Advice on Finishing a Track

[Aosta]

I have so many songs stuck in loops this is much needed, how many unfinished tracks do others have?

[Benedict]

None (except what I am working on today).

I learned the value of finishing & publishing when I was first training as an audio engineer in a commercial facility. All my "cooler" friends in band studios were spending days obsessing over minute technicalities and delaying releases (that bands were often disappointed with), we were pumping out paid work.

Finish it or bin it.
Publish it and move on.

[estuary]

Yes, this is a big problem for me.
Deadline seems to be a good way to finish tracks but it's also related to "time".

Finishing a tracks based on samples/loops (just to me) is easier because when you find the good elements to your mix it's alright.
But as a musician, you never know if you will record a better vocal or guitar take the next day, so it becomes never-ending...

[Benedict]

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[guitfnky]

pretty good advice there. the only thing I’d kind of disagree with is the self-imposed deadlines suggestion. yes, it will technically help you finish songs, but you have to keep in mind the potential cost—rushing to finish a song could mean you’re leaving better ideas on the cutting room floor, or never giving yourself the breathing room to find them in the first place.

ultimately, in most cases, quality is more important than getting something done by a certain date. of course if you have a real deadline because you’ve made other obligations, then get it done—otherwise I’d be careful with that particular suggestion.

for myself, I used to have a big problem with unfinished stuff—I would have tons of ideas, many that were fairly well-fleshed out, with multiple parts and the beginnings of a good arrangement—but I still struggled to finish them. it took looking at myself to understand why that was before I could fix it. I would get to the point of having the bones there, but I knew much of what I’d put down would need to be re-recorded (audio) or refined (MIDI or mixing). the enjoyment of coming up with something new and exciting was drawing me away from one new idea to start work on something even newer. eventually I would get lost in the newer thing, and forget about the previous new thing. then the same thing would happen, and I wouldn’t finish *that* song either.

once I knew the problem, I was able to come up with a solution for it. for me, that meant not allowing myself to work on a new song until I’d either finished the one I was currently working on, or decided to abandon it because it didn’t live up to my standards. I was fairly rigid with this rule for some time, but as I got used to the new way of working and got more comfortable knowing I wasn’t going to just stop work on something, I was able to start bending the rule here and there when necessary. it still takes me a long time to finish a song, because unlike the fellow in this vid, I am most definitely NOT a minimalist —but I do finish new music on a regular basis now.

another suggestion that’s sort of related to (I think) the first point in the video is, learn an instrument if you can, and learn to write songs with it, start to finish. this helps greatly with song flow, and learning to chain different things together.

[MannequinRaces]

Cool video with some great ideas. Thanks for sharing. I’m putting some of these to use to finish some new tracks.

[Boombastix]

Can't say the vid was that useful (for me), but I guess it depends where you come from composition wise and what you try to do. And it matters if you compose for vocals, and if it is a single song or for TV etc.

But I think, for me at least, it is to think arrangement early on, and decide how I want it structured, then you build the parts, then i already know that i need one bass line for the intro, an alternative for the verse, and so on. Make arrangement decision and build each part and make sure they transition over to each other etc. That is the craft side.
The inspiration portion is playing the notes, selecting sound etc. If it is for vocal then making sure you can find some melody on top of your chords, even if it is just in your head, at least then you have a chance a singer/writer can come with something too.

It pretty much boils down to a process flow and composing each component. You can change the order of components, i.e. start with drums or do drums last, but if you know that there is a bridge section, then you do the drums for the bridge when you get to that point… If you want the bass line to be a focal point in the song you probably should do it early on, then add chords, if the bass line is just a support, then do it last perhaps. Process...work to fill each section.