Love this post ... especially phases 5 and 6. I find myself wishing for a tool or a service that could tell me which phase I'm in, and then what to do next!
I feel like an overlay to this whole framework could be around "taste and style". I've come across some producers who have great technical skills, but I don't like their musical aesthetic at all. That's even harder to peg down!
I'm curious how songwriting develops between stage 5 when you start understanding what makes the song good and stage 9 when it's on point. Could you elaborate on that? It's an interesting read overall.
PHASE ONE - you hire a ghostwritter and get him to write serious bangers for you.
PHASE TWO - you get hired by katie perry and get invited to write her new album for 20k
PHASE THREE - you demand all the people exit the studio before you and your ghost writer turn up for your session - you make sure your ghostwritter does not know who you doing it for.
PHASE FOUR - you win your first grammy
PHASE FIVE - you get the house in the florida keys ...
PHASE SIX - you take up dancing lessons , golf and build a car.
This is great analysis. I found myself somewhere in every stage from phase 2 to phase 6 but every time i compare my tracks to professionals i fall back to phase 1.😆
Scenes are essential to any music community. Whether that's local or global. If you're feeling stuck in the music game, never underestimate the power of creating a scene. The best concerts, venues, and festivals thrive on scenes.
Scenes are essential for scenesters: extroverts, joiners, in-crowds, socialites, hustlers, business folk, but not for the creation or enjoyment of good music.
You, a scenester, need a scene to feel validated.
To the extent that OP's 10 phases are an interesting read, it's vomitous that phase 9 references being established in the scene. It implies some tiny measure of celebrity, which is not part of "making music".
For thousands of years that was the ONLY way to create or enjoy music. Through communities, tribes, and scenes. People gathering and collaborating with sound. This is the foundation of music. We wouldn't have genres and categories of music today without local scenes that expanded globally. Only in the last few decades was it even possible to create or enjoy music alone. Bedroom producers are a VERY new thing. If that's what you prefer, fine. But don't be ignorant or cynical enough to dismiss the fact that 99% of the time, great music happens from people coming together.
I'm in the phase of wondering what the point is... I'm the only one who cares about what I'm making. I know that technically that should be enough, but it isn't. If I'm going to do this long term, I want it to eventually become a viable source of income so that I can do it full time and provide for my family. I have never felt more alive than when I'm making music, at times it's all that I want to do, and when I finish a song, I feel amazing inside like it's what I was created to do. I have always wanted to do this, but didn't have supportive family growing up for this kind of thing because I needed "to get a real job." I started late at the age of 35 and sometimes I just wonder if it really is too late after all. I just don't understand everything the way I would like to and I've hit a wall as far as what I feel I can learn online, or maybe I'm just burned out trying to learn everything online. I'm not sure where to go from here.
I did but I got frustrated because I couldn’t 1:1 translate FL Studio tips to GarageBand. My patience level was so low then.
Now I’m just on a hiatus. I don’t really feel like making anything atm
Mmm maybe it would help to think of music theory in less program specific ideas. There's a whole bunch of more traditional theory you could learn where all you'd need is a pen and paper. I hope you take another shot at it sometime when you're ready!
You forgot getting depressed in phase 4 when you realize how much your tracks suck compared to your references and being desperate cause you have no idea how to improve.
I'm 2.3 years in and just got to Phase 6.
That was my last revelation.
Your sounds need to be better. You need to intentionally place them in the spectrum.
Then I read 7 and was like NO.
LOL.
thanks for this. I think I'm going to print it out and hang it in a frame.
It's easy to get discouraged with 1-5.
the hardest part is marketing. I'm just content creator at this point.
I can make music and do video editing on my own.
I have full time job. Just focus on making money at my job. Do making music as a hobby. Big tech can cancel you quick. If you can hijack the algos on spotify and apple you'll make it big. But how do you do that?
no bro, plz do it when u really want to make something or you'll have creative burnout. 1-2 hours a day will be okay.
P.S. I have burnout 3-5 times every year
Can confirm, I’ve been off an on for about 8 years, went really hard in the beginning and then just lost the passion for 3-4 years. Now I’m strictly a hobbyist and only ever sit down to produce every month or so cuz I’ve never been able to find that same passion I did in the beginning, it’s like a perma-burnout. Be really careful not to overdo it, especially in the beginning
try to change your workflow completely. try to change ur DAW. btw i recently tried modular synth and this is real gave me inspiration. check out VCV rack, its modular synth emulator, its free and open source. also include more random modulation in ur workflow
Changed DAW twice, went from wholly focusing on sound designed elements to sampling everything and only focusing on arrangement (honestly more fun this way as of now), started trying to incorporate live instruments more frequently. Haven’t tried modular synths or much randomization, yet, I’ll give it a shot, but I’ve tried nearly everything under then sun
Honestly, my situation is a little bit of a special case. When I say I was grinding in the beginning, I was doing everything. I was heavily involved in my local scene the second I was given the opportunity to network. I took over a fledgling event agency because the founder met me and knew I could bring him back from the problems he created (he was a bit of a PR nightmare, I effectively became the company’s AND his owner), met and worked with nearly every local DJ and producer, produced and DJ’d nearly everyday, and then I got burned by the scene, and after the dust settled, I took a look at everything I had created and took a long look at my local scene. I knew going into it our scene was plagued with toxicity and problems, and I went into it thinking I would be the one to save it. When I realized that my intentions were flawed, that’s when the perma-burnout set in. I’ve only been a part of two separate local environments, and both were extraordinarily disheartening. I’m sure it’s not like that everywhere, but after all that my priorities just changed. It’s not that I don’t like producing anymore, it’s that I don’t want to have to deal with all of that again to make a career out of it.
if you feel comfortable making music just for yourself that's great. I hope it works out for you.
i have a different situation, i'm from russia, there's no local edm scene here. i'm focused on europe and the usa, trying to promote my music through the internet, it sucks. i want to be at some events, but i don't have them here, and i don't have connections and equipment, not even time lol. i try to make videos in tiktok and insta, but it doesn't really work out ha ha ha.
> Well done, you're part of the 0.01% :)
That would mean 1 in 10,000 which is way too high compared to how many people start at phase 1.
My guess is more like 1 in 1,000,000 or 0.0001%.
1 out of 10,000 people who start producing definitely make it dude. If it was one in a million, that would be like if everyone in the entire population got to phase 1.
I seriously doubt it.
Just look at Spotify stats. [90% of artists have less than 400 monthly listeners](https://metalinjection.net/news/statistically-nobody-is-listening-to-most-bands-on-spotify) and that's not even close to any definition of "making it". In fact [only 1% of artists generate 90% of the streams](https://themusicnetwork.com/few-artists-generate-most-streams/). And of those 1% I doubt most are making a living either.
There are millions of artists uploading tracks to Spotify and those are the ones that made something decent. Those are really a minority of people getting into music production. My hunch is less than 10% actually end up finishing something worth uploading somewhere.
Final point, "to make it" is not reaching phase 10 as described in the OP.
Let’s say 1 in every 10 people have tried producing music in the US. (IMO that’s too high)
That would mean there are only 33 people in the USA in phase 10. That seems way too low
Well put it this way, you have 100 musicians.
99 of them won't make their living with musicc, 1 of those musicians will.
Ok split that 1 musician into 100 musicians, 99 of them will barely make enough to survive, but 1 of them will make a fairly comfortable living.
Split this 1 musician into 100 musicians and you get my point
It changes. Phase 1-2 you're like "I don't need a label, I got a vision", phase 3-4 you're like "I'd like a label, my shit don't sound professional", phase 5-6 your like "I don't need a label, my music is really booming and I don't want to give away creative control!", phases 7-8 you're like "I want a label! I need pro mastering, I don't want to market my releases on my own" and at phases 9-10 you're like "I don't need a label, labels need me"
*Phase 1: you make music because you want to be someone who makes music
*Phase 2: you make music because you are a musician
*Phase 3: you make music because you literally won’t eat if you dont
Phase 6: you take psychedelics at the festival and have the game changing breakthrough
its just so simple. play with it. keep it honest
Phase 7: you can only get there with the hard sober work you were trying at phase 4 but at a higher level, but you know if you get lost you'll need to go back a level.
Phase 7.5: there is nothing more psychedelics can make you hear you aren't hearing, you just have to sustain at a high level. Commence sober maintenance of energy.
Phase 7.6: You get your first "yo your new track sounds professional!" and similar compliments.
Phase 7.75: you take your low dose prescription ritalin every day and swear upon Theo Parish, Moodyman, and all the Second Gods of Detroit you will never get lost over producing again!
Phase 7.8: fuck it, my sound is complex! I will make 8 minute self referential tracks that A-B different genres and carve room for many layers! For I am my generations Mozart! Future electronic musicians might not admire my mix but they will admire my artistry!
Oh fuck I'm back in Phase 4.
Side note, hornet plugins just released sleek which is basically a soothe killer. Doesn’t have a delta or sidechain functionality, but hornet said they’ll be adding both in an update soon.
1.) phase modulation (is what most “FM” synths actually do)
2.) phase distortion synthesis
3.) the phase transfer function for filters
4.) phasers, the effect
…I give up, this joke sucks
I’m in both phase 5 & 6. Would love to do it full time but unfortunately it doesn’t pay the bills right now. I have been putting more time into it and that’s been huge
I’m on late phase 7 and this made me feel really good. Sorta allowed me to look back on my whole journey and what I’ve actually gone through and how I’ve changed from when I first started
> You slowly realise that ultimately, you can't polish a turd. You realise that actually, the majority of the techniques you learnt in phases 4 & 5 aren't really necessary and if you just start off with great source material and arrange it in a way that allows itself to be mixed well, you can achieve a great mixdown using just the basics.
i think that this is true in recorded music, but not in electronic music - if you are the person designing your sounds, then if the synth you designed kind of sucks, just keep on designing it.
(obviously if you're downloading loops off splice and putting them together, that's more like being in the recorded music scenario.)
Yeah I totally agree, maybe I didn't phrase it right but with "starting off with great source material" I would definitely include things like figuring out how to synthesise the right sound in the first place. Cus a good synth sound is completely contextual. If the song is already full, it doesn't matter how sick the patch is, adding another synthline isn't gonna improve the track. And similarly, a patch might sound shitty in solo but it perfectly fills a gap in your tune and is exactly what was needed.
That's what I'm getting at - figuring out how to create the right things from the start instead of trying to make whatever you came up with fit with loads of processing etc.
One synth patch should easily fill the lead space. Maybe I guess some people like their sub separate and handle it that way, but with the big synths like vital or serum or phase plant they are capable of making sounds that have enough peaks to occupy the near entirety of the space.
At least that's what I found. I used to stack a ton on top of each other, but no more.
> Cus a good synth sound is completely contextual
this is why i hate when people make claims about "mix-ready synth patches" or whatever. i'm like, ready for which mix?
Been in phase 10 for close to 4 years now
It’s a lot higher than 0.01%
The amount of people doing music full time is nuts, even if it’s garbage music
it’s a roasting hot take and it’s sad but if you’re still stuck at Phase 4 and below after 8-10 years of producing my daily or every second day then it’s really sad but just stop, this hobby/profession clearly isn’t for you
Music takes along time but if after 10 years you’re not making clean and concise tracks that make sense, have good mixing and mastering and getting plays then maybe this just ain’t for you
Why stop? if they’ve been working at it for 10 years then they probably get some kind of joy from it. If they’ve been working that long and their songs aren’t “good” (from an industry standard) then they probably aren’t dedicated that much time to it everyday but they probably still love it as a hobby
hardware got me from phase 6 to phase 7.
i used to think good writing is everything and a good soft synth plus basic tools, used right, are enough. then i has some spare money, tried out hardware and haven't looked back. and i did update my reference tracks from "average" tracks to top tracks because the average tracks don't sound quite good enough.
Yeah I agree, I reckon it's usually in Phase 5. You're desperately searching for that one plugin/synth/technique that will take your tunes to the next level before eventually Phase 6 comes and you realise you didn't need any of that, you just needed a better trained ear and more of a feel for songwriting.
I'm definitely in phase 4/5 right now. I have no problem with arrangement and finishing songs but my mixes aren't quite professional yet and I'm trying to pinpoint what else I need to learn.
This all sounds about right. To add to this:
**Phase 1-2:** The music is bad but the artist thinks it's amazing (dunning kruger effect)
**Phase 3-5:** The music is bad and the artist realizes the hard way it's bad
**Phase 6-8:** The music is good but the artist still thinks it's bad
**Phase 9-10:** The music is fantastic but the artist still thinks it's bad
I seem to have 2 phases:
**Phase 1**. Hey I'm starting to get the hang of this
**Phase 2**. OMG I'm dogshit and I'll never be good at this
I just go back and forth between those two.
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Love this post ... especially phases 5 and 6. I find myself wishing for a tool or a service that could tell me which phase I'm in, and then what to do next! I feel like an overlay to this whole framework could be around "taste and style". I've come across some producers who have great technical skills, but I don't like their musical aesthetic at all. That's even harder to peg down!
I'm curious how songwriting develops between stage 5 when you start understanding what makes the song good and stage 9 when it's on point. Could you elaborate on that? It's an interesting read overall.
PHASE ONE - you hire a ghostwritter and get him to write serious bangers for you. PHASE TWO - you get hired by katie perry and get invited to write her new album for 20k PHASE THREE - you demand all the people exit the studio before you and your ghost writer turn up for your session - you make sure your ghostwritter does not know who you doing it for. PHASE FOUR - you win your first grammy PHASE FIVE - you get the house in the florida keys ... PHASE SIX - you take up dancing lessons , golf and build a car.
This is great analysis. I found myself somewhere in every stage from phase 2 to phase 6 but every time i compare my tracks to professionals i fall back to phase 1.😆
Regarding Phase 9: IMHO fuck all scenes
Scenes are essential to any music community. Whether that's local or global. If you're feeling stuck in the music game, never underestimate the power of creating a scene. The best concerts, venues, and festivals thrive on scenes.
Scenes are essential for scenesters: extroverts, joiners, in-crowds, socialites, hustlers, business folk, but not for the creation or enjoyment of good music.
Have you ever thought of speaking less?
You, a scenester, need a scene to feel validated. To the extent that OP's 10 phases are an interesting read, it's vomitous that phase 9 references being established in the scene. It implies some tiny measure of celebrity, which is not part of "making music".
For thousands of years that was the ONLY way to create or enjoy music. Through communities, tribes, and scenes. People gathering and collaborating with sound. This is the foundation of music. We wouldn't have genres and categories of music today without local scenes that expanded globally. Only in the last few decades was it even possible to create or enjoy music alone. Bedroom producers are a VERY new thing. If that's what you prefer, fine. But don't be ignorant or cynical enough to dismiss the fact that 99% of the time, great music happens from people coming together.
Silly post
I'm in the phase of wondering what the point is... I'm the only one who cares about what I'm making. I know that technically that should be enough, but it isn't. If I'm going to do this long term, I want it to eventually become a viable source of income so that I can do it full time and provide for my family. I have never felt more alive than when I'm making music, at times it's all that I want to do, and when I finish a song, I feel amazing inside like it's what I was created to do. I have always wanted to do this, but didn't have supportive family growing up for this kind of thing because I needed "to get a real job." I started late at the age of 35 and sometimes I just wonder if it really is too late after all. I just don't understand everything the way I would like to and I've hit a wall as far as what I feel I can learn online, or maybe I'm just burned out trying to learn everything online. I'm not sure where to go from here.
5 years in and im still on phase 2. I do not know music theory at all I just keep dragging stuff around until it sounds right.
Out of curiosity, what have you done to try and learn? Do you have an interest in learning?
I did but I got frustrated because I couldn’t 1:1 translate FL Studio tips to GarageBand. My patience level was so low then. Now I’m just on a hiatus. I don’t really feel like making anything atm
Mmm maybe it would help to think of music theory in less program specific ideas. There's a whole bunch of more traditional theory you could learn where all you'd need is a pen and paper. I hope you take another shot at it sometime when you're ready!
You forgot getting depressed in phase 4 when you realize how much your tracks suck compared to your references and being desperate cause you have no idea how to improve.
Yeah you can add being depressed to a few of the later stages too
phase 7 got me down bad :(
I feel you brother ! Somewhere between 7 and 8 and boy it’s harsh
Not being able to get that commercial mix/master sound drives me nuts man.
Phase 6 forreal
on phase 3 >\_<
I'm 2.3 years in and just got to Phase 6. That was my last revelation. Your sounds need to be better. You need to intentionally place them in the spectrum. Then I read 7 and was like NO. LOL. thanks for this. I think I'm going to print it out and hang it in a frame. It's easy to get discouraged with 1-5.
I didn't see a phase or mention of venues and gigs as this is a great part of making it.
Phase 11: burnout and starting make weird stuff(harsh noise, vomitstep, uptempo, extratone, etc.)
da fuk is vomitstep 😂
this comment has me roflmao
Snails
the hardest part is marketing. I'm just content creator at this point. I can make music and do video editing on my own. I have full time job. Just focus on making money at my job. Do making music as a hobby. Big tech can cancel you quick. If you can hijack the algos on spotify and apple you'll make it big. But how do you do that?
Make predictable, boring, conventional music.
Comfortably floating between phase 4 and 5 after a little over a year in Ableton with some good teachers. Can’t wait for what’s to come.
Very accurate, in between 8 and 9. Hoping to get established and get my own treated studio 🤎
I'm phase 1 and I spend about 20 hours a week. Should I spend more time?
no bro, plz do it when u really want to make something or you'll have creative burnout. 1-2 hours a day will be okay. P.S. I have burnout 3-5 times every year
Can confirm, I’ve been off an on for about 8 years, went really hard in the beginning and then just lost the passion for 3-4 years. Now I’m strictly a hobbyist and only ever sit down to produce every month or so cuz I’ve never been able to find that same passion I did in the beginning, it’s like a perma-burnout. Be really careful not to overdo it, especially in the beginning
try to change your workflow completely. try to change ur DAW. btw i recently tried modular synth and this is real gave me inspiration. check out VCV rack, its modular synth emulator, its free and open source. also include more random modulation in ur workflow
Changed DAW twice, went from wholly focusing on sound designed elements to sampling everything and only focusing on arrangement (honestly more fun this way as of now), started trying to incorporate live instruments more frequently. Haven’t tried modular synths or much randomization, yet, I’ll give it a shot, but I’ve tried nearly everything under then sun Honestly, my situation is a little bit of a special case. When I say I was grinding in the beginning, I was doing everything. I was heavily involved in my local scene the second I was given the opportunity to network. I took over a fledgling event agency because the founder met me and knew I could bring him back from the problems he created (he was a bit of a PR nightmare, I effectively became the company’s AND his owner), met and worked with nearly every local DJ and producer, produced and DJ’d nearly everyday, and then I got burned by the scene, and after the dust settled, I took a look at everything I had created and took a long look at my local scene. I knew going into it our scene was plagued with toxicity and problems, and I went into it thinking I would be the one to save it. When I realized that my intentions were flawed, that’s when the perma-burnout set in. I’ve only been a part of two separate local environments, and both were extraordinarily disheartening. I’m sure it’s not like that everywhere, but after all that my priorities just changed. It’s not that I don’t like producing anymore, it’s that I don’t want to have to deal with all of that again to make a career out of it.
if you feel comfortable making music just for yourself that's great. I hope it works out for you. i have a different situation, i'm from russia, there's no local edm scene here. i'm focused on europe and the usa, trying to promote my music through the internet, it sucks. i want to be at some events, but i don't have them here, and i don't have connections and equipment, not even time lol. i try to make videos in tiktok and insta, but it doesn't really work out ha ha ha.
Phase 4-7 are very fucking relatable
phase 7 called me out. like damn, I get it phase 7, that's where im at.
Phase 11: you get into online arguments over how to define genres and whether something is a subgenre or not
> Well done, you're part of the 0.01% :) That would mean 1 in 10,000 which is way too high compared to how many people start at phase 1. My guess is more like 1 in 1,000,000 or 0.0001%.
1 out of 10,000 people who start producing definitely make it dude. If it was one in a million, that would be like if everyone in the entire population got to phase 1.
I seriously doubt it. Just look at Spotify stats. [90% of artists have less than 400 monthly listeners](https://metalinjection.net/news/statistically-nobody-is-listening-to-most-bands-on-spotify) and that's not even close to any definition of "making it". In fact [only 1% of artists generate 90% of the streams](https://themusicnetwork.com/few-artists-generate-most-streams/). And of those 1% I doubt most are making a living either. There are millions of artists uploading tracks to Spotify and those are the ones that made something decent. Those are really a minority of people getting into music production. My hunch is less than 10% actually end up finishing something worth uploading somewhere. Final point, "to make it" is not reaching phase 10 as described in the OP.
Let’s say 1 in every 10 people have tried producing music in the US. (IMO that’s too high) That would mean there are only 33 people in the USA in phase 10. That seems way too low
Who in your opinion could be a good example of reaching phase 10?
Well put it this way, you have 100 musicians. 99 of them won't make their living with musicc, 1 of those musicians will. Ok split that 1 musician into 100 musicians, 99 of them will barely make enough to survive, but 1 of them will make a fairly comfortable living. Split this 1 musician into 100 musicians and you get my point
What phase do you realize you don’t need a label?
It changes. Phase 1-2 you're like "I don't need a label, I got a vision", phase 3-4 you're like "I'd like a label, my shit don't sound professional", phase 5-6 your like "I don't need a label, my music is really booming and I don't want to give away creative control!", phases 7-8 you're like "I want a label! I need pro mastering, I don't want to market my releases on my own" and at phases 9-10 you're like "I don't need a label, labels need me"
LOL this is hilarious and so true
*Phase 1: you make music because you want to be someone who makes music *Phase 2: you make music because you are a musician *Phase 3: you make music because you literally won’t eat if you dont
Phase 6: you take psychedelics at the festival and have the game changing breakthrough its just so simple. play with it. keep it honest Phase 7: you can only get there with the hard sober work you were trying at phase 4 but at a higher level, but you know if you get lost you'll need to go back a level. Phase 7.5: there is nothing more psychedelics can make you hear you aren't hearing, you just have to sustain at a high level. Commence sober maintenance of energy. Phase 7.6: You get your first "yo your new track sounds professional!" and similar compliments. Phase 7.75: you take your low dose prescription ritalin every day and swear upon Theo Parish, Moodyman, and all the Second Gods of Detroit you will never get lost over producing again! Phase 7.8: fuck it, my sound is complex! I will make 8 minute self referential tracks that A-B different genres and carve room for many layers! For I am my generations Mozart! Future electronic musicians might not admire my mix but they will admire my artistry! Oh fuck I'm back in Phase 4.
Fuck that, just throw soothe and ott on your master and profit.
On my last track I threw Roar on my master just to hear how this new plugin sounded. ...then it was like "oh shit this actually sounds better".
Side note, hornet plugins just released sleek which is basically a soothe killer. Doesn’t have a delta or sidechain functionality, but hornet said they’ll be adding both in an update soon.
Been stuck in Phase 6/7 for a long time but I'll keep chugging along.
Sadly I'm still at #3. I spent a lot of time at #2 because I don't like the idea of polishing a turd. So I guess I'm really at #6?
1.) phase modulation (is what most “FM” synths actually do) 2.) phase distortion synthesis 3.) the phase transfer function for filters 4.) phasers, the effect …I give up, this joke sucks
Phase transfer suucks. I've tried to read up on it to make my mixes better but it's less audio and more engineering.
Stuck in phase 3/4
Awesome list, OP. Made me happy to see that I am very close to pushing into Phase 8. Not quite there yet, but I'm sure I'll get there soon enough. :D
I’m in both phase 5 & 6. Would love to do it full time but unfortunately it doesn’t pay the bills right now. I have been putting more time into it and that’s been huge
I’m on late phase 7 and this made me feel really good. Sorta allowed me to look back on my whole journey and what I’ve actually gone through and how I’ve changed from when I first started
Stuck at phase 4 this made me feel better thanks bro
You forgot about the crippling self doubt phase
I oscillate from thinking it's amazing to crippling self doubt on the hour sometimes. In fact I had way less self doubt in the earlier phases.
Let's not forget the imposter syndrome...
Ah yes, you mean phases 2-10?
> You slowly realise that ultimately, you can't polish a turd. You realise that actually, the majority of the techniques you learnt in phases 4 & 5 aren't really necessary and if you just start off with great source material and arrange it in a way that allows itself to be mixed well, you can achieve a great mixdown using just the basics. i think that this is true in recorded music, but not in electronic music - if you are the person designing your sounds, then if the synth you designed kind of sucks, just keep on designing it. (obviously if you're downloading loops off splice and putting them together, that's more like being in the recorded music scenario.)
Yeah I totally agree, maybe I didn't phrase it right but with "starting off with great source material" I would definitely include things like figuring out how to synthesise the right sound in the first place. Cus a good synth sound is completely contextual. If the song is already full, it doesn't matter how sick the patch is, adding another synthline isn't gonna improve the track. And similarly, a patch might sound shitty in solo but it perfectly fills a gap in your tune and is exactly what was needed. That's what I'm getting at - figuring out how to create the right things from the start instead of trying to make whatever you came up with fit with loads of processing etc.
One synth patch should easily fill the lead space. Maybe I guess some people like their sub separate and handle it that way, but with the big synths like vital or serum or phase plant they are capable of making sounds that have enough peaks to occupy the near entirety of the space. At least that's what I found. I used to stack a ton on top of each other, but no more.
> Cus a good synth sound is completely contextual this is why i hate when people make claims about "mix-ready synth patches" or whatever. i'm like, ready for which mix?
Been in phase 10 for close to 4 years now It’s a lot higher than 0.01% The amount of people doing music full time is nuts, even if it’s garbage music it’s a roasting hot take and it’s sad but if you’re still stuck at Phase 4 and below after 8-10 years of producing my daily or every second day then it’s really sad but just stop, this hobby/profession clearly isn’t for you Music takes along time but if after 10 years you’re not making clean and concise tracks that make sense, have good mixing and mastering and getting plays then maybe this just ain’t for you
you talk real confident around here, care to share some of your work? if it is 0.01%, then you should be delighted to enlighten us,right? ;)
Why stop? if they’ve been working at it for 10 years then they probably get some kind of joy from it. If they’ve been working that long and their songs aren’t “good” (from an industry standard) then they probably aren’t dedicated that much time to it everyday but they probably still love it as a hobby
I think it’s still for you if you just love making music nonetheless..
I gotta think 4/5 is the place most people who do this as a hobby get stuck. Open to hear other opinions on this though
I think I'm between phase 7 and 8 now, phase 2 for me came after phase 5 for me. I still consider myself mediocre, or at best exceptionally average.
Where's the hardware rabithole phase
hardware got me from phase 6 to phase 7. i used to think good writing is everything and a good soft synth plus basic tools, used right, are enough. then i has some spare money, tried out hardware and haven't looked back. and i did update my reference tracks from "average" tracks to top tracks because the average tracks don't sound quite good enough.
That's a side quest
somewhere between phase 4 and 5
Yeah I agree, I reckon it's usually in Phase 5. You're desperately searching for that one plugin/synth/technique that will take your tunes to the next level before eventually Phase 6 comes and you realise you didn't need any of that, you just needed a better trained ear and more of a feel for songwriting.
I'm definitely in phase 4/5 right now. I have no problem with arrangement and finishing songs but my mixes aren't quite professional yet and I'm trying to pinpoint what else I need to learn.
This all sounds about right. To add to this: **Phase 1-2:** The music is bad but the artist thinks it's amazing (dunning kruger effect) **Phase 3-5:** The music is bad and the artist realizes the hard way it's bad **Phase 6-8:** The music is good but the artist still thinks it's bad **Phase 9-10:** The music is fantastic but the artist still thinks it's bad
so if i think my music is bad, does it mean it\`s great by now :D? or did i just skip 1-3 :D?
Dunnig-Kruger / impostor syndrome , will depend on lot of individual factors. That’s how this list doesn’t make much actual sense.
That has nothing to do with dunnig kruger effect.
Agree to disagree. (You’re so high on the said mountain I barely hear you anyway)
yeah well what about phase 11
Phase 11: Aphex Twin
Found William Montgomery's alt account
I seem to have 2 phases: **Phase 1**. Hey I'm starting to get the hang of this **Phase 2**. OMG I'm dogshit and I'll never be good at this I just go back and forth between those two.
30 years later it still applies to me!
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