Need your help. Taking back my life

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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fuglykid98
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Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2015 6:20 pm

Need your help. Taking back my life

Post by fuglykid98 » Sat Mar 12, 2016 1:47 pm

i am starting a new regime for my musical training from 7 days . please suggest any good methods to improve myself . i have a midi keyboard and launchpad . i know music theory but cant apply it . i suck at jamming too . so mostly i am going to work on my composition skills , improvisation , dexterit at instruments , and other technical stuff which can be learned later . i want to start making money through music as i have no other option left . i suck at studies and am confident that i wont find a good college . please if somebody can help me out , it would be much appreciated .

Tagor
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Joined: Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:18 am

Re: [b]need your help . taking back my life .[/b]

Post by Tagor » Sat Mar 12, 2016 4:03 pm

- forget about money or study audiotechnic and try to find a job
- get push for jamming & a guitar
- have fun, do not let get money between you and your art

the other way around is kind of hard

ps..
jamming is not essential for arranging
but good for ideas

i am pretty sure more then 95% percents of the beats on dancetracks or popmusic
like mia, die antwoord or even michael jackson are not jammed.

get good monitors in first place, you will be much happier with the mixing results

yur2die4
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Re: [b]need your help . taking back my life .[/b]

Post by yur2die4 » Sat Mar 12, 2016 4:13 pm

The difficult thing is that you're wanting to learn multiple things that each require long term focus on their own.

It's hard to get decent on keyboard if you have production distracting you, etc.

I don't know a solution. I might be in a similar situation. Luckily, I've managed to do okay in school now. So I'm focused on that.

I'll keep an eye on this to see if any of the advice on here will help me out also with managing 'learning multiple skills over time', or any specific tips for becoming more proficient at any one skill. For when I'm done with school :P

Good luck!

EasyWorkflow
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Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2015 12:37 am

Re: [b]need your help . taking back my life .[/b]

Post by EasyWorkflow » Mon Mar 14, 2016 9:46 am

Hello friend,

I know exactly what your concerns are and why you posted this thread. IMHO, questions like this are the most important posts because the course of action you take will change your destiny versus a techy question. Luckily, there are legit experts on this forum to help you so when the tech stuff comers up, great forum to help you out.

I am also a beginner with Ableton even though I have owned the software for about a year now and just could not get a hold on using Ableton. I owned a previous home studio but it was a 24 track Roland VS 24 which was a stand alone piece of hardware and I never, ever used MIDI in any shape or form. So just learning MIDI was a daunting task for me. The one thing I have in my favor is I am a musician and been playing guitar for almost 40 years. I still spend as much time practicing guitar as i do with learning Ableton.

What concerns me and I hate to be a blow head because you may turn out to ne the next Armin Van Buren, is that learning an instrument is a difficult endeavor. Trying to learn keys and Ableton at same time may backfire on you because it's possible you may get to overwhelmed and quit which I hope is not the case. I almost quit many times and eventually I needed to hire a private instructor and used Skype and screen sharing to help me learn PUSH and Ableton. My instructor is amazing and charges less then anybody in the country. He is Ableton certified and listed on the Ableton website. He is also a musician so he would be an ideal person to take at least one lesson with and I know the 1st lesson is half price. Send me a private message if interested and I can see about getting you a special deal.

The irony of life is that I sold my previous home studio in 2008, all my guitars and even my CD collection and quit playing, gigging and even listening to music. Don't ask. Long story. But I had a severe accident that disabled me and caused a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and my Drs asked if I had any hobbies because they wanted me to start using my noodle again and I said yes....guitar and chess for past 35 years. I only started playing again to help with rehab of my brain and developed a passion for music again that is so much more powerful then the combined previous years of playing. God works miracles.

I need to finish this post by mentioning just one other concern which and I am sure many members will also comment on which is saying you have to make money. You are putting too much pressure on yourself because you first need to learn an instrument which although not necessary is a great idea. You have no idea how much music theory helps when dealing with EDM. But trying to learn an instrument, Ableton, and make money is a daunting task and you may be setting yourself up for failure. I do not know your financial situation but if you have the funds, you would be crazy not to take a few keyboard lessons and take private Ableton lessons like I did. I also joined MacProVideo.com, WarpAcademy.com & Groove3.com.


If you are willing to work 7 days a week, and practice veryday even if it's just for 15 minutes, you will be amaxed at how much you progressed in one year. But understand that 15 minutes a day is not the same thing as practicing 1 hour 45 minutes on Sunday.

Take it slow, take all pressure off yourself about making money, and enjoy the process. If you need to make money, try to get a part time gig . But in my opinion, you will lose all the joy and fun if you go into this with the thought of making money. With me, I do not plan on making a penny when I gig. I just want to have fun again and make up for last 3 years of my life. But I feel your pain because we all need to make a living and you seem to be at wits end. I hope this helped.

stoersignal
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Location: vienna

Re: [b]need your help . taking back my life .[/b]

Post by stoersignal » Mon Mar 14, 2016 10:19 am

you are thinking about making money with music before you are even good at it???? :oops:
i would say: try to master all you need for the music you want to make, finish dozens or 100s of songs, build a fanbase online and offline, and when you are confident enough about your skills and you see that everybody (or at least lots of people) loves your music THEN, but only then you can start to think about making money with it.

YOU SHOULD MAKE MUSIC BECAUSE YOU LOVE IT AND BECAUSE ITS FUN
if you love it and focus on it, it will make you happy, but if it feels exhausting and irritating it might not be the right thing for you.

i just write this because i know a few people who startet music with the intention of making good money with it and these are the people which in the end never got good at it. even if they spent thousands of dollar for courses and equipment.
on the other side i`m often so impressed when i see how fast people can learn so much and get really good at it, but these are the ones that started because of their passion

fuglykid98
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2015 6:20 pm

Re: Need your help. Taking back my life

Post by fuglykid98 » Wed Mar 16, 2016 3:12 pm

thanks to everybody . i am not a money hungry bitch . i just want to get by (making jingles, small scores etc) by making music.

Danny_DJ
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Re: Need your help. Taking back my life

Post by Danny_DJ » Wed Mar 16, 2016 6:37 pm

anyway, you are always working on it with less passion and more stressed if you have to make a living of it. there is always this pressing in the back of your head. I gave up on trying to make money from this ever harder becoming business and I can say that I enjoy making music way more than ever before.

and consider: if you are doing it for others, you aren't free anymore in artistic decisions. you have to follow the clients wishes. these projects aren't your own anymore. and after a day full of client work you aren't even motivated anymore, to push you own forward.

Stromkraft
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Re: Need your help. Taking back my life

Post by Stromkraft » Sun Mar 20, 2016 9:49 am

fuglykid98 wrote:i am starting a new regime for my musical training from 7 days . please suggest any good methods to improve myself . i have a midi keyboard and launchpad . i know music theory but cant apply it . i suck at jamming too . so mostly i am going to work on my composition skills , improvisation , dexterit at instruments , and other technical stuff which can be learned later . i want to start making money through music as i have no other option left . i suck at studies and am confident that i wont find a good college . please if somebody can help me out , it would be much appreciated .
A little tip, start every morning or session with playing for a predetermined length of time on one of your favourite instruments and express yourself by improvising. Don't think. just feel and play. This is a way of focusing in on what music should be all about without worrying about a result that involves your musical voice, dexterity and, maybe most importantly, flow without interruptions.

As for the career bit you say you "start making money through music" and that you "have no other option left". You really think music will provide money? Quite a few established artists with records out and touring struggle for money.

You also say that you "suck at studies", but you're confident you can learn what you want about music without studying? If so, think again. I have musician friends that do get paid work. They used to practice 6-8 hours a day or more and still practice a lot on off days. That was on top of their studies and done 7 days a week all year.

I think it could be quite likely you don't "suck at studies" at all. You're just part of a broken educational system that have failed to motivate you to learn what things people need to know these days and that structures and serves up potentially interesting facts and ideas in a boring way. Motivation is a driving factor for all learning. You have to fix that for yourself. Get proper guidance somewhere regarding career studies.

Don't give up on music, just don't put all your hopes on it. Make it even more a part of your life and build your life on all fronts and levels.

You seem to be ready to learn about music, so do engage in that. But when you do you should note for yourself that when you identify what you need to learn and know about music, that's no different from learning anything else. What you learn about studying music you can re-apply later at something else, that might have a potential for getting you regular paid work in addition to what music might pay off (which could be years off and you need to make a living before that most likely).
Make some music!

Danny_DJ
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Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:55 am
Location: Berlin, Germany
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Re: Need your help. Taking back my life

Post by Danny_DJ » Sun Mar 20, 2016 2:46 pm

Stromkraft wrote: As for the career bit you say you "start making money through music" and that you "have no other option left". You really think music will provide money? Quite a few established artists with records out and touring struggle for money.

You also say that you "suck at studies", but you're confident you can learn what you want about music without studying? If so, think again. I have musician friends that do get paid work. They used to practice 6-8 hours a day or more and still practice a lot on off days. That was on top of their studies and done 7 days a week all year.

I think it could be quite likely you don't "suck at studies" at all. You're just part of a broken educational system that have failed to motivate you to learn what things people need to know these days and that structures and serves up potentially interesting facts and ideas in a boring way. Motivation is a driving factor for all learning. You have to fix that for yourself. Get proper guidance somewhere regarding career studies.

Don't give up on music, just don't put all your hopes on it. Make it even more a part of your life and build your life on all fronts and levels.

You seem to be ready to learn about music, so do engage in that. But when you do you should note for yourself that when you identify what you need to learn and know about music, that's no different from learning anything else. What you learn about studying music you can re-apply later at something else, that might have a potential for getting you regular paid work in addition to what music might pay off (which could be years off and you need to make a living before that most likely).
WORD.

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