I’ve been making music for over 10 years but I’ve never actually finished a track. I make loops. I’ve had all the gear but really I just play and never finish anything. I think this has to change. I want to make actual tracks. So, I’ve just picked up an MPC live 2 and this is all I will use from now on. Before the end of the year I must have posted a finished track in this thread. I have 9 months to do it.
So, I thought we could use this thread for all those forum members who’ve never finished a track. Set it your goal to post a finished track in this thread before the end of the year. All you seasoned pros out there, please share your wisdom and tips to help us. There is no judgement in this thread so do not be embarrassed to post.
why not just take one of those loops and blindly follow @Tarekith good ol‘ arrangement pdf?
would take like 2h max and 1st try is allowed to sound boring - take the next 9 months to listen to the track, it will tell you what further refinement it wants
perfect is the enemy of good, dont get wrapped up in making the best song ever or something perfect. just recording yourself for the memories is worth it alone, going back and hearing what you were thinking of creatively and maybe point out mistakes or inspire yourself.
also nothing wrong with enjoying the process more than anything, i often forget to record and get lost in the music lol. recently though ive decided to start recording all of my jams even if i dont plan on doing anything with them, sometimes there are moments i wish i had saved that will make it all worth it.
I get paid to finish tracks for clients that are in the exact same situation as you are.
You, my friend, are sitting on a pile of gold. 10 years of ideas that can and will be finished pretty easily? Oof.
I love my MPC live 2, it is great. But I suggest you record the stems, jams (multitrack) and use the power of the computer to deal with the arrangement. Perhaps once you’ve built up a muscle you can attempt to finish on hardware, but at this point, if I were you, since the point is to finish stuff, I would mouse and keyboard it out.
The question is…what do you consider makes a track “finished”?
My advice is- if you have a track that you think is your magnum opus that can be a twenty minute long masterpiece- a modern Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, ignore that thought. Use the ideas you have at hand, get in, say what you have to say, express what you have to express, and get out.
You can make your magnum opus later. And if you really think there’s more that can be done to the track- there’s no rule saying you can’t return to it.
Welcome to the club. My psychiatrist didn’t think I had anything wrong with me. Then I showed them my project folder with its hundreds of started songs not completed, and they pulled out the prescription pad.
if
Time is tight.
maybe not
The luxury of sitting down and turning on electronic Instruments is a feat in itself.
or just luxury
Anything you do is a result.
I’ve decided to be less precious about my tracks so I can finish them. I do feel the need to put some “out there”, for what it’s worth. Lately that mostly means just an upload to SoundCloud and a post a track here or there. It certainly isn’t a method to get much attention but it’s cathartic to create something, wrap it up and move on.
It also helps that I’m into pretty minimal stuff these days. I look at the tracks I make a bit like the music equivalent making a paper snowflake or maybe tie-dye or something. I like to make evolving patterns.
there are these challenges here in the forum, simple and various themes and you need to submit a short track, maybe try using them as a mean to finish something that not intended to be perfect but a finished idea
Don’t give it a moment’s thought. I’ve played the guitar a lot in my life. I’ve enjoyed it hugely. I’m quite good at it. I’ve never written and then recorded a complete song with an intro, three verses, a chorus, a bridge, and an ending. I feel no need to do that. I like playing the guitar, and I’m pretty good at it.
I was in your position last year, and while I’m still not finishing as often as I’d like, here’s what got me over the hump:
Scaffolding
----Pick a couple songs you like and transcribe them
----Identify the structures of those songs (How many bars does each section last? How long is the drum loop? When are new instruments added/removed/altered?)
----Make this structure a template and pour your own drums/chords/melodies/etc into that structure
----After doing this enough, you can make up your own structures to use as templates
Join a regular battle/mission brief.
----It gives you structure and a deadline
----it gives you an opportunity to learn from better musicians
----You’re likely to get informed feedback on your music
There are multiple battles and missions on Elektronauts right now (one for hiphop that just wrapped, one for DnB, two bi-weekly open-genre sample challenges, and a long-term open challenge)
Ha…I was like this for the last couple of years, jamming but never making a whole tune…then I took up one of the challenges here on Elektronauts, one of the D’n’B challenges posted by @BLKrbbt. That forced me to complete my first, whole track. That was just in December 2022.
Since then I’ve done more challenges here and have a little challenge to explore new genres with a buddy. I now have 5 (six when I complete this months D’n’B challenge) whole tracks and have learned loads.
I’m going to say this is what has helped me get started creating whole tracks. Now, with a few complete tracks under my belt, I am starting to feel like I could do something just using hardware and the ‘mental toolkit’ I’ve created from composing visually in Logic Pro.
