Posts Tagged ‘how to finish a song’
Song Made From Sampling a Porno Clip
Song Made From Sampling a Porno Clip
With all this rambling on I do about finishing songs & avoiding distractions, I take on this doozie of a challenge.
Can I actually create a song completely made from only manipulated sounds from a porn? No synths, no drum samples. Only the source audio from a 6 minute video. Can I keep my focus while listening to all these erotic (and ridiculous) sounds & complete something, without it sounding like I just made a song full of grunts, moans & dick sucking?
This was my experiment & it really tested my music skills as well as my focus skills. Typically watching porn is something you do to distract yourself. I decided to make it my work in this experiemnt.
The most difficult part was selecting, editing & processing the samples into something usable. I think I’ve proved that you can make drums, bass and melodies out of literally anything. I have to laugh, because I know what that snare drum is 
From there it was a matter of constructing parts that worked together & didn’t sound completely stupid, creating a few scenes to make sense of a song structure & arrange something that still sounded like me. I was surprised how good things sounded considering the source video was of low quality & had a lot of background noise.
Below are all the videos documenting my process and a download of the completed song. I am adding the whole Ableton songfile & HD videos as a bonus for my Remix Walkthrough Collection. If you’ve purchased it in the past, this is a free addition.
I hope you make it through this collection without getting too distracted. If I can keep focus through this, you’ve got zero excuse to not finish your own tunes!
Happy music making!
Jason
If this video series helped or inspired you & you would like to “buy me a beer” for the work that went into this, I always appreciate donations.
Another blog coming soon (pun intended)
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12 ways to triple your productivity & make more music
12 ways to triple your productivity & make more music
Whether you are gearing up for a new year & reflecting on the accomplishments of last year or your catching yourself in the middle of the calendar year with less productivity than you would like, I want to share some techniques that should really help to step up your game.
In all honesty, I’m naturally a pretty lazy guy. At times I sleep too much, fill up my time with nonsense and completely close off to creative endeavors. All that I have accomplished has been in the face of heavy motivational challenges. Believe me when I say that if you are running into motivations issues, I’ve certainly been there.
These tips below are discoveries I have made to battle my own laziness, fatigue & creative anxiety. I have found that when I follow these guidelines & resist bad habits, I’m not only far more productive, but I have a much greater sense of peace & relaxation overall. Give it a shot!
1. Warm up – Just like you would with a workout, it’s really difficult to dive right in to creative work from whatever you were doing previously. You’ll likely resist because it will just feel wrong to you. You’ll feel that there is something else important that needs to be done even if you can’t pinpoint what that is. When you already have non-productive momentum, it’s hard to turn that boat around.
Take a break first. Take a 15 minutes walk or do some light exercise. You want to create a gap between what you were doing before & what you are attempting to do creatively. You need a bit of time to clean the slate, so your head isn’t filled up with a bunch of crap.
2. Don’t check email or social sites - This one is a tough habit to break but it’s one you are really going to need to commit to if you are planning to be more productive. Social sites & email make it far too easy to convince yourself that you need to stay unproductive just incase something happens. Maybe someone will “like” your post, comment or picture or maybe you’ve started a debate with some idiot on YouTube & need to set him straight.
Face it, it’s all bullshit & if you keep at it, you’re life is going to waste away. The thing that is really sad about this is that the brain gets a rush of adrenaline every time you get a notification, even if it’s something stupid & this is how you get a feeling of accomplishment for doing nothing. Then when it comes to doing “real” work you feel like your plate has already been filled & you have no room for any more “productivity”. Days turn into months…then years. Stop it!
If you really want to get WAY more done, cut your social network checking to 2-3 times a day and only after you’ve put in some real creative work.
3. Identify your creative blind spots – We all have them. They are the things that stop us from completing songs. It’s those things we naturally aren’t good at. For me, it’s been sound design & song arrangement. I can make 32 bar loops for days but after that I start itching to check my email & then all is lost. We’ll solve this issue with my next tip.
4. Steal then replace - If you are running into a similar issue to what was just mentioned, my suggestion is to just nick that sound, or song structure from something you already know works. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Steal it first & move on. You can always replace it later, but the goal is to not get stuck & slow down (or worse, stop). I nick sounds or song structures all the time. It really helps me with my confidence knowing that what I am “borrowing” is already something that works. I don’t have to second guess. Often, for me, my own voice will eventually peek through & I’ll abandon my borrowed templates or sounds & go it alone once again. Keep practicing this habit & you’ll find it gets easier & easier. Soon you’ll have the confidence to push through without getting stuck or needing to snag a sound or template. (By the way, if sampling is your style, carry on. I’m a big fan of those who do it well)
5. Set a timer – This tip alone has been a saving grace for me. I typically start with setting a 15 minute timer to warm up for the task ahead. I try to avoid doing anything that can suck me in to further mindless activity. I make sure what I am doing is relaxing and isn’t actually going to take longer than I’ve set the timer for.
Once the timer goes off, it’s time to commit to making music (or writing this blog) & set the timer once again. This time I set it to 30 minutes & make a commitment to stay off the internet, not responding to texts or phone calls & making sure people in my house don’t interrupt me.
The reason this works so well is because even if you really don’t want to create, you can tell yourself “It’s only 30 minutes, then I can choose to do something else if I want”. Once the timer goes off I can decide if I want to recommit to another 30 minutes, take a 15 minute break & come back, or call it a day. I typically will recommit, however, if I get stuck, I give myself 15 minutes to search for inspiration.
Sometimes I’ll break songwriting down to different tasks. This way I can actually see progress happening every time I recommit. For the most recent project I did as of writing this, I was creating a song from a bunch of random loops sent to me by my lovely readers. It was tricky to get my head around how I was going to construct a song out of all the pieces so I started committing to small tasks:
- Edit & effect each loop for my own purpuses
- Create scenes (in Ableton) of different possible sections or “movements” for this song.
- Find a song structure to “borrow” and map it out using locator tags.
- Construct a 32 bar intro
- Record scenes into different sections of my song template
- Bridge the gap between each section for a transparent sound that also makes sense.
- Create an Outro
- Final mixing tweaks & rendering a Mixdown
6. 1 task at a time - This simple tip gets overlooked far too often, especially in this age of A.d.d. & multitasking. I can say however, with very few exceptions that taking on 1 thing at a time until its completed is really the fastest & most productive way.
The alternative will leave you with several unfinished tasks that you worked on up to the point where things got difficult. Then you’ll find yourself completely unmotivated to finish any of these tasks because you haven’t built up the discipline to work through the tough parts. Had you committed to 1 task at a time you would have worked through the roadblocks that sets you apart from your peers & competitors. You will also have built the momentum to take on your next task.
Lets take this blog for example. If I didn’t commit myself, I’d have nothing but unfinished posts in my drafts. Same with music. I know this because I used to have a serious habit of leaving songs unfinished and going long periods without sharing any new music. Lately I have been remedying this & you can definitely expect to hear more out of me in the future.
At times I might be in the middle of one song when another song idea jumps in my head. When that happens I’ll usually set aside a small amount of time to document the idea so it’s not forgotten but I’ll set a timer so I don’t get off track from my main focus.
Give this a serious try & I dare you to tell me you aren’t far more productive.
7. Write down your creative tasks the night before – This really helps your brain prepare to for the tasks of the following day & do some problem solving while you sleep. You may have the issue that I’ve often had where making music just doesn’t seem like what you should be doing when you haven’t been in the habit for a while. Its really similar to trying to motivate yourself to start exercising when you’re out of shape. Writing down a few tasks to complete the night before helps to solve this as well as making the process go more smoothly.
8. Pretend you know how – There is no issue with learning techniques from experts. I can definitely say I have learned some things I probably would have never come across myself, but had I not explored things on my own, I would have never become more than an imitator. Instead of spending hours upon hours scouring the internet, books & magazines to solve all of your challenges, try believing in your own abilities & resourcefulness. The more you do this, the better you get at it. Soon you’ll find that you aren’t simply an expert at imitating but you’ll be coming up with innovative ideas & further refining your own sound. You’ll be surprised how much you actually do know.
9. Blueprint first, details later – Don’t get caught up for hours trying to perfect that snare drum when you don’t even have a song structure yet. You’ll likely need to further tweak it later anyway. Instead focus on the broad strokes. Work on the essential musical elements & then a basic song structure before agonizing over whether something sounds better 1/2 a db louder or quieter. Havening a basic sketch complete makes it much easier to see the big picture while dialing in the little details.
10. Start creating before setting other tasks – If your goal is to make (and finish) music you can be proud of instead of going another year with very little creative output, making music should be on your “essential” list. If you prioritize other tasks during your free time, you have little chance of your music taking center stage. If you simply can’t do this most of the time, at least make music a top priority 1 day out of the week. If you can’t make time now, when do you expect your schedule will open up? trust me, it won’t!
11. Take breaks often - If you are on a roll, go with it. Being in the flow is a very enjoyable experience & there is no reason to disrupt that. It’s more common, however, to lose steam on a project within 90 minutes than it is to find yourself in marathon mode. Make sure to give yourself a short break every 1.5-2 hours. This is supposed to be pleasant after all. Plus your ears need a break too or they won’t be reliable. A break is a small reward for a job well done. Knowing you’ll get a break soon will push you to work harder & stay focused. Those of you who’ve read The Shining should know that “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Don’t be Jack.
12. Commit publicly – There is not much better motivation than having your peers expecting something you have promised to deliver. If you aren’t willing to make this promise publicly, then maybe you don’t have enough belief in yourself to get past the roadblocks that make most people quit.
I personally use this technique to take on challenges that scare me because I know that otherwise, the likelihood of me accomplishing these tasks is pretty slim. I used this technique to create my 30 Day Ableton Music Production Journal as well as my Collective Loop Project. I allowed myself to be embarrassed publicly to make certain fear does’t rule my life.
I hope you find a way to put some or all of these tips to use & that you enjoy a far more creative & productive future.
Happy music making,
Jason
P.S. – Don’t forget to comment & tweet (down below) & “like” (up above). All your feedback & support is appreciated.
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Put your Brain to work
Put your Brain to work
Your brain is a powerful thing. You hear this all the time but you forget just how amazing it is. Everything that has ever been accomplished has started as an idea or a problem to solve in the brain. Before I go off on a complete tangent I wanted to share some new ideas to boost your creativity.
I was talking to a friend who is awaiting confirmation on a release of one of his tracks on Richie Hawtin’s Minus label (fingers crossed). We’ve talked a few times about our approaches to music & productivity in general & we tend to both shy away from getting overly technical in our conversation. Instead we discussed training your brain for creativity & finishing what we’ve started as 2 of the most important skills to develop.
This friend of mine (who I may introduce to you in a later blog), has zero equipment besides his Mac. No outboard gear, no controllers. Just Ableton Live, Operator, 1 or 2 other synths…… and his brain. Imagine that, a guy with minimal equipment making minimal tracks This proves that you could make and release quality music without having to buy all kinds of equipment, but that’s another blog….
So instead of talking about how he makes his songs specifically, I want to share with you his creative approach. He is already a successful guy in a non-music industry, so he uses his idea generating & problem solving skills from one industry to the next. Ever notice that some people are successful in most everything they touch? I think there is something to the way these people think.
This is the simple approach:
1. Have a notepad & recorder with you at ALL times. For many of us, we have this all in our iPhone. When you make an intention to record your ideas, your brain tends to give you more ideas. The more you take notes, write down lyric ideas, mixing & structuring ideas or melodies, the more your brain will feed you. I tend to use iPhone’s notepad & email the note to myself. I use an ap called Record for all my melodic & rythmatic ideas as well as field recordings. I also keep a notepad available to write things down. Usually when I’m making lists. It doesn’t really matter what you use. It’s more important to just try it, you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
2. Treat your brain like a well respected & trusted employee. Your brain is really only limited to what you feel it’s capable of. Put it to the test. My approach is to throw a creative or technical problem at it to solve before you go to sleep. You’ll be surprised how often you come up with solutions by morning or within a couple days. I’d suggest starting small, just so you build a bit of confidence but once you get the hang of it, you can give it bigger & bigger tasks. Before you go to sleep, create a picture in your mind of the problem you’re facing solved & then let it go. When you sleep, you tap into some serious resources that simply aren’t available in your waking life.
3. Dream Log: Although this is completely not neccesary, I do my best to remember & write down my dreams, even if they seem irrelevant. The reason I do this, is that it trains your brain to tap into your dream state resources while you’re awake. I think that is the point where fresh new ideas flow the best.
I could probably go on and on with more tips related to these 3 but I’d prefer to stop right there and let you put these to use asap. I’d love to hear your results as well as ways you use to put your brain to work!
Happy music making,
Jason
P.S. – Don’t forget to comment & tweet (down below) & “like” (up above).All your feedback & support is appreciated!
When to give up on music
When to give up on music
I want to talk about those feelings that you’re getting nowhere with your songs. Perhaps you listen to a song on the radio or in a club and just think “there is no way I’m going to be this good”. Maybe you’re having a hell of a time learning a new piece of equipment or software. Maybe the technical side of things has you overwhelmed or perhaps you have plenty of technical skills but your ideas just seem uninspired. Maybe you are feeling like whatever gift you had for this, you’ve lost. Maybe you’ve never felt you’ve had a gift for making music.
It would be fair to say that once you’ve had a few accomplishments under your belt, that your confidence improves. It’s definitely a good feeling to do something that gets attention and a pat on the back (even if it’s from your own hand). Unfortunately, after the buzz from that accomplishment has come and gone, you start to question whether or not you can do it again.
Maybe your early musical accomplishments were a fluke. You start to wish you could bottle up that formula and pour a little on everything you did but of course if that worked, everybody would be cranking out smash after smash.
Some people become afraid to branch out and explore new musical territory. They’ve got a reputation to withhold and they just can’t fail. This can create long periods of writers block (which is really just the fear of sucking turned into a lack of inspiration).
The fact of the matter is that whether you are a beginner or a veteran, you are going to have creative spurts followed by lulls. It’s natural and is nothing to be afraid of. It’s the natural flow of things.
For me, I’ll just be messing around with a groove and things will start to get interesting. Pretty soon I’ll have added enough parts to make a pretty sweet 32 bar loop. I’ll play this in my headphones over and over getting really pumped about what I’ve made and then I’ll let it be for the nite. I’ll go to sleep feeling confident and totally in flow with my creativity. A day or 2 might pass before I open up the song again & all of a sudden things just don’t sound as cool as I remember. It sounds like somebody came in and messed it up. Next comes the complete confidence crash. All those fears of not being good enough come out. This feeling sucks.
It’s pretty natural to be uninspired when this is the vibe we are bringing to the table day in and day out. There are several things you can do outside of throwing in the towel though and I’d like to discuss some of them. Some approaches may directly conflict with another approach, so feel free to pursue the one that vibes with you most.
Keep Going
Being stuck in the unfinished song syndrome is the point the separates the boys from the men (or girls from the women). With any worthy pursuit you are going to hit a few walls. This is just a way that life filters out those who aren’t worthy of the prize. If you’ve been a quitter in the past, all that is required of you is to stand back up and have another go.
Keep this in mind…
If you haven’t had these feelings of being a failure, you probably haven’t accomplished much.
Roadblocks are actually a way of knowing that you are reaching beyond your comfort zone. I actually look at it as a good thing, an old friend. Welcome it willingly and you can transform it into an allie. It’s those things that feel uncomfortable at first that can be the birth of some of your best work.
Yes, I understand that sometimes you will be in the full creative flow and bang out something great without much struggle & this is something we can always hope for, but to expect this type of flow as the norm is to miss the bigger picture of what an artist is and what an artist does. You have to embrace the bliss and the dirt, the feeling of being lost and the joy of finding yourself again.
In nearly everything you do that is worthy of your time, you are going to lose the plot for a bit. You just want to make sure you allow yourself a breather to recharge if you are running on empty (more on this later).
I have several articles in my blog archives the can help you if you are stuck in “unfinished song” mode. Here is a specific article that you might want to start with:
Curiosity
Chances are you are taking this music thing way too seriously and it’s taking the fun out of creating. One way that I like to recharge my batteries is to pursue curious experiments. For me this usually starts with a “I wonder what would happen if..”. One experiment was to see how many ways I could process one loop through different effect chains to create an evolving part that kept me interested for, say, 15 minutes. This might not turn into a song in the end, but it very well might be a joyful pursuit that might put a few more tools in your creative toolbox. It might inspire you or boost your confidence and at the very best, might turn into a great piece of music.
The great thing about curiousity is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously and it doesn’t expect or require perfection. Instead it puts you “in the moment” and just allows whatever happens to happen. Brian Eno is known to spend most of his time setting up an experiemental process for music to just happen on it’s own. I like this approach, especially when I am feeling uninspired. I just create a process that allows the music to make itself until I decide to take a more active role in it again (if that even becomes neccesary). Sometimes if you stop trying to control music, it starts to evolve almost on it’s own. You almost become more of a witness to what is taking place.
Think of creative ideas as something that is “out there” in the cosmos. Every idea that can be thought and every song that can be made is already there. You are not the maker of music. You are simply a vessel in which music comes through.
Mozart had a very similar experience of music. He felt that he was simply given full works of music, already completed. His job was simply to get out of the way and write down what had come to him.
When we realize that we are not the makers of music, we can put more of our focus on getting ourselves in tune with the source of the ideas. Obviously, expressing these ideas efficiently will require some skills and proper tools, but you can always find someone who has the skills you currently lack.
Take a break
The real question is whether you are putting yourself in a state of mind that makes you feel inspired or if you’re giving in to mundane daily habits that are uninspiring. When many of us feel uninspired, we find ourselves constantly thinking about our lack of drive and feeling guilty about pursuing our many distractions. We often try to keep close to home “just in case” inspiration strikes, thus continuing the path of an uninspired life.
A better approach is to allow yourself to quit making music. Take away the option of making music and give yourself a month, 2 months or even longer to pursue other interests guilt free. Maybe you want to travel, or write a book, learn to become a better cook, expand your social network (preferably face to face), or learn a new language.
When you stop feeling guilt for not being musically creative, you can pursue many other aspects of your life with much less resistance. Everybody needs a break to recharge their batteries and many of us never do that. We become convinced that somehow running on dead batteries will eventually lead us to our best work. In reality, if we look at most, if not all, of our favorite artists, we find they draw inspiration from a variety of life experiences, not from spending endless days in their studio. Allow yourself to quit making music for a bit and fill your empty cup by getting out and doing life. It’s a good idea to keep a notebook and/or a recorder close at hand. When the ideas come back to you, they tend to come on strong.
Work with a partner
I find that working with another person can really help bring out the best in eachother. It’s good to work with someone who has strengths that are your weaknesses and vice versa. I’ve found that I might hit a creative high when my parter is at a low or he can pick up the slack when I’ve hit a breaking point. If you don’t currently have a person to work with, consider finding someone, preferably in your local area. If that is a no go, you can always find someone through the net that you can send files back and forth to. Although it won’t quite be the same as working with someone in the same room, you can always work with screensharing software which is the next best thing.
When all else fails, allow yourself to suck
That’s right, if you can’t seem to get anything good out of your self, enjoy the process of sucking. See how bad you can make something. Do all the wrong things and enjoy it. Laugh with your inner critic because you can both agree “yes, this is really embarrassing”. Keep going, make it worse! Embrace the suck in you. It’s liberating!
Eventually, you will find yourself enjoying the process and having a laugh. You may even find that you hit a roadblock in your suckiness and simply can’t come up with a way to suck any worse. You might even accidentally do something that sounds good. As you go through this process, you will find that you are in one of the best mental states for being creative and as you are riding that wave, you may even have the drive to open up one of those unfinished songs and push it a little further.
In conclusion, there is no time to consider giving up on music completely…unless perhaps you are these guys….
Happy Music Making!
Jason
P.S. – Don’t forget to comment & tweet (down below) & “like” (up above).
All your feedback & support is appreciated!
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