Honest opinion on my progress so far

[hustlerose]

Hey.

I've been learning how to make music for two years now. Although i've always loved music, and listen to a lot of it, as well as quite some variety, i never had any knowledge of music making before.

So i started by installing ableton 9, and read some tutorials. At that time, i wasn't trying to make anything specific, just wanted to see what i could do. About six months later, i started to feel confident enough to try to make music by myself, without following any tutorial from scratch. Not great music, but at that point i felt pretty excited about it.
About 8 months into learning, i made most of the songs here:
Bora Bora by Fernando Martinz | Free Listening on SoundCloud
Not awesome, not even good, but made me proud at the time. Most of them just sound irrelevant, but at least i didn't think they sound clearly bad.
Next months i kept learning, and trying to make specific sounds. This was always quite difficult to me, and still is. To this day, i can only make music "as it takes me", meaning i can't make a specific genre.
My problem is, i got stuck for the last 6 months or something. I can't make nothing close to decent, nothing i'm not embarrassed to click export. Even worse, i think i'm actually doing worse than i used to.

I'm starting to consider giving up. I see lots of people with such little experience as myself, doing awesome stuff. I think i have no creativity at all, maybe this is just not for me. What do you think of my progress so far? Do you think i should use my time with more useful things, rather than music? If worth trying, what would you advise me to improve? I'm not looking for comments encouraging me just because. Honestly. I want you to be as direct and sincere as you can. I won't be offended.

Here is one my most recent songs. From about two months ago. The best i've got from the last 6 months. Or the least bad, whatever. Vocaroo | Voice message

Thanks.

 

[spantini]

Very meditative, I'd say. You're pretty good at it, too. Don't give it up.

Are you actually playing notes on a synth, or are you pasting sounds together and looping them? Both, maybe..?

 

[YellowDwarf]

Being a Floyd fan, I liked Intro.

Moving on to Fuji: there is some eq work you can learn to do between the synths and the drum kit, the drums overpower the synths (and its not just a volume adjustment, you need to learn how to make all the parts of the kit sit properly in the mix with the other sounds).

I like the way you put the songs together and how they build. You obviously have a feel for music, so that side won't be difficult for you.

The hardest part is laying in vocals on top of music like this - it's a huge next step, but you're ready for it.

Nice work and keep it coming.

 

[hustlerose]

Very meditative, I'd say. You're pretty good at it, too. Don't give it up.

Are you actually playing notes on a synth, or are you pasting sounds together and looping them? Both, maybe..?

Thank you. Both, yes. I got a usb midi keyboard but use it mainly to play random notes and get some sounds going, something to start with. Most part is creating midis directly in ableton.

Being a Floyd fan, I liked Intro.

Moving on to Fuji: there is some eq work you can learn to do between the synths and the drum kit, the drums overpower the synths (and its not just a volume adjustment, you need to learn how to make all the parts of the kit sit properly in the mix with the other sounds).

I like the way you put the songs together and how they build. You obviously have a feel for music, so that side won't be difficult for you.

The hardest part is laying in vocals on top of music like this - it's a huge next step, but you're ready for it.

Nice work and keep it coming.

Thanks. I agree that EQ is one of my main issues at this point, with a lot of songs having layers competing with each other for their frequencies.
I've also been trying to get some vocals into my music, which i find really hard too. Most times i imagine the song simply with no vocals, and no "need" for it.


I'll be working on EQ and vocals for the next months. Anything else you guys would suggest? Maybe something to help with creativity or something. I feel like i already created everything i could imagine. Which is ridiculous. I keep searching for videos regarding this issue on the internet, and try things like starting with small samples, midis that come with ableton, random notes, try to copy some parts of existing songs... Nothing seems to work anymore.

 

[spantini]

... Anything else you guys would suggest? Maybe something to help with creativity or something. I feel like i already created everything i could imagine.... Nothing seems to work anymore.

My process isn't really a technique, but I guess it could be developed as one with practice. I hear music in everything around me. Everything that makes any kind of sound sets off a musical phrase in my head. Mostly, it's just patterns I pick up on. Then I instantly attach drum sounds to them - still in my head. From those come little melodies and catch phrases, then I insert a popular singer's vocal style or sound - still in my head. Sometimes it's Deborah Harry, maybe Nick Lowe, George Straight or Hank Williams, Sr. - - Even the Beatles (pre-66).

I've got the opposite problem. I have over 1000 songs in my head and I don't have the ability to translate them to sheet music or instruments - except for the few instruments I can play hands on or conjur up in a sequencer. I really need to learn to (literally) write music.

 

[YellowDwarf]

... I'll be working on EQ and vocals for the next months. Anything else you guys would suggest? Maybe something to help with creativity or something. I feel like i already created everything i could imagine. Which is ridiculous. I keep searching for videos regarding this issue on the internet, and try things like starting with small samples, midis that come with ableton, random notes, try to copy some parts of existing songs... Nothing seems to work anymore.

I forgot to mention that if you don't do vocals you can still learn to play, record and mix guitars and the like - that's also a possible next step.

I'm with spantini, there are always songs in my head. DAWs help to get them out. When I'm stuck for ideas, I'll sometimes go to a free sound (freesound.org) website and listen to some of their samples, both musical and environmental. That can help too.

Timbo