Tweak songs endlessly or give up the ghost and keep writing

[CHuckmott]

Nicely put, Mazz, and thanks. Half my time is spent writing, The other, mixing. When I refer to tweaking I refer to the mixing end of things. Re-recording and remixing things can be an endless trap though,and I think I am going to minimize that as much as possible. FInishing this one, reposting and getting back into the writing. Thanks folks, especially the ones who consistently offer good advice and feedback. Is why I post .

[mikeymike2000]

Amen! Isn't that the definition of a turd, songs that need endless tweaking. Unless of course you manage to tweak it into a different song!

well yes and no! IMHO if you are changing the notes and/or arrangement then yes, turd. But if you are tweaking the production to get something fake to sound real or any other combination of making a specific type of overall effect then not so much...

[CHuckmott]

Jasmine Dreams is a re-record. Same notes, by suggestion different samples and different drum patterns and samples. 2 Hip 2 Hop: a complete redo, newly recorded when I picked up the Spectrasonics stuff, but liked it enough to want to do it justice. In contrast, removed Heavy C entirely. The other 3 up there I'm happy with. Caught In The Middle - jury is still out whether I want to pursue tweaking that. SHow of Hands in the process of many parts being redone. ALmost finished. Then on to new thing. Plan is to pick a listing and write towards that deadline.

[coachdebra]

To finish a work? To finish a picture? What nonsense! To finish it means to be through with it, to kill it, to rid it of its soul, to give it its final blow the coup de grace for the painter as well as for the picture.
Pablo Picasso

[DesireInspires]

To finish a work? To finish a picture? What nonsense! To finish it means to be through with it, to kill it, to rid it of its soul, to give it its final blow the coup de grace for the painter as well as for the picture.
Pablo Picasso

To finish it means to accomplish something.

[gtrmann]

I tweak until it doesn't seem to be getting better, only different. Then I call it a day on a song...
I come back to old material sometimes.... My performance and recording / mixing chops are getting better, so I revisit stuff from time to time and update it if I think the song idea is strong enough to warrant it.... Heck, I just redid a song I wrote 15 years ago to submit for a listing......

[CHuckmott]

I find that, in the context of writing an hour or so a night , and half days on the weekends (mind you I would do more except I play in a cover band and work a full time job), it takes me about a week to write/record and another to mix. More like a decent mix takes 6 - 8 hours. When I get to a point where it seems the mix is getting no or worse results or going nowhere I give it a rest, apparently this is recommended anyway. I intermingle working on a new one with the mixing of the old, a habit I think I want to get away from ( I feel it makes me unfocused given the time frames I'm talking about. Anyway, point is, the mixing prevents me writing more or writing daily, although I am committing to putting out a couple songs a month. This last month has been spent remixing, and in some cases largely rerecording stuff I've done before. So I guess the other part of this question is that: do you find yourself needing to spend as much time on the mix as you do on the writing/recording? And how do folks balance the two and be as productive as possible?

[coachdebra]

I find that, in the context of writing an hour or so a night , and half days on the weekends (mind you I would do more except I play in a cover band and work a full time job), it takes me about a week to write/record and another to mix. More like a decent mix takes 6 - 8 hours. When I get to a point where it seems the mix is getting no or worse results or going nowhere I give it a rest, apparently this is recommended anyway. I intermingle working on a new one with the mixing of the old, a habit I think I want to get away from ( I feel it makes me unfocused given the time frames I'm talking about. Anyway, point is, the mixing prevents me writing more or writing daily, although I am committing to putting out a couple songs a month. This last month has been spent remixing, and in some cases largely rerecording stuff I've done before. So I guess the other part of this question is that: do you find yourself needing to spend as much time on the mix as you do on the writing/recording? And how do folks balance the two and be as productive as possible?

I would recommend setting up a schedule where you are spending specific time writing new stuff, editing and polishing, then recording and mixing.

If you set it up so that it's scheduled, I think you will do better with focus, particularly once it becomes habit ("Oh, it's Monday, time to write some new stuff").

[DesireInspires]

Anyway, point is, the mixing prevents me writing more or writing daily, although I am committing to putting out a couple songs a month.

Why is mixing considered a separate part of making music? Mixing and mastering is a part of creating a song just as much as playing instruments or singing to me. I guess that since I have been doing it all from the beginning, I do not see mixing as a separate component of making a song.

I actually like the mixing side a little bit more than laying down notes. Taking a raw sound and refining it is pretty fun.

[coachdebra]

Anyway, point is, the mixing prevents me writing more or writing daily, although I am committing to putting out a couple songs a month.

Why is mixing considered a separate part of making music? Mixing and mastering is a part of creating a song just as much as playing instruments or singing to me. I guess that since I have been doing it all from the beginning, I do not see mixing as a separate component of making a song.

I actually like the mixing side a little bit more than laying down notes. Taking a raw sound and refining it is pretty fun.

I have found in my work with artists (and in my own work as a writer) that originating a creative work and polishing a creative work really does use a different part of the brain. If you turn on the editor brain while you're in the creative mode, you can often edit yourself down to a nubin. But if you allow the creative brain to have full sway during the initial creating and the editor brain to come into play during the polishing and mixing phase, I believe you'll get less blockage and enjoy the process more.

Just my opinion of course. I'm not saying mixing and mastering aren't creative - just like editing an article or class can feel really creative as well. But it's a different kind of creativity. And I think it benefits from being separated in time.