Ableton Forum

hey people

this may be a stupid question but it seems like its taking me forever to produce a song. Iv been producing properly a few months now. my first two tracks took around a month each. My last track 3 months and now it appears Iv spent 3 months on a new song Im producing and I'm still writing it. I have no idea if this is normal. I always wonder how long it takes some of the big time producers to write and mix a song. I seem to find myself listening to my mix over and over when I don't really need to when I should be just knuckling down =/

I know its a bit of a bold statement to put a time scale on producing a song but just curious how long does it take everyone else generally?

some people can do it in a day. for me, it takes months (mixing is a long arduous process for me). my only piece of advice (at least for the mixing part) is to start out with sounds that already sound good together- this makes mixing much easier.

if you are getting stuck on the writing part of it, try doing a different track. its hard to give up on something that you've spent a lot of time on, i know, but if it's not working, move on. you can always come back. also, when i'm far along on a song and get stuck, adding vocals (acapellas or otherwise) can sometimes revive a track or send it in a completely new direction.

this coming from the guy who hasn't finished a track in over a year

Anywhere from a week to a couple months or longer here. Generally I try and work on multiple songs at once these days, so if I'm not feeling one on a particular day I can just switch to working on something else.

Try not to get carried away with mixing while you're still tracking and arranging.

I'm with Tarekith on this one. Keeps a few tracks on the go and try not to get too emotionally tied to any one of them repeated listening when stuck can kill inspiration fast. Sometimes taking a break, fresh air, different activity can also spark ideas...sometimes you just gotta get out the studio...don't tell my wife I told you that!

Writing and mixing songs, like all work, can expand to fill the time available.

Got a week's deadline to write and record two songs? Done!

Got an unlimited amount of time available to write and record two songs? ... nearly done,
just need to have another tweak of that bass part in the middle section and try a different kick EQ, oh, and the Reverb choice too, perhaps try a convolution on the ... etc.

Trusting your instincts is a big thing here. Try to get as much, if not all of the creative work done in one session. So that you've got multiple patterns and ideas down while youre still feeling the initial vibe. Coming back and trying to do this later just causes confusion as mood/emotion/ego get in the way. You want to have a bunch of patches/instruments ready on hand before you start so you dont have to search and fiddle with shit while youre trying to be creative. Starting a new tune when youve only got an hour to spare is a big no-no for me. Time better spent sampling, building new instruments etc.
Thats just my way of working tho, and everyone is different. Just have to take in as much advice as you can get and find out what's best for you.

Pz.

check out Mike Monday's "Start now finish fast" - he has some videos on YT. He is a little salesy at times and is trying to get you to pay a lot of money to get his full courses, but he gives a bit away free and he has some really interesting ideas.

He's kind of looked into psychology and things like "mindsets" and looked at ways of dealing with creative blocks. The "fixed" mindset is more about believing you have a fixed amount of talent and have to squeeze the most out of it, which makes things very limited, while the "growth" mindset sees all 'failures' as improvements. It's pretty simple really, but he does go into it a bit more than just that and lays out some flow charts of the whole creative process, where to put your attention and give priority.

The long and short of his advice is to finish as many tracks as you can, as often as you can and send them off as often as you can. The whole process from start to finish is the biggest learning exercise and being too perfectionist and precious over each track is what kills the flow.

It's surprisingly inspiring. If you get past that initial revulsion that he is some kind of Anthony Robbins type sales guru or something, once he gets into the meat there is definitely something you can take away from it.

And actually with hindsight I have realised that really every track has one or two main ideas - like a riff or a bass line or whatever that is really the main feature of it, so once you have that then you really just want to put your effort into getting the most out of that and not try and squeeze blood out of a stone and spend months trying to make it into more than it is, so you're better off just doing the best with that bit and finishing it as quickly as possible then coming up with new ideas for a new track and moving on.

Okay guys really much appreciated for taking some time and giving me a bit of advice. Ill start doing a lot of what everyone's saying. I guess my biggest problem is I concentrate all my efforts on one track at a time and end up listening to it to much and sometimes can't get motivated to get in the studio.

Cheers again though =)

keep it simple, work with loops if your just starting out or dont know how to mixdown and mastering FX.

It takes time, some my signed tracks for Eg. took between a day to several weeks or more
Whats causing you to lose concentration ?
A good track may sound simple. Mixing and mastering it to club/cd standard takes patience, practise and dedication.

Another vote for Mike Monday.

I'm in month 2 of a 6 month program. I've been a musician for over 20 years and I can tell you his advice is sound. The bottom line is you need remove your creative barriers (and there are MANY) and he'll give you strategies for overcoming them.

I ate up all of his free material before going all in on the six-month plan (not terribly expensive BTW).

My output has increased, but more importantly – my quality has improved and the results are more satisfying.

He WILL uncover what is slowing you down, but you have to resolve yourself to taking the necessary actions to correct it. It's no walk in the park.

Also, it's an incredibly supportive community – everyone is pushing each other.

It takes as long as it takes.


I know its a bit hammy, but its true.