Daily Routines and the Creative Process

[mylesthebaker]

I wondered if anyone and in particular the full-timers amongst us would be willing to share their normal music making daily schedule and the process they go through in creating a track?

[woodsdenis]

Best tip I ever got from a very successful producer, take a 10-15 min break every hour. I would work 5-6 hours a day. Apart from that its the old 90% perspiration 10% inspiration line.

[Jay]

I get up (sometimes as early as 3am) and make a list on my computer of the things I would like to do that day – it’s usually an ambitous one (and won’t get it all done) but if I bang out most of it..it’s been a productive day  –

I always have 2 or 3 songs working and currently have a hip hop track i’m working on a bass line for, a bunch of beats i’m making on a sequencer and and an acoustic folkie type song i’m writing on guitar as well of a list of songs that are written and need to be copyrighted (I wait til I have a bunch before spending the $35.00) – i’ll play with one for a while and then go to the other and then move on to some metadata or library stuff or maybe some mixing/mastering –

around lunch time i’ll grab a bite, go for a walk on the beach or a bike ride to get away from it and then come back and get something more done calling it quits around 2-3pm – I don’t rush to finish any track…I’ll work at it a bit and then put it down and when I come back to it..I have a fresh perspective – some of my strongest songs have gone through several rewrites (before recording) and there eventually comes a point where I know it’s as good as it can be…and then I start recording and producing it –

some days if things aren’t working i’ll consider it a day off and DO NOTHING that pertains to music – I work pretty much every day and forget to take days off – if you have the time to work this way you’ll be amazed at the amount of work you’ll get done after a bit of time – I’ve been full time music (on and off) for the past 2 years.The last 3 months have been nothing but music and I’m REALLY starting to get some where – even libraries that haven’t made me a dime have a lot of decent tracks in them and are getting listens – one I checked on Sunday that I thought was a dog, I uploaded a mastered track to (to replace something I felt was weak) and found that track in an active project and 3 others there also in projects as temp tracks (fingers crossed) – if you’re stuck on one thing move on to another but always keep moving – I find if I don’t i’ll eventually get out of that music mindset – I was in that place about a year ago and even put my gear away for awhile because it was just gathering dust – now that i’m in this groove I never stop – there’s always something to be done so if you don’t feel creative that day/week or even month – work on metadata or something…just keep moving forward.Jay

[mylesthebaker]

Thanks Denis and Jay for your responses.

In reply to Denis for me I would adjust that slightly to 80% perspiration (it gets pretty hot here in Japan) 10% inspiration and 10% frustration. I am stubborn tho and keep plugging away. Jay I am impressed with your committment and will to succeed.

For my own situation, I started trying to get into this thing a couple of years ago and after a false start (I had a bunch of old band tracks that I put up on various places then realised I needed to get permission from all the musicians who had played on them so I had to pull them off again) But I have had some success with Revostock and Ambient Music Garden. Until recently most of my energies have been going in to placing a bunch of CD’s by the late husband of a friend of mine who was a fairly well known musician/performer here in Japan. To that end I had to firstly digitize 60 CD’s and do all the metadata/keywords etc. Then I spent several months putting it onto places like Audiosparx and Revostock which takes so much time and energy. As yet I haven’t seen any rewards from that but I am ever hopeful and Abient Music Garden has had steady sales. The reason I posted this quetion is I guess because I am in a process of trying to change how I work. Instead of spending hours putting my friends music up on royalty free sites I am going back to doing what I enjoy, which is writing and recording my own 2 minute ‘masterpieces’ and building up a decent library of my own works.

I am a full time English Teacher here as well as doing the foreign wedding thing at the weekends and I play in a band so at present my time is limited but I am working towards making the most of what time I do have which is mostly in the mornings. Now when I get up the first thing I do is get all my music stuff switched on and ready to go. Then while I potter around and wait for the bath to run I will listen to whatever I have been working on (At present that is mixing my bands 1st CD). Then after my bath I get stuck in to working on it until lunch time, with plenty of short breaks (good advice there Denis!). After lunch I might put in another short stint and then when I get home (usually about 8-9 ish) I sometimes do a little bit more but am usually too knackered so vegetate in front of the TV.

I think I am at the point now where I know where I want to be and have set my self the target of having my own library of tracks (say 2 CD’s in about 10-12 styles) finished within the next 3 years.

This change in my attitude has partly come about because I and a couple of friends have all decided we are not satified with certain things and have formed a small support group to look at goals and how we can acheive them. Mostly it’s about working thru small achievable steps to get to where we want to go!

With regard to my friends music I am changing tack and trying to find smaller more bespoke companies like Altarboy who might give the music mor attention than a company like Audiosparx or Revostck and I don’t have to do the uploading and setting up (cue big sigh of relief!).

Cheers

mylesthebaker

[Mark_Petrie]

I don’t have a set schedule, I just try to write whenever I can, and take advantage of the times the muse is really flowing. Sometimes I’ll push through a dry spell to stumble upon a new idea that spawns an entire track.

I’ve found a great way to work is to not stop for the day until I have at least a germ of an idea, a theme or simply a rhythm, that will give me a great head start the next time I power up the studio.

I’m not as organized as Jay, but I like to take a break from a track once I’ve established the basic musical ideas and structure. The new perspective I get from taking a few hours away from the studio is priceless.

I try not to have more than one track on the go, basically following the rule I got taught years ago: ‘finish what you start’. Another couple of useful tidbits I’ve picked up along the way: ‘write when you don’t have to’, and ‘write something every day’.

 

[MichaelL]

Another couple of useful tidbits I’ve picked up along the way: ‘write when you don’t have to’, and ‘write something every day’.

I picked that on up from you Mark. Great advice!!!

Cheers,

Michael

[musiccomposer]

Mark, thanks!

By the way, I just heard your track called: “Modern Samurai”. It is one of the best tracks I ever heard in my life!

[Art Munson]

What currently works for me is to try and write every day and not to push it when I do. There are times when it’s only an hour or two but spiritually I always feel better when I can get some writing in at least once a day. I have learned to stop when the ideas stop, trying to push through it has never worked for me. Invariably the next day brings new ideas and a fresh outlook. I don’t remember the last time I had “writers block”.

In the morning I do my music admin work and whatever home maintenance, gardening (good for the soul!) or other necessary chores. I generally write from about 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM, never past 6:00 though. I’m always plunking around on the guitar when I’m watching TV (thankfully Robin doesn’t mind) and get a lot of ideas there. I have Audacity running on my laptop and will play in any useful ideas for later.

The most important thing I have learned is to believe in the creative process. If you do, the music will always flow!

[MichaelL]

I start my day fairly early. After the morning routine, like walking the dog, I try to be in the studio by 8:00. I start by checking email and the MLR. I also check VI Control to see if there are any new instrument releases. Sometimes that’s followed by a purchase and installation.

I try to start composing by 9:00. I work until lunch time. Sometimes I take a break. Sometimes I eat lunch in my studio, while I’m checking email (and the MLR). Then, I work until around 6:00. I have dinner with my wife, walk the dog again, and around 8:00 go back into the studio until around 11:00.

The 8 pm to 11pm slot varies. Sometimes I’m still composing, recording, mixing etc. Other times I watch software / equipment tutorials, do administrative tasks.

I do work on the weekends, but not as many hours.

And some days……like today, the routine goes out the window and nothing happens, because it’s election day AND some guy backed into my car with his pick-up truck at a stop light! (the two aren’t related)

[Art Munson]

AND some guy backed into my car with his pick-up truck at a stop light!

Ouch! Sorry to hear that Michael.

[mylesthebaker]

Thanks guys, some really useful stuff. On the getting tracks finished front when I was younger I had so many unfinished tracks that I probably only managed a few tracks a year so, I try and prescribe to the ‘finish what I have started’ way of thinking now often due to a time limit imposed externally or sometimes setting one for myself. If not I would probably go on remixing something until I retire!

Because it is very easy for me to get sidetracked or just leave my music gear alone it has made a significant difference to me by getting everything switched on and up and running when I first get up and also following Aaron at Renegades advice by trying to do at least one or two things every day, be it composing, recording , mixing, mastering, emails or making phone calls. Eventually the cumulative effort does make a difference and I am beginning to see some progress!

[GaryW]

I am either mixing, writing, or recording  every day every day of the week, as I have for the past 4 years I have been doing this. I do most of my  music work in the afternoons for about 3-4 hours. I have a side job that I do in the mornings, but everything is done here at home. I have found that for me it works better if I don’t try to record, mix and master on the same day. My ears get very fatigued after having headphones on for the recording process, and have found my mixes suffer as a result.

I am also not rushing to get my tracks done anymore. The average time I spend on a track from writing to the end product is about 4-5 hours.  I am averaging writing about 4 new tracks per week give or take….

[Author]

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