Between one hour and three months. Depends on length and complexity.
And if I'm actually experienced at the tool I'm using or not.
Offline
When I'm really into it and the ideas are flowing pretty smoothly, I usually get 30 seconds of music out of an hour of solid work. I don't really ever consider any of my songs finished though, I just work on them until they feel organized/ready enough to be put in the maybe pile. That's if I'm lucky. I'm usually working on a lot of songs at once and frequently switch back and forth between them while tracking, so more often than not it takes months to get something ready.
Offline
Berkeley, CA
i really think the medium benefits from massive fluctuations in time spent. You can write an amazing piece of music that takes you an hour, just as much as you could slave over something for a year.
On the converse side, you could write shit in an hour and shit in a year. So I think ultimately you just gotta feel it out.
Offline
Milan, Italy
mmh.. it really depends.. i usually spend only half an hour in a day on a single song.. and in a week i usually complete it.
Offline
Tokyo, Japan
O2star wrote:
I have been spending mega time with Adlib Tracker again, and my work time is about 10 times longer...
I adore adlib but honestly it is a hugely clunky massive pain in the arse to work with in some ways.
Offline
Planet Zaxxon
Well, I just ran into my first "problem" with adlib tracker, now that you mention it.... I have a new song with tons of instruments/channels being using, and most with 2 effect columns in use...... Its actually slowing the program down. I didnt notice this until I made a dropout in the song, with just 1 chord going with 1 effect, and it was going fast like crazy! So i had to put BS fake instruments and effects in that pattern to slow it down to match the rest of the sections.
So now I really see why it was so hard to record drums to adlib tracker, the tempo is always changing... and god forbid you want to record each channel separately.... they just always fall off beat with each other by the end..
When you add all this up, I have spent 30+ hours on this new song, and its not finished yet. 
instrument design, writing, sequencing, and now keeping the tempo consistent.
But why use adlib tracker you ask?? Because I have the time to deal with these things. While everyone else is going to work, and generating income... I'm sitting at home putting in C00, ZB0/ZB1/ZB2, and other Zxx commands all over the place just to pull down the tempo so it stays around 124.58 bpm. YIKES! 
but Lazerbeat, I believe that the end result is always worth it.. it has great sound !
Offline
pdx
3-6 hrs, but I spend a lot more just listening to parts over and over, or listening to the completed thing on the GB before I record it, then listening to it alot on the computer while i tweak with it. A lot of my time is wasted.
Offline
Brooklyn, NY
I rarely finish songs in the traditional sense. I track to some semblance of personal satisfaction, play it at a show, and wind up adding/changing as times goes on.
Hence why I still haven't released anything substantial -- I record stuff only to find a week later that I've improved upon it and begin to hate the old version.
Perfect example: The last section of the track I played on Engadget lastweek I wrote while waiting for sound check. And it's way better than the rest of the track.
rageguy.jpg
Offline
Brazil
I wrote my last ep (which consists of one music of 15 minutes) in 4 to 6 hours - I can't remember exactly.
But depends, I have songs unfinished yet and songs I spend one hour to finish it - not that it's good or something.
Offline
Florida
5 hours to 3 months (on and off). Hahaha. This one song seriously took me all of my free time for 3 weeks straight. One of my favorites only took me an afternoon.
Offline
São Paulo, Brazil
O2star wrote:
and god forbid you want to record each channel separately.... they just always fall off beat with each other by the end..
That is why I gave up on recording each of my last EP's track separately on Ableton Live. Looked like a nightmare.
Offline
São Paulo, Brazil
O2star wrote:
and god forbid you want to record each channel separately.... they just always fall off beat with each other by the end..
That is why I gave up on recording each of my last EP's track separately on Ableton Live. Looked like a nightmare.
Offline
Planet Zaxxon
PULSELOOPER wrote:
O2star wrote:and god forbid you want to record each channel separately.... they just always fall off beat with each other by the end..
That is why I gave up on recording each of my last EP's track separately on Ableton Live. Looked like a nightmare.
Well, its not a nightmare if the program you are recording from keeps the same steady tempo... I've recorded separate tracks from songs made in LSDJ, and they always line up and are right in time with each other.
Offline
Wellington, New Zealand
Well since school has started up again I've been doing songs one part by one whenever i get bored of playing minecraft. Play minecraft - add intro and a verse. Play minecraft - add chorus and verse.
But when school isn't on I just do it in about 2-3 hours and don't add any adjustments to the song afterwards, even if some notes sound shit.
Offline
Brooklyn, NY
PULSELOOPER wrote:
O2star wrote:and god forbid you want to record each channel separately.... they just always fall off beat with each other by the end..
That is why I gave up on recording each of my last EP's track separately on Ableton Live. Looked like a nightmare.
This is not too hard to correct but requires some preparation before you record: What I've done in the past is create a one measure click track on all 4 channels at the very start, then zoom into the waveform and just line the suckers up. Pending there are no hiccups while recording, lining up just one of the beats with pixel precision will keep the rest of the song in sync.
I'm using Audacity, which is arguably the most horrible (but also free) recording software for mac, and I can assure you there's no reason you should need expensive audio software to do this.