how to know when you are going overboard in composition?

[Genevieve]

i dont know about you guys but i tend to do a rediculous amount of layers at times and it just seems like making everything fit at times, as well as even writing it can be laborious and ends up coming out when big dick cluster with no continuity. it seems that most songs i listen to never have more than 3 simultaneous layers and have some type of relativity. what have you guys found works in controlling your layering impulses while keeping a song original and intersting?

I don't think the layering is the problem. If you layer all those sounds because that's what sounds best to you, you're likely doing the bare minimum YOU need to achieve YOUR sound. It only becomes a problem when you layer for the sake of it.

My philosophy is, do the bare minimum you need to get your sound, even if that bare minimum is dozens of layers of instruments, effects and processing. Just don't do anything unnessecary. Similarly, don't do minimalism for the sake of it either. If something feels 'done' it's 'done'.

I think you've just gotta practice on your songwriting. Find a way to get your workflow (lots of layers of sounds) incorporated into a songwriting format that works for you.

also it seems like in professional recordings EVERYTHING is limited and there is not too much dimension other than hard left and right and CENTER. is this the way to go?

The only thing I limit is my drumbus and I put the threshhold like half a db above the peak, simply because I put of a lot of effects that I automate on there and I wanna control the levels for the drums to sit well in the mix. I pan most things all over the place to get a nice and wide sound. Pan hats hard, bass and sub in the middle and the rest all over the place.

Do what sounds best to you.