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Hey, I've been trying to get in to production for a handful of months and I cant help but get discouraged. I'm fortunate to be surrounded by many talented artists and because of this every time I sit down to write a tune I am nothing but disappointed. I know I shouldnt be comparing myself to these people but I cant help it. Any advice on getting over the discouragement and putting the time in to get good... I know this may sound ridiculous but I feel like I'm up against a wall right now

For a little while, stop listening to music that makes you feel bad about your production. Stick with it man, keep practicing. If you're gona listen to other people's music, do it with the mindset that you're going to learn something from it, not that you are inferior or anything.

jrisreal wrote:For a little while, stop listening to music that makes you feel bad about your production. Stick with it man, keep practicing. If you're gona listen to other people's music, do it with the mindset that you're going to learn something from it, not that you are inferior or anything.

This cat hit the nail on the head, especially with the take a break from listening for a bit...

Another good motivator, especially when your new like you said you are because you'll be advancing really fast and not realize it, go back and listen to something you made a month or two ago, and see the progression youve made, and imagine where youll be in a year if you keep up at that rate.

Make something you wouldnt normally listen to and try to make THAT sound professional... like, not alot of people listen to ambient on a regular basis, its usually a self-indulgence thing you do late night or w/e... make some ambient...

Remember that some of the tracks your listening to from TRUE pro's were being worked on for as long as youve been producing in general, then make a game plan. Start today, and say to yourself 'Im gonna make the most professional sounding synth melody I can' and then work at just that melody for a few weeks, then move onto drums, then bass, ect. Work on one tune for month or two... Bet it come out fucking amazing.

Dont worry about sounding great yet. If nothing above has helped you, try taking a break from writing tunes and just focusing on your sound design/mixdowns/whatever you think is lacking in your production... Set yourself educational goals rather then artistic ones, and then after you do that for a while, apply everything youve learned in the process of fulfulling your educational goals to bringing your artistic visions to fruition.

JR gave the best advice though. Dont get self conscious. There are pro's out there who have been doing this since the 90's and earlier, there are hit tracks out that were 6-month projects, and if youve only been learning to produce for as long as some of these guys have had to work on single tunes, you cant judge yourself yet. Remember, theres no pressure to be the present hit. You are the future. Dont worry about what your doing now, imagine what youll be doing in 5-10 years, when dubstep's dead and your pioneering the next big genre, and use that thought as motivation to keep going.

nowhere wrote:Hey, I've been trying to get in to production for a handful of months and I cant help but get discouraged. I'm fortunate to be surrounded by many talented artists and because of this every time I sit down to write a tune I am nothing but disappointed. I know I shouldnt be comparing myself to these people but I cant help it. Any advice on getting over the discouragement and putting the time in to get good... I know this may sound ridiculous but I feel like I'm up against a wall right now

Happens to everyone at some point. My advice is;

- Don't focus purely on making tunes everytime you load up your DAW. Some of my most productive sessions are when I've sat down just to program synth patches, or do sound design work. You can build up your library ready for when you do feel inspired to make a tune and then you've got everything ready to go.

- Listen to a song that you really like at the moment, and I mean fucking LISTEN to it. Then try and recreate it. Even if you're not using the exact same sounds, try and work out where the snare is hitting, how they've got that nice rise effect, why the vocal sounds so good. Get your ideas down quickly and work through the tune. Listen to your own version in comparison when you're done. Laugh if it's shit. Then do it again with another tune.

- Have a session where you just sample. Get a copy of Audacity if you haven't already (it's free and uses virtually no CPU) and have an evening where you just listen to old tunes or random stuff you've downloaded. Every song no matter what it is will have one piece that can be sampled from it. Find it and take it. Add it to your sound library.

- Read this - http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=176281. Seriously.

thanks for all the constructive advice everybody. It's stuff I know to be true; however, reading other people say it helps drive the point home.
big up

Just have fun bro. Life is full of shit, don't let that shit creep into music making, which should just be fun and relaxing. If the way you are working isn't fun, at some point it might be worth it to check out other ways of working, find what is fun for you. Some parts of the production process are going to be a drag, not gonna lie. Have to find ways to make them fun.

When you're doing something fun, positivity flows, and growth happens.

The fact that you're so bummed out is probably a good indicator that you've got the production bug. Some of this shit is hard to do. The desire to do it well does drive us mad on occasion. But music makers are a mad lot.

Cheers.

nowaysj wrote:But music makers are a mad lot.

I read this sentence and then looked at your current av

In my experience, discouragement has very much to do with lack of self confidence. Reading books on the subject, doing a therapy and some meditation is going to help a lot. I'm serious about that.
All the good things DSF & other fellow producers are telling you will only have a limited impact if deep inside you feel like you're not up to it.
Be aware of the thoughts that precedes the moment where you start to feel bad about your music. They are the reason for your discouragement, not the music itself.
If the way you're thinking isn't making you happy, get rid of it and develop another.

Also, you must have noticed most of the time your last tune is better than the previous ones. That's what you should be considering : you're always getting better at it!
Some people get better faster than others and imo it's only a matter of self confidence. Like noways said, when you're having fun everything flows. Self criticism is a massive creativity killer.
Plus, keep in mind you chose a very complex hobby : to make good EDM you not only have to be a good musician but also a damn fine technician and a quite decent mixing engineer so don't be too hard on yourself if you're not getting there in just a few months

nowhere wrote:Hey, I've been trying to get in to production for a handful of months and I cant help but get discouraged. I'm fortunate to be surrounded by many talented artists and because of this every time I sit down to write a tune I am nothing but disappointed. I know I shouldnt be comparing myself to these people but I cant help it. Any advice on getting over the discouragement and putting the time in to get good... I know this may sound ridiculous but I feel like I'm up against a wall right now

There are a few artists that influence me and every time I sit down to try and make the noises I fail. The thing with the style I am into seems a dying breed now days so I don’t get to hear/read much about the techniques used.

Until I can make the right noises I cannot move forward, it feels pointless.

serox wrote:The thing with the style I am into seems a dying breed now days so I don’t get to hear/read much about the techniques used.

What style is that?


(Welcome back btw )

The taking a break from listening to other artists and making music works for a little while for me. I get all confident thinking I have made the sounds right but then when I do go back and listen to other artists I realized my attempt sounds weak compared to it. Normally it wouldn’t matter too much but when you I am making a track that is driven by a bass line it needs to sound good. Shit, I find it hard to even make an original sounding bass patch now days.

Shit, even my 808s sound weak when I stick on a Loefah 12 inch.

wub wrote:

serox wrote:The thing with the style I am into seems a dying breed now days so I don’t get to hear/read much about the techniques used.

What style is that?


(Welcome back btw )

Darqwan is prob my fav artist. I can listen to anything of his and it makes me want to write music. I just cannot make my drums sounds as good as his, nowhere close. Other people are Mala, more simple bass patches but his melody's and flow are sick. Mala's hi hats are another level too, mine sound good one day, then I listen to DMZ and my hats sound like some robot has stuck some hits on a grid.

Thanks:) I have been lurking and been trying to make noises. I spend most of the time with my head in my hands tho lol.

serox wrote: Shit, even my 808s sound weak when I stick on a Loefah 12 inch.

Noone does overdriven-filter-sines like he did in mud... noone works tape delays quite like he did on that vocal sample either.

Serox is bringing up an excellent point here though that the O.P. could do with taking note of : often, the more in your face and focal-point elements in tunes are actually the more simple ones to recreate, professionalism is in the subtlest of details, its the little things like hats and drum treatment that really make or break tunes.

Mastering the subtleties is the hardest part of the transition from 'kid playing with daw' to 'producer'.

Basic A wrote:

serox wrote: Shit, even my 808s sound weak when I stick on a Loefah 12 inch.

Noone does overdriven-filter-sines like he did in mud... noone works tape delays quite like he did on that vocal sample either.

Serox is bringing up an excellent point here though that the O.P. could do with taking note of : often, the more in your face and focal-point elements in tunes are actually the more simple ones to recreate, professionalism is in the subtlest of details, its the little things like hats and drum treatment that really make or break tunes.

Mastering the subtleties is the hardest part of the transition from 'kid playing with daw' to 'producer'.

Yeh that’s it. The wobble in Mud sounds sick but its quite hard to get that warm deep sound like he did. I gave up and told myself it’s down to some plugin he was using.

Tracks now days all sound so random to me. They sound like people sitting on a computer making music with a mouse one handed with the latest plugins. The drums don’t go and the noises sound like random presets that sound like someone trying to copy someone else and the music is getting weaker each time.

There was something about people making music with hardware that made them learn small things that made the difference I think. They were putting their time and effort into the right things that helped them to make a track that will sound good 10 yrs later.


/moan over

you know OP, I'm pretty sure you and I are in the same stage. For instance, some days I don't feel like producing anything and I feel bad about it. Sometimes it seems like such a daunting/intimidating task to open up Ableton. Whenever I check beatport, itunes, soundcloud, etc for new music, I feel that I have an INCREDIBLE distance still to go, and yet I get frustrated b/c I think I know my way around Ableton and my plugins of choice. I ask why? What is the threshold that I can't break through?! I know man, I know....

I've come to realize that it's just the other side of the coin. I mean right? Isn't there always pro's and con's to EVERYTHING in life? It's those times that you got to push through if you want it bad enough. That's the reality. Everyone above me has stated great ways to keep at it. Especially what Basic A, jrisreal, and Wub said:
Quit listening to the genre (Personally I come from heavy metal, and it's quite a trip to go listen to music that got you "INTO" music. Don't worry about losing interest in EDM...It's touched everyone quite significantly..like your soul . srsly.)
Go back and listen to your older work. This you should be doing. It's like going over a rough draft. And the paper is your electronic knowledge. There are several edits and drafts that need to take place before the final copy can be produced.
Don't always open DAW with the intention to write a song. This has been huge for myself especially when you are getting more and more technically comfortable with your tools. And trust me this analogy is too awesome for this concept: Say you have a tool box in your house and in contains fairly basic tools (screwdrivers, wrenches, hammers, measuring items, etc)..right? Well that tool box really is only so big and it can only hold so many tools. So eventually you get to know the tools and how they work...BUT the really experience comes from learning WHAT you can DO with those tools.

Anyways, just wanna shout out to the DSF community on this one! Totally helpful, inciteful, and productive thread. People were awesome to this guy! Would it have gone so nicely if he mentioned datsik, excision, etc. even once? I hope so.

Absolutely quality advice in this thread

serox wrote:Darqwan is prob my fav artist. I can listen to anything of his and it makes me want to write music. I just cannot make my drums sounds as good as his, nowhere close. Other people are Mala, more simple bass patches but his melody's and flow are sick. Mala's hi hats are another level too, mine sound good one day, then I listen to DMZ and my hats sound like some robot has stuck some hits on a grid.

Thanks:) I have been lurking and been trying to make noises. I spend most of the time with my head in my hands tho lol.

A million +1s for that. Mala doesn't get enough attention these days. I guess for obvious reasons but I miss the days when someone said 'dubstep' to you and you immediately thought DMZ. :\

paravrais wrote:

serox wrote:Darqwan is prob my fav artist. I can listen to anything of his and it makes me want to write music. I just cannot make my drums sounds as good as his, nowhere close. Other people are Mala, more simple bass patches but his melody's and flow are sick. Mala's hi hats are another level too, mine sound good one day, then I listen to DMZ and my hats sound like some robot has stuck some hits on a grid.

Thanks:) I have been lurking and been trying to make noises. I spend most of the time with my head in my hands tho lol.

A million +1s for that. Mala doesn't get enough attention these days. I guess for obvious reasons but I miss the days when someone said 'dubstep' to you and you immediately thought DMZ. :\

Always the first port of call for me also.


I go through bouts of writers block brought on by being discouraged. I was doing quite well for myself on the scene but as soon as I started worrying about getting releases and gigs, two things happened. Firstly I started writing boring music, and secondly I got really discouraged because I would then compare these lack lustre tunes I had written to what my peers and idols were making. And then just deaded any vibes I had whilst writing or playing out. So I stopped producing for quite a long time. Only once I had started doing something different, been inspired by working with people and listening to random stuff again did I really want to make music again and actually end writing something decent and unique (though the scene changed so much I missed my opportunity).

So I can only really echo what's been said before, take a break, go and listen to something else, working with other people (particularly in a band) did wonders for me.

Girls, I find there's not much more inspirational than pretty girls. So get on that ting as well.

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.p ... %27s+block

theres actually some really good advice in this thread. good job guys. i sometimes feel this way as well. ill be making a tune and be thinking this is pretty dope. then the next day ill compare it to another song i heard and im like shit now my song blows

so thanks guys for the advice, it gave me some different view points to keep in mind when feeling discouraged..