Ableton Forum

I have been messing around with Ableton for about 2 years (very on and off). I have never finished a track. I get half way through and realise that it simply doesn't sound good. My preference has been to stop at that point and try again to make something that sounds decent, even if it's an 8 bar loop. I have suceeded in that. How did the rest of you deal with this? Did you charge ahead and create ropey full tracks, or did you concentrate on achieveing a decent level of quality before finishing tracks.

Thanks guys and gals.

yes, you are normal

What helps:

from time to time turn off the screen while listening. Note down what's missing, what's too much etc.

deadlines. You will never finish a thing if there is no deadline.

I set you a deadline now: Finish a track until sunday night.

pepezabala wrote:What helps:

from time to time turn off the screen while listening. Note down what's missing, what's too much etc.

deadlines. You will never finish a thing if there is no deadline.

I set you a deadline now: Finish a track until sunday night.

That really made me smile pepezabala! Both good points. I will try out your deadline idea - why not?

Even if it sounds like shit, still turn your loop into an arrangement - just going through the excercise will help get into an arrangement mindset and out of the stuck-in-loop mindset.

Khazul wrote:Even if it sounds like shit, still turn your loop into an arrangement - just going through the excercise will help get into an arrangement mindset and out of the stuck-in-loop mindset.

Yes, I have been wondering about this. I am crap in arrangement view, but relatively hot in session view. I think I just need to knuckle down to it and make seom full tracks, even if they're not so good. I can track my progress by comparing my tracks over time. Thanks for your help.

Are you a musician?

Its always a good starting point.

If not, then in a sense that you've bought some computer music software and are just hobbying about but wonder why your music isn't finished or sounds great but have expectations beyond your inherent abilities then yes, you are completely normal.

The Leveller wrote:Are you a musician?

Its always a good starting point.

If not, then in a sense that you've bought some computer music software and are just hobbying about but wonder why your music isn't finished or sounds great but have expectations beyond your inherent abilities then yes, you are completely normal.

Well, I guess that's right. I'm not a musician, but I am learning. Presumably every good musician went through this stage... (in fairness I am very much "hobbying"! I have never once referred to myself as a musician!)

Then it is just a question of tempering your expectations a little I'd suggest.

Compare it to a brand new guitarist. He doesn't wonder why his music doesn't sound great. He knows why: he can't play guitar yet.

The same applies to electronic music to my mind, although the abundance of samples and presets for instruments allows for some quick loops to be thrown down.

But as you've discovered, it takes more than that to make a track.

My point only being: Keep perspective, enjoy your hobby, learn and read and emulate for knowledge but try not to expect this years club smash hit to spring out of your computer on Saturday.

The Leveller wrote:Then it is just a question of tempering your expectations a little I'd suggest.

Compare it to a brand new guitarist. He doesn't wonder why his music doesn't sound great. He knows why: he can't play guitar yet.

The same applies to electronic music to my mind, although the abundance of samples and presets for instruments allows for some quick loops to be thrown down.

But as you've discovered, it takes more than that to make a track.

My point only being: Keep perspective, enjoy your hobby, learn and read and emulate for knowledge but try not to expect this years club smash hit to spring out of your computer on Saturday.

I think that's very fair comment. You truely are "The Leveller" Actually, I have made life hard for myself by not using many loops and other shortcuts. I want to really learn how the synths work, how to program drums, etc, rather than just use other people's work. Thats's just my personal preference, I am not critisising those who use lots of sample CDs, etc.

Seen in another thread you've latched on to Nick tutorial's. Great place to start.

If you were using Dubturbo, you would finish all of your tracks!!!!

http://www.dubturbo.com/

I´ve noticed over the years to lower my expectations of "making something completely new". Often times I ended up in a mess with less and less focus. Ambitions were too high.
Nowadays I try to understand 2 or 3 elements and try to incorporate them into my ambient project (like an open playground) When I feel, it sounds ok I´ll try to use these techniques into my official project.

The most important thing is to finish something and to try to get the moment to switch from session to arrangement view. That´s the big challenge in Ableton.
The last few weeks I try to spend shorter periods in editing, but almost everyday. It works really well, but it is very demanding and my schedule is really tight.
Without interest and dedication you won´t get near to your role models. But it takes its time. Being an electronic musician is a "profession" that combines many more tasks than being "just a guitar player". Give yourself time and play as much you can. Learn about synth methods and usually you´ll be inspired by these different approaches.

Good luck and stay strong.

der Ivo

cubehog wrote:I´ve noticed over the years to lower my expectations of "making something completely new". Often times I ended up in a mess with less and less focus. Ambitions were too high.
Nowadays I try to understand 2 or 3 elements and try to incorporate them into my ambient project (like an open playground) When I feel, it sounds ok I´ll try to use these techniques into my official project.

The most important thing is to finish something and to try to get the moment to switch from session to arrangement view. That´s the big challenge in Ableton.
The last few weeks I try to spend shorter periods in editing, but almost everyday. It works really well, but it is very demanding and my schedule is really tight.
Without interest and dedication you won´t get near to your role models. But it takes its time. Being an electronic musician is a "profession" that combines many more tasks than being "just a guitar player". Give yourself time and play as much you can. Learn about synth methods and usually you´ll be inspired by these different approaches.

Good luck and stay strong.

der Ivo

Thanks CubeHog. Interesting insights.

I did a project last year, A Song A Week, where I basically put together a track starting Monday and uploaded whatever I had, regardless of how finished/polished it was, on Sunday night.

I got out 16 tracks in about 5 months, most of which I'm fairly happy with. Check them out here if you're so inclined

Some of them are crap, but there are a few genuinely decent bits in there I think. The important thing was to have something done and to set that deadline for myself, and it really helped me focus on what I was doing and how much tweaking I allowed myself with any given element.