psyching yourself out

i'll hold my tounge on julian jaynes.

  On 3/25/2011 at 6:19 AM, hahathhat said:

listen to jung, vamous.

 

edit: in plain english, at a certain point you're just microwaving your own poop. (like autechre, but that's another thread...)

what have you just said.

been there, done that, when I was about 18, I started reading Jung, all of it, then Freud, then Nietzsche, then Kierkegaard and Camus, and many years later I figured out that 10mg of C20H21FN2O together with 5mg C17H18F3NO works fine for me, from time to time, I dont recommand it to anyone though, lol !? :-/

I am very good at this, and it's the main reason I haven't gotten anything done in the last three years.

Vamos "i say the less you care and the more fun you're having, the less you're thinking, the less stress you're feeling, the better the music will be."

This is so fucking true. I have this strong belief that when you're having fun doing a beat and enjoying yourself, it shows through on the track

  On 3/25/2011 at 11:05 AM, schlucharski said:

been there, done that, when I was about 18, I started reading Jung, all of it, then Freud, then Nietzsche, then Kierkegaard and Camus, and many years later I figured out that 10mg of C20H21FN2O together with 5mg C17H18F3NO works fine for me, from time to time, I dont recommand it to anyone though, lol !? :-/

i took some classes in college but i never really read freud... he was kind of like reverb, in the back of every track but rarely mentioned explicitly.

jung had some stellar quotes about art/life and some very sound thinking on how to deal with the goulash in your own mind.

and, like i said earlier -- phenethylamines.

  On 3/25/2011 at 6:57 PM, hahathhat said:

 

i took some classes in college but i never really read freud... he was kind of like reverb, in the back of every track but rarely mentioned explicitly.

 

jung had some stellar quotes about art/life and some very sound thinking on how to deal with the goulash in your own mind.

 

and, like i said earlier -- phenethylamines.

Freud is cocaine & Jung is mescaline

my dad met the doctor that treated freud's cocaine-induced nose-cancer. and now you know

  On 3/25/2011 at 3:09 AM, vamos scorcho said:

OK acidphakist. your website is how i want to distribute. cool shit. well done.

Thanks, man. And big UPS to Superstix who designed it and all my cover art. She nailed it on stompers!

that's a good thread, gives a lot of hope

  On 3/25/2011 at 3:13 AM, vamos scorcho said:

SCOTT WALKER - doesn't EVER listen to his own music once he's done producing it. the only place he listens to it is in the studio. i think this is GENIUS advice that should be followed by anyone who is taking this thing seriously. it's the best way to go.

This works for some people, but not for others. For me, I make my music for me. I like to share it and I like when other people enjoy it, but I listen to my own music in my own home and my own car all the time because I like it and that's why I made it. I also think it helps me realize what my strengths and weaknesses are so when I start on another track I can tweak my trajectory a little to be closer to what I want.

As for psyching yourself out, everyone will feel like the shit and a piece of shit at one time or another, but just keep on trucking knowing that the most important thing is that you are always raising your potential.

No track you ever release will be the best you can do. The best piece of music you will ever write will be something that runs through your head while you're laying in bed or that makes its way into your fingers or out of your mouth while waiting for the bus or for your bacon to get crispy, and that's okay.

I will repeat. Nothing you ever make will ever be the best thing that you are can imagine. No one else will ever hear the amazing things that you could create, only things you do create, and you will probably forget the best ones, and that's fine. It's not the end of the world, it's just part of being an artist. Keep pushing yourself and pretty soon tunes the caliber of the ones you only remotely heard in your head will be the ones you're making and far better ones will be on the horizon just out of reach.

you have all these electro tracks in your head and you have it all worked out how to do it just right and you have to get it perfect, so.... Make ambient for a while. Try to have fun

  On 4/6/2011 at 2:41 AM, marf said:

you have all these electro tracks in your head and you have it all worked out how to do it just right and you have to get it perfect, so.... Make ambient for a while. Try to have fun

or, how about trying to write songs using a piano? or a tuba. new instruments can be a nice distraction from the electro that haunts a man

  On 3/24/2011 at 4:26 PM, soundwave said:

a magic trick will appear very different to the magician doing it imho

Great analogy.

  On 3/24/2011 at 2:56 PM, acidphakist said:

Welcome to my world.

 

1) When you are in a manic productive phase, spend every free moment you have in the studio. Your perception of the quality of your output will be skewed towards the positive (hey, that's mania) but you will, in fact, be producing your best work. Ride the train until it runs out of steam.

 

2) When you crash, avoid your studio and DO NOT listen to your music. Acknowledge what is happening, but keep the faith: you've made good music before, it seems to improve the more you do it, and someday you'll be back in the pilot's seat.

 

3) Find some critical listeners. I've met and maintained relationships with several people whom I respect and trust to tell me exactly what they think of my work. They provide a good average, a buffer of reality for your moods to oscillate about.

 

It feels great if they all agree that a song is good, but it's also reassuring to see their opinions vary widely. It shows you that one song can mean so many things to others and helps validate your own wavering opinion.

 

4) There are far more people listening to and enjoying your music than you'll ever hear about.

 

5) I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but don't attempt to make a living off your music. You'll approach your art from the wrong angle.

In the same boat here, and this is all great advice.

Way I look at it differs from time to time, I take my music very seriously for some reason. At times my progress and the stuff I've learnt seems unreal looking back, but you don't compare yourself to previous you, you compare yourself to your heroes. It's terrible to be hard on yourself because you love the art and I think it can be a real problem for some people, myself included. I try to make the best of the situation and just play around more, use the creative bursts in my favour, learn more and not be serious when i'm not feeling too good about it. As long as I don't stop learning I think it's worthwile.

One of the things I notice about novice-to-intermediate musicians is that they regularly try to assess whether they've "got it" or not. When I was drawing alot and hanging out in art communities there was never any misunderstanding that if you want to become a good visual artist you must put down the videogames, the bong and any other distractions and just draw, draw and draw. Even a punk guitarist has to learn a few chords.

Deep down I believe if you like making music you belong in the studio and that should be it's own justification. Music is fucking amazing. Just fucking make some noise.