Personal challenge - an album a month.

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platzangst
Posts: 728
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

29 Mar 2015

One of my problems is that lately I've been pretty good at starting new projects but absolutely lousy at pushing through and finishing them. If you read my post on this last February's RPM Challenge, you'll know that I was on track to finish up a pop album, but was unable to get the lyrics written and vocals recorded in time. So I set it aside and banged out a more experimental rhythmic thing in the space of a day. (Two if you count the bonus tracks.)

I had hoped to polish the pop album off this March, but haven't been able to get the stars to align properly, so things have been predictably become a little frustrating, and I can feel myself losing momentum. I no longer have a deadline to motivate me that extra bit.

So at the risk of making a big extravagant promise which I may not be able to fulfill, I am going to attempt a stunt to help get me "on the horse again", so to speak. I intend to complete an album by the end of each month until next February (when next year's RPM Challenge will once again take place).

(Okay, so I kinda am going to cheat a bit, since I decided to do this so late in March. I am giving myself now until the end of April to come up with two albums.)

I am not restricting myself to recording an album within a month. I have plenty of unfinished projects on my hard drive from years past that I could be working on. The goal is to complete and deliver an album each month, to actually finish projects.

The albums might suck. I may get to a deadline and make a 45-minute track of a sine wave and call it an album, but I will at least be producing something. And I will post the results here, for anyone who cares to listen.

To begin, let's trot out my RPM Challenge album out again...

FEB '15: I Blew It



MAR '15 (late): Sins Repaid, Dreams Delayed


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platzangst
Posts: 728
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

03 May 2015

Okay, well.

Off to a shaky start.

I didn't do two albums in April, and the one I did do was delayed a couple days by some issues in mastering. But my (late) March album is here: Sins Repaid, Dreams Delayed.

https://platzangst.bandcamp.com/album/s ... ms-delayed

Mostly ambient atmospheric drone/noise.

Haven't decided whether to use up SoundCloud space with this one.

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FGL
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Joined: 23 Jan 2015

03 May 2015

Fast is not well. It is mostly the opposite.

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FGL
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Joined: 23 Jan 2015

03 May 2015

This has some nice Eno "my lIfe in the Bush of Ghosts" Vibe.

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Benedict
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03 May 2015

Hi

I agree that an album a month is probably just impossible if you want anything resembling quality (or at least without a rushed feel). Perhaps ask yourself why you aren't finishing? If it the usual avoidance of 'needing it to be perfect' then understand that nothing is perfect. However art that tells its story well comes across as perfect to the listener.

I found this interesting (but not remotely unpleasant) to listen to. Well done.

:)
Benedict Roff-Marsh
Completely burned and gone

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platzangst
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04 May 2015

If I knew why I wasn't finishing, I'd try to address that issue. And I don't think I'm chasing perfection too hard.

In any case, I'm not necessarily expecting genius out of any of these albums. Genius isn't the point (though I'm not going to deliberately release something that I think completely sucks. Even an album I do in two days has some interest to me, if nothing else for the value of experimentation and trying musical processes). The point is, if I can hash out a passable album of experimental stuff within February, I ought to be able to put something out during the rest of the year, you'd think. This exercise is less about achieving some kind of artistic triumph and more about keeping moving.

Worst case scenario, I have 12 albums that nobody wants to listen to. (Some people never make 12 albums of anything, let alone crap.) Best case, I get a routine for production in place, and then I can work on quality.

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esselfortium
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04 May 2015

Once a month is probably pushing it, but the idea isn't entirely off-base. Robert Pollard puts out an album every 3 months or so and they're frequently exceptional. Though he's of course an atypical example :)  

Just keep writing and seeing what comes out, and try not to get discouraged when not all of it is great: if by the end of the year you've written 100 songs and only 10 of them are really good, you've got 10 really good songs you didn't have before. Plus, you can recycle ideas from the songs that don't work out, and use them to enhance the songs that you decide are worth pursuing.
Sarah Mancuso
My music: Future Human

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selig
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04 May 2015

I see a difference between "finishing" and "releasing" something. If the idea is to release an album, why not just release your unfinished work? Wouldn't it be as good as a rushed project? I would think each would be equally "unfinished"…

Good on you for working towards the goal of finishing what you start, but as others have suggested maybe this isn't the best way to learn to finish things? You are still leaving your current work unfinished, right?
:)
Selig Audio, LLC

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platzangst
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04 May 2015

selig wrote:I see a difference between "finishing" and "releasing" something. If the idea is to release an album, why not just release your unfinished work? Wouldn't it be as good as a rushed project? I would think each would be equally "unfinished"…
Well, you'd be wrong.

I don't know why people are getting hung up on this. Have I violated some kind of unspoken musician's code?

Look, I aimed at releasing two albums at around this time, but only managed one - obviously I have some kind of standards at work here, because I haven't just thrown out the material to date for the second album out there, as I don't consider it finished enough.

Had I not said anything about it, would anyone have heard my latest album and considered it "unfinished"? In what way? It is an abstract work of atmospheric sounds. What is lacking? In fact, one of the tracks was originally intended for a cassette release by a label that has seemingly abandoned production; it was about as finished as it was going to ever be even before I decided to fold it into this release.

When I release the next album, who is going to know just by listening to it how long I took to make it? And if it is interesting, who will care? Why is this even a thing?

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selig
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04 May 2015

Sorry you took what I said the wrong way (or that I said it in a way that elicited this response). That was not my intention, I was only trying to offer you my opinion based on having dealt with exactly the same thing in the past. I've managed to release lots of material over the course of my life, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
:)
selig wrote:I see a difference between "finishing" and "releasing" something. If the idea is to release an album, why not just release your unfinished work? Wouldn't it be as good as a rushed project? I would think each would be equally "unfinished"…
platzangst wrote:
Well, you'd be wrong.

I don't know why people are getting hung up on this. Have I violated some kind of unspoken musician's code?

Look, I aimed at releasing two albums at around this time, but only managed one - obviously I have
platzangst wrote:some
platzangst wrote: kind of standards at work here, because I
platzangst wrote:haven't
platzangst wrote: just thrown out the material to date for the second album out there, as I don't consider it finished enough.

Had I not said anything about it, would anyone have heard my latest album and considered it "unfinished"? In what way? It is an abstract work of atmospheric sounds. What is lacking? In fact, one of the tracks was originally intended for a cassette release by a label that has seemingly abandoned production; it was about as finished as it was going to ever be even before I decided to fold it into this release.

When I release the next album, who is going to know just by listening to it how long I took to make it? And if it is interesting, who will care? Why is this even a thing?
Selig Audio, LLC

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mbfrancis
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04 May 2015

platzangst wrote:I don't know why people are getting hung up on this. Have I violated some kind of unspoken musician's code?
No, but I think that unless you are simply finishing projects you've already done much of the work on, "finishing" an entire album (say >30 minutes of music) in a month repeatedly for most of us would almost necessarily require an abandonment of quality control (e.g., editing, polishing, getting feedback, tweaking, i.e., anything iterative).  So it would become more an exercise in quantity vs any kind of attempt at quality.  That's what I suspect some people are commenting on - give yourself more time and deliver better product, not just a bunch of first drafts.  

Perhaps you're no not like most of us, though, and have the time every month and the skills to deliver a finished 30+ minute product in 30 days, repeatedly, and be happy with it.  If so, more power to you.  Can't wait hear them.

Either way I need some of whatever you've got - I've been working in the same 5-8 song EP for >two years, and it's still sloooooooowly inching along.   :)
Producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist. I make indie pop as Port Streets, 90s/shoegaze as Swooner, and Electro as Yours Mine.

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JNeffLind
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Location: So. Illinois, USA
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04 May 2015

I think it's great to be ambitious and to set deadlines. As you said, at the worst you'll build up your "endurance" in terms of being able to work and it'll force you to hone your workflow, etc.. So kudos for that. 

I think people might be taking some issue with the emphasis you put on the time limit. I see a lot of people that seem very proud that they finished something in a few hours, and usually it's decent, sometimes even good, but it's rarely great. There's an assumption among some that if you can make a good track in a few hours (or a day) then you could obviously do a great track too if you wanted to, yet those great tracks never seem to appear from those who tout their speed. 25 good songs don't equal one great one. In fact, 1000 good songs don't equal one great one. The only thing that equals a great song is a great song.

Still, I'll finish by repeating that I applaud the ambition and the fact that you're getting after it. You'll learn a ton. Just remember that their are a thousand jabronis making "good" tracks, even if they take a month (or a year) to make them. Good tracks made in three hours by talented people get viewed the same way as good tracks made by those with minimal talent who put in 1000 hours. Great tracks stand out as great, no matter how long they take.

Enough from me. I'm annoying myself.

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platzangst
Posts: 728
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

05 May 2015

mbfrancis wrote:No, but I think that unless you are simply finishing projects you've already done much of the work on, "finishing" an entire album (say >30 minutes of music) in a month repeatedly for most of us would almost necessarily require an abandonment of quality control (e.g., editing, polishing, getting feedback, tweaking, i.e., anything iterative).  So it would become more an exercise in quantity vs any kind of attempt at quality.  That's what I suspect some people are commenting on - give yourself more time and deliver better product, not just a bunch of first drafts.
Well, here's the things. Some of it is, in fact, finishing up projects that I've already done work on. This latest album, for example, is comprised of one track that was already finished and intended for publication elsewhere, and two tracks made from material that I'd sent to another fellow for collaborative work (which he never did, and after several years I took the material and re-worked it myself). As I said in my original post, I have a bunch of not-finished stuff languishing on my hard drive that I could (should) be working on.

But some of my work does not need much actual time to complete. My previous album, I Blew It, is less about composing music like a Mozart might and more about seeing what happens when you plug various things together and run them through processes. The opening track has maybe four mixer tracks; one synth-drum channel, and three audio tracks that are being processed in different ways. In the case of that track, there's not much to do, once the processes are set up - just hit play or render and see what comes out. In a case like that, the first draft is pretty much the last draft. "I wonder what will happen? Oh, that's what happened." Done.

Different material has different standards for "finished", and in some cases, "rushed" is irrelevant to the primary point. You can argue that such procedural compositions are "too easy" or "not really music" if you like, but a blanket statement of "quicker=less good" operates on certain assumptions which may not apply. Spending more time on I Blew It would not have given the album any significant increase in "quality".

So it's not like I'm attempting to create a dozen radio-ready pro-produced pop songs from scratch each month.
selig wrote:Sorry you took what I said the wrong way (or that I said it in a way that elicited this response).
Perhaps I've misinterpreted what you were saying, but in the context of a thread where nearly everyone but me is making concerned noises about speed vs. quality, it came off a bit condescending, i.e:

"Hey, if all you want to do is release stuff, why not just toss some half-baked crap out there and say 'screw it' to any standards?"

Do we in fact define "finished" and "released" differently from each other? Possibly. For me, it's not worth releasing unless it is finished (and reiterating the above: differing material can be "finished" under differing standards of polish or complexity). My hyperbolic statement about just releasing an album of one constant sine wave was just that, hyperbole: I could do it, sure, but it wouldn't really be worth the effort. (Besides, it's been done.)



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