Ableton Forum

Assuming you have intermediate to advanced knowledge (i.e. half your time isn't spent trying to figure out how create a synth sound or 'how do you do this' in ableton), how long on average does it take you to complete a track start to finish?

I'm on the intermediate level so I'm still learning along the way, and about 3 weeks/30 hours into a 'full-featured' disco-electro track. I'd say about 2/3rds the way complete.

I'm assuming this will speed it up significantly overtime as I learn. But what's your experiences been?

Instead that I have the knowledge I need it could take from two weeks (really fast) with 6-8 hours per day, but it can also take a year.
I personally give each track a unique character, so its not about finding a way to sequence and arrange cause every time it goes different in another way. I also don't usually use something from another track, so I don't have any kind of preset (nor in hardware ) and I sound design from the beginning.

I have some tracks that are at least 7 years in the making. Work on it for a while. Set it down. Work on it for a while. Set it down. Forget about it. Dust it off. Work on it again for a while. Set it down...

I'm about to wrap one up that has taken about 2 months. Granted, wrapping it up could take another 2 months

Honestly though, if I do get it in 4 months that would be a decent time frame IMO. Some things to consider are the guitar player who wrote the base of the song did so before I got involved, the other 3 or 4 tracks that I've started or continued to work on in that same time frame and the fact that I don't work on music every day. I think its really hard to say. Each track is its own entity and comes with different levels of complexity for better or for worse.

3seconds.

well, it used to take me about a month to get the arrangement down, then 3 months (!) to mix. mixing gets me every time, but i'm pretty sure it was much more of a problem when i was doing sample-based music. getting a bunch of samples and loops from different records makes blending the sounds an excruciating task.

if anyone is having as hard a time as me with mixing, i highly recommend attending Ill Gates' ableton workshop. he's got some great work flow ideas that (after many hours of laborious preparation) seem to streamline the mixing process. at the heart of his technique is the idea of 128's. these are racks with 128 samples of whatever sounds you use normally (kick, snare, hats, basses, one-shots, etc.). the idea is you can create a drum pattern (or whatever track you're working on) and quickly audition different kick/snare/hat combinations (128 of each, via macro knobs) to find sounds that already work together well. then, you add your bass or whatnot, again being able to audition the different sounds to see what works with your drum part. the idea is instead of going back and trying to force sounds to work with one-another, the sounds you have chosen already work well together, so mixing is much easier. i haven't gotten to a point where i'm mixing anything with this work flow yet, but i am pleased with the results of the few projects i have adopted this idea for, and can already tell mixing is going to be easier.

the other major concept for this work flow is that smaller blocks of time (less than 4 hours) are used for creating and maintaining these libraries, while longer sessions are used for more creative, music-making ventures.

i think Ill Gates is currently touring and giving these workshops, so check him out to see if there are any near you (US & Canada only i'm guessing). as well as his work-flow ideas, he's got some great insights into the creative process as an artist. i might actually go a 2nd time to re-iterate some of the ideas that have faded over time- its money well spent.

^ how much money spent? and did he come to SF/Oaksterdam area?

i did it in santa cruz, but i think he did one at robotspeak in SF as well. i just checked and he's actually doing it tomorrow in santa cruz, but no other upcoming workshops planned. won't be able to make it as my car was totaled when some dumb bitch ran a red light (sans insurance, of course!)

there's also a show afterwards

^ can't check facebook at work. blocked on the hosts file. Hieroglyphics are playing in Santa Cruz this weekend too... FUUUUUCK!!! I wanna be in that town on so many levels. My girlfriend grew up there so I might be able to finagle... How much is the class/seminar though?


lame about your car

$40, and gets you into the show later for free, i believe- he's actually opening for heiro so you could kill two birds with one stone.

yeah, my girl lives in santa cruz so that's where i am most weekends. i love SF, but would probably move down to SC if i didn't have such a great job!

memes_33 wrote:i believe- he's actually opening for heiro so you could kill two birds with one stone.

thanks... sorta... its like gear lust but with more driving and... less gear

nope, i was wrong- they are playing together tomorrow in LA- my bad, but maybe this makes your decision easier

yeah... FUCK LA.

that takes a load off.


thanks for the info for real. I'm gonna try and check it out a little further...

Peace!


@ OP - sorry about the thread jack..

im lazy. i can make a "fish" with so much enthusiasm, but after forget about it thinking its noth worth my time, but sometimes music comes just like "bang bang" and i finish my track in a day.

funny example - my 1st ever released track was written in a day from start to finish, sent to a lable - and next day ive got positive answer ... ) so everything depends on mood your are in, sometimes it can be stoned, sometimes not...

but listen to your hart beats, if they are 140 BPM - make some fucking psy ))) ahahah