is music production for us ?

[Ichooselife]

i mean i can sing good if i practice , i have a good time but all these years i’ve wasted it

if i think back singing is what i enjoy , and a little bit messing on keyboards and playing easy chords
but it’s really about singing
( but i like singing my own songs mostly )b

now with producing i want to ask you all a question
because after battling back from depression and ocd
i want to sing again , now sitting too long at a computer i come
off like a zombie , i find it isolating and really hard to go in that zone ,

is this just me ?

do you guys enjoy it and come off happy ?

i mean i like playing with sounds but editing piano rolls and basslines
i’m not sure if i enjoy it or maybe i’m
giving up after not putting in the hard work

i could just sing along to some guitar chords and record that
but i dunno im
not really sure i love just acoustic music


oh shit there’s a question in there somewhere

do you find it hard and a chore to do music production but then after all the hard work your happy?

or does the process make you happy and you enjoy being on the computer you just love it ?

first one kinda like me at the gym but then i’m
sure some people must enjoy the gym


they must mustn’t they ?

if you can get past all the dyslexia there’s a couple questions in there i think

[dvdrtldg]

Hang in there matey

I love digital production - the long hours at the computer can get a bit much but for me, the payoff in terms of choice, creative flexibility and sheer power to make sounds is 100% worth it

I do find it isolating - well, not "isolating" so much as solitary perhaps. I'd love to connect more with other musicians and collaborate, and plan to do that when I stop working. But for now, I just don't have the time

But if you want to sing and do acoustic stuff, then go ahead if it makes you happy. You can always integrate it with digital any time you like

[Jagwah]

I love it too, when I learnt to do things properly I loved it much more. There's never been a time when I didn't love it, some times I sat down to work but I didn't really feel like it or have that inspiration in me so I walked away and came back shortly after, but that's all. Maybe try analog / acoustic stuff like dvdrtldg suggested, it could be the answer.

[PhillipOrdonez]

If what you enjoy is singing, then collab with producers who enjoy the other aspects and need vocals in their song but cannot sing.

[Jackjackdaw]

I find my joy in playing real instruments more than ‘producing’ . I like tweaking synths and crafting sounds and making demos but it’s got nothing on jamming with other musicians or practicing my scales & rudiments.

[guitfnky]

do you just not enjoy the production aspect? or do you actively dislike the production side of things?

if it's indifference (feeling like 'this is okay, but I could be doing other stuff'), then I'd say stick with it until you're comfortable on the production side. you very well may come to like it.

if it's beyond that (feeling like 'this isn't fun--I'd rather be doing other stuff'), then I'd say that's when to reach out to other musicians or producers for collaboration. making music--in whatever form that takes, whether performing or producing--should *almost never feel like a chore.

*I say 'almost' because there are sometimes certain necessities that do feel like chores...editing vocal takes is my personal kryptonite, for example.

[Ichooselife]

ah man i’m having a rant i’m the midst of bouncing back from
depression , and i want music to be part of my life and i love to sing and write song ( i’ve done that since i was 11 without an instrument i just had the melodies in my head and wrote lyrics and sang them


now i think what is messing me up here is direction
like i know i want to make my own songs and sing them

but it’s the way or style that i can never ever decide and i mean years are flying by


Piano and voice
guitar and voice
computer production and voice
just voice ? nah i cant rely on others
maybe it’s some self belief
but i’m ok on all of them ( best at voice )
but giving up or not commiting to just one of them is holding me back

i’m not gonna be a multi instrumentalist at this point

so a couple is what i need

i know you guys can’t help me decide

like i said no direction ( no goal no plan )is the one idle thing that leads us to doom and gloom
cheers

[Ichooselife]

do you just not enjoy the production aspect? or do you actively dislike the production side of things?

if it's indifference (feeling like 'this is okay, but I could be doing other stuff'), then I'd say stick with it until you're comfortable on the production side. you very well may come to like it.

if it's beyond that (feeling like 'this isn't fun--I'd rather be doing other stuff'), then I'd say that's when to reach out to other musicians or producers for collaboration. making music--in whatever form that takes, whether performing or producing--should *almost never feel like a chore.

*I say 'almost' because there are sometimes certain necessities that do feel like chores...editing vocal takes is my personal kryptonite, for example.

i don’t think i dislike it

i come off shy like i’ve smoked weed
and i feel like a weird zombie type person
and i can be really outgoing

and i know this sounds silly but i have to decide whether that is worth it
as i really need some
life happeing i need to weigh up if i can somehow balance both

be zombie man at night and outgoing man by day

( i literally hate weed by the way was addicted badly from age 12 to 21

[Ichooselife]

the problem i have is
the computer = ambient or electronic music

guitar = indie acoustic

piano = somber slow


although i like all all very different

[Jackjackdaw]

If your starting point is melody and lyrics naturally then don’t try and make your starting point something else, like is it piano or is it guitar or is ambient and so on. Would be better off learning how to build harmony from a melody (theory is your friend here) and using your natural starting position as the foundation. Then the thing you create will be directed from your soul rather than genre definitions. This video isn’t perfect probably but an indication , you could swap out all these orchestral instruments with filthy drum and bass sounds or something and have something totally unique.

[WarStar]

Maybe write around your vocals? As in, record the vocals with no music first and then Use that as a guide post.. maybe just use a click to make sure you're lining up with your tempo.. i used to do that when I was in a band.. it was easier for me to come up with a vocal melody first with a very rough idea of what I might use instrument wise.. just an idea

[Quarmat]

Start things easy → keep the fun factor alive. You're a melody guy, start with melody (as others above rightly said)

1) set a click that makes your singing comfortable with your specific melody you have in mind
2) sing following the click
3) pitch correct/slice edit if needed
4) cmd/ctrl drag the audio data into a instrument midi line,
5) guess, listening to your melody, what is your "home" chord aka the tonic.
6) create another polyphonic instrument and put scales and chords set to the dominant chord of your melody
7) start messing with chords played with the aid of S&C so you can't go wrong
8) once you have your baisc harmonisation you can try changing some chords into spicier ones, borrowed, augmented etc. (or just dont, if you like it as it is)
9) lay down some drums and experiment with them to have an idea of what enhances your song or not
10) Bass: keep it simple, follow th root note of your chords, and focus on the rythmic of it → you can change notes later, making some interesting voicing
11) Add, if needed, some rhythmic instrument: strummed guitar, arpeggiated pluck, etc to give texture to your song
12) Put some bells and whistles to add some ear candy, e.g. a glockenspiel doubling your vocal, to make it shine
13) Polish your transitions
14) Mix
15) Master
17) Hey you wrote a song!
18) Release it, do not let it in a closet: the world deserves your music.

[TritoneAddiction]

Ultimately only you know what's right for you.

I can only offer my own perspective.
I like you used to not be too involved with the more technical aspects of music making, like sound design or mixing. But pretty early on I realized that in order for me to present my music the way I wanted to present it, I had to get better at mixing. So I dove in somewhat reluctantly and binged watched mixing videos over an extended period while still writing music regularly. Slowly but surely my mixes improved, both by gaining tips and tricks, but also by just doing a lot of mixing. Nowadays I don't even see mixing or production as a chore or even a seperate activity. It's just part of writing music and creating.

The same was the case not long ago when it comes to making my own synth sounds, rather than mainly relying on presets. I never saw myself as someone who make my own sounds intil I just started doing it.

So what I'm trying to say is that it's possible to change or expand on ones initial interest of music making. I think one mistake that's easy to make is that we expect good results too fast when we learn new things. Things don't have to get good NOW. Let it take time. I'm talking slow steady progress over years.

But of course it helps if there is some kind of motivation drawing you in. If you absolutely hate one aspect of music creating like production and you feel totally unmotivated to learn, I wouldn't do it. I would stick to what you enjoy the most, singing and playing.

[jam-s]

the problem i have is
the computer = ambient or electronic music

guitar = indie acoustic

piano = somber slow

although i like all all very different

Just create different artist aliases for each kind of music and then sharpen the individual profiles. And in case some song would fit into multiple boxes: you could also do a self-collab .