Confused and Struggling Beginner

R

RL40ZIP

New member
Hey guys, I'm having a tough time here... So, i began making trap/dubstep style music for a few months now and I do not even have a full track finished. I am starting to think that this is all a big investment of money and time. Dont get me wrong, I LOVE MUSIC, like im addicted to music, but i just do not know if im fit to be on the production side of it. I know i have great taste and pretty solid creativity, but theres something about dropping over 500$ on resources that I cannot figure out how to use that really irks me. Ive watched tutorials on tutorials, signed up for classes online and everything but I cannot for the life of me grasp the whole process. The things that really motivate me are pictures of dj's/producers on stage rocking a show that i keep striving for, but a thought in the back of my head is that by the time i even get remotely close to being that good of an artist, the scene will be dead and/or oversaturated with thousands of producers just like me. For example, back when the whole wiz khalifa/mac miller phase was happening, i tried to join the wave and start making hip-hop music as a rapper, but the whole scene was so oversaturated and filled with people just like me, i never stood out once after thousands of $$$ invested and hundreds of hours of studio time. I mean i literally gave it my all for 4 years and actually got nowhere with it, i loved doing it the whole time, but i need recognition at some point ya know. Another example is i actually went to college with the artist Louis Futon, hes racked up millions and millions of listens on spotify and soundcloud, but yet hes not getting booked for nearly as many shows as he should be, that right there is the scariest part for me. Anyways, i appreciate any feedback from anyone out there who has any insight on this topic. Once heard it takes 10 years to become an overnight success, I love music but im not sure if i can struggle for 10 years to get where i want to be. (SIDE NOTE: music motivates the hell out of me like im sure it does for most people, but the whole process of producing and struggling with project to project does not motivate me at all, maybe its because i havnt made it to the level where anything sounds good enough to be motivating, im not sure)
 
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Anything worth having takes a ton of hard work. It won't happen over night. The market you want is already completely over saturated. $500 is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Those are some truths. If you're just chasing what's hot, you gotta jump on the wave before it is huge. If you're only reason for venturing into music is fame and money, you should probably search elsewhere.
 
no no, the money and fame is just the cherry on top. Im trying to figure out if the lack of motivation im having for producing is because its not the right niche for me, or if im just not there yet with the talent/skill to be motivated at a high level to keep pushing...
 
A few months of working towards a goal isn't very much. There's a huge learning curve when it comes to production. The musical side, the technical side. It's a lot to digest. If music production is something you have a passion about, keep pushing.
 
back in the days, people had to spend 10000€ for gear to start producing proper music :D

The thing is, the better you become, the more fun you have cause you create better results, so the begining is certainly the most difficult part of your career, so what I always do is to imagine how it would be being a professional producer sharing my music and passion with the world. That keeps me motivated and focused. Also keep in mind that you only have 1 life, so if you never try, you might start regreting it.
You have enough time to try out all the cool things that you can experience on the globe, but not enough lifes to handle the frustration when you start regreting.
 
I'mNoGuru said:
I only finish maybe 1 in a dozen tracks I start... To be honest I thought that was pretty normal...
Click to expand...

Well, several paths lead to rome, you need to know for yourself if you want to finish what you´ve started before starting something new, you can work on something later on if you feel like working on something totally new , but I think every begining deserves an end :P
 
Hey, RL40. Welcome to the journey. And don't be discouraged.


A few thoughts:

- Yes, the market is over-saturated. But there's room for you if you want there to be.

- It's okay to try things to find out it's not right for you. I got a four-year degree in studio recording, then had an internship with a prestigious mastering house. Turns out neither is right for me. But that's okay, because they taught me lessons and I'm learning what is right for me.

- There's more than just having the gear and watching YouTube videos. You could buy all the right painting gear, but it doesn't teach you how to paint. I'd say technique is 10%, equipment is 5%, and the other 85% is practice. So don't spend more than 10% learning or 5% shopping, or else you're robbing yourself from actually getting better with that time.

- Don't get too motivated by DJs and producers on stage: 98% of them are just pressing Play on pre-produced tracks. The rest is just "showmanship", or in a word, "dancing".

- Most musicians don't practice creativity or originality. Most don't truly strive to improve their talent. Most don't keep at it long enough. Most don't put in sufficient hours each week. And most know next to nothing about marketing. It sounds like you've got the practice and the patience down already from your dabbling in rap. If you can do a half-decent job with the rest, you can get there.

- Playing live isn't necessarily the goal. Maybe Louis Fulton (don't know who he is) doesn't want to perform live much. Build your career out of the activities you want to do. And directly learn how to do more of those things. If you want to perform live, learn all about hiring a manager or learning to manage yourself, how to market yourself to clubs, how to get on split-tickets, etc.

- Becoming an "overnight success" does indeed take a lot of work. But not necessarily ten years. You're a master at something when you've done it for 10,000, right? Everybody has heard that. But you're probably pretty good at that thing with only 1,000 hours of practice, and you're better than most if you've done it for only 100 hours. So if you aim for 1,000 hours each for creating music and live performance, and 100 hours each for engineering, networking, branding, and marketing, you may be surprised how far along you are.​



Best wishes.
 
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