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Anyone finding that there's a divide between your dream masterpiece and the musickal stuff you can actually muster?
i always wanted to be this beepy Art Bears type thing with some real singing but I tend to cop out into arcane noodling in the end. not many of the songs I've made really represent zer final vision as it stands.
I often let myself be influenced by an artist or even a specific tune when I'm coming up with ideas. I'll take a tune I really like and try to emulate it to the best of my ability. Fortunately, it often comes out sounding quite different than the original, which is a good thing.
Also, I often have a sound in my head that's not influenced by anything else but the results still come out different. Sometimes I can hit the mark, sometimes I have to really work at it (or just miss it entirely) but as long as I'm satisfied with the track it's OK.
dear god yes. i can't ever seem to make my music sound the way i want, mainly because i don't have the skill to make it sound that way. i guess it's just because i'm mainly trying to build up huge sounds using EC, frostbyte, knife city, etc. as inspiration; but still, i've been doing this for 2 or 3 years at this point, even without any previous music experiences i should at least be at a sorta-acceptable level when i sound like a 5 year old making random derp kick-snare patterns and crappy squarewave leads.
[/inferioritycomplex]
Last edited by Aeros (Oct 11, 2012 6:07 pm)
the best thing to do in this situation is to give up hope
Last edited by PlainFlavored (Oct 11, 2012 6:06 pm)
the best thing to do in this situation is to give up hope
I suggest this too, but I mean it in a good way. A mentor of mine said that once you get something perfect you won't be motivated to compose anymore, so in that regard getting it wrong is always an expected thing. Instead, think of your songs as "better" or "worse" than each other or closer or farther from the ideal.
I just have to keep reminding myself that I'm doing this for fun and there are no expectations.
Also that the more I practice the easier it will get. That doesn't mean that practice will make me better, it just will become more and more of a second nature to me.
Last edited by Decktonic (Oct 11, 2012 6:57 pm)
I just try to convert whats in my head to sound or a song. Then its all just production stuff after that. I make that sound easy, BUT IT AINT.
I once was influenced/inspired by a Pantera song I heard. When I got home I made an electro house track. Hey brain, what gives?? I just dont think I ever tried to emulate a style (other than fitting inside a genre) unless I am doing a cover song, but then its usually on a different medium than the original..
Now on the other hand, I wish I could bust out Alex Mauer or Cheap Dinosaurs grooves all day.. but I have come to the realization that it's just not me or what I am capable of. And that's fine, because people would then be saying, "you make good tracks but you sound like Alex Mauer and Cheap Dinosaurs." Ya cant say that to me now, can ya!?!?
So I guess to break down my musical endeavors in a nut shell, I have visions of every idea beforehand. And I know my exact skill limits, what I am capable of creating, and when to stop/cut back if its out of my "element." However, the challenge is knowing when this occurs.
well I don't ever try to copy the style of any given song so much as keep an ambition in mind to be as powerful and as meaningful as some of my favourites.
if i tried to emulate past greats all my tunes would sound like shawnphase HANGIN.IT
If the music I make isn't what I want to make I go: "Oh that sucks"
Erase the section (or entire piece) and start again. Some of my best work comes from when I realize a part is going NOWHERE and starting over.
the music i want to make typically has lots of imaginary jazz/prog chords and progressions. but then i realize that i know very little about such advanced theory and i have to make do with the odd accidental that sounds cool by freak accident.
oftentimes my goal is to simply evoke a particular feeling in my music. so i'll just throw down the note data that i think will get me there and then add/subtract/push/pull until i hit the mark - or give up. i don't have to achieve the "optimal" melody or progression but if the end up somewhere that evokes the desired emotional response, that's usually enough for me.
It's so frustrating having all these ideas but not having the knowledge to actually create them. I can't tell you how many great ideas I've had to let go because I don't know how to use Ableton or some other DAW.
As for Chipmusic for the most part I think I'm experienced enough to make about what I want, though often the song twists and turns into places I don't initially expect.
If the music I make isn't what I want to make I go: "Oh that sucks"
Erase the section (or entire piece) and start again. Some of my best work comes from when I realize a part is going NOWHERE and starting over.
Totally...I do the same. If you aren't diggin' it, you can't expect others to either right?
Last edited by 8bitweapon (Oct 11, 2012 8:42 pm)
If the music I make isn't what I want to make I go: "Oh that sucks"
Erase the section (or entire piece) and start again. Some of my best work comes from when I realize a part is going NOWHERE and starting over.
Basically, yeah. I usually don't have something good written until a while after that happens, though.
danimal cannon wrote:If the music I make isn't what I want to make I go: "Oh that sucks"
Erase the section (or entire piece) and start again. Some of my best work comes from when I realize a part is going NOWHERE and starting over.
Totally...I do the same. If you aren't diggin' it, you can't expect others to either right?
Agreed. I actually just cleared a bunch of different half written songs/ideas from my cart because they were going nowhere and they're just roadblocks from what I could be making
For a long time I was trying to emulate other people's style, writing things I thought people wanted to hear or what I thought chip music should sound like (if that makes any kind of sense.) While I was kind of getting there it lead me down the wrong path creatively. At the beginning of this year I had the sudden realization that what I was doing was bullshit and dropped that mindset altogether. Now I just make what I can and it turns out to be the music I want to make. While my songs are not revolutionary it's just my flavor of music and it's much less frustrating. It's almost impossible to not to be influenced or compare yourself to others but not dwelling on it is key. I'm happy with the tracks I've been producing since the release of my EP in April and really feel like what I'm creating now caters more to what I want to do with chip music.
I'm usually making breakcore and hip-hop kinda stuffs but I really want to make some old-school styled chipmusic ! (Stuffs like xyce,, DMA-SC, Donald Fakk, etc...)
Practicing nearly everyday...this is how I will finally achieve my goal !!! (Writing this line before someone throw it to me ! 
)
i almost never plan out what i want a song to be before i start it, so usually whatever part i start with ends up guiding the whole track...the few times i can think of where i actually even went as far as to think of what genre id like to write recently ended with me either scrapping the song or it just becoming an entirely different genre anyway (if i plan to write hip hop, sometimes metal comes out... no fucking idea why)