I also think there’s an attention span problem. If your track is more than 30 seconds, and the first 30 seconds are not catchy enough (ie “song starters” category in sample libraries like splice) many people will just tune out and not really listen. Or worse, pull the smartphone out.
IMHO if they’re not going to pay attention through the end, it’s not worth thinking about them when making creative choices during production. It’s also probably not worth asking them to listen to your tracks any longer.
Just do it for yourself and for people who will actually sit, listen and do nothing else while they listen.
I know I fanboy about them a lot, but there was this time I saw Whitehouse in London. They were sharing a bill with aphex twin, surgeon and maybe Hecker (Florian, not Tim), so not really their crowd (but adjacent, to some degree). I’d say about 50% were onboard, but 50% were absolutely not on board at all and made themselves heard to that effect.
The tension was fucking beautiful.
Same thing about 25 years ago with Russell Haswell supporting AFX and DMX Krew in London at some even that I think the NME put on. They actually put him on after AFX, which was a shame, cos it meant that everyone that hated it just left, which kinda ruined the opportunity for tension. Was fucking mindblowingly aggressive stuff though, my girlfriend at the time lost her shit about it, was hilarious.
Point is, music can be great purely because of how much people don’t like it when it’s put in front of them and that, to me, has equal merit.
I think there’s a reason that so many interesting and boundary pushing bands and musicians studied art instead of music. The world of art has long embraced the idea of artistic freedom in a way that the music world is still a long way away from figuring out.
EDIT: Here’s the video of the Whitehouse gig. Thank God for their commitment to cataloguing.
it’s really all about the ear of the beholder, once i realized that the notion that someone else could determine whether music was good or not lost all pretense… Now anyone can tell you if the music is good for them or not but it ends there… like the OP said his partner’s not into it but other people are buying it so then who can say?.. nobody.
there are people farting into mics that have fans
two people on the planet actually like my tunes. a best but in Portland, and someone in Netherlands. NO IDEA why they like it. I dont even like the “music” I do. it’s fun to do, the output is disappointing.
id say if yer having fun doing it…fuck the rest. just do it. great way to keep the brain sharp too.
The most constructive feedback I have ever received was from music professor during my university days - I gave him my demo CD and later he told me "more meat, add more reverb! and then compared my stuff to French spectralists
I did not study music by the way, it was extra lectures I took when doing bachelor in culture studies.
Around '97 here and I’m just getting to the point where I like my own output… Although I just make monotonous Techno that doesn’t require any chords or melodies. Just braindead sequences
Meanwhile, I consider making music as the absolute definition of independence and freedom, as I can do whatever I like.
Initially, publishing my music on YT or BC was far beyond my comfort zone, but has become a kind of mental hygiene. Publish - start something new - track your own development. Repeat.
Who defines what‘s „good“ or „bad“?
(As long as your recordings have a more or less proper quality).
Yes - I wish that I would receive more feedback (not even appreciation) - or questions like:
What are those crazy devices?
What are you doing there?
Why are you hoarding those strange CRTs?
Getting conversation going would be super easy.
Nevertheless: I don‘t wanna make music to please people that listen to commercial 2min tracks on the radio.
Would I expect those people to like my music?
Hopefully not😀
Bro the trick is to keep it simple, sometimes all the sequence needs is playing the same note apart for maybe one or two notes that go up, or up/down.
Not always necessary though, single note sequences are used frequently in Techno and can be marvelous imo.
Also playing with the length of the sequence, like 3 steps, 5, 6 or 7 works well.
Add some cavernous reverb (supermassive is killer for this) and a little delay and Bob’s your uncle
Hell get a sequencer that can randomize, often yields interesting results, e.g. ML-185 for Live. Mdd Snake is absolutely brilliant as well.
a friend of mine was having this issue, sharing music on socials and hoping for the support of close friends to no avail. he was frustrated and i understood.
then a while later, i saw an instagram video where a girl was like alright art ready to go, now first step, make new insta, block all friends and family, share and i thought that was genius and she understood what my friend and i understood.
i’ve also realized that sometimes friends sometimes also just want to keep you with them, and well if you become successful doing something you love, well you’ll leave them and they don’t want that so they respond accordingly.
and lastly i think this is part of why people feel they need to sacrifice relationships and whatnot sometimes to become truly great at something, people are just another area of interest in a way and take away from you doing your thing
Can’t relate, I’m fairly certain I’ll never be truly great at music.
I don’t know if I’m getting soft and stupid in my 30s, but hear me out. I spent my teenage/early 20s years messing around with all kinds of music with shit tools and equipment. Made a few tracks I was okay with, had a lot of fun messing with tape loops and whatever I had around, but mostly I was disappointed with everything after the fact.
Went back to just playing my acoustic guitar and trying to sing in my mid 20s, and that’s all I did for 10 years. Recorded lots of stuff, hated ALL of it pretty much unanimously once I listened back (although others around me liked some of it). Finally a couple years ago I got back into electronic music which was the first music to inspire me as a kid. Bought some gear and since then, everything I record I feel at least “okay” with, if not outright thrilled about. Even my shittiest tracks can make me happy. And all the people who complimented my guitar stuff feel pretty ambivalent or negative about the stuff I’m doing now I wish I knew what it was, but I’m very glad to be on this side of things, because I haven’t had this kind of experience before of simple joy from recording music all the time. I go back and listen to my tracks from a year ago, I’m still thrilled about them. But, again, I may just be getting soft in the head
I wish I knew what it was, but I’m very glad to be on this side of things, because I haven’t had this kind of experience before of simple joy from recording music all the time. I go back and listen to my tracks from a year ago, I’m still thrilled about them. But, again, I may just be getting soft in the head 