Ableton Forum

I've always been partial to long tracks, particularly in the psychedelic, ambient, experimental electronica world. So I find myself in trying to compose/produce/record this type of music, leaning towards creating 15-20 minute plus tracks. I just wonder about the commercial viability of extended pieces like this. I'm not worried about getting Top 40 radio airplay or anything, but just the idea of enticing and retaining some audience for my music despite the sometimes lengthy excursions demanded of the listener. What are your thoughts? Anyone else partial to lengthy tracks? When I was a kid, sometimes I'd buy an album from a band or artist I'd never heard of just for having a song that took up an entire side of the record.

Luvin some long tracks here. I'm always trying to cut time off my tracks to make them more listener friendly, but in the end many (most?) of them end up in the 8 -12 minute range. The last one I posted is 15:15, right here:

Going Underground

Do what you like.No limits.It is good that you have your own style and don't copy others.javascript:emoticon('')

I like longer stuff too, but experimental electronica and commercial viability are like arch enemies in this day Long is good, provided it's not boring.

http://hourevolution.org/insound/iiis-- ... on.org.mp3

or toooo loooong?

I like longer tracks. Some bands that I think do well to not make longer tracks boring are the velvet underground and sonic youth.

I find that great musician's masterpieces usually run long. Take Tool & Shpongle as two examples. Tool has average, 4-6 minute tracks, but their really emotional, mind-blowing stuff runs 9-14 minutes long! All of Shpongle's tracks tend to run approx 8-9 minutes too. I think that's the nature of true creativity and art: it flows. You can't expect a short track to have as much potential in engulfing the senses as a long track does. Of course I'm not talking about LONG-as-Hell repetitive tracks, but the masterpieces...

My two-cents.

I agree with everyone's comments regarding the fact that you need to make the music that's right for you.

If you bring commercial viability into the mix, then generally, the shorter the song, to more people you can add to the lowest common denominator. This is sad, as people have rightly pointed out that most masterpieces and great works tend to be longer by nature.

You might consider release some shorter works and some longer ones to see how they fare in the marketplace. However, the day you decide to shorten a piece of music in order to sell it, you might question yourself really hard about what you're doing.

Other than that, I'd stick with Tarekith...keep it as long as you want - just make sure it stays intersting.

Yeah that Beethoven dude made some loooong tracks & then there's Wagner! Sold a few shows between them I hear.

PB

philipbarrett wrote:Yeah that Beethoven dude made some loooong tracks & then there's Wagner! Sold a few shows between them I hear.

PB

Were they using Live or Protools?

rbro wrote: Were they using Live or Protools?

An earlier version called ProQuill I believe. Factory support was lousy, you were left with the product and a pen knife.

PB

philipbarrett wrote:

rbro wrote: Were they using Live or Protools?

An earlier version called ProQuill I believe. Factory support was lousy, you were left with the product and a pen knife.

PB

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