uses in 24bit from the other Reason file they are from. I used to listen to this track to fall asleep. I don't think anyone else hears what I do in it. I might not be finished with it for a few more years.

Catblack wrote: ↑

24 Nov 2017

I am currently working on a song I started in 2002. I just reexported some of the samples it uses in 24bit from the other Reason file they are from. I used to listen to this track to fall asleep. I don't think anyone else hears what I do in it. I might not be finished with it for a few more years.

Fight the good fight

Challeee wrote: ↑

21 Nov 2017

I have been working on a song for months now and there is always those little things I adjust.
Also I changed the songs chords, tempo, melody and effects a bunch of times.
Now Im thinking maybe I never get to finish this track because there is always something to do.

When do you guys feel like the song is ready for the next step?
When do you state that the track is finished?

lol... for me a track is rarely done in my opinion
still getting ideas from songs I made in the 80's
perfectionist... likely
maybe when I am too old to work on them I will consider them complete

ravisoni wrote: ↑

23 Nov 2017

Just a couple things I've learned over the years:
1) Don't let the perfect plan be the death of a good plan.
2) It's good to be task oriented, but it's better to couple it with being results-oriented, too -- i.e., what's the big picture? What's the end goal? Do you want to release it to have others enjoy your music? Or do you want to indefinitely keep playing with it to make yourself happier with every finer adjustment (which, btw, is only gonna be something you will notice the difference with).

I've learned to slowly move away from doing those final, minor never-ending fixes to simply releasing it.

I release them for feedback and others to enjoy or perhaps hate
feedback is rare

You can tweak and redo this and that forever and you'll still never be completely happy. I think it comes down to perfectionism and also a little bit of OCD (or at least in my case it does). I strive to create the perfect song, mix and master but I'm no pro. While I've learned a shipload of skills and tricks over the years I'm still an amateur muso/producer. I think I do ok but always feel I could have done better.

At the end of the day you have to draw a line and move on.

When it has 'Hit Record' written all over the track.
'Hit Record' .... written all over the track.



When the Mailman or Tech guy starts Dancing to the music ....
When friends look up at the speaker or in the air as the music progresses.
When you realize that YOU never get tired of the song.

When you Mutely laugh thinking about the cleverness of the mix...

Every project is like a bowel movement for me and I try to pass regular bowel movements in a timely manner. I aim to be as efficient as possible so I can pass a movement at any time or any place. I do not think too much about the movement as it happens although I might observe with a detached perspective for a sense of well-being. There is a conclusive point in every movement when I can feel it is done. There is not much I can do about the characteristics of a movement that has passed but I can control the outcome of my future movements.

Please excuse me while I get back to my latest four on the floor.

Music making may have lost some glamor after this post

CaliforniaBurrito wrote:Every project is like a bowel movement for me and I try to pass regular bowel movements in a timely manner. I aim to be as efficient as possible so I can pass a movement at any time or any place. I do not think too much about the movement as it happens although I might observe with a detached perspective for a sense of well-being. There is a conclusive point in every movement when I can feel it is done. There is not much I can do about the characteristics of a movement that has passed but I can control the outcome of my future movements.

Please excuse me while I get back to my latest four on the floor.

Goddamn dude. You just closed this thread right up.
[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]


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