I want to quit.

Discuss anything related to audio or music production.
octavious
Posts: 61
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 4:11 pm

I want to quit.

Post by octavious » Mon Aug 22, 2016 5:44 pm

I've dabbled with live for almost a decade now and feel like i've finally realized i have no musical talent whatsoever.

I want to sell all my stuff and move on but i just feel bad.
How can i just give it up?
have you ever felt like this?

Richie Witch
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Re: I want to quit.

Post by Richie Witch » Mon Aug 22, 2016 5:49 pm

Time to become a recording/studio engineer type, so you can hang out with musician types and put your software and gear to good use.

I struggle with the idea that I have no real musical talent either, nor can I play an instrument with much proficiency. But I enjoy the process of recording, composition, and mixing so much, that I just keep going.

Find a couple musicians in your community that need to make demo disks and have fun. I've run into some great people at the local open mic venue and on Craigslist under "Gigs".
"Watching the Sky" ~ A 4-track EP of piano, strings, and Native American flute

stringtapper
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Re: I want to quit.

Post by stringtapper » Mon Aug 22, 2016 5:55 pm

Hard work is more important than talent.

The guy with talent can skate through and impress up to a point, but eventually he will have to put in some work. Talent can only bring you so far.

The guy with little talent can still work hard to become good or even great at what they do.

In fact this is really a false dichotomy.

Everyone has some amount of what we call "talent," but everyone, even the most talented, will eventually hit a ceiling. The only way to move that ceiling upwards is through hard work.

And really, when it comes down to it, the study of any craft is a constant series of hitting limitations that must then be overcome by hard work and practice.

Don't let the "talent delusion" fool you. Even the "greats" whom we idolize as being the ultimate "talents" actually put in a lot of work towards what they do. All we see is the end product.
Unsound Designer

jbone1313
Posts: 578
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:44 am

Re: I want to quit.

Post by jbone1313 » Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:51 pm

If you enjoy the process, continue.
Else, quit.

I'm in your boat. 10 years. No tunes. But, tons of fun. So, who cares?

Maybe one day I'll write that hit. Maybe not.

jbone1313
Posts: 578
Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:44 am

Re: I want to quit.

Post by jbone1313 » Mon Aug 22, 2016 6:56 pm

stringtapper wrote:Hard work is more important than talent.

The guy with talent can skate through and impress up to a point, but eventually he will have to put in some work. Talent can only bring you so far.

The guy with little talent can still work hard to become good or even great at what they do.

In fact this is really a false dichotomy.

Everyone has some amount of what we call "talent," but everyone, even the most talented, will eventually hit a ceiling. The only way to move that ceiling upwards is through hard work.

And really, when it comes down to it, the study of any craft is a constant series of hitting limitations that must then be overcome by hard work and practice.

Don't let the "talent delusion" fool you. Even the "greats" whom we idolize as being the ultimate "talents" actually put in a lot of work towards what they do. All we see is the end product.
This ^^. Go listen to Aphex Twin's greatest tracks. Then, go listen to the 200 or so he made over the years, which he dumped on the internet. Even the greatest make a ton of crap. But, they keep at it and edit like hell. Making the crap is part of the process.

Fanu
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Location: Helsinki

Re: I want to quit.

Post by Fanu » Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:37 pm

You can't quit the shit you love.
Try it – you'll come back.
I've nearly quit a few times in moments of frustration, but when you shed off all unnecessary external bullshit around it all, it all comes back to the one thing: having fun.

dysanfel
Posts: 430
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2007 3:06 am

Re: I want to quit.

Post by dysanfel » Tue Aug 23, 2016 2:41 am

You'll be back.
Gig Rig - rMBP 2.3GHZ i7, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, OSX 10.13.x, Presonus FS, Live 10.x
Home Rig - i9 eight-core Hackintosh 32GB DDR4, 2nd Generation Scarlett 18i20, ADA8000, JoeMeek SixQ, Live 10.x

Tarekith
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Re: I want to quit.

Post by Tarekith » Tue Aug 23, 2016 5:43 am

OctavioPineda wrote:I've dabbled with live for almost a decade now and feel like i've finally realized i have no musical talent whatsoever.

I want to sell all my stuff and move on but i just feel bad.
How can i just give it up?
have you ever felt like this?
I generally feel like that once every 6 months or so, it's part of being an artist :)
Tarekith
Ableton Forum Administrator
https://tarekith.com

Chuku
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2016 10:18 am

Re: I want to quit.

Post by Chuku » Tue Aug 23, 2016 9:57 am

Sometimes you want to quit your Guitar. But if you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded- Jimi Hendrix

I think that's the human nature when one does not get what he expects. Sometimes you feel frustrated, you feel down, stupid, wanna throw all your gadgets, have different negative vibrations going around your mind. Your Mate/ Relatives/ a random guy/ girl that you see growing up with is making a lot of progression on same field but you just sit and Shit and barely give time at your work..

I think every one feels frustrated sometimes. I do get frustrated sometimes but the main point is that you should continue and give time to what you love.. If you have some other jobs or work, just spend an hour or two whenever you are free maybe in the morning or in the evening before bed time?

Its just the cruel/ bad vibration going through your mind. Just overcome it by watching inspirational videos. Sometimes when i feel down, i listen to good music in full volume and get inspired again to continue... your frustration will die after some days and you will continue for sure. You can't quit what you love. can you?

If you feel really depressed or frustrated than just take a break for a week or two. Pack your stuffs, let it go.. and then start again after. You will feel fresh, have energy again.

Cheers Mate :)

bytheriver
Posts: 360
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:53 pm

Re: I want to quit.

Post by bytheriver » Tue Aug 23, 2016 1:16 pm

Don't quit! People get so hung up on finishing tunes and being productive.. DON'T!

A hobby you enjoy doesn't have to have a 'finished product', think about people who go fishing and throw the fish back into the lake, or people who go for a run, or read books, or watch films, or travel... a week after the event you don't have anything to show for it, you don't need anything.

A lot of the drive toward finishing tracks and productivity comes from people trying to sell you crap to achieve that productivity, training, tutorials, plugins, books, connections, a website, mp3 hosting... they don't want you to just have fun with whats in front of you because you don't need to give them cash to do that.


The only exception to this is if music is your business, in which case like any other business it has its rough with its smooth and you just gotta plug away even if you hate it and hope it comes together.

Angstrom
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Re: I want to quit.

Post by Angstrom » Tue Aug 23, 2016 1:40 pm

It depends what you want from music.

Do you want respect or even adulation?
Find a niche. It's social relevance which gives subjective value to a musician. there are some deeply unmusical people in the squeaky gate artnoise scene who are well respected, and the modular scene is saturated with atonal box collectors, and in many musical-social scenes talent is not that important. "musicians" get respect in most scene by being relevant. There are a lot of technical players who get no respect because they arent relevant to anyone. Be relevant.

Do you want money?
Don't be a musician. Probably dont even be a producer. The world is saturated. There is 8 billion dollars on the table but it is divided 9 billion ways. The best you can do is sell shovels. But there are a lot of shovel stores these days.

Do you want a nice hobby?
Making music is a nice hobby. Like making pottery. No amateur potter expects to be exhibited in a national museum. Thats not the point of a hobby - a hobby is to detatch and enjoy the moment. Some hobbies are competitive (like sports) but most hobbies are intended purely for enjoyment of the moment. Jogging, gardening, pottery, art classes, dance classes.
Music can be a nice hobby. Even if you are objectively shit, the enjoyment you derive from performing the actions has value. No commercial value, no social status improvement, just plain old "tinkering in the garden" enjoyment.

malenko
Posts: 191
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2007 5:21 pm
Location: England

Re: I want to quit.

Post by malenko » Tue Aug 23, 2016 3:56 pm

I've felt like that many, MANY times and I've been at it nearly 16 year now! and still only written a handful of tracks that I think are worth it.

As everyone has said, we ALL go through it which can be extremely tough but you have to recognise what your actually doing it for. If it's for fame and fortune then it's a long road with probably with the slimmest of chances of even getting a sniff. If your doing it because you actually love when it works, then relax and concentrate on other things like organising your sample library, creating racks to use in the future or learn how to use that plugin or bit of gear you've never got round to fully exploring. In the end the fun will come back because while your doing all that boring stuff, creativity may take over and you lay down some awesome tracks!

Once I started accepting that I'll probably never be able to give up my day job and be worshipped by thousands, I started enjoying it again because at the end of the day it's a great hobby to fill what little spare time I have.

Buying Push 2 this year was my biggest turnaround. That thing just helps my workflow so much so I'm able to get ideas down a lot easier and after that I realised that buying new gear was fun and inspirational. So now I have the bug and have begun the analog trail.

And lets be honest, there is a shit load of people out there with out a shred of musical talent, but fortunately in this day and age anyone can buy a computer and DAW and lay down some tracks. It's not the musical talent that's going to do it, it's knowing what sounds good. And just like any skill, the more you practice the easier it will become.

So don't give up mate!

mekanism1200
Posts: 117
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 5:25 pm

Re: I want to quit.

Post by mekanism1200 » Tue Aug 23, 2016 3:58 pm

I have "quit" like 3 times in the past 5 years. I bug always comes back to bite. Good luck!

re:dream
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Re: I want to quit.

Post by re:dream » Tue Aug 23, 2016 7:40 pm

That feeling that I have run out of ideas, that I should give it up, is usually a sign that something new is trying to come out...

octavious
Posts: 61
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 4:11 pm

Re: I want to quit.

Post by octavious » Tue Aug 23, 2016 9:12 pm

I realize nobody really cares, but i've decided to start fresh.
I've listed all my hardware for sale and bought a couple plugins i wanted for a long time.
Lets see how it goes.

Main change im making is seeing this as pure fun from now on and not as a gate to stardom or anything.

thanks to all.

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