Welcome to Day 3 of my 30 Day Journal experiment. In this Video I was a victim to murphy’s Law and lost the whole video and had to redo it. Luckily I was able to redo it without too much trouble. This video finds me making a new melody part, constructing the loops into scenes, creating a sidechain track and beginning the song arrangement process.

Be aware that due to the volume of video material I’ve recorded (20 or more hours), there are no zooms or tricky video effects. I am also aware that there may be some imperfections & volumes may fluctuate with my voice from video to video. In this case I’m going for a wealth of content instead of perfection. It is recommended that you enlarge this video to fullscreen for best results. Enjoy and please share this with your friends through word of mouth, email, Twitter & Facebook. I’d like to share this free content with as many people as possible for the next 30 days. Understand that each video will only be available to stream for 48 hours or until the next video goes up. If you miss a video, the previous day’s Video/s will be at the end of this blog.

For those who are interested, I will be making all the songfiles, samples and final mixes of the songs available immediately if you decide to  Advance order this full collection   (you’ll need version 8.1.3). I will want to do some final work on these videos before sending them out. The full collection will likely be priced somewhere between $59-$79 but will be drastically reduced during the next 30 days.

I’ll also have all my collections available at a 20% discount through the duration of this Video Journal. Just use the discount code: 30DayDisc

* The comment section of my site is screwy at the moment but feel free to email me at MusicSoftwareTraining@gmail.com if you like.

I hope you enjoy this 30 day experiement. Happy Music Making

Jason

30 Day Music Production Video

If you've ever wanted to look over my shoulder while I make songs, THIS is the collection for you! In this collection you get me producing 2 full songs and a DJ mix from start to finish over a 30 day period. I take you through the good the bad and the ugly. It's the most honest video collection I've ever made. It includes every Ableton songfile for each day, every sample used and about 20 hours of Video. It also includes mixdowns of the 2 completed songs and DJ Mix.

Ultimate Ableton Collection 1

A must for anyone new to Ableton or wanting to dive deeper into the depth of this program. Over 4 hours of the most in depth yet easy to follow tutorials on the market!

Ultimate Ableton Collection 2

This collection makes an incredible companion to the first collection and gets into the newest features in Ableton. There are also 20 professional custom drum kits and a full Drum Racks replication of Roland's famous R-70 drum machine.

Advanced Warping Collection

This collection is a must for DJ's and remixers! If you find yourself warping full songs on a regular basis, you are going to run into warping issues that can really bring your production to a halt. These simple secrets will get you past that with ease and back to doing what you do best.

Dj'ing and Performance Collection

A must for anyone wanting to DJ or perform live in Ableton. Includes 17 in-depth Videos on Warping, Organizing files, Setting up midi controllers (including APC40) and lots more! As a Free bonus, it also includes my Ebook "Mixing with your Mind - Make your best DJ Mix".

Ableton Remixing Walkthrough

For those who want to see exactly how I approach a remix. From editing the original sounds, to dropping them into Ableton and building ideas. Then adding to these ideas to compliment the original material and finally working it all into a song. All edits, effect settings, automation, and arranging procedure is included in the information packed video collection.

Producer's Deluxe Collection

Get all 3 of my full video Collections (Ultimate Collections 1 and 2 and Advanced Warping Collection) Producers Deluxe Collection

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My 30 day video producing Journal

For those of you who are following me on Twitter over the last 30 days, you may have seen me tweet about an experiment I started on the 1st of August.  This idea has been running through my head all year and I kept putting it off because I was honestly a bit afraid of embarrassing myself publicly by agreeing to let you watch my songwriting process for 30 days straight.

One major hurdle was the fact that I have never produced music everyday for this length of time and wasn’t sure what the outcome would be if I forced myself to create when I wasn’t particularly inspired. Would inspiration show up or would I be left showing you 30 days worth of “go nowhere” ideas? That can’t be good for anyone’s ego.  :-)

Another fear was that you might not learn much from this process. I don’t purposely do complex things just for the sake of it, so most of my process is experimenting with layers of simple ideas until I find something that works. I didn’t want you watching me use the same techniques over and over and thinking “I thought he was gonna show me some crazy stuff” and being disappointed.

Then I had a thought…..

These excuses were the exact reason nobody else has done something like this before and if that’s the case, this must be common with most everyone that creates. Maybe by showing my strengths and weaknesses I might be able to pull others outside of their comfort zone. Maybe this will show you some of the essential things to learn instead of you feeling like you have to know everything before allowing yourself to start.

Through this process I’ve been motivated, unmotivated, grumpy, anxious, unorganized, inspired, bored, confused and slightly embarrassed at times. Despite all that I was able to complete 2 songs & a DJ mix I am pretty happy with. That has got to count for something. I’ve also become that much better at fighting through resistance and getting to the other side. I may talk more specifically about my struggles as I share this 30 day process. If I can create in the state of mind I was in on some days, you definitely can too!

So here’s how this is going to work…

At some point soon I will be posting 1 video on my blog a day for 30 days. Almost all the videos are 30 minutes of longer, while some are well over an hour. Each day 1 video will be up to watch for free for 24 hours (or until the next video takes it’s place). So for 30 days you will have a new video to watch. I’ve edited the videos a bit to keep them more focused so you don’t watch me go off on tangents that are unnecessary. You will however see me do some things that don’t get used at all in the final process. I figured it was important to include that so you can pretty much watch the whole creative process.

For those who find value in this collection, I will later make it available if you want to purchase it. It will include all the samples used and all the Ableton song files from each day as well as the 2 completed songs and DJ mix (obviously seperated tracks from my DJ mix will not be included).

Don’t call this a tutorial

Although there is alot to learn from this collection of videos, it was put together without any planning and therefore is not like any other collection I have made. This isn’t a “how to make a (choose your style) song” but rather an relatively honest approach to some ways I approach making music.  I do however limit myself to just Ableton’s internal effects and instruments. These limitations take me outside my comfort zone which I thought was a good challenge. I wanted to be working with tools that all Ableton users have access to so everyone can not only follow along but stop thinking they need more stuff before they can start creating professional sounding music. In another track I built the song just using samples and internal effects. I also go through the process of preparing a song to play live in Ableton and build a DJ mix.  Do to the 20ish hours of footage, I haven’t done the type of editing I usually do. Sometimes you’ll find me in the “zone” and I stop talking about what I’m doing and I just DO, although I try my best to fill you in or why I’m doing what I’m doing and what I am thinking at the time.

I hope this lets some of you inside my head creatively and shows you some building blocks, techniques and tools that you can apply to your work. I certainly didn’t invent any of the techniques, so it’s only fair that I pass along what I know so you can take it and figure out a way to do it better. … Then I can learn from you  :-)

Keep your eye on this blog and make sure to follow me on Twitter if you want up to the moment updates.

Til then,

Happy Music Making,

Jason

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Creative procrastination

When it comes to productivity, there is nothing the mind loves more than putting things off. Especially if it’s creatively important. Because of this you may need to trick your mind into getting started.

There are a few ways to go about this and I’ve probably mentioned a couple of approaches in one of my past blogs. For a quick recap though here are a couple ways to get yourself started.

Just start – Don’t prepare to start. Just jump in and don’t ask permission or look for advice. Just act like you’ve already got things under control. You’ll be surprised how powerful this can be on your creativity and productivity.

15 minutes a day – it’s exactly as it sounds. It’s a commitment over a certain period of time, typically 30 days, where you commit to doing a task for 15 minutes a day without missing a day. You can go more than 15 minutes each day, but that doesn’t get you off the hook for tomorrow’s 15 minute commitment.

An alternate approach is one I just read from one of my favorite personal growth bloggers Steve Pavlina. He suggests you commit to doing a larger project in 15 minute chunks. You simply commit to get busy for 15 undistracted minutes. If after 15 minutes you want to stop you are free to, or you can immediately re-commit to another 15 minutes or after a short break.  I think this is a fantastic approach.

Keep a record – Another Steve Pavlina approach is to keep a log of everything you do for a full day. Anytime you change a task you write it down. So if you are working and then you get a text and you respond, write it down and write the time of day next to it. If you use the bathroom, write it down. Essentially what this does is makes you much more focused and aware of how you are spending your time from moment to moment and you can later determine where all your time is going. This tip is huge!

A new Approach

Here is another approach I’ve just come up with that sounds like it’ll work wonders for me and hopefully will for you as well. One of my biggest roadblocks is the preparation before actually getting started with a task. For example, when making music you need to make sure you have all the correct equipment , sound card, midi controller etc set up as well as access to your sound library, presets and templates. All of that can really be unmotivating when all you want to do is create. Typically you’ve lost your motivation half way into setting up. Unless your setup is dead simple, you typically will avoid setting up to create and thus you avoid creating because you have to set up. It’s a lose lose situation.

Here is a very simple solution:

Devote 15 minute chunks of time just setting up for making music. If 15 minutes is all you can handle, cool, but you’ll probably find that after the first 15 minutes and you’ll have less resistance to the next 15 minutes. When you are finally set up, don’t attempt to start creating. Take the rest of the day off and then commit to 15 minute chunks of musical work first thing the next morning if at all possible. This takes away all the distractions and procrastination tactics you typically encounter and gives you a direct path to starting work immediately. Also do your best to shut off any programs or social media that will distract you and clear your workspace from anything distracting as well. The only thing that should be grabbing your attention is your project. Also if the setup is complex, you may want to take some notes to make it easier the next time you need to set up for a project. For me, I use alot of my equipment for multiple purposes meaning I do alot of setting up, tearing down and reconfiguring. If you have to tear down after a project, allow yourself to hold off til the next day. You may find you have some last minute ideas spark up and you want your workstation ready to go.

By separating the tasks of preparing to create and creating, you are giving yourself a huge advantage. First off, it’s much easier preparing to create get started without fear of failure. You are not going to be judged for how you set up your equipment, so you’ll have much less resistance getting yourself started.

The next day when you actually DO create, the mundane tasks will already be completed leaving you a direct path to take what is in your head and turn it into something physical without distractions or roadblocks.  Separating the tasks takes away your ability to use either one as an excuse for not completing the other.

Give it a try if you find it hard to get started on a creative project.  Some of these tips helped this blog get written. I hope it helps you as well!

Happy Music Making,

Jason

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Are you a creative consumer or producer?

Let’s face it. We’ve all become information junkies. We constantly feed our faces with new tricks and new toys. We are constantly looking for the next thing. The new synth, that new effect, the new, well… anything.

Here’s the problem folks, it’s slowing you down from the real goal. If you aren’t finishing songs, soundtracks or projects, now you have your culprit.

In an attempt to become more productive you read blogs, watch videos and buy whatever seems to give you more power than you already have. The problem is that the appetite is never quenched. I’m of course referring to myself as well. I’ll use information gathering as an excuse to not create and then I’ll convince myself that without this new tool I can’t create. You end up in a constant cycle of upgrading instead of finding a consistant workflow.

Have you become an addicted consumer instead of a creative producer?

Now I am all about new technology, no doubt about it. I am also all about finding new information that I can put to use, but that is where the flaw is. We watch the videos, we read the blogs, we download the new plugin but we are pulling in more information than we can possibly put to use?

A change in thinking

If this behavior is going to stop we need to accept that too much information works against you. It gives you too many choices. It also takes away your sense of discovery when you are in a creative mode. By the time you have a situation that would benefit from a certain technique, you may already be bored by it or paranoid that this trick isn’t modern enough or is overused.

I think this behavior happens with a lot of musicians (something I’ve already stated that I am not). The reason for this is that many musicians learn how to play before they just start playing. They learn all the rules and they learn all the chords. By the time they actually start making music, they are trying to reach outside their current level of skill because they are bored to tears of all the things they have already learned. They restrict themselves from many of the basics in search of that magic, but rarely find it.

When I started playing guitar I tried learning from a chord book but tossed it after only a few days. I had learned a few basic bar chords and I was off and running. I had confidence in simplicity and wasn’t afraid to do something just because it’s easy. Luckily for me, I was drawn to bands that used simplicity to their favor. If I had something in my head that I couldn’t play, then and only then would I hunt for a new skill, technique or expand my chord knowledge. This gave me the ability to feel the magic of every new discovery and tool. I didn’t feel forced to grow any more than my natural pace. I rarely heard a song and had to rush home to learn how it was played. I was just doing my own thing and developing my own sound.

Now I find myself getting into the trap of information gathering. I’m constantly working on skills that I’ll never put to use. another downside is that I rarely have the exciting feeling of discovery when I finally use a new trick. Being a blogger and a producer (and a DJ), it’s easy for me to get caught up with what is new, but I feel it would be more beneficial to myself and my readers if I put to use each new thing I learn or each new tool I access before hunting for the next thing. I also think it’s going to be important to wait for a problem before I go hunting for a solution.

Ask yourself, is this a tool I am going to use today? Does the project I am currently working on require this tool or information to complete it? Does filling my head with this new information make me more productive now or less productive? What information and tools do you have right now that you still haven’t put to use? Might it be more beneficial to implement some of those one at a time? Maybe you would benefit by removing several tools to open up some space to new ones.

Just because a tool is great for someone else and has them super excited doesn’t mean it’s going to work that way for you. Realize your addiction might be to someone’s excitement and  not necessarily the information being presented. Another trap is trying to fit this new tool or idea into your work. This can be frustrating and slow you down because in your head you may be thinking “this is supposed to be amazing, what am I doing wrong”?, when the real issue is that it’s not a match for your way of creating.

A challenge

Make a deal with yourself. If you spend 30 minutes learning a new trick, you’ve got to spend at least 30 minutes putting it to use. If the skill requires more time, decide whether you will dump the new trick or take the time to perfect it. Don’t make the mistake of putting this on the backburner while hunting for new information or tools.

I hope this brings you closer to a very productive 2010.

To your continued joy and productivity in your creative works!

happy music making,

Jason

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Website: http://www.musicsoftwaretraining.com

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