Massive anxiety attacks on starting to use Ableton, help!

[sunrise600]

Wow!!! I never expected anyone to even respond to this...

This may sound stupid, but all of your responses really helped. I took some time to think about what you all said, and I realized I was really getting hung up on my own impossible expectations. Sometimes you need someone to tell you what time it is, regardless of if you're wearing a watch.

Anyways, thank you all for the great tips/advice. I printed out alot of the ideas you guys wrote about and just put them up on my wall. Now when I sit down I look at it the wall and I realize, yea, I can do this and to just relax and enjoy it.

Thank you thank you thank you!

I would talk more, but I have to go work on making my track (excited ahhh!).

Cheers mates,
Sun

[supamonsta]

I would talk more, but I have to go work on making my track

get rid of the "I HAVE TO", "GO TO", and "WORK ON MAKING", and even the "TRACK PRODUCTION" way of thinking, and you'll be fine.

cheers

[sunrise600]

Bahahaha, cheers mate! I hear ya

[jestermgee]

I would talk more, but I have to go work on making my track

get rid of the "I HAVE TO", "GO TO", and "WORK ON MAKING", and even the "TRACK PRODUCTION" way of thinking, and you'll be fine.

cheers

Yeah. That makes it sound too much like hard work!

Most of the suggestions are the same. Just chill. All good. If it would help I can send you the very first tracks I created when I started (Mary had a little lamb, smoke on the water remix etc etc). Using only 6 Wav samples and my whole 15 years of life experience. I keep these as a reminder of just how I started and how I have progressed in 15 years (there is my age, add that to that other thread going on again).

I still get overwhelmed sometimes with choice. All the content in Suite, all the VSTs, all the samples I have, loops, MIDI tracks etc. You can get lost. But what I like to do when I just don't "Get It" is just read and watch what others are doing and try some of that.

Another idea that is just for fun is to get a song (any song) and load it into Ableton (So much easier with Ableton as before I would cut it into bars) then remix it. What I like to do is try and create a drum beat that matches the song, try and create a piano that matches the tune, try and add any element that sounds like it fits and if it doesn't, try something else. It's a good way of experimenting and getting a finished product. What you can then do is take the original song away and start mucking around with what you created. Great for experimenting.

[djadonis206]

I know what you mean. As soon as I do something exciting and new in Live, I just want to listen to it over and pover again. Eventually, a lot of time passes and I don't make it very far in the track. I end up wasting an hour, or two, I'll never get back.

You just gotta keep pushing ahead, one sound and or sample at a time.

Music's pretty simple right? You need a tight rhythm, some driving bass, and a hook or melody. The nice part about electronic music is anything can be any of those things I mentioned. You're melody could be your bass line. Okay, so that's it. Arrange your track and move to your next one.

Good luck

[oblique strategies]

Often having a huge array of options can result in a form of 'snow blindness'.

"The trouble begins with a design philosophy that equates "more options" with "greater freedom." Designers struggle endlessly with a problem that is almost nonexistent for users: "How do we pack the maximum number of options into the minimum space and price?" In my experience, the instruments and tools that endure (because they are loved by their users) have limited options."

~Excerpt from a good article by Brian Eno. Complete article here:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.01/eno.html

Sometimes it is necessary to impose your own limits when faced with endless choices. It is easier to start on a blank canvas with some guidelines rather than "paint anything". And other times the blank canvas & no rules can be liberating. But you have to have some form of rudder to steer you along. Your intuition can sometimes be this rudder.

P.S. Lots of good advice in this posting. Thanks to all posters for their contributions. I think we all get lost or stuck in the process at times.

[formica]

Some great advice here already but having felt your pain maybe this will help.....

Pick one feature your most interested in and play around. later browse this forum and your SURE to find peeps who've mastered certain areas.

To elaborate, for me I find a loop I like and play around with FXs and warp markers and mostly ignore racks till I get something interesting. Later go play around with instruments and add my own 2 cents. I throw "crafting" a song out the window and play around till I find something I'd of never imagined.

Of course later, during mix down the anxiety comes when certain tracks are too muddy, too crisp, too "blue"

Even if you play an instrument sometimes having an already produced loop can help keep you focused. If you write around say a drum loop, you can always go and put midi notes and replace with your own sounds.

Pretend your not "writing" a song and Live's ability really shines ! Try "hmmm, i wonder what this will do?" . You never know......

[david.barker]

Hi there

Yeah panic attacks are bad sometimes,I started out learning Reason, just over 2 years ago.A now just started to learn Ableton Live but I got the Intro version as Im a newbie

But for me it was and still is a slog,as I don't come form a musical background.I cut my teeth in horticulture years back,and then developed a taste for computer based synth music.

So my tip is to relax,take a step at a time,ask questions no matter how daft they may seem.

Yeah I am still a bit jumpy,having to learn how Rewire works with Reason to Ableton,figuring out how stuff works etc etc

But we all got to start somewhere,bit like learner drivers as we once was,lol

All best and good luck

[Macrostructure]

Perhap you are just scared of finding out if you have any talent or not. Only one way past that.....

[mholloway]

Perhap you are just scared of finding out if you have any talent or not. Only one way past that.....

Whoa back up a second, electronic music takes TALENT?!

[koranek]

Come on, I think it is pretty scary to find the edges of your talent. To look at yourself and come to the conclusion that something is lacking is a heavy place to be. It's a great opportunity to self-judge, cross-fading into self-loathing. It can be as scary as shit. That anxious/panicky feeling can be your limbic system trying to shut everything down to protect you from exactly that scary situation. "This doesn't feel right, so let's go watch TV, get high, play video games, eat bad food, hang out in the Ableton forum, (insert your preferred avoidance routine here).

On the other hand, this is also where you develop talent. Usually you don't grow very much by pretending that everything is fine.

[lethal_pizzle]

2 tips from a book I'm reading:

1) it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become expert in something
2) successful people statistically have more failures than unsuccessful people simply by virtue of 'daring to fail'

...so just get involved and start making those mistakes!

[login]

Take music classes that can inspire you, work with others that have more experience or clearear goals. For example I have a friend who study's music composition but he doesnt know a thing about computers daw and synths, so its nice to work with him, he gaves musical direction so I can mess around learning ableton and programing synths.

[Angstrom]

The best thing you can do in music, or life, is allow yourself the time and space to be shit.

There is a popular and unrealistic expectation of being great immediately, probably driven by movies and tv 'reality' shows. Consequently beginners expect themselves to have professional equivalent results within months. Unfortunately that drive to seem pro produces shiny but shallow work.

Far better to dis-engage your ego and allow yourself to be shit, indulge your inner child, go wild. Meanwhile of course learn all about chord progressions, scales and mix techniques ... but make sure you are also getting drunk and playing one note repeatedly through an out of time delay and a fuzzbox.

self criticism during the creative process is counter-productive (literally)

[regretfullySaid]

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------That's some useful info, right there.