Quantity vs. Quality

[VanderBoegh]

Hey fellas! Figured I'd chime in here, since my name popped up earlier. I've been MIA from the forums for a bit and didn't see this thread until now. (P.S. hey Ethan!! Been a WHILE!!)

After being in this business for 15 years now, I can honestly say that my advice on quantity has not changed at all through the years. More is always better. Now, this is a personal opinion of course, and there are many people who will argue it. But I've always seen this business as the same thing as fishing..... you're gonna catch more fish if you have more hooks in the water. Now, here a fellow fishing enthusiast might argue that the quality of the bait will get a bigger & better fish (which is true), but here's my counter to that:

I've always emphasized the fact that QUALITY increases right alongside QUANTITY. So, the more music you make, the better it will be. Your mastery over the construction of songs or cues will get better. Ideas will start to come to you more quickly. You'll know what works and what doesn't. You'll learn what types of music you excel at and can crank out without much effort (and what takes faaaar too long to be worth expending your energy on). Simply put, the more you repeat a task, the faster and better you'll become at it. It's really no different than lifting weights. You gotta get those reps in to see substantial muscle growth.

So in my mind, focusing on quantity has been what's led to an increase in my own quality. I suppose this isn't always the case with everyone, but I'm just making a bold assumption that it will be the case with most people. It's why Steph Curry can drain 3-pointer after 3-pointer after 3-pointer and make it look far too easy..... he's just done that same task so many times that a "swish" just happens as if by magic 9 times out of 10.

Now, personal disclaimer here.... yes, I once cranked out 500 tracks in a year. That much of the myth is true. The other part of that story is that I've never really come close to that number since. This year, I'll probably be lucky to hit half that number. But now my "pipeline" is so full that I don't have to push the pedal to the metal quite so hard, and as a result I've taken advantage of my time & freedom to launch a gourmet popcorn business, have a complete mid-life crisis and start competing in bodybuilding competitions, and have probably taken too many vacations. I honestly have zero desire to ever make 500 tracks in a year again.

The other piece of the "500 tracks per year" story is that those were almost all 90 second instrumental cues, built from my own templates. I move fast on these. However, put me in the driver's seat of a full 3 minute vocal song, and my production time increases exponentially and I might be lucky to make 100 in a year if that's all I did.

Anyway, this is long-winded enough now, lol, so I'mma wrap this one up!

~~Matt