I Don't Know If I Should Keep Producing

MindFusion said:
If you enjoy making music and it's something you want just keep on even if it might be discouraging at times. Remember that when you are starting out now it's a lot of information to take in. Take a short break and come back to it, watch youtube vids, listen to a lot of music and try to imagine how they put it together. Don't do it because you wanna "make it". Do it because it's something you enjoy. People have different levels of creativity but it is also something that can be practiced just like anything else.
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People give up on making music all the time. Thats why I feel the only way to truly make it is if you stay consistent and remember why you started. Great track by the way man. Incredible sound and harmony.
 
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Handmade said:
I feel like I can't write any good melodies
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Here's one of the best things my composition teacher ever taught me to do...

Sing melodies... Your voice is your most creative instrument because you don't have to think about it. So one of the best ways to "sketch" a melody, or to get it out of your head, is to sing/vocalize it.

Don't tell me you can't make up a little catchy melody with your voice. Anyone can do that... play a beat and just start making silly melodies over the beat until you get something that seems kinda catchy.

THE HARD PART...

Now that you have the melody in your voice/head, the hard part is to get it down on the keyboard or into your computer.

This is the part that most people skip straight to, which makes no sense if you haven't been playing keyboard for years. Otherwise you just "hunt and peck" for the right notes, hitting wrong ones all the time, and before you know it your melodic idea is gone.

So instead, get it in your voice first. Then (and I still do this) record it with your iphone or whatever. Then listen back to the recording on your iphone and try to get it on the keyboard, or map it out in your program (reason, cubase, whatever)...

Doing the above will not only result in better more organic/alive melodies, but your musical ear and your ability to play the keyboard will RAPIDLY improve.

Trying to bring melodies and ideas out of your head into the real world is essentially the main crux behind learning music. It's what every real musician should be striving to do. Can you imagine if you could hook up a device straight to your brain and just record what you could make up in your head? Wouldn't that be nice... unfortunately we have to learn music and learn to interpret what we are hearing in your "inner ear".

Bach used to forbid his students to compose at the piano/keyboard. There was a reason, he didn't want the mechanics of the keyboard (and the physical habits that result from it) interfering with the freedom of the mind to compose a melody. So take a lesson from old bach and create melodies with your voice first. Or better yet, create them in your mind first, then sing them, then record them, then get them down onto the keyboard/computer.

Eventually all these steps will become 1 seamless fluid process...

PEACE
 
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DjBeatBlaster said:
Here's one of the best things my composition teacher ever taught me to do...

Sing melodies... Your voice is your most creative instrument because you don't have to think about it. So one of the best ways to "sketch" a melody, or to get it out of your head, is to sing/vocalize it.

Don't tell me you can't make up a little catchy melody with your voice. Anyone can do that... play a beat and just start making silly melodies over the beat until you get something that seems kinda catchy.

THE HARD PART...

Now that you have the melody in your voice/head, the hard part is to get it down on the keyboard or into your computer.

This is the part that most people skip straight to, which makes no sense if you haven't been playing keyboard for years. Otherwise you just "hunt and peck" for the right notes, hitting wrong ones all the time, and before you know it your melodic idea is gone.

So instead, get it in your voice first. Then (and I still do this) record it with your iphone or whatever. Then listen back to the recording on your iphone and try to get it on the keyboard, or map it out in your program (reason, cubase, whatever)...

Doing the above will not only result in better more organic/alive melodies, but your musical ear and your ability to play the keyboard will RAPIDLY improve.

Trying to bring melodies and ideas out of your head into the real world is essentially the main crux behind learning music. It's what every real musician should be striving to do. Can you imagine if you could hook up a device straight to your brain and just record what you could make up in your head? Wouldn't that be nice... unfortunately we have to learn music and learn to interpret what we are hearing in your "inner ear".

Bach used to forbid his students to compose at the piano/keyboard. There was a reason, he didn't want the mechanics of the keyboard (and the physical habits that result from it) interfering with the freedom of the mind to compose a melody. So take a lesson from old bach and create melodies with your voice first. Or better yet, create them in your mind first, then sing them, then record them, then get them down onto the keyboard/computer.

Eventually all these steps will become 1 seamless fluid process...

PEACE
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Solid advice.
 
Thanks for all the advice, guys. I wasn't actually serious about quitting, just at that point in time that I made this thread I was very frustrated with myself production-wise. I don't regret making this thread because of all the great advice from Ace, Beat Blaster & others. Thanks a lot for the advice, guys.
 
Handmade said:
Thanks for all the advice, guys. I wasn't actually serious about quitting, just at that point in time that I made this thread I was very frustrated with myself production-wise. I don't regret making this thread because of all the great advice from Ace, Beat Blaster & others. Thanks a lot for the advice, guys.
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No problem. Keep it up and remember why you create.
 
just keep practising, even when your shit isn't that good, as long as you still have fun you should keep going.

i had the same problem as you and i started thinking i didn't have the talent, but then i tried sampling and i believe i have found my real talent in sampling.
i'm not saying this will work for you, but it worked for me, try it out
 
​Ok, this might really sound like a case of someone just giving up, but not totally...

I came in the game wanting to make my music (of course), but I am a rhyme vocalist at heart. I write and perform my own lyrics. Now, I wanted to make my own productions too (instrumentals, beats) because I live in a place where it's difficult to link up with someone who will produce for you. So being the self-sustaining person that I am, I tried to make my own music. Funny I came across this because just yesterday I was telling myself that I have HAD it with music making. And I decided I am quitting that side of it. Yes, you can keep struggling and struggling forever. I'd say catch it before it wastes years of your time. Unless you are lucky to have found that right combination of hardware and/or software that allows for an efficient workflow for yourself and where you can even have fun with it, I'd say really consider what is happening, what you REALLY want to do, and what your options are. Then you can decide if it's really something else you want to spend your time doing or if you should ride it out and keep learning and creating.

Myself, well after too too many years of problem after problem, I'm going to find producers online who will handle the job for me. They are pros at it and now I'm going to focus my energies on what I love instead of pulling my hair over technical issues. It's just a shame I wish I would have done it sooner, but all the controversies and debate over online beats discouraged me but you know what? I don't give a flying <hoot> about what anybody says about it anymore...
 
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Illlogic said:
​Ok, this might really sound like a case of someone just giving up, but not totally...

I came in the game wanting to make my music (of course), but I am a rhyme vocalist at heart. I write and perform my own lyrics. Now, I wanted to make my own productions too (instrumentals, beats) because I live in a place where it's difficult to link up with someone who will produce for you. So being the self-sustaining person that I am, I tried to make my own music. Funny I came across this because just yesterday I was telling myself that I have HAD it with music making. And I decided I am quitting that side of it. Yes, you can keep struggling and struggling forever. I'd say catch it before it wastes years of your time. Unless you are lucky to have found that right combination of hardware and/or software that allows for an efficient workflow for yourself and where you can even have fun with it, I'd say really consider what is happening, what you REALLY want to do, and what your options are. Then you can decide if it's really something else you want to spend your time doing or if you should ride it out and keep learning and creating.

Myself, well after too too many years of problem after problem, I'm going to find producers online who will handle the job for me. They are pros at it and now I'm going to focus my energies on what I love instead of pulling my hair over technical issues. It's just a shame I wish I would have done it sooner, but all the controversies and debate over online beats discouraged me but you know what? I don't give a flying <hoot> about what anybody says about it anymore...
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Let me hear your rhymes. I make hip hop and edm. Arthur_D's sets on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
 
Everybidy sucks at first,even though everybody might not wanna quit though.I guess if you feel you should quit,then you probably should.Gotta do what's best for you,no point of spending years making yourself wanna do music if all along you were mean't to be a Surgeon at heart.
 
Never give up making music. Music is not an industry or a hobby, it's a lifestyle choice. It takes people years to find themeselves and even more years to perfect their styles. Put your self around positive but honest individuals, study classics and work everyday until it feels like you can do it in your sleep.

DJ Premier didn't even know how to use a drum machine when Gangstar's debut album came out but, you see where he is today. One of the most respected and celebrated people in Hip Hop history. Any one that tells you that you should quit will be using your signature sound to make hits the day you do.

Good luck to you.
 
Illlogic said:
​Ok, this might really sound like a case of someone just giving up, but not totally...

I came in the game wanting to make my music (of course), but I am a rhyme vocalist at heart. I write and perform my own lyrics. Now, I wanted to make my own productions too (instrumentals, beats) because I live in a place where it's difficult to link up with someone who will produce for you. So being the self-sustaining person that I am, I tried to make my own music. Funny I came across this because just yesterday I was telling myself that I have HAD it with music making. And I decided I am quitting that side of it. Yes, you can keep struggling and struggling forever. I'd say catch it before it wastes years of your time. Unless you are lucky to have found that right combination of hardware and/or software that allows for an efficient workflow for yourself and where you can even have fun with it, I'd say really consider what is happening, what you REALLY want to do, and what your options are. Then you can decide if it's really something else you want to spend your time doing or if you should ride it out and keep learning and creating.

Myself, well after too too many years of problem after problem, I'm going to find producers online who will handle the job for me. They are pros at it and now I'm going to focus my energies on what I love instead of pulling my hair over technical issues. It's just a shame I wish I would have done it sooner, but all the controversies and debate over online beats discouraged me but you know what? I don't give a flying <hoot> about what anybody says about it anymore...
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Are you Jawhar?
 
i dont know anything about music theory, scales, melody, i respect those who learn that becouse they got a straight discipline to them goals, they wanna know what they doing, im more of that kind of person who likes free style and experiment with sounds no matter what im doing, im triying to re discover the music for my self, i know all the music it has been done alredy talking in teoric terms, but my goal is to experiment my self in my own way the music, even if it sounds stupid or wrong for others, so you should try playing and enjoying it for fun and becouse its a passion for you, if you really get tired of it to soon, maybe you should try something else becouse a people who likes something never stop till it catch it goals, i know many people who gets a guitar just for look cool, well i think that before i touch a guitar and play my first chord in my friend band practice he was so nice to let me play a guitar for first time, i fking feeled the distortion sounds and from that time to now im still in love with guitar and musical production, i know im terrible at it, becouse i started late at 19 years old im 23 now and i got a bit better, but i still need loads to learn, but nothing never stop me for keep doing music, so if you feel that music motivates you then dont get frustrated and keep goin, cheers bro.
 
Quitting is unacceptable where I come from.

However... taking a hiatus is definitely understood.
 
You should only make music if you enjoy it. I suggest you learn an instrument like guitar or piano. If that does not interest you then don't bother trying to program entire songs since you won't have the skills and will be just making noise. If you are interested in learning an instrument then all the knowledge and skills you gain will be transferable to making beats and you will be more successful in producing music. Success is always fun.
 
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The question is not "do I quit?" but "do I like making music?"... I've been making music for 20 years and I'm still not world famous! lol.
It's a pure pleasure thing for me. Even if no one ever heard my tunes I would still keep making them. Some years I make shit tunes, some years I make awesome tunes... some times I struggle for months just to turn out 1 track. Other times I can lay down a wicked track in a day.
It's not about everyone else, we can't tell you... The answer is inside you, you already know.
 
Rusak said:
The question is not "do I quit?" but "do I like making music?"... I've been making music for 20 years and I'm still not world famous! lol.
It's a pure pleasure thing for me. Even if no one ever heard my tunes I would still keep making them. Some years I make shit tunes, some years I make awesome tunes... some times I struggle for months just to turn out 1 track. Other times I can lay down a wicked track in a day.
It's not about everyone else, we can't tell you... The answer is inside you, you already know.
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20yrs??? my god. did you at anytime want to be world renowned? i've only been at this for five years now and continue to keep trying to land that major break. are those real claps in this track? can't get over them. lol
 
You have to know what you are doing. I've been making music for five years and I still get frustrated but I never felt like quiting because you always learn new techniques and before you know people will start to like your music.
 
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