What do you feel after Publishing a song ?

[Noise]

Hello!

I wanted to start a healthy discussion about what the Reason users feel after publishing a song to the public. I'm hoping to understand your views on this subject.

For me, I feel like riding a roller coaster;  after working several weeks in a song, re-arranging, improving most of the track in the best way I can, after publishing it,  I realize it's a crappy piece of work and shouldn't be bothered even releasing it. Let's call this the after-release-music-syndrome.

But my experience, after a few weeks (or months) without listening to anything I've made, and then picking it up again, I start to understand what I was trying to accomplish, and I got that vibe of "ok, it's not so bad"

Do you guys have this type of syndrome after releasing something publicly, do you feel proud of it or you hate it ?

[Exowildebeest]

Good question, something I have thought of many times too.

The general process here seems to be:

- Finish and master track, have that "YES!" feeling once it's done and listen to it proudly a million times
- Sick of it by the time it's released, which is usually a few months after finishing the track
- Returning to it after several months, I notice production flaws
- Returning to it after several years, I can forgive the production flaws
 (although it also usually sounds even shittier) and enjoy the track for its ideas and emotional content. Also, I sometimes rediscovered techniques and things I had long forgotten about, which is cool.

[Melody303]

After publishing a song I feel like an attention-whore.
If I post it on various forums, I can't help myself from refreshing the pages every few minutes to see if I got any more compliments for it. I'm not actually looking for constructive criticism or tips, and I've no intention of changing anything in the songs I share whatsoever. I'm just addicted to the ego boosts I get from people enjoying my music.

It's a problem, in my opinion, and I'm working on it. On detaching from the ego boost addiction, and just moving on to the next song.

I used to participate in remix contests, in monthly song writing contests, in FAWM, & 5090. All avenues where there was plenty of a fix for that addiction. However all of those affected me. When I was doing the remix contests? Those remixes were practically my only projects. When I was doing the monthly song writing thing? I'd write one song per month. When I was doing FAWM & 5090? I concentrated all my writing in February, July and August (I'd be burnt out by September), and barely wrote anything in between.

Now that I'm not participating in any of those paradigms, I'm writing a few times a week, and sometimes more than one song in any given day.

8 months ago I wrote 10 songs in 2 weeks, and somehow managed to detach completely from checking for feedback, but I also barely promoted it, and instead of a 5-figure number of downloads (as I had on my previous domain, which was associated with significant internet presence on my part at various forums), I had only a few dozen downloads... So complete detachment is no good either, since in that case, only very few people actually hear my output.

If you meant how I feel about the song itself, after publishing: 99% of the time I'm proud of myself and I love it. I listen to it repeatedly for an hour or two before getting back to general music listening.
(That last 1% is when I'm not happy with it. Rare, but it does happen. )

[Julibee]

Oh, you aren't alone....

I ride the same coaster, except if I've made it far enough to release it on Soundcloud, which I use as a sort of clearing-house for WIPs and mix crits, I'm pretty happy with it.  At least I'm happy with the majority of it.

After it hangs out on Soundcloud for a while, and I've gone through the phase of listening to it a million times, I leave it alone for a while, until I start thinking about getting serious about a release... at which point I listen through the WIP contenders and start hearing every.little.thing that is wrong... all the flaws. OMG, the flaws.. 

But I work it through to the point where I can do no more. 

I love Exowildebeast's timeline about noticing the flaws and eventually forgiving them.  That's awesome, Exo.

[Benedict]

I wrote an article on the post-album slump

http://benedictroffmarsh.com/2012/09/22 ... bum-slump/

This is similar.

I think every artist tends to hate what they love. We wish it was closer to the muse and think it our failing that it isn't so. The reality is that it is often the flaws that make art special. I don't mean allowing duff notes or sloppy work, but far better to let the passion shine through than have only the shine of polish on a thing with no reason to exist.

I commonly go back and listen to earlier albums I made and more often than not I think they were more successful (as art, not commercially) than I first thought. Time makes it easier to hear what is on tape than what is is stewing in the emotional pit.

[Last Alternative]

I feel like I need to check out the feedback and make small changes and repost the new version. But usually when I post a song I already feel pretty good about it.
EDIT: The worst thing you can do (which I do, pathetically) is to take months or a year just to release something. I'm holding myself back trying to be a "pro" artist/producer and it's killing me! :s0106:

[JoshuaPhilgarlic]

I think "thank god it's done and I never want to touch it again" ! Not that I hate it or think it's bad, but whenever I finish a song it's close to the point I'm getting bored.

[altron]

Exhausted! ... Because it's usually six in the morning after a long night!
Also I'm feeling that I can't hear the just published song anymore, because of constant rehearsal.

I usually try to get a piece done very quickly, usually not spending more than 2-3 days because otherwise I lose interest and it becomes tedious. My best moments are when I get a song's arrangement done in one afternoon. I call these the magic moments. I then usually work it out and try to finish it soon. I don't like my music getting old on my harddisk so I publish it soon if I feel it's good or interesting enough.

After publishing, a day or two later I discover all kinds of parts in the song that could have been done better or more interesting. But it's too late. In any case, I think it's better that I publish it instead of overworking it. Occasionally I create a new version (or mix) of a song where I incorporate improvements or changes.

[motuscott]

Sullied

[miahluvdd]

I think "thank god it's done and I never want to touch it again" ! Not that I hate it or think it's bad, but whenever I finish a song it's close to the point I'm getting bored.

This ... But if I go several months without listening to it, and I suddenly hear it, I'm drawn back in musically.

[PSoames]

I feel ... sick.

Very, very sick.

Then I delete it and feel better.

[inmatus]

It is very different when you are doing the music in your DAW and have more or less endless of time and when you are in a studio where you pay per hour.
In the studio you have the deadline. Then the studio brings in new guys and mastering is ordered and yada yada. Then you work like crazy and end up not sleeping 24 hours but when done you are really happy and proud. 
Then you hear the result at a later stage and goes.. crap

In the DAW I go forth and back and is never happy. During the early mixing you hear the track that many times you have to love it (most music works like that. Listen to it many times and you start to like it)
When you have worked forth and back for a long period you start to hate it (general thing too with all music.. listen to it too many times and you are sick of it).
So at release I am really really fed up with the crap made. I even can regret I even started with it in the first place. 
Then.. off it goes

After a while however -like said above-you can listen again. Most of the time I cant say I am happy and like it. Sometimes -yes.
I enjoy what you do mostly when you are in the crative mode before its all mixed down and mastered

[EnochLight]

I feel an immense and overpowering feeling of accomplishment, elation, happiness & satisfaction coupled with doubt, fear, & self-loathing.  I'll share a few links here and there with the appropriate social network channels and friends, and then check my pathetic, meger royalty statement from SoundExchange as well as my distributor account after a few months.

I usually fold up into the fetal position at this point and quietly weep myself to sleep, holding my wubby and remembering those times at the beach when I was a kid and the only thing that mattered was what I had for lunch that day.