It seems like there's usually a day or two when I'm really stoked about a song I'm working on. I'm on a high and I love the vision I have for where it will go. But, I know it's not quite there, so I keep working on it and every minute that I do, I start to grow tired of it. The high wears off and I'm left not feeling excited, which leads to bad decision making about the song.
For example, I usually save versions of the song as I go along, and an average project folder will be like this:
- Version 1: Dunno where it's going
- Version 2: Got some ideas recorded
- Version 3: Hmm, maybe something good is in here somewhere.
- Version 4: HOT DAMN! I found a sweet riff and worked all night on it.
- Version 5: Feeling great about this, just need to get the song structure down and mix it.
- Version 6: Well, I'm less impressed than I was before, I think it needs more variation and better sound design.
- Version 7-15: This is getting consistently worse as I try to improve it.
- Version 16: Start over again at Version 4.
- Version 17-20: I'm beginning to think Version 4 is as good as it can ever be.
- Version 21: This sucks, I give up on this song.
This is the cycle I go through for nearly every song. I live for that HOT DAMN moment, but I would really like to be able to finish my work and be proud of it. I'm ready to improve and try new techniques, but I don't know what I'm missing so I feel directionless about how to improve.
The common advice I've seen on similar issues is to take some time off from the tack and revisit it down the road at weeks, months, or years later...I've tried this, but usually find that I can't recreate that excitement and I can't build upon the original to make the idea something truly great. The track feels stuck...glued to a brief moment where I felt something special, then poof...the feeling never comes back, even while listening to the exact same version that made me feel it in the first place. The sounds never hit me the same way again.
Any tips?
Submitted May 06, 2017 at 03:19AM by notaboutweiners https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/comments/69jtax/how_to_break_the_cycle_of_loving_your_new_track/?utm_source=ifttt