Ableton Forum

I fucking care, and I think your last post and what Richie said "But I enjoy the process of recording, composition, and mixing so much, that I just keep going." is nothing short of beautiful!.... This isn't about music it's about Life, keep living your life no matter what man!!!

Thank you bro.

OctavioPineda wrote: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.

Sounds like a fresh start! Selling your hardware didn't necessarily mean retired. In fact, it could be a new beginning. I used to "rest" from making music but never stopped following the technology development and enjoying great music. It was a cross between spoiled by an all software setup and using all my beloved and trusty hardware, a truly hard decision. Until I decided to use mostly PC, with a little amount of carefully chosen gears and disappointingly had to put most of my hardware in the closet. But it works! I've been way more productive since then and the achievement is amazing so far. Let alone for the FUN only, it's the key factor.

Anyway, sometimes hobbies are like fashion, they come and go in a circle. So, have fun..play some games and do other hobbies as well. It will fresh things up and bring the mood to old hobbies. All the best with your new journey.

I think the internet kills the muse, or at least holds it hostage while it blasts you will general distractions, endless information on gear and software you should be using and how, and a tidal wave of new music releases for you to compare to your own music which you then decide sucks or isn’t this month’s hot genre. And don’t expect to get many listens if it’s not this month’s hot genre.

Being an artist isn't about being the best. It's about being yourself. Expressing yourself.

No matter how *bad* you think your work is according to some arbitrary metric. It's yours and you're the only one who could have made it.

Every track you make is a product of you mind. A part of you. Forever. As long as the file isn’t deleted or your Sound Cloud account isn’t closed it will always be there. Like an abstract entry into your journal.

BoddAH wrote:Being an artist isn't about being the best. It's about being yourself. Expressing yourself.

No matter how *bad* you think your work is according to some arbitrary metric. It's yours and you're the only one who could have made it.

Every track you make is a product of you mind. A part of you. Forever. As long as the file isn’t deleted or your Sound Cloud account isn’t closed it will always be there. Like an abstract entry into your journal.

I sometimes try to use that as motivation, at the very least you are creating something unique that’s proof of your existence at some time in humanity’s history.

This also gets me thinking about how creative people tend to suffer from depression at a high rate. My lightbulb moment was realizing if you are driven to create something then there is something inside you saying that the world isn’t complete without your creation and by extension there is a void you need to fill.

Amen to that.

I have thought of it before and it can be a daunting thought.
But i've now forgiven myself for not being the greatest.

I now have reckoned this as my personal way of expression and intend to allow it to blossom through time.

I now started making "sonic essays" or "sonic rehearsals" basically making multiple projects (calling them songs would be overrating them) with the sole intention of exploring new grounds and seeing what comes out of it.

Im not saying i will never attempt to complete a song from now on, what im saying is that relinquishing the necessity of perfection and completeness is liberating as i can just enjoy the process of exploring ideas and having fun.

i'm on essay 9 at the moment haha.


Thank you all for the support. Its refreshing to know im not alone in this journey.

If anyone ever feels like talking about this please pm. My english is not the best but i can try to be of help as you all have been to me.

Make some dank memes. Always cheers me up.

Maybe you need to take a long break. It happens to me from time to time. When making music become like work, it's not enjoyable and then only a source of frustration.

I think u should stop trying hard to make music, you should only be trying hard to learn your tools.

making music feels good, so i think maybe what you want to try to do is,

1)to identify what you want to hear
2)learn your tools
3)set up a workflow

THEN...

4)enjoy the externalization process, which IS the gratifying part of making music that we seek.

also, for me i've adopted a lifestyle that forces me to externalize.

don't listen to other peoples music at all, then...

when you feel the need to listen to music, (provided you have learned your tools and have set up a workflow) sit down and make what you are trying to hear. if you are in the mood and you are still blank, sit down and find and interesting musical element, like a sound that resonates with how you feel (maybe angry or sad or happy, hell... even bored) then build on that.

lastly, when you make music that you enjoy making and that resonates with you. you dont have to go seek peoples approval about weather it is good or not because it has your vibe (after all, no vibe, no music). all that is left is fixing things and perfecting things but the essence is captured.

"dont worry, be happy"

Talent in music is 70% work and 25% confidence and the secret sauce is: to work smart. I bet you simply do it wrong or not enough and it is not for the lack of talent.

What helped me was to finally gave up the chase for latest (or more "old-schoolest") and greatest piece of gear/software and… I started recreating work that I really personally enjoyed. You will quickly find out that it is impossible to recreate exactly and that whether you planed it or not you will put your own style into those recreations. From there… You will have already acquired tricks and motives and all stuff necessary to build your own songs - just don't rush it

Of course I am still shit But I enjoy what I do and occasionally I really enjoy it a lot Also, I simply enjoy the process - I don't care that much about the results as I do it for myself, so I'm lucky this way.

Just have fun with the music. I'm a lifetime music professional, but even if the money stopped, I would still play everyday in Ableton or Bitwig. I can always fall back to computer programming or construction management. Always have another important skill, as my father strictly enforced.

I nearly quit a few times. The mistakes and misunderstandings I had were thus: I listened too much to what others' thought were "good music"; I tried too hard to emulate others (although I did learn a lot about mixing and such); I over-complicated things - sometimes you just have to strip things down to their bare essentials.

Take a break, go for a walk/drive/bike ride, get some fresh air etc. Come back later and just do what you want to do.