Mistake(s) you made over the years?

The Lounge General Discussion
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This is going to make a lot of people laugh:

  1. mistakes:
    -buying my first computer and high end fucking sound blaster and having spikes in audio recordings
    -making patterns with bassboost dj headphones
    -not learning synthesis/playing keyboard, just experimenting/jamming but all those years felt not like learning (15years later I can finally apply my experiments, things I’ve done putting into theory and applying that to make music way faster than before)
    -smoking to much weed everyday
    -starting music to have fun (it was like my gateway to feeling better when I’m pissed) but now not having so much fun anymore and feeling like I’ve wasted so many years just jamming or experimenting.
    -hating the computer because vst and shit goes way to fast so ditched the pc and bought lots of hardware
    -recording not so much
    -not setting a goal towards an album
    -not knowing what to do, I mean not having a plan to work towards a genre of a song, not knowing how to start and ending up with something tottaly different
    -wanting to do sounddesign/producing but costed thousands of euros and instead wasting my time in nightjobs in car industry (ok it gave me lots of money to buy hardware)
    -not analyzing sound which you want to make, reverse engineering presets.
    -buying the same synth of a friend because look at what he did with it or buying a synth for the presets.
    -thinking the more gear the better
    -just making live/jam tracks max 5 takes, picking the best one, normalizing and track done!
    -turning knobs or sliders of a synth like some kind of ADHD guy, subtle is the key
    -focussing years and years on circuitbending and not making any music, instead going to lots of flea markets and buying Yamaha’s, Casio’s and crappy toys
    -…

  2. see above, lots of time I have lost

  3. I would suggest to download a few cracks and see if it’s for you or not, workflow, easyness, sounds, etc Then you can decide to buy the original program. Or just start with a cracked Ipad or something.

  4. No I’m not happy anymore in what I do, I don’t like to make music like I used to do everyday. Music bussiness is overloaded with shitty tracks, stupid people making commercial shit just to earn lots of money, techno is almost dead, Beatport has fucked it all up, vinyl dj’s are almost dead so digital dj’s don’t learn the skills anymore, going out it feels like I’m an alien. I don’t understand why every music is now completely polished/mastered, shitty long stupid breaks, heavy washes of digital fx.
    I’m sorry think I’m just getting old and grumpy!

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22

Great thread great questions!

  1. What are the mistakes you have made since you started making music ?
    Quitting piano lessons as a child
    Being discouraged from making music by offhand comments from friends in my 20s

  2. In which field concerning music making, do you feel that you have lost time and why ?
    Took many years off. Wish I hadn’t. But I had other things I had to take care of in my life.

  3. If someone wants to start and ask you what and in what order to start. Which program would you suggest to him ?
    Ableton Live Demo / Lite
    Piano Lessons / Learning some theory
    Using reference tracks of music you like
    Experimenting, but not as an excuse not to learn theory or practice or use standard forms (necessarily).
    Splitting time between “jam time” and “assembly / analytical / tough choices / get something finished” time.

  4. Are you still happy in what you do ?
    Yes but still wish I had more time for music!

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Really interesting thread - always interesting to read people’s experiences as it makes this stuff that bit more human. So, I’ll have a go…

What are the mistakes you have made since you started making music ?

That time I decided it was “a better long term investment” to pass up a Moog Prodigy for £100 to instead buy a Soundblaster AWE32 soundcard for £220… and I never did figure out how to sample with that thing properly. In my defence it was 1994 and I was living in rural nowhere where things like the internet were the stuff of a cyborg-future. It was also my first muso purchase funded from my Saturday job working on the deli counter of a local supermarket (it was Prestos for those who are fans of lost brands of yesteryear)…

OK, I’m being a little flippant there but I suppose that’s because I don’t think I’ve made too many mistakes as such… they’ve either been things I’ve learned from or I’ve at least got a good anecdote out of them.

In which field concerning music making, do you feel that you have lost time and why ?

If I was pushed to say anything on this it was the time I wasted in my 20s trying to get signed/play gigs for exposure and all of that stuff. I never had a desire to make it big but I liked the idea of a small indie release or two. I was naive about how things worked and it took me far too long to realise that a big part of success even in those minor terms is as much about who you know, the contacts you make, fitting into a scene as much as any talent. Not that I reckon I’m great or anything but I’ve seen so many amazing bands/musicians over the years get zero or minimal recognition.

Since I got older and relaxed and just focused on the things I like which is writing and playing music, getting deep into programming stuff, expanding my knowledge of theory and such like… well, since then I enjoy things much more. I only ever make music available for free on my bandcamp and even then I’ve got albums I finished a couple of years back I just haven’t found the time to upload as I’m too busy moving onto the next idea…

If someone wants to start and ask you what and in what order to start. Which program would you suggest to him ?

I really think this depends on the person I’m speaking to. A conversation to understand what motivates them and excites them about starting to write or play music is the best way to suggest something that will inspire them and not make them stop at the first hurdle.

If younger me was to pop out of a time machine, I’d probably recommend getting a midi controller that comes with a version of Live Lite (or whatever it’s called these days) and a copy of Computer Music to score a tonne of decent plugins without endlessly scouring the web through millions of freebies. Then I’d advise them to get onto the ol’ Youtube.

Are you still happy in what you do ?

Yeah, it’s great!

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I’ve deliberately not read anyone else’s responses until after I post mine!

  1. **What are the mistakes you have made since you started making music ?
    I’ve been too willingly distracted by the process and the machine. All the ‘best’ (in my own mind) stuff I’ve created, or at least that which seemed to be the seed of something better, has been in despite of process and machine rather than because of it. I’ve developed a too enjoyable interest in with gizmos, organisation, preparation and artfulness (I blame youtube) I was far better off with my fostex 4 track, nylon guitar, Atari 520 ST, cubase and JV1080 back in late 1980-something. Old tapes from that era will attest to my being decades ahead of BoC, Daft Punk and DJ Shadow, but I dropped the ball. At least that is how I like to remember it. The tapes no longer exist.
    Another mistake is only feeling it worthwhile finishing an initial creation if I think it is the start of something that is going to be a timeless, renowned piece of genius. Otherwise I eventually give up and leave 4 to 16 bars of something stored on a recorder or in a folder, to stay there forever, undeveloped.

  2. **In which field concerning music making, do you feel that you have lost time and why ?
    Gear accumulation and conquering the manual as a diversion from creativity and commitment.
    Agree with another poster - I took about 10 years off in the middle and ignored creativity - wish I hadn’t

  3. **If someone wants to start and ask you what and in what order to start. Which program would you suggest to him ?
    (or her) - a personal program to learn a real tactile expressive acoustic performance instrument. It is a lifetime friend that no computer will ever equal. Learn and love to play it in front of people for fun.
    Computer-assisted creativity, where the computer leads you, puts you ever on the back foot as an emulator and keeps you there. A cheap guitar/bass/real piano and a taperecorder puts you on the front foot.

  4. Are you still happy in what you do ?
    Yes, if it wasn’t a challenge, struggle and lifelong passionate interest, it wouldn’t be any fun.

Now to read everyone elses!

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25

Very great idea @Mokomo

Also for the others :
(I have slightly modified the third question to included both interpretation of what i wrote initially)

  1. If someone wants to start and ask you what and in what order to start. Which “subjects order (like music theory, sound synthesis, mixing…)” would you suggest to him/her ? What equipment included software eventually ?
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  • If someone wants to start and ask you what and in what order to start. Which “subjects order (like music theory, sound synthesis, mixing…)” would you suggest to him/her ? What equipment included software eventually ?

if one wants to do music in some form, than practice — jamming and/or writing tracks — is primary.

so, the 2nd is music theory, i would say. because music theory gives us tools for writing tracks or jamming, but it’s useless and no fun without practice.

then, the basics of mixing. at least to be able to do rough mixes that do not totally suck — this skill is necessary for recording demos.

sound synthesis techniques should be studied in parallel with all mentioned above. one can make great tracks totally with ready presets done by someone else, but some degree of knowledge is needed anyway to understand what to tweak.

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I’ve been at it for 7 years and I’ve only now took the initiative to space chords over multiple octaves on my poly. Before I thought “I only like 2note pairings” :man_facepalming:

Improvising chords this way…uuufff. What I’ve been missing.

1 Like