Massive anxiety attacks on starting to use Ableton, help!

[sunrise600]

Hi all,

I don't post on this forum often, (maybe I should!) but I really felt like I needed to ask for help outside of my own circles of friends who don't know anything about music.

I have been trying for a year now to start making my own music with Ableton, and keep getting into these fits of anxiety where I just procrastinate and never touch Ableton for weeks. The moment I do the simplest thing, I get sooo excited, but then the anxiety comes back.

I get these anxiety attacks mainly because I don't know where to begin. I have learned a bit about Ableton, but I am finding it really hard to get started on actually putting a track together (YES, I have watched the various youtube tutorials and have been reading a book on music theory, but I am having trouble putting it all together). Do you start with a Melody, when do you use effects, what instruments should I use, etc... (my head starts to spin real fast).

Every time I go to start, I ask myself "should I learn something about Ableton, should I go read more music theory, should I try to just do something on my own and see if it works out, should should should etc..." This may just be more of a personal issue, but I was hoping that anyone on this forum could maybe share with me how they started and how they approached the steep learning curve of making your own music (especially if you came from no musical background like myself). Even just basic information would really help!

I really REALLY REALLY want to get over this as I want to make my own music so bad, it's all I ever talk about to people I know, yet I am so embarrassed that I don't know how to really get my feet moving.

If you read all of that, I want to personally thank you (even if you don't respond/have nothing to say).

-a struggling producer

[Helimuppet]

Just have fun, make music you would want to listen to. Don't get analysis paralysis, where you think you should know it all to start to make music, no one knows it all. Really the best thing you can do is practice even if what comes out is not that good at first, just jam on it, go with what you do know and build. Give it time and don't quit but you have to start. Your not going to make a killer platinum album your first week of using Ableton no matter how much you read. Its like everything in life you hit the wall and if you stop then one more sucker is weeded out, but if you keep going even if you don't think its going to turn out right eventually it does.

oh, and drink a beer to relax, seriously.

[kanuck]

everyone starts somewhere. don't worry about your first songs (or first hundred) being absolute crap.. you learn from mistakes.

here's how I write:
I first need some kind of theme to go off of in my head.. such as a chord progression, some melody, some kind of beat, etc. It always starts from in my head. then i grab a mic and record it into the arrangement view with a metronome. I pretty much acapella what's in my head.

From there I start sound designing, then i finally arrange.\

my final product can sometimes be pretty similar to what i had in my head, other times it might be completely different. but to sound design/arrange with a purpose has really helped me in my productions.. instead of creating an awesome bass sound to later not even use it.

[nathannn]

maybe you are confused about what an anxiety attack really is.
if some software was making me feel like "omg!! im dying.. there is nothing i can do about it!.. im dying.. wait im not dying... am i even alive.. i have to get the fuck out of here now.. im dying.. wait no...im not dying.. but im going to die some day.. shit!.. ok chil.. just chill... tree's.. water... plants.. animals.. the clouds.. deep breath.. now go get a fucking ativan quick!!!"

yeah,if software was making me feel like that i would just get a 4 track recorder.

[102455]

The important thing to realise is:

You don't have to do it the same way as someone else.

There's no "correct" way of putting a track together. And there's no wrong way either.

There's just YOUR way.

There's nothing wrong with doing each track a different way either. Just follow your nose, and your heart.

[oddstep]

Don't think in terms of 'should'. Rely on how the music makes you feel. If you feel nothing, loop it up and play it for 10 minutes. Make notes on what you feel and when it happens. If you have a controller plug it in and just play around on it, checking out presets or basic waveforms. If you don't, do the same thing but using the keyboard to play notes in. Do this and record them as clips. Once you have enough clips playing at once that you don't know what to do next, stop. Play the section as a loop.Review what you are hearing.
1. Can you imagine more happening in this section or is it time to write a new one.
2. Is there anything you viscerally hate and have to remove. Study the notes and consider how they relate to other notes playing at the same time and notes playing immediately before and after.
3. If you are having difficulties knowing what to do, move the volume faders up and down, this will let you know which bits matter most. If a track needs to be loud but makes you confused because it needs to change somehow, pull in an eq8 and create a frequency cutter and then sweep the frequency up and down until it sits better in the mix. Do this first with a high pass, then a low pass, then a bandpass. One of these will make a difference. If none of these work the problem is with an other track.

[Destro]

I found this article useful, you might too:

http://www.musicsoftwaretraining.com/bl ... ngwriting/

[derwall]

you need to accept that great results wont happen quickly with ableton and you will have to set aside a lot of time to just 'muck around' with the program, chill out and take you're time experimenting on sounds etc without trying to arrange and finish a track. the people who make it look easy have to put in the long hours to reach a level of compatence. it sounds like you;re expecting to much to quickly, have fun and it will gradually fall into place.

ask lots of advice too, but you sound as though you're in quite a fragile headspace just now so remeber there are some dicks on this forum who have nothing constructive to say so instead waste their time trying to be smart arses. just take what info you need from the helpfull people and leave the dicks to it.

good luck,

[chapelier fou]

try everything you can.

explore sampling
try all the effects
play with the instruments
try WEIRD things
record sounds with a mic, put them into simpler
try automating things in clips

just experiment, and at some point, you'll think "that's interesting and personal". then go deep into this idea.

It takes time for sure. But do the things your way.

[kb420]

You could start by taking one of these:



If you can't seem to find one, then just smoke one of these and then start making music:

[dominicw78]

I think a good place to start is by trying to copy/replicate some of your favourite tracks. Perhaps the drums or melody line or chords etc or the whole thing. Listen to the track and try to work out how it has been done, what are the various parts it is made up of? Then try to choose the same sounds and drums etc.

That way you are working to brief and won't get lost in a sea of choices. You have an objective which is to recreate that particular track or part of a track. You will learn a lot this way and you will develop you ear.

If you are learning guitar or an other instrument what is the first thing you usually try to do? You try to learn how to play all your favourite songs from the musicians you admire.

Also spend time thinking about what music you want to make whilst you away from the computer. Then when you have decided go the computer with you chosen inspirational tracks and start making something.

Don't load up ableton and stare at it and think what should I do now? Know what you're about to do before you even turn the computer on.

[dominicw78]

double post whoops!

[bartend7]

The important thing to realise is:

You don't have to do it the same way as someone else.

There's no "correct" way of putting a track together. And there's no wrong way either.

There's just YOUR way.

There's nothing wrong with doing each track a different way either. Just follow your nose, and your heart.

totally agree, but....
correct =sounds good,
wrong way= sounds bad,

take what you like and build on it. if there's something you dont like disregard .. then repeat this behavior 10,000 times.

[koranek]

Again, you haven't really said what your level of experience is.

If you are just beginning and you have a lot of anxiety, I think that is exactly where you are supposed to be. A certain part of your job is to learn dozens of different skills you need to produce music. The other part of your job is to figure out how to have this anxiety and still keep moving forward.

If on the other hand if you've produced many songs this may be a completely different problem.

There is a saying that says to become great at something you need to do it 10,000 times. If you are a beginner this means you have a long way to go, so relax. If on the other hand you believe you can move very quickly into being great, the difference/distance between that belief and the reality of things will create a tremendous amount of anxiety.

Try something. If it sucks, try something different and notice whether it sucks more or sucks less. If it doesn't suck, see if you can do more of that without making it suck. Do this over and over again. Make some notes along the way. Try not to think that if it sucks that this means that you yourself suck. You are just learning. For a while it's best to focus on the learning instead of the finishing.

Good luck. No matter how anxious you get, it's still the coolest thing in the world.

[mholloway]

smoke a bowl, see a counselor, get laid, stop taking music so seriously......

I don't know. Just have fun. Sounds like really you need a better discipline of taking one step at a time, rather than wanting to know / do everything at once. All the steps you mention are good steps to take. So, choose one, do it, choose another, do it......yeah.