I can't finish tracks anymore

[Nuria]

I used to have this problem but I permanently dealt with it. The analogy for me is taking a hike. If you just leave your house without thinking, you are going to walk around a bit and come right back. This is like the dreaded 1-4 bar loop. But if you want to take a longer trip you need to plan out how to get back, or you will get lost. So I at least have some guideposts in mind about how I’m going to do that before even starting off. The longer the trip, the more you need to have these checkpoints.

Now I usually sketch out some really vague ideas about how the whole track is going to go before I even start programming at all. It never fails, because even if these ideas are really thin they lend a structure to build on.

[natrixgli]

Start recording and just do single take jams and try to catch a vibe. Then do a little cutting and mastering and you’ve got an album.

In other words, change your definition of “finished” to something more attainable.

Music (or any art) is a fun distraction but it’s perfectly normal for it to fall out of focus when there’s a lot of other shit going on in your life. There’s no point in creating a situation where you feel like you’re failing at it, because there’s no such thing.

Also I’ll counter the advice about not changing your setup with my own experience. I enjoy learning new stuff, so a lot of gear cycles in and out of my setup at a pretty rapid rate. I personally don’t see any issue with this so long as you’re not drowning yourself in debt or anything like that.

[Normalogic]

For me it was a combination of Internet, which is an endless consumption/entertainment engine, and GAS, which is nourished by the first.

I’m in the process of selling most of my gear (it’s easier managing projects when they are self contained vs when you need to record a dozen of different synths and fxs), and cutting of Internet fully from time to time.

When you’re on a computer without internet it gets boring really fast. And boredom is the mother of creation.

[x0x]

I have the opposite, I can’t start anything. Haven’t switched on any of my gear for months now.

[Oitnu]

As I have already written in this thread, I am (or rather was) in a very similar situation. A bit of background first: I have a 3.5 year old (so not a toddler anymore) and a job (albeit half time). Producing and finishing tracks has been a struggle since I became a father. Giving up is not and will never be an option: music is more than a hobby for me, it is something that defines my essence and it is also my profession (I am originally a cellist with a classical background, and a music educator).
After a lot of frustration in the past, my situation has improved a lot in the last six months. So here are a few things that are helping me to achieve some balance and get to produce music on a steady basis. Note that this is not advice, as every person and situation is completely different (and only you can know what works for you), but as this is what really works for me, it might give you some inspiration (actually, I realise I’m probably writing this as a reaffirmation for myself):

• To focus on the process (including the process of finishing tracks) and the routine and not on the output (this is a big one and difficult to accept and let go of). If you keep yourself producing, the output will come eventually.
• To get rid of social media and uncontrolled media consumption as much as possible, especially smartphone/dumb-scrolling and unnecessary internet use. Achieving this has not been easy, the most important thing for me has been to realise that I need to replace media consumption with something else: I started reading books for the first time in years, which has helped me a lot to regain some clarity and focus. I can recommend a couple of books that have helped me in this regard: Atomic Habits, Stolen Focus, Digital Minimalism, Deep Work.
  This is a big topic by itself though.
• Realising that finishing tracks is often more about problem solving than creativity. I will explain this further down below.
• Someone in this thread has already written about mental bandwidth. This is also very important for me. I need to regulate the amount of unnecessary stimuli I am exposed to (mainly through the smartphone, as I wrote earlier) if I am to have any creative energy left.
• As the time I have to produce is very limited, I have to be precious with it, so I have got rid of a lot of potential distractions in my studio (the smartphone never goes past the studio door, for example) and greatly reduced the amount of tools I use: The more instruments, the more effects, the more devices, the more time away they take and the less output I achieve. My healthy middle at the moment is 2 hardware synths (Rev2 and Take 5), 3 virtual instruments (Repro-5, Granulator III and Lounge Lizzard), my drum sample library (which I curated and got rid of everything that doesn’t fit my sound, because every little detail costs time) and two microphones for my piano and cello. And of course Ableton with very few native FX and a few 3rd party plugins (mainly Goodhertz, Vallhala and Soundtoys, but far from all of them). That’s about it.
• Refining my workflow and recognising that there are times of the day when I can be creative and other times when that is simply not possible and cannot be expected. This is where the concept of bandwidth comes in again: in the evening, when I am tired after a day of work or an evening with my child, I can hardly be creative. The good news is that there are lots of things to do in order to finish tracks that are not related to creativity (as I mentioned earlier). There is listening to the tracks I am working on and taking notes with instructions on where to focus during the next session, there is labelling tracks, getting rid of a lot of unnecessary material on my projects (as my production process is based on improvisation, I always record a lot of stuff which I then have to filter and keep the good bits), transcribing some improvisation to midi for further tweaking (also another important part of my workflow)… These things I can do then, when creativity is not to be expected.
• At the moment I am lucky to have 3 days where I can work on my music in the morning -about 3`5 hours a day at the most though. This has only been possible since my child started going to kindergarten 8 months ago. Before that, getting time to produce was much harder. During these 3 mornings in the studio, I try to generate and record as much material as possible, without bothering to analyse much of what I do or reflecting about the quality. I analyse and select the material I want to keep at another time, usually in the evening if I am not totally exhausted.
• It has also been very helpful to incorporate 20-30 minutes of piano improvisation into my evening routine before going to bed. I record these sessions (I upgraded my old RME Fireface UCX to an UCX II to be able to hit record quickly without having to turn on the computer). It keeps my creative brain awake no matter if I get time to produce or not, keeps me generating ideas that I can eventually use, and gives me a sense of freedom as I can make music without worrying that it has to be good or even have a purpose.
• Having a kid is very demanding. A full-time job on top of that makes it almost impossible to produce any kind of artistic output, because time and energy (and creative mind) are very limited. This is the reason why I decided to work half time. Money is tighter, but that way I still have a chance to get something out of making music. This is a very delicate balance and probably not doable for everyone (I consider myself lucky in this respect, also because my partner understands this need I have).
• Understanding and accepting that, at least for a period of time, I won’t be playing my music live. Either I concentrate on producing and recording material or I concentrate on preparing my music to work in a live situation. I would like to play live again sometime, but it won’t happen until my kid(s) are older, because if I want to play live I would have to stop producing (at least for a time, and potentially lost the routine I have developed), and that is more important to me. This has also helped me with the problem of constantly rearranging my studio, as I used to be very obsessive about using the same tools for producing and playing live.
• This brings me to the topic of constantly rearranging my setup, which I have suffered from for months, if not years. At the moment, and for the last 6 months or so, I have completely stopped buying new gear and plug-ins. Even plugins that I like and would love to have (Fors’ new modal synth is a good example), because getting a new instrument/effect/plugin would mean having to invest time to learn it and try to integrate it into my sound, and that would take me further away from producing results. In my opinion, constantly wanting to rearrange the studio is a symptom rather than the source of the problem: it is much easier to get a (false) feeling of being productive, of achieving something, by changing and fiddling with gear, than it is to get serious and organised and get your hands dirty in order to be able to generate some output. The second mindset is probably also more boring which is why is probably often avoided (I feel that the creative process is often idealised with the idea that it is all butterflies, when in reality there is a lot of disciplined-not-fun work to be done). This, by the way, has almost completely cured my GAS.

I am probably forgetting a lot of important stuff, so I may come back to this thread and expand on my post. Hope someone gets something out of it!

[LCVL]

Consider giving him up in adoption.

JUST KIDDING!!!

[MichaalHell]

Heres a Quick list

• Stop changing your setup
• get inspired
  • stop making music
  • listen to new music
    • in other genres then what you are making
• Take a long introspective look at yourself
  • is the output your making the output you want to make
    • if not, try and find what you think is missing for you to make what you want to make

Creativity and musicality is in a sense a muscle and just like when going to the gym, you need off days to rest your muscles.

I have three kids and a really busy hectic life and I know for a fact that there’s nothing to worry about

[maymind_trax]

This entire thread is hitting home for me even though I’m not the OP. My wife is due with our first child in June and I’m already struggling with the realization that music is going to have to play a very different role in my life after the baby is here. Somehow the anxiety about it has already slowed me down a lot and prevented me from getting a lot done in the studio even though I’m trying to make one last big final push (no pun intended, haha). How have other parents dealt with this?

[johnl]

The closest I got to solving this, was simplifying down to just a Model:Cycles and nothing else.

[jaekae]

Think its healthy to start enjoy the process of your hobby also, and not only the ”results” when you reach that you can feel like a 5-10 min just noodling/improvising on a synth is fun enough and dont have the feeling of need more and more to make a whole track all the time…

Havent finished anything in 9 years but still this is my favorite hobby that i do alot
Many plays guitars for over 30 years without recording songs and people think thats ok so i think it should be ok to enjoy music tech things the same way

[bodymechanics]

I’d say choose a deliberate rig, something with limitations but does a few things you really like.
Stick within those parameters and make a record.

Also, don’t be afraid to completely step away from making music. It will come back to you and you can ride another wave of inspiration

[Jendrik]

Learning another skill can help you see what you are doing from a different perspective.

[Jtycho]

I’ve been around here forever but just signed up to add another voice to this thread, as I too can relate. I have four sons aged 4-10, and own a small business, so finding time is tough (understatement). I’ll add to what many others have said, downsizing is working for me. I’ve spent the last few years accumulating gear as I can finally afford much of what I want, but I simply don’t have the time to learn what I buy. Instead of mastering one box like I would have 10/20 years ago, I had a room full of gear that I can’t fully take advantage of.

Long story short, I’ve been cleaning house for the last few months and with it my focus has increased. Perhaps it’s all a mental trick that I’m playing on myself, but whatever the case may be, it’s working and it’s a joy.

Good luck!

[BrokenGadget]

@bluesmoke You’re not alone. I’ve had less productive periods or times when my output is more rubbish than my usual cobblers. Hopefully music is your creative outlet rather than sole income source.
Wonderful suggestions above, I mainly wanted to add the suggestion of holding on to favourite pieces of kit in case you are tempted to sell it all.
As time is short, work out a fast workflow. One box/ daw is a good approach, as everything you create is incremental and can lead somewhere. Ideally stop shuffling stuff around, but if you must things like paychbays, a midi router, standardised midi assignments and mixer routings can really help speed things up.
Enjoy time with your family and never resent them from keeping you from your music, but try and find some time when you can enjoy making music without fretting about the family. It’s natural to be less productive at your stage in life, you are already on an amazing creative journey nurturing a toddler.

[peaceful]

What’s your purpose in finishing tracks? Remember that as a hobbyist, you are making music 95+% for yourself only. Nobody really cares about your tracks. It is just the reality now the tools are completely democratised.

I switched my setup to focus on live improvisation. I set a 10 minute timer and record the two-track out into a cheap Zoom H1N for personal review. Then I wipe all sequences and start again. It is very freeing.

I guess once I get better I can push the recordings through Ozone and publish somewhere.

The live improv is challenging and engaging. There’s tons to work on and optimise. It focuses on the creation part and once you are set up, you can go do short sessions easily. Recommended.

[GS]

Song mode could be your new friend.

[elxsound]

Simplify the setup to the bare minimum.

You have less time than before, more responsibilities.

The part of changing a setup is fine so long as you do things faster. Time to consider what would help make you work faster.

The important part is understand that introducing new things, means more time learning, troubleshooting and less time doing. So make sure to do things deliberately.

Be decisive. Assume everything you made in the moments you have to work is absolutely amazing and record it all.

Good luck.

[PantsGod]

Feel you. Couple thoughts:

You don’t need to finish everything you start. These days I rarely finish most things I start. But I keep a folder with all my strongest ideas and I commit to finishing those.

On the stuff I do end up finishing, I always try and remind myself that not everything has to be the best thing I’ve ever made. It’s the process of making and finishing it that is important.

Have fun! You probably got into synths/music because it’s really fun right? Try and remember that.

[BassesAndPads]

It’s all about working faster. Use the same synths and sounds you like. I have a small selection of rack synths and curated plugins. I use the same bass synth every time.

For drums you can start with a preset you like. That will save quite some time. Start writing to that and get ideas down that way.

Just try and write fast and arrange while you write so it’s not suddenly this 8 bar loop that you have to make into a tune.

Try and finish a track a week. Throw them into a folder and after a few months go back and listen to them. You may be surprised and find one or 2 tracks that are worthy of release.

[Switchmode]

After experiencing similar frustrations over a number of years I figured out that chunking the process into clearly defined steps really helped me focus on the task at hand and avoid procrastination. So now when I sit down with my gear I’ll try and make a conscious decision about what I’m going to work on:

• Am I going to noodle about working on some new sounds/ideas?
• Am I going to arrange those ideas into a piece of music?
• Am I going to practice/perform/program that arrangement?
• Am I going to record that performance?
• Am I going to mix that recording?
• Am I going to produce that mix?

Being clear on what I’m hoping to achieve from the session helps me focus on the task at hand and make clearer decisions on what I’m going to do (and not do) so it’s easier to make a call on when a given step is ‘done’ and I can move onto the next step in the process of completing a track.