Songwriters: Do you still like your music?

When i listen back i always hear the things that could be done or mixed better. Even when 'the crowd' say's it's wonderfull.
When i'm just finished i like it (otherwise wouldn't be finished). When i listen a lot later this statement of 'could be better' then becomes.
But the strange thing is that if i start mixing again the result of that ain't that much different than the first release. So in the end, also because others like it, i say 'didn't do it that worst'.

But i thinkt that's cause i'm in a new learning curver of recording, nowaday's with DAW and aspecially much more plugins to learn.
And i think i should work together with other musicians more. Recording and mixing is going quite well, but my main problem is that i shouldn't do everything myself like i do now, like singing for instance. When i record and edit, and play but let others sing the result many times is much better.

And on that the same problem Delmont has. 'The crowd' still could grow. :D
 
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Yep. Small fan base. $10 a month from ReverbNation releases. Couple bucks last month on the new DistroKid release (finally got past 3 month delay). That's not what's important. I write songs that are in my head and in my heart. If no one else was to listen, I still would need to write them. It's just what songwriters do. I've been caught up too much in the hype of getting my mixes perfected and the guitars have to sound pristine and the drums shouldn't be so fake...It's all good and fine, and I enjoy learning the craft. BUT, it's about the writing for me, not the presentation. Yes I want it to be the best it can, and yes (since I can't afford to have others do it) I am doing this myself. But my ears won't last forever. Eventually, I need to have a different avenue or just go back to writing, recording and moving on...

It would be great for some "big name" to pick up one of my songs and record it and put me on the map...short of that, I think I'll just keep doing.
 
As artist we are creating shit...Each song is a child we created, they contain our dna. Some we like better than others..... some we are proud of some we are embarrassed of. When we co write or write with a band it contains all our dna and it is a child of "ours" ( easier to hate )

Truth is it is all subjective and what is good is usually based upon if a bunch of people like it....if a lot of people like it then it's really good. That's one way of determining if we "like" what we wrote but IMO bullshit. If you wrote it and it rings the bells you wanted to ring with it, if it moves you...it's good

I have written a ton of tunes over the last 45 years, many no one but I myself have heard with the lyrics....The tunes themselves I've played on pianos in homes, hotels and clubs all over the world for strangers. I've received a lot of ata boys over the years from a lot of different people...It's always cool when someone comes up and tells you they really LOVED what you did.

I like a lot of songs I've written and I have a few I'm not so hot on but they are my kids so I keep em anyway. :guitar:
 
I have a strange relationship with my compositions.

Some songs come to me like I'm a conduit or an instrument of sorts. In these cases I try to materialize as best I can what is coming through me. I like some of the songs, but some are are just, meh..

I don't know what I'm channeling or how it works. I feel the difference between external influence and internal additions (i.e. my own creative flow).

I merge them together.

Sometimes I let these song rest a while, and then I work on them; mostly song arrangement and lyrics. I really enjoy arranging songs (e.g. how to harmonize the instruments, build a soundscape or story, showcase a melodic line or instrument, add backvocal, insert ear candy, etc.) , but adding lyrics, the vocal melody and singing is 'work'.

Then there is the mixing and getting a good sound. That is a real challenge...

In the end I have a love/hate relationship with most songs. I know they are not the best they could be, not comparable to what is on the radio or my favorite songs (e.g. some Pink Floyd songs), have sonic defects (i.e. improper recording, mixing and mastering), but I'm like a proud parent or proud pet owner.

It seems like my songs sound best when it's just me and my guitar singing to a group of friends.

I'm improving at every level.

I do what I can.

I enjoy the process and learning.

I'm growing in so many ways.


*note: soz is my reply is all over the place
 
Yep to all the above. Art is like the story of the dog in the middle of a river who's just been bitten by the deadly spider who's asked for a ride across.

The dog says, "What did you do THAT for?"

And the spider says, "It's my nature!"
 
I have a playlist with all 10 songs from the first two EPs and seven of the new project that I listen to EVERY morning.

That not only incredibly narcissistic, it's sick in general.

;)

j/k but honestly there's no song on earth I would want to listen to every day or even every week or month. As for my stuff, no, I don't care to listen to it much. It's not really about liking it.....if I didn't it wouldn't have made it to tape, so to speak...but I heard it a million times already, between coming up with it and going over it in my head and recording it etc etc. That's plenty. :)
 
I write songs that are in my head and in my heart. If no one else was to listen, I still would need to write them

Music is like a language in of itself, part of the human legacy continuously evolving. But without our human predecessors and trailblazers to inspire and pave the way "the music, songs and poetry within us" would be quite different or stranger yet would it be there at all? Think about it. If we'd been born into a world without the music we grew up listening to, though we may feel the need to express ourselves musically we wouldn't be doing Rock, or country or rap or classical music...we wouldn't know what a guitar , piano , drums , or horns were...unlike any other life on the planet, we humans have created very technical instruments far beyond rocks and stick banging. It started with rocks and sticks but over 10's of thousands of years we have come to where we are today. Ever since I was a little kid I've heard tunes and melodies in my head that were not "of this world". I wonder , if I had been born in a world without music would those melodies still have been there...I suspect not but I guess there is no way of proving it either way. Songwriting sure is an odd talent...I've got buds that actually play an instrument that couldn't come up with an original melody if their life depended on it. weird shit.
 
What's funny to me: Up until 1991 I never had an original melody run through my head either. Then I wrote one song, "Questions" and to be honest, I didn't even know why I called it that until 20 years later when playing it I realized that almost every line in the song was a question...not sure still if that was the reason for the title, but it would fit. Then it was about 5 more years before another came to me...then it got faster and faster and started escalating like a serial killer's victims. (some would liken my music similarly :eek:)
Two years ago I sat down with three of my old songs and two new ones and made my first 5 son ep. Last year I took one old one and four new for the second. This year I'm doing a 12 song full release...What's in store for next year? I mean I write hundreds of melodies in a year, but very few end up "in the box".
I've got probably 70-80 "Song idea" files on my computer that haven't been fleshed or flushed. Maybe it's because I've learned how to record the music quickly. Maybe it's because I'm becoming more efficient at putting all the pieces together. Maybe it's because I am writing more lyrics and they come out easier. Whatever is happening, I'm getting more output...
 
What's funny to me: Up until 1991 I never had an original melody run through my head either. . . .

You think that's funny? I've been writing songs since '68, and I've never had a melody run through my head. Songs perpetually, chords often, melodies never.

But they seem to take care of themselves when I write the songs.
 
I like my stuff. The challenge is finding anyone else who does!

Exactly! :guitar:
I listen to my songs all the time. They make me smile, if not down right laugh out loud. Being the sole contributor to all my recordings I obviously know what was going on behind the scenes when they were constructed, all the takes it took, the changes made, the nuances put in the songs that only I can pick out. It all adds to my enjoyment when listening to them. Why anyone would get sick of listening to their own songs is beyond me. But as Delmont says, the trick is to get others to want to listen. lol

repomanmusic | ReverbNation
 
Funny to me: some of the stuff I wrote this year, I've forgotten how to play...In the process of writing 12 songs in a year (12 key parts, strings, acoustics, electrics, basses, drum lines, etc) I've forgotten how I did some of those things (I'm really not that great a guitarist.) I listen to an acoustic part and try to play it and CAN'T... I guess that goes along with having hid my own Easter eggs this year, lol.
 
Funny to me: some of the stuff I wrote this year, I've forgotten how to play...In the process of writing 12 songs in a year (12 key parts, strings, acoustics, electrics, basses, drum lines, etc) I've forgotten how I did some of those things (I'm really not that great a guitarist.) I listen to an acoustic part and try to play it and CAN'T... I guess that goes along with having hid my own Easter eggs this year, lol.

^^^^^ This is me too!! I recently had some people at the house listening to some of my stuff. A couple were musicians and asked me to show them how I played a couple parts. For the life of me it didn't come easily and I felt like an idiot. I used to remember the words and chords and how to play at least 100 cover songs. Now........I have trouble with my own songs!!! Age sucks. By the way.......I still do like pretty much all I've ever written and recorded. The hard part is not going back to re-mix every time I hear an older one.
 
I used to remember the words and chords and how to play at least 100 cover songs. Now........I have trouble with my own songs!!!

I can remember just about all the hundreds of covers I've played in bands and by myself over the last 25 years, but I can't remember the bridge and lead parts to my own songs. Probably because I just write them on the spot, record them, and that's it.
 
In answer to the original post question, yes I do.
I like stuff I've done even from a long time ago. As much as 25 years back. I've come to the conclusion that if I liked and believed in it at the stage of conception, I'd like it down the road as well.
If it's something I wasn't too excited by in the beginning, I feel the same about now.

I always had this interesting philosophy. There's a lot of people living on this world. If there's something I really, really like, there's gotta be another million that feel the same way. Only problem is finding them Lol.?
 
Yes, the songs we practiced 5x per day for a month, placed into practice rotation, and then played in a band every weekend for 4 years are etched. I can still play the bass lines to every Eckman Dredge (Denver band) song we wrote...can even do the guitar line from one...and I don't even have a recording of any of them anymore. :)
 
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