If I listen to the results and don’t like them, I feel the process was mostly in vain, irrespective of how much I enjoyed the process. OTOH there’s always something to learn from why I don’t like the result. But mostly I struggle to get good mixdowns of multitracked tracks where I’m pleased with the composition / arrangement. It can get frustrating.
Where’s the new music, buddy? 
1 Like
Ah man, I mean the other problem with getting feedback from people you know is, even if your stuff is good, they still probably won’t like it.
There’s a ton of bands that objectively are good and sound very much bands I love, but I just can’t stand them.
On topic: I generally make what I can make. I’m not very good at making something close to what I intended to make, but I generally like what I’ve done, mostly from a personal satisfaction point of view that ignores the inherent laziness and lack of polish in most of what I make. I tend to feel a lot more positive about what I’ve made 6 plus months later with a less critical ear as well.
2 Likes
Exactly as it should be, otherwise we get content.
I mean as an artist that would probably solve all our problems and save us loads of time/stress/money etc but we should know by now we’re in it for the long haul and contentment is not an option.
3 Likes
i’d say when i’m on a creative roll i’m normally listening to my own music 80% of the time, other peoples music the other 20%. i’m pretty self indulgent and egotistical tho so im sure its because of that heh
2 Likes
I enjoy listening to the music I make, however the stuff I make for myself isn’t always the exact aesthetic I usually take to, some clay just forms itself differently, as it will.
1 Like
I’ve been struggling with it, but I keep on
1 Like
I got to a point where the musik I make sounds like what I want to make.
This being also one of my favorite genres to listen to. So yeah, both! 
1 Like
me too and let’s be honest, I don’t come close to the quality and style of any of them.
I still enjoy trying it, and I like the outcome in its own way. Don’t be so hard on yourself, these are legends
2 Likes
they are also just people. 
5 Likes
I make the music that I want to hear, or try to at least. Though I never listen to only my own music creations, I do bump my own shit… So yeah, I like what I make and regularly and shamelessly play my own jams. “with the windows rolled up and the woofer on thump.”
Edit: Quote is from Queen Badu (Puff)
I’ve got a similar experience with grooveboxes. I really enjoy making tracks on my OP-Z, but it’s not something I’d really want to listen to (though not bad either). I love jamming on the Monotribe, it’s so much fun, but if I record the jams, it becomes obvious how much do they suck.
But if I’m trying to create something that I would love to listen to, I get caught in the perfectionism trap. I’ve got one track that would be on the top of my playlist once it’s done (think instrumental atmospheric post-black metal on synths), but that’s exactly the reason I can never release it.
So I’ve got a nice studio but everything I share is made on the OP-Z at a cafe.
4 Likes
I‘m pretty sure it’s techno 
I mean genres that people like to make but not listen to.
I think plenty of people listen to techno.
2 Likes
This is an interesting topic. I often imagine a type of music I should make but what I make is rarely exactly that.
I think there’s a certain sense of exploration in music making that if you fight against, and try and steer towards some vague notion of what you ought to make, the end result is worse than if you just went with the flow both in terms of enjoying the process and listening to the finished track.
I don’t mean you aim to write, say, techno but inadvertently end up with flamenco, but more the particular flavor of techno-esque music. Anyway, that’s a fairly loose reflection on the topic.
1 Like
What’s the difference between flamenco techno and techno flamenco?
2 Likes
‘Do you make music that you enjoy listening to or do you make music that you enjoy making?’
Yes.
4 Likes
When I was young (in the 80’s) I heard some (acid house/techno/electro) music that I really liked, I found out what gear was used and bought a few bits of gear, and learned how to use it.
There was very little information available and no internet, so it was a case of just getting on with it. Within a year or two I was sending out demo tapes, got featured in some magazines, got a few record deals.
Over the years just built up from there adding/changing gear, developing new techniques and working methods, branching out into other genres.
I guess I assume for most people the path is similar, although maybe the internet is a bit of a double edged sword these days?
I only make music I enjoy listening to and enjoy making, to me they are the same things. It would be hell for me to make music I did not enjoy listening to, and if I did not enjoy making it I definitely would not make it.
I really hate the idea of sticking to rigid genre rules, I think that stifles music and makes it really boring and formulaic, so consequently I neither make music like that myself nor listen to other artists who do that. I think this is probably a key reason why I like making and listening to the music I make, nothing to do with ego though - I think it is just about being honest to yourself.
14 Likes
I’ve spent at least the last year hating the music I’ve been making. I haven’t enjoyed making it all that much and I haven’t enjoyed listening to it all that much either.
Then I got drunk at an open mic, blasted the room for 15 minutes with my Lyra set to full spleen wallpaper and had an epiphany.
I’ve been so wrapped up in trying to make music that I think other people want to listen to that I forgot to make music that I want to make, which most likely isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste. But art is supposed to be about self expression, so I’m gonna start expressing myself instead of trying to please.
Yous are probably not gonna like it.
14 Likes
I’m mostly a metalhead that writes all electronic music. I like writing and playing with synths, but get bored with most electronic music these days. I’m sure if I could actually play the guitar I’d be rocking that, too, though, but I can’t and will never bother trying to learn.
4 Likes