Top ten reasons for not finishing your tracks

...and possible solutions to fix these issues.

There are many reasons we find to excuse ourselves from making music, here are ten of the best.

Before we start I will admit that this top ten is off the top of my head. But I was pretty good at guessing the answers on ‘Family Fortunes’ (if you even know what that is), so they should be pretty close.

1. I’ve got no where to make music.

I struggled with this one for so long especially having children. The evening is when they sleep so noise is not helpful. And your space becomes a bedroom for the little tikes. What to do?

It is not perfect but headphones are your only option. You need to find the best headphones you can afford that will allow you to hear the best you can. And maybe invest in ‘Sound id Reference’ software. Many people say it works great for them. I use it now and then but haven’t made my mind up yet.

Now you might be thinking this doesn’t solve it for me due to where I live. Maybe there is just too much going on all the time and you really need to get out of there.

Ok, for this I suggest finding somewhere like your local library (if there still is one, you may have to travel). Or maybe research what other spaces may be available for the community. You need some where free to go where everyone is keeping to themselves. Maybe a cafe or pub at quiet times. Just as long as you buy something they should be fine with it. If you know them just ask and explain your reasons. Most people are pretty reasonable and would rather have a few people in than to be completely empty because it looks good for business.

Maybe offer someone you know a free house sitting service. This way you get some quiet and a nice dog gets some company.

2. My computer isn’t good enough.

Yes, this is a frequent issue but there is a silver lining. Put it this way, would you rather have a fully functioning older laptop that runs smoothly with an old version of a DAW or a slightly newer laptop struggling to run the latest version of a DAW?

See the issue really is cost. If you can’t afford the latest and greatest machine, you need to buy the very best 2nd hand computer you can find. This is because if you buy the affordable new laptop it won’t be good enough by the next major release of your chosen DAW.

Think, all the music released 5 years ago used the technology you can now afford today. So that is your best option. All good and honest vst makers allow you to download older versions of their software and there are always people selling licenses of older versions of DAW’s. So look around, do your research and buy the best you can afford.

Ok so you don’t have the new features used on the latest YouTube tutorial. No worries. Either find a work around or find an older video.

3. My hardware isn’t good enough!

To this I have to say embrace the limitations. If your speakers are not right for production you need to learn what things will sound like using reference tracks and comparing your music against them. Eventually you will learn the discrepancies and to adjust accordingly.

If it’s your synth, drum machine or even your microphone, look for the sweet spots and the weird stuff it can do. That’s your sound for now, embrace it.

4. There’s not enough time in the day.

You must make time for your art or it will eat you up.

If you are scrolling IG, that’s your time.
If you are lying in bed half awake, that’s your time.
If you are binge watching Netflix, that’s your time.
If you are watching tutorials without trying anything out, that’s your time.

If you are arguing with your partner about something trivial its probably because you feel bad about passing on your art. It’s built up inside and you’re really angry at yourself, and that is a waste of your time.

The thing is, when you make time for your art and it becomes a natural daily habit, watching tv is more enjoyable, spending time with friends and loved ones is more enjoyable. In fact everything becomes more enjoyable because you feel better about yourself for taking control of your time and doing what you love.

5. My music isn’t good enough.

Most artists struggle with this at some point. At the beginning you probably aren’t good enough so that feeling should really be the fuel to improve and find what it is that will make your music shine. Many artists begin to feel like this after success because with each success the bar raises and they think people expect much more.

There is no point comparing yourself to others, there will always be someone better than you or someone vying for your lofty position, it’s just the nature of things. So relax, know all this and find what it is that makes you unique and make your best music today. And know tomorrow you will improve from the experience.

6. I’m not good enough.

Yes, sometimes we feel that it is actually us not the music that is not good enough. There can be a range of reasons for this: maybe we feel uncomfortable with the idea of performing in public, we don’t like the way we look, we think we sound stupid when we talk or we’re scared people won’t like us for some other reason.

The list goes on but if you do have talent and this is what you want to do, you need to find a way around these issues. I think the best way is to find a partner, preferably someone who likes to speak in public and doesn’t mind doing the public stuff. This will take a lot of the weight off you and allow you time to adjust yourself to the things you fear.

Failing that you may want to look into library music and other ways to sell your work online or try sending stuff to a few small labels and just let your music do the talking.

There really is no easy solution to these debilitating feelings and many successful artists struggle with the same issues. But it really does come down to how much you want to do this. Because if you really do, you will have to reach out and find a solution and I give all my love and hope to you working things out.

7. I can’t make things sound right.

This is common. Most people want their music to sound like a full master before it’s finished and sometimes think it does until they play something professional. And then the colour drains from their whole body and their soul drips down through the floorboards on to the sink below. They feel like they have wasted all their time the last two days but don’t worry. This happens to everyone!

It really is part of the learning process. You make some music, think it sounds great, then play it next to something really good and become demotivated and disillusioned. Step one baby!

Ok, so what is the solution?

I’m not going to say it’s genre specific or that this is such a large subject whole books have been written. While true, it’s not helpful right now, so here goes…

Assuming you actually have a good arrangement, with everything in the right place doing a job and your mix levels are good; there are going to be a few other things that will determine how good things sound (and you have probably heard this one before).

– Sound Choices –

Yes your choice of sounds are going to reflect on the whole sound. Choosing sounds that are too heavy or too light being the most common issues.

Now maybe the sounds are the very sounds you want, so what you might be missing is the impact of certain sounds. They sound right but they don’t quite hit where they should.

– Transient control –

Well this often comes down to the processing and bringing up the decay tail level while maybe shortening the tail enough to get that impact; Transient Shaping it’s called. You can do this in any modern DAW edit window by adjusting the envelope of a sample and there is a free plugin called, ‘Crack’ by ‘Surreal Machines’, for this job. Experiment with it on a few sounds and learn what it may do for you. See what it does by recording the output and comparing the different waveforms against the original.

Try to get a similar result from a compressor by using a fast attack and fast release to bring up the body of the sound and again record the results and look and listen to them. This way you will gain a better insight over why your sounds sound the way they do allowing you to learn to adjust according to your music.

– Mastering –

Another part of the eventual sound shaping is the mastering process. Quite often you will have a track that seems quiet but the mixer level is saying you’re clipping. This is because you have sounds that stick out now and potentially create a build up with other loud or powerful sounds. It can often be hard to track down. This problem should be addressed before mastering as limiting something that is potentially a problem will likely sound bad in the car or on a big system.

But it is always good to find a mastering sound you like using some of the presets that come with your DAW or plugin collections. Just switching it on now and then will give you an idea of what things can be like once you’ve ironed out any issues and perfected the sounds and improved your mix.

Plus that quiet mix becomes seemingly louder even though it is no longer hitting anywhere near the max on your master channel. It’s because the peaks are being pushed down and the rest is being brought up in volume. There is now less dynamic range and there is such a thing as good and bad dynamic range. Random peaks are bad dynamic range. The subtle intricacies of a great drummer is an example of good dynamic range.

A rule to follow is that Accents should be there to govern the groove and feel of the music but not so loud that they clip the channel. And if it’s not an accent it’s a problem sound leading to a build up of frequencies that needs to be addressed with EQ, ducking or automation.

Fix those issues and the Mastering preset will sound much better and make you realise just how close you can get to the pros on your own.

8. I need a classic analog synth because my VSTs sound like crap.

Don’t get caught in the trap of thinking you need something old for a particular sound. Most of the analog synths most people rave about are now very expensive. You would be far better off getting a few different samples from these synths and loading them into a sampler. This way you can get an idea of how it would sound in your song and maybe how to recreate the sound using a VST.

If your VST version of the synth sounds a little flat, try adding a bit of colour with a distortion or pre amp plugin. Or maybe try sending the sound out of your sound card to an analog mixer then back in. This will add some noise and whatever enhancements you have available to experiment with on the mixer.

The one thing to realise is that an analog synth is only half of the sound. It is also the way it’s programmed, played and expressed, the pre amps used, the processing, the full signal path and the final mastering process. There are so many other things that contribute to what you maybe thinking is this allusive and great sound and this one synth won’t fix all of your problems. It may create more as many of these old machines are out of tune and need constant servicing.

9. My monitor speakers aren’t good enough

This is a legit reason to a degree. There’s nothing worse than thinking you have a good sound only to play your track else where and realise it sounds like crap.

The thing is people who use expensive speakers use them every day and have very good ears with loads of experience. These people would probably be able to get a good mix out of your speakers too as they would quickly be able to figure out what the speakers are lacking and adjust as necessary.

You would still struggle if you had great speakers anyway because, A) You would still have to learn to be familiar with them, And B) Because your room would still not be the perfect listening environment.

I bet though, you’ve seen images of professional artists with speakers placed in random positions, underneath a keyboard, pushed into corners, on one side of a room and looking very wrong considering the recommendations from every music production article. So how come they can do this and make great music?

Well, the most obvious answer to this is that they are more concerned with writing the very best music they can. Getting the parts to move and fit together musically rather than sonically. A good musician knows what works and what doesn’t as their job is writing the music.

They will probably use their favourite synths and drum sounds and do most of the sequencing, tracking and arranging. But when it comes to making things work in the mix they will send off their stems to someone else to do and this will free them up to either work on more music or practice using their equipment.

10. I need to do a course before I can make anything good

Again this is a fairly legit reason. Without any type of training or mentoring, how can you be expected to be good at what you do?

The problem for many is picking the right course. I mean what is the right course anyway? Unless you have the backing to go and do a full 3 year music technology degree or a few thousand quid to do a 9 month ‘Pointblank’ course you are going to be trying to learn from basic online courses that may cost anywhere between 9 and 900 pounds or dollars. And while this may work fine for some, what you will find is you will be overwhelmed by choice and knowing where to start. Inevitably what you get out of anything is up to you and many like to learn straight from Youtube.

So what to do? If you are serious and young enough I would say to spend time researching if and how you could go about doing a full time course. You will have hands on experience every day. Someone to ask questions to daily. You will work with people and build lasting bonds that will help your career after the course. And you will have proof that you are a fully trained professional when looking for work should you need it.

Many online courses are problematic in that you don’t know really know what you’re getting until you but it. And others are very good to watch but are really tailored as entertainment and don’t actually push you to do any work.

Most show you how a person is making a track but doesn’t offer any specifics of the music theory or what the track is about. It’s just a house track maybe, that sounds ok but isn’t that great or inspiring.

Often they use plugins you can’t afford. One particular tutor likes to tell you during the course how you really need very specific and expensive gear while also telling you how you can’t do what he’s showing you unless you have a professional studio. Very demotivating!

Really you should pick boring-ish ones that focus on your weaknesses .e.g. music theory, kick drums or using compressors. And you should try to make your own course outline. Maybe steal a college outline and go through it crossing out the bits you don’t feel you need leaving the bits you do. Then research which courses other providers can offer to help you fill those gaps and stick to it like a proper course. Even set yourself homework to real nail it. Give yourself a certificate too if you want.

Just make sure you put everything you learn into practice before moving on. Otherwise you will be just binge-watching and not learning. Make it a regular part of your week and treat it like a night course until you feel you have passed.

Round up

Considering that was all off the top of my head, that was a big post in the end, so congratulations if you made it this far. I think that just about covers most of the things stopping most people from making music every day. I hope you got something out of this. I need to go get a drink now.

Thanks for reading, you are very appreciated )

P.S. Don’t forget I do books and one of them is a Music Theory book called ‘See in Key’, designed to let you get some notes and chords without stopping the music making flow. And the another is ‘Finish 50 Tracks’, laid out with all the considerations a full track needs to be complete. So go check em out!