I imagine there are legions of us… we will rise!
9 Likes
mostly my tracks are loops, so I consider them finished 
10 Likes
why not just take one of those loops and blindly follow @Tarekith good ol‘ arrangement pdf?
would take like 2h max and 1st try is allowed to sound boring - take the next 9 months to listen to the track, it will tell you what further refinement it wants 
17 Likes
A loop is a song if you call it one.
8 Likes
perfect is the enemy of good, dont get wrapped up in making the best song ever or something perfect. just recording yourself for the memories is worth it alone, going back and hearing what you were thinking of creatively and maybe point out mistakes or inspire yourself.
also nothing wrong with enjoying the process more than anything, i often forget to record and get lost in the music lol. recently though ive decided to start recording all of my jams even if i dont plan on doing anything with them, sometimes there are moments i wish i had saved that will make it all worth it.
4 Likes
5 Likes
I get paid to finish tracks for clients that are in the exact same situation as you are.
You, my friend, are sitting on a pile of gold. 10 years of ideas that can and will be finished pretty easily? Oof.
I love my MPC live 2, it is great. But I suggest you record the stems, jams (multitrack) and use the power of the computer to deal with the arrangement. Perhaps once you’ve built up a muscle you can attempt to finish on hardware, but at this point, if I were you, since the point is to finish stuff, I would mouse and keyboard it out. 
19 Likes
Ignore the naysayers telling you to recover your loops, the Mpc is perfectly capable of finishing tracks, and so are you, YOU GOT THIS!
I understand as since I switched to mostly using the Mpc Live only, I started finishing things.
2 Likes
The question is…what do you consider makes a track “finished”?
My advice is- if you have a track that you think is your magnum opus that can be a twenty minute long masterpiece- a modern Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, ignore that thought. Use the ideas you have at hand, get in, say what you have to say, express what you have to express, and get out.
You can make your magnum opus later. And if you really think there’s more that can be done to the track- there’s no rule saying you can’t return to it.
6 Likes
Welcome to the club. My psychiatrist didn’t think I had anything wrong with me. Then I showed them my project folder with its hundreds of started songs not completed, and they pulled out the prescription pad.
7 Likes
That’s all it takes to get a prescription? BRB…
4 Likes
if
Time is tight.
maybe not
The luxury of sitting down and turning on electronic Instruments is a feat in itself.
or just luxury
Anything you do is a result.
it all matters.
Call it minimal
its finished
7 Likes
An idea could be to exchange the incomplete tracks between us:
I give you mine, you give me yours.
Who knows, maybe something will come out
4 Likes
I’ve decided to be less precious about my tracks so I can finish them. I do feel the need to put some “out there”, for what it’s worth. Lately that mostly means just an upload to SoundCloud and a post a track here or there. It certainly isn’t a method to get much attention but it’s cathartic to create something, wrap it up and move on.
It also helps that I’m into pretty minimal stuff these days. I look at the tracks I make a bit like the music equivalent making a paper snowflake or maybe tie-dye or something. I like to make evolving patterns.
1 Like
there are these challenges here in the forum, simple and various themes and you need to submit a short track, maybe try using them as a mean to finish something that not intended to be perfect but a finished idea
look up mission briefs
3 Likes
Don’t give it a moment’s thought. I’ve played the guitar a lot in my life. I’ve enjoyed it hugely. I’m quite good at it. I’ve never written and then recorded a complete song with an intro, three verses, a chorus, a bridge, and an ending. I feel no need to do that. I like playing the guitar, and I’m pretty good at it.
10 Likes
I was in your position last year, and while I’m still not finishing as often as I’d like, here’s what got me over the hump:
- Scaffolding
----Pick a couple songs you like and transcribe them
----Identify the structures of those songs (How many bars does each section last? How long is the drum loop? When are new instruments added/removed/altered?)
----Make this structure a template and pour your own drums/chords/melodies/etc into that structure
----After doing this enough, you can make up your own structures to use as templates - Join a regular battle/mission brief.
----It gives you structure and a deadline
----it gives you an opportunity to learn from better musicians
----You’re likely to get informed feedback on your music
There are multiple battles and missions on Elektronauts right now (one for hiphop that just wrapped, one for DnB, two bi-weekly open-genre sample challenges, and a long-term open challenge)
9 Likes
An original, characterful 10 seconds beats any run of the mill proper song
Ha…I was like this for the last couple of years, jamming but never making a whole tune…then I took up one of the challenges here on Elektronauts, one of the D’n’B challenges posted by @BLKrbbt. That forced me to complete my first, whole track. That was just in December 2022.
Since then I’ve done more challenges here and have a little challenge to explore new genres with a buddy. I now have 5 (six when I complete this months D’n’B challenge) whole tracks and have learned loads.
I’m going to say this is what has helped me get started creating whole tracks. Now, with a few complete tracks under my belt, I am starting to feel like I could do something just using hardware and the ‘mental toolkit’ I’ve created from composing visually in Logic Pro.
7 Likes
I’ve finished maybe 5 extremely amateurish tracks in 20 years. It’s just a bit of fun for me and I mess around with the toys for it’s own enjoyment.
I suspect we are a silent majority!
4 Likes