How long does it take you to complete a song?

[EnochLight]

..From start to finish, what's your average production time to complete a song? I've had some tracks that I've worked on for years, and then I've had some where I finished them - like completely - within a few weeks. I've never been able to pop a completed track out in a day or 2 though.

I spent the past weekend locked in my studio and made major progress on a track. I'm about 90% there, just have to record the vocals for a final cut. I can see the forest through the trees!

[gak]

Forever. I have 6 million nice ideas that I've not finished.

[nooomy]

Around a month and I work with it around 1-3 h every day

[Marauder Black]

1day-Few weeks

[motuscott]

What is this Finish you speak of?
A country in Europe?

[Karim]

When on I' m in a good mood one entire day ( just a raw mixing).
other some 2-3 days for a good mix and mastering ( when I do at "home" )

Cheers

[thotbott]

Few days to a few weeks. Best thing you can do for yourself with finishing a song is give yourself a deadline. No deadline equals infinite tweaking etc. set a date and once past the date don't touch it for a while, if at all, but never delete an idea. The mental process of a deadline alone will refine your process and speed

[Aquila]

Depends how I'm feeling. When I'm feeling down and depressed it can take weeks, but if I'm pepped and in the zone, less than a day.

[decibel]

i never finish songs, im not really interested in releasing music to the public anyway, i just enjoy building ideas until i get bored with them and start something else the hard drives are full of dead tunes lol

[Namahs Amrak]

I don't feel I have ever finished a song, despite spending 20 to 40 hours a week for quite a few of years now.

[mcatalao]

The base idea of a song is fast. The melody, the harmony, i might get them done in a couple of hours. That is the juice of the song, the most important part.

Build up and arranging the song takes longer, and there are some stuff that i'm always thinking i could do differently.

I remember someone saying "the mix is done when the shedule is over...". With songs and arranging is the same. You could always do something more, or something differently.

I'm doing a lot arrangements for clients, and those are taking from 1 to 3 days, but most times, melodies, and some harmonies are already defined.

[submonsterz]

wow did my post get removed I wrote a long post and it just gone strange better not have been policed and just be an internet bug....

[motuscott]

I once finished a song. But my hard drive ate it.

[submonsterz]

I once finished a song. But my hard drive ate it.

I listened through ya sc tracks a lot of stuff for hiphop choppers in ya tracks . as tracks mostly not my scene but for the samples yup theres some coolio pieces there to be shure.

[Exowildebeest]

A couple of days - usually, if it takes any longer, it isn't a good track in the first place.

Final mix adjustments and mastering again and again not included of course, that's never finished.

[gak]

wow did my post get removed I wrote a long post and it just gone strange better not have been policed and just be an internet bug....

Could be. I just use the software.

[Jmax]

About 1 week.. 2 to 3 solid days working on it then you usually a day rest and another day to finish it off and do some mastering. Depending on how busy I am it can be quicker like 4 days.

It can take up to a few days to find the sound I'm happy with though to begin with. And sometimes I'll just go to bed with nothing and try again the next day. A lot of times I'll stumble unto my idea accidentlly or finally find a chord progression or beat I'm satisfied with.

Also I noticed after I finish a project I need to take at least 3 to 4 days without doing any music so I can clear my head of the last project and start on a new idea. Weird but If I don't do this I often just come up with nothing. It's important to step away for a bit and come back with a clear head. For me anyway.

[RealmUK]

I only get a couple of hours in the evening to work on my songs and that's not necessarily every night. Life quite often gets in the way of my music making ... which is also good as I think it is beneficial to walk away from it from time to time. I find songs always sound subtly different when you return to them with fresh ears and you pick up on little things that were missed before.

Anyway, all told it will typically take me quite a few weeks before a song reaches 'completion' (depending on the complexity of the piece) ... i.e. all composition/arrangement in a state I'm happy with and final mix and mastering completed.

[KnowKontrol]

a few hours to forever. depends how in the zone I am... and what other distractions there are... IMO my better tracks take the least amount of time

[Tincture]

2-3 days max usually to write/track a song, then depends how long I want to spend turd polishing. Not usually that long.

[yamguitar]

...When's the deadline?


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[PhutureD]

1day to a week, If I have the spare time and can work continuously undisturbed and depending on the material. Working with sample packs is a lot quicker than designing sounds, so a bit of time is saved there. The majority of the work- is done on the first day. Rest of the time is getting it sounding right.

[jonheal]

Infinity + 1

[DharmaSound]

Deadlines really help me. But it really depends on the depth of the song. If it's a simple song, maybe a week including the lyrics, but longer depending on the harmony. 2 months for a string quartet....Just....never.....stop.....

[motuscott]

Deadlines really help me.

Deadlines have pushed me closer to "finishing a song" than anything else.
Still I stand by my statement that I have never finished a song.