Reflecting on progress.

  • I had to take a break on guitar today, so to keep from being bored to death, I decided to listen back to all my videos of tunes and songs. I must say that I should be pretty pleased with my progress so far. I mean, if you were to tell me I could perform and mix to this degree a few years ago, I would be stoked and hard-pressed to think I could accomplish that in a short time.


    I still have a long way to go, but if I can just double my progress in the next couple of years then I should be a pretty descent musician!


    So, when you get frustrated, just reflect on your personal accomplishments. They add up tremendously. And keep moving forward.


    Okay, so this turned out to be a tip for myself. Sorry. :)

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • I have a different problem. I have all of the equipment and I have years of experience mixing. I have been having a horrible time getting myself motivated to spend time with my equipment and getting creative. I started a song a couple of months ago and I got a good flow going and I created about 2/3 of a song over a weekend, mostly one day. I have not had the motivation to get back to it and finish it. That seems to happen to me a lot and I just never finish the songs. I am really at a loss as to how to fix this.

  • I have a different problem. I have all of the equipment and I have years of experience mixing. I have been having a horrible time getting myself motivated to spend time with my equipment and getting creative. I started a song a couple of months ago and I got a good flow going and I created about 2/3 of a song over a weekend, mostly one day. I have not had the motivation to get back to it and finish it. That seems to happen to me a lot and I just never finish the songs. I am really at a loss as to how to fix this.

    How about try to study specific parts of hit songs that you like and try to incorporate pieces of those into finishing your song? You could take one popular riff, change the tempo, maybe add a rest, and you have an entire new riff no one has ever done before. That could help with some motivation?? I'd like to hear your work.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • I have a different problem. I have all of the equipment and I have years of experience mixing. I have been having a horrible time getting myself motivated to spend time with my equipment and getting creative. I started a song a couple of months ago and I got a good flow going and I created about 2/3 of a song over a weekend, mostly one day. I have not had the motivation to get back to it and finish it. That seems to happen to me a lot and I just never finish the songs. I am really at a loss as to how to fix this.

    I feel your pain. That is the story of my life. I start an idea. Work on it for a while then decide I don’t like it afterall and start another idea………….

  • I feel your pain. That is the story of my life. I start an idea. Work on it for a while then decide I don’t like it afterall and start another idea………….

    Make a point to finish and then treat yourself to something nice -- like a new guitar. ;)

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • In my humble opinion, a lot of this has to do with sitting alone in your room and getting something done "on your own". Nowadays it's cheap to setup a little homestudio ... and that's great. But it also has plenty of downsides. The purpose of pro studios isn't to provide you with pro hardware and a guy who presses the record button for you while sucking cash out of your pocket.

    It's also the communication, advice, suggestions from another pair of (good, experienced and musical) ears. A good engineer / producer will help you tremendously to move forward and get your job done. He will tell you when a take is fine and done (and why) and how to proceed. Over the last 3.5 decades I've seen so many artists struggeling for months to get anything finished ... and once they hit the studio, they are shocked how they can finish an album within a week only.

    It's too easy to get obsessed with minuscule details you think you need to "fix". And even if you keep working on these details for days or weeks, it rarely gets better. It's amazing how often a first take or maybe second take will be the one ... rarely the 37th take of the same. :)

    And by the way, it's also fun to work with someone (or more than one). It might take a little to find the right person to work with, it needs to 'click'. But once you find the right one, it's eye opening. Being a lone wolf or caveman often is a huge hindrance for projects. Exceptions prove the rule, haha.


    Just my 2cents (and years of experience and observation), of course.

  • How about try to study specific parts of hit songs that you like and try to incorporate pieces of those into finishing your song? You could take one popular riff, change the tempo, maybe add a rest, and you have an entire new riff no one has ever done before. That could help with some motivation?? I'd like to hear your work.

    It is more of just getting the motivation to get in the room and start something. I work in this same room every week day. I think that has something to do with it.

    I feel your pain. That is the story of my life. I start an idea. Work on it for a while then decide I don’t like it afterall and start another idea………….

    I took on a project for a friend of mine that taught me to not judge too much on something until you spend time putting all of the parts together. he had a bunch of tracks that he had recorded for a song. They were dirty and noisy in spots. It took it as a challenge to make the best sounding mix of it that I could possibly do. It was a ton of work. I cut out sections of the tracks that were just noise and I applied noise gates to some areas. In the end it came out pretty good and he was super surprised at how good it sounded in the end. That taught me to not judge my tracks too harshly until I hear them in a mix and see what I can do with them. If they are total crap after that, I can record them again.

    I would love to have someone to write and record with. I think that would help a lot. Then I would be in the position where we schedule time and I have to be there to participate. I have been keeping an eye out locally to see if there is anyone that I may mesh with well for something like this but have not really found anyone. I just saw my brother recently and we live about 2000 miles apart. I suggested to him that we should collaborate from remote to see what comes out of it.

  • BayouTexan

    Nice share about feelings we all have at one point or another. Congrats on your progress. Isn't that what we all aspire to do?

    I appreciate being able to hear from musicians from around the globe here on the forum. We all share a common interest in music. My Kemper helps keep me motivated. Rock on brothers.(and sisters)

  • I find that recording and mixing in the box can be a big distraction. I suffered with this for a bit before I decided to approach recording and mixing more as an analog flow. I don't do reamping, detailed editing, don't put off decisions for later, etc... It is easy to suffer from paralysis by analysis. Too many choices for me. I commit and get on with it. This has helped me a lot.


    Glad to hear your enjoying the fruits of your labor, BT. Music can be a bit of a roller coaster. Enjoy the ride.

  • I had to take a break on guitar today, so to keep from being bored to death

    I think it's time to workout your voice everyday and work on synth lines & harmonies. A bit of theory is also welcome when you cannot play guitar. It happened to me in a lesser way and I began all that stuff , i"m glad I did it.


    About leaving some projects unfinished, it's a perfectly normal way of being creative, jump onto something else if you lose too much spontaneity , get back to projects after a while , and give a second look.