aight,

so lately ive been thinking about a possible career in music & sound alot,
and because of that i've been staying home alot to work on it.
for real lately i havent been to any parties, havnt had any girls, i barely even drink anymore (wich is really new to me, specially the drinking part lol).
ive pretty much given it all up to focus on this thing, and what do i do when i stay home to work?
nothing at all.
i just sit and stare like a 10 year old whos mom told him he couldnt go out till he finished his homework.
i really want to start workin on it and do some stuff i can be happy about, but at the point where i sit down to do it suddently everything exept music seems more interesting and i usually end up telling myself ''aight ill go out for a couple of hours then get back to it'' ''ill just play a game for 20 minutes to refresh my mind a lil before continuing''
and then when i get back from doing that, its the same routine all over again.
i really want to do something with music and i know i do have the drive and creativity to do it
its just that ever since it got more serious (music school etc.) it became like an obligation instead of something thats free and great.
and then when i do actually sit and make something ill find myself copycatting scott storch or 9th wonder or whatever, just to be done with it quickly and not have to go to sleep at night thinkin ive whasted another day.
over the past month or two this has really started to mess with my brain and i cant seem to get over this.
all my old beats, the ones i made when it was still a hobby, sound alot better then the ones ive made since i got serious.
my old stuff was genius compared to the crap ive made recently. wich is the wierdest thing cause im learning more things, and im starting to understand more about sound, mixing and mastering etc.
while i should be getting better i actually feel like im downgrading and im limiting my own creativity for some reason.

just some random thaughts ive been having,
can anyone relate to some of this?

Posted By That guy with the soul. on 09 Oct 2009 06:00 PM

can anyone relate to some of this?

Yes, I've been there.  Not as a beatmaker but as a freelance musician.  At some point I had to invest time into being more proficient at other styles to grow my business.  Doing this at home required self disipline, planning and understanding from friends and family. 

Once everyone (including myself) got used to it (me being unavailible for a certain portion of each day) everyone (including me) just accepted it as 10am to 6pm I was busy.  After I accepted it then I forgot about it.  After I forgot about it taking a vacation got to be VERY uncomfortable.  I got used to working all the time, everyday.  You can go too far the other way too... be careful.

Being self employed is a different skill than making beats.  To make what could be a long post short, you set a schedule with no exceptions or breaks.  When your done your done.  Start short, with something you can stick to.  Work up to a regular 8 hour day with a break for lunch.  Eventually, it's "normal" to you. 

The short and skinny is you have to do it exactly the same way for a period of time before your mind accepts a new routine as normal.  If your self employed you MUST spend a certain amount of time each day planning your day.  When I was self employed I spent the first half hour planning and writing down that plan, an hour on this an hour on that... eventually you work out how long is an optimal time to do each thing depending on your tendency to "overcook" a part of the beat or feel rushed and you will get a schedule that only needs a little tweaking for things that come up.  It takes time to work that out.

I had friends who also were self employed musicians who did not need to disipline themselves this way, they were lucky. I had friends that should have and never got off the ground, I felt bad for them cause they always wondered "what if" or blamed their lack of work on luck.  I had an old head take me aside and explain it to me, I hope this helps a little. 

It's hard to get started, you'll get used to it, don't worry, eventually you start to look at it like, "oh crap, it's almost 6, nooooo.... I gotta finish this", eventually your mind accepts the fact that you will be sitting there for 4 hrs at a time twice a day and "makes the most of it".  If you let your mind think that there is an "out" you'll be "out" more than in, mentally if not physically.

I wish there was some easy answer...

Posted By That guy with the soul. on 09 Oct 2009 06:00 PM
aight,

so lately ive been thinking about a possible career in music & sound alot,
and because of that i've been staying home alot to work on it.
for real lately i havent been to any parties, havnt had any girls, i barely even drink anymore (wich is really new to me, specially the drinking part lol).
ive pretty much given it all up to focus on this thing, and what do i do when i stay home to work?
nothing at all.
i just sit and stare like a 10 year old whos mom told him he couldnt go out till he finished his homework.
i really want to start workin on it and do some stuff i can be happy about, but at the point where i sit down to do it suddently everything exept music seems more interesting and i usually end up telling myself ''aight ill go out for a couple of hours then get back to it'' ''ill just play a game for 20 minutes to refresh my mind a lil before continuing''
and then when i get back from doing that, its the same routine all over again.
i really want to do something with music and i know i do have the drive and creativity to do it
its just that ever since it got more serious (music school etc.) it became like an obligation instead of something thats free and great.
and then when i do actually sit and make something ill find myself copycatting scott storch or 9th wonder or whatever, just to be done with it quickly and not have to go to sleep at night thinkin ive whasted another day.
over the past month or two this has really started to mess with my brain and i cant seem to get over this.
all my old beats, the ones i made when it was still a hobby, sound alot better then the ones ive made since i got serious.
my old stuff was genius compared to the crap ive made recently. wich is the wierdest thing cause im learning more things, and im starting to understand more about sound, mixing and mastering etc.
while i should be getting better i actually feel like im downgrading and im limiting my own creativity for some reason.

just some random thaughts ive been having,
can anyone relate to some of this?

man, so much of that is true for me as well.... when i first started making beats i had a job, but i still found the time to make beats and i was learning a ton of stuff and it seems like i was having more fun doing it.... right now i don't have a job and i have a ton of free time, and i wish i could just make a ton of beats but for some reason i procrastinate and i can't get myself to do it

My advice:

Write a list... check things off the list... you'll get used to it.

Make a schedule... stick to the schedule... you'll get used to it.

Eventually you look forward to a certain part of your day, eventually you start to expect that you are doing a certain thing each day when the sun is in a certain position each day, eventually after lunch you will say "o.k. it's time for ..."  (make sure that the first thing you do each day and the first thing after lunch are your favorite aspects of beatmaking so you'll look forward to it).

As far as the schedule, try to remember the best beat you made,  how much time did you spend on each aspect?  How much time on the drums, how much time mixing etc.?  Start out with that as a schedule.  If the best beat you ever made was in an hour, try sticking to a beat an hour.  If the best beat was made in two day, try two days.  Your trying to make success a habit. 

On a more personal note:

I know what you guys are saying though, I'm kinda going through a similiar period in my life.  It's hard for me and I know what to do to get to the "next level" as a beatmaker.  It is real easy to say I'll do it tommorow.  I think the hardest thing is to get up at a certain time and get dressed just like your going to work.  I like to think that like in that Scott Storch video (Storch Making a Beat) in his home studio that he dresses in a suit everyday when he makes a beat.  I'm so desparate to develop some self-disipline I might try that.

I really do think it comes down to planning though.  That is both the easiest and most important part.  Once I had a schedule that I knew deep down in my heart that I could follow that eliminated "I can't" from my vocablulary.  Once I followed the schedule (which is like quitting smoking or something at first) for a period of time it became second nature.

Now I want to apply this knowledge I got to what I'm doing now.  Only problem is, if I do it and I don't get any better at making beats, how will I feel about myself?  Truth is I know I will get better if I make a schedule and stick to it though, I'm just lazy. 

A.G.C. Gives good advice on the working part of the things, take heed.

However I would like to adress the creative side of it aswell.

We discussed this in another thread not so long ago aswell, but here goes. As soon as your mind goes into the "pro" mindstate you start thinking differently. It will be alot like this "Oh, so I'm taking this seriously now, well I quess I need to take this mixing ish seriously aswell. Well how do I do this like a pro?" And then you start going through all the knowledge you have and also looking for more of it. And before you know it, tweaking a kick sound took you an hour and it still doesn't sound good and your going "wtf, I did exactly like it said in that book/post bla bla". Basicly you start doing things because you THINK it's required, not because you think the beat needs it.

Or you are making a beat, you head is nodding it's all gravy. Then you go "Right, so I'm pro now. Does this sound like a pro beat?" Then you start listening to other peoples productions, start adding to your beat twisting and turning it this way and that way. Just to fit it into a "pro" mold. After doing that for a good hour or two you suddenly realize that your head is not poppin' no more. It's because you sucked the life out of the beat, while trying to make it better.

Basicly it is a issue with your self image and confidence in your ability. As soon as you say pro, your mind starts thinking it needs to change the way you do things (better, faster, stronger). Rather than embrasing the fact that you are already there. It's only a word and at most perhaps a way of grading the level of advancement you already made. Much like a new version of your DAW, it's still the same program, sure it got a couple of new features and a new version number. But it still functions and performs like it used to do before the update.

In essence, stop overcomplicating things, don't try to do everything at once and tackle the obstacles when you get there.

^^
For sure, do what you do...

I think the comparing yourself to the world part is really dangerous, good point. What I mean by "planning" is looking at what YOU did that got you where you are and trying to put yourself in a similar situation, like knowing if your a morning person or not. For me I do repetative stuff really well at night, stuff like organizing sounds and such. For some reason most of the most creative things I've done come between 2pm and 6pm. At some point I wrote down how I felt during certain points of the day and eventually I figured out what works best for me (at least as far as guitar playing).

It's like Michael Jordan used to wear shorts from North Carolina under his uniform when he played with the Bulls. You have to accumulate success, keep it and build on it.

Plus, as far as the creative aspect comparing yourself to others makes you the same as everybody else, being something that people can't get anywhere else is what sets you apart. I mean, somebody can be very good at doing a Pete Rock style beat but nobody is Pete Rock but Pete Rock.

Nobody can be you but you, unless your trying to be someone else then even you can't be you. You gotta be brave and be you when it comes to the creative... but just like the other stuff it's hard. If it was easy everybody would do it.   Having said that, your doing it that makes you unique in a world where people want to be told what to do 24/7.

Just take me as an example and Idolize me, and then you good LOL! XD..

thanx yall, that really is some good advice
what sabo said pretty much hit the spot. i was doing everything ''by the book'' trying to come across as a pro, while back when i started i was just doing whatever sounded good to me.
i think i should really keep that in mind and just do whatever i think sounds good.
im definitly gonna try the schedule aswell, my teacher also talked about that. he says he cant have a day off without it being planned in his schedule, that way he knows hes not procrastinating because he planned it upfront and took in consideration how much time he'd need to do other things.
its definitly gonna help me out cause itll organize things, lately i've been spending alot on new equipment, instruments and software (protools, mpc, cubase, E guitar etc) and now i wake up in the morning (or come home from school), and ill basically flip a coin to decide what to do cause theres so much left, practise guitar, study protools/cubase, practise piano, study up on music theory/mixing. and because of that i guess i got a little hasty with things.

And with that advice i'll try even harder to become like TooIntegrated, he's my idol!

the way you keep changing your name i dont even know what to call u

Posted By That guy with the soul. on 10 Oct 2009 04:22 PM
thanx yall, that really is some good advice
what sabo said pretty much hit the spot. i was doing everything ''by the book'' trying to come across as a pro, while back when i started i was just doing whatever sounded good to me.
i think i should really keep that in mind and just do whatever i think sounds good.
im definitly gonna try the schedule aswell, my teacher also talked about that. he says he cant have a day off without it being planned in his schedule, that way he knows hes not procrastinating because he planned it upfront and took in consideration how much time he'd need to do other things.
its definitly gonna help me out cause itll organize things, lately i've been spending alot on new equipment, instruments and software (protools, mpc, cubase, E guitar etc) and now i wake up in the morning (or come home from school), and ill basically flip a coin to decide what to do cause theres so much left, practise guitar, study protools/cubase, practise piano, study up on music theory/mixing. and because of that i guess i got a little hasty with things.

And with that advice i'll try even harder to become like TooIntegrated, he's my idol!

You damn right nigga..
You gotta have the "drive" the "fire" in your eyes.. Only then you'll be able to make it into da bizz! I know for a fact you ain't 'too' confident about making it, but I'm tellin' you, you gotta delete that thought from ya mind. You can shedule all you want, but it's your 'drive' which always makes you capable of doing crazy and good things for your 'career'. Always dream nigga.. "Never" give up..

i got the drive dont worry about that homie ^^ its just those things i talked about that were annoying the ish outta me
imma fix it and come back even harder now tho ^^

oh and just call me SPE ^^ or My Hero.. wich ever you prefer.

My hero....

well, its obvious your gunna get bored of somthing that you do everyday. Its normal, but hey, if you love music there will always be a work morale and you will always come throw

One of my lecturers just talked on writing essays and such, and one of the points he made is if you follow the same routine in the same environment then you stagnate every quickly. If you wake up, have breakfast, go turn your PC on, check your emails, your facebook, then warbeats, the boot up FL, you follow the same routine and you quickly become uncreative. (We got onto this topic after he was talking about working the night before a deadline, saying that under pressure everyone can produce an essay 30mins before a deadline, but no-one can produce a good essay like that. However, when under pressure like this, your in a different psyche and you have a completely new way of thinking and you become creative and often turn up good ideas (at school I bet youve done this, your rushing through an essay and suddenly you have more ideas that you cant type them quickly enough I'm doing this now, someone help me))).
Anyway, this is why at 3 in the morning you start getting creative, you have a new psyche, your mind starts working differently.

So try something different. And I dont mean the usual advice of "if you sample, create a melody" "try doing your drums first then your melody", I mean pick up your laptop and your headphones and sit in a tree and make beats, or sit there naked and make beats (please close the curtains for this). Anyway, creativity is a mind set that is helped with variety. If your routine and environment is the same, how can you expect to be creative.

wow thats really inspirational, 2nd man... i wonder what i can do to be creative... or atleast put myself in a certain mindset

Posted By 2nd Man on 16 Oct 2009 08:19 AM


So try something different. And I dont mean the usual advice of "if you sample, create a melody" "try doing your drums first then your melody", I mean pick up your laptop and your headphones and sit in a tree and make beats, or sit there naked and make beats (please close the curtains for this). Anyway, creativity is a mind set that is helped with variety. If your routine and environment is the same, how can you expect to be creative.

Totally,

maybee I didn't say it right but there are certain tedious things (like organizing new samples, defraging hard drive, ect.) that don't take creative energy in that case I think you don't want to change up that part of your routine that much.  On the other hand if at the begining of the day your planning and you decide that you want to do something creative at a different time then if you think that will help you be more creative well, that's why you plan everyday.  At least that's how it works for me.  But then again, I'm seriously bi-polar so I'm probably not typical.  I can do creative standing on my head, getting ish done... that's another story.  

For me, take arranging a beat. I'm sure there's a way to look at it like it's creative and not a chore that you do at the end of the "fun" part but I haven't figured out a way to look at it like that, it's torture to me.  If I don't start "forcing myself" to study other people's arrangements and applying my analysis kind of mechanically at first I'll never get started.  At some point after I've developed my own theory about what makes a good arrangement then maybee I can look at it like a "creative" thing but I don't have enough knowledge about it to think of it that way yet.

Part of it (at least to me) is that I went through that mechanical part when I learned to play instruments years ago and that  part is very comfortable to me.  Arranging, I don't even have a freaking clue cause as a guitar player I just kind of do it without thinking according to the vocalist or lead instrument.  When your making a beat sometimes there is no lead instrument and your "playing" more than one instrument at a time...  it's just different to me.

It does get hard whenever it stops being fun or entertaining. If you can keep yourself in an entertained and motivated mood, your music will feel less like "job" and more like a hobby. If you can just restore that passion for music that caused you to start bangin sounds out in the first place, things go a lot smoother and you are so much more productive. At the end of the day when you listen to your creations you can sit back and marvel at your improvement and think about how far you've come. The thing that usually helps me is other music. Listen to some of your favorite song (that you haven't already played out) an just start to feel it. I mean one of those records that make you say "Dam, that was hott! I gotta hear it again!" Usually when i do that and have my own "jam session", im tyring my hardest to get back home and work on music!

Its almost like once you start taking it seriously you seem to start losing what made you wanna do what you do. Just because you are TAKING IT SERIOUS doesn't mean that you can't "play". Loosen up and have fun as long as you are meeting your own personal deadlines. All of my best beats were created when i was in a more free state of mind as opposed to being overly serious. I can never make a good beat when i'm trying too hard. But jyea, it works for me just to liven things up and revisit the things that motivated to do this in the first place.

^^
Wow, deep ish marxman, enjoying your posts!

Put that together with some of 2nd's ish and maybee I can get my ass in gear!  (lol)

Thanx! It's actually funny that you say that because i just recently have found the time to get back on Warbeats and i have been more than fairly entertained by your posts exclusively, lol! I have also taken note that you are quite a musician rather than just a "beat-maker". Guitar is one of the few instruments that i really struggle with even though i have almost completely stopped playing anything else altogether for a while.

Haha yeh A.G.C. is a bloody legend. He has a ridiculous amount of knowledge and we have a ridiculous amount of respect for him. By the sound of it your a musician too which is really great particularly if you hang around.

Whenever I'm feeling a bit low when it comes to making music I always start trying to do something really different. I'll start analyzing blues or something like that and try making something in that style and what I find is I don't always get what I was aiming for at the start but I always end up with some interesting developments and that inspires me to get back tio what I really love doing.