Is it narcissistic to listen to your own music?

i have been making music on my computer for about 5 or 6 years, and i have almost always hated all of it. but finally, in the last few months, i am making stuff which i really enjoy listening to, even if its still not as good as the stuff i consider good enough to play. i think basically if you have a decent taste in music, you are gonna hate your music for a long time, because apart from the odd prodigy, no-one makes good shit as soon as they sit down in front of ableton(or whatever)

but yeah, the last 4 or 5 tunes ive made, ive really enjoyed. ive also really enjoyed being able to go back to them and add in bits and pieces that pop into my head as im walking round listening to it. unlike other peoples music, in which i often hear amazing ideas for it in my head, but have no power to alter it.

  On 6/4/2012 at 9:39 PM, messiaen said:

if you have a decent taste in music, you are gonna hate your music for a long time

I dunno...when I first started producing I literally did not listen to anything else (I was 9) & thought my stuff was THA BOMB. As I got older & was exposed to a wider range of good music, my old stuff started to seem less impressive, & as a response I'd come up with new approaches to compensate.

So generally whatever I'm currently working on seems really good (or else I stop working on it), & old material is like 35% sweet tunez, 55% pgood/might be nostalgia, 10% oh man why'd I put that out

Nah, listening to your music is how you distinguish the better stuff from the less good stuff. Really enjoying your own music might be narcissistic but it's still okay.

i listen to my own music more than any other music, that's for sure. i think the curse of the artist/musician is their brain starts to pick stuff apart and they have less time to enjoy other people's stuff. i'm much more concerned with what i'm doing.

it's taken a lot of work to break out of that.

I can be pretty hot headed and get easily frustrated when making stuff so I tend to do it after work when I'm 'relaxing' (drunk and or baked) after work between 1 and 4 am

and quite often have some shady memory of having made something that I liked the night before, open up the laptop and surprise the fuck out of myself.

The stuff I do during the day time is generally fucking horrible rushed impatient shit

^^^^^

this.

also, i used to be really excited to share my tunes with close friends, no matter the state. only because I was just really excited about something in the track, buzzing in general. I find my self to be a lot more reserved now, though. In fact, my girlfriend hardly hears my music any more. So much so that she thought I stopped doing it. Some times I will have a few drinks and absent mindedly play a track, but beyond that, I very rarely listen to my music with other people around these days.

Yeah I hate that. My girlfriend is into indie rock and all that stuff so, I mean she is awesome and always happy to listen to whatever I happen to be doing and even has a couple of my tunes in her mp3 player but I mean its not what she is into, it doesn't have lyrics, she is just being cool and supportive because that's what she's like.

I don't even try to show any of my friends my shit anymore. Most of them are dnb or dubstep heads and just aren't into it. I can put a track on but people will just talk over it, or if I hand it to them they invariably lose the cd or never get around to it.

But that happens. You just have te take that shit as hard reinforcement that you have to be in the game for you, and if no one but you gives a fucking shit about what you're pouring your soul into and you still want to do it day in day out, then you're coming at it from the right angle as far as I'm concerned

If you want somebody to listen to your music, you might try getting them involved. Have your friend play bass on a track, or sample them or something.

I started getting my wife to record some vocal snippets this year and it has been a great experience. She doesn't listen to electronic music but being invested in the creation process has gotten her much more interested.

i.e.

http://soundcloud.com/faceculler/night-ride

  On 7/9/2012 at 12:03 AM, Face Culler said:

If you want somebody to listen to your music, you might try getting them involved. Have your friend play bass on a track, or sample them or something.

 

 

Yeah I did the same thing more or less with my girlfriend, except we just sat down one day and decided to start constructing and composing a track together... She likes the more ambient side of things so I think it turned out to be an interesting mixture:

http://soundcloud.com/hermann-3/hermann-thor-joss-gustavsson

That's awesome! Yeah I was actually having a cigarette with my girl on the balcony the other night and whining about something or other about writing tracks (I've been a little frustrated with it all lately) and she noted that I tend to overcomplicate things which got me to asking her if she'd like to direct, as it were, while I'm making a tune.

As in she might tell me this is too distorted or this bit is a little irritating or whatever and I work with that.

She liked the idea, but I'm not sure it will end up happening lol

Haha I'd completely forgotten about that! Cheers for reminding me; its a pretty interesting idea

It´s actually a very good process of doing things yes, I advise it very much. Especially if you´re very comfortable and close with the other person then you can be comfortable knowing they´ll be completely honest and it will definitely help either way. And yeah, it´s good to get some directions that you´re not able to give to yourself in a way.

(I get the feeling this thread has gone a little off-topic, but I don´t really care)

no

  On 7/8/2012 at 8:11 PM, thanks robert moses said:

^^^^^

 

this.

 

also, i used to be really excited to share my tunes with close friends, no matter the state. only because I was just really excited about something in the track, buzzing in general. I find my self to be a lot more reserved now, though. In fact, my girlfriend hardly hears my music any more. So much so that she thought I stopped doing it. Some times I will have a few drinks and absent mindedly play a track, but beyond that, I very rarely listen to my music with other people around these days.

Yeah exact same thing with me! When I started out I was a narcissistic bastard and wanted to show everything, now I go months without showing and I generally don't feel a need to show my music as much. Comments from people seem to matter less and less, but I also listen to my music a lot. I usually know is flaws, and what I want it to be in the future, but I like to enjoy it by myself without outside influence. Even though it might be a narcissistic point of view, I consider myself the best listener for my tracks.

I don't judge that in any kind of objective way, I just have my own world, and my own narrative for how things fit together. When I show them to others, I'm really glad when someone listens and they also experience something similar to me, but I don't want that to mean anything about me being awesome, or me having skill or anything like that. It's not really about me at all? It's about a world in the music...

The only tracks I make I make to actively piss myself off, because of some deep insecurity.

  On 7/10/2012 at 7:48 PM, coax said:

It's not really about me at all? It's about a world in the music...

That´s a very nice description actually. I can relate to that feeling too, showing my music to other people not necessarily to feel good about myself but to do the music itself justice. I always feel thankful to the music I make, because it often feels a lot like a fluke every time, and I often see it as its own being so I want to show it gratitude and give it what it deserves: ears and minds to listen to it.

Wow.. deep huh?..

  On 7/10/2012 at 8:45 PM, Hermann said:

  On 7/10/2012 at 7:48 PM, coax said:

It's not really about me at all? It's about a world in the music...

 

That´s a very nice description actually. I can relate to that feeling too, showing my music to other people not necessarily to feel good about myself but to do the music itself justice. I always feel thankful to the music I make, because it often feels a lot like a fluke every time, and I often see it as its own being so I want to show it gratitude and give it what it deserves: ears and minds to listen to it.

Wow.. deep huh?..

Oh yeah definitely. I would be lying if I said I had 100% control and prediction of everything I make. I will often stumble upon things I like, and it does feel like a fluke a lot of times. If I manage to make something I love, then I'm uber grateful.

  On 7/9/2012 at 12:03 AM, Face Culler said:

If you want somebody to listen to your music, you might try getting them involved. Have your friend play bass on a track, or sample them or something.

This is a brilliant thought, you may be on to something

  On 7/10/2012 at 9:19 PM, coax said:

  On 7/10/2012 at 8:45 PM, Hermann said:

  On 7/10/2012 at 7:48 PM, coax said:

It's not really about me at all? It's about a world in the music...

 

That´s a very nice description actually. I can relate to that feeling too, showing my music to other people not necessarily to feel good about myself but to do the music itself justice. I always feel thankful to the music I make, because it often feels a lot like a fluke every time, and I often see it as its own being so I want to show it gratitude and give it what it deserves: ears and minds to listen to it.

Wow.. deep huh?..

 

Oh yeah definitely. I would be lying if I said I had 100% control and prediction of everything I make. I will often stumble upon things I like, and it does feel like a fluke a lot of times. If I manage to make something I love, then I'm uber grateful.

Well said... I'm sure that a lot of our favorite output from our favorite artists came from these happy accidents to begin with. Even just thinking about the first person who used a 303 for purposes originally not intended.

The funniest thing about reading this thread is that I found it while listening to my own music. Haha! So, that answers that question...

I don't really play stuff for people I know or see all the time, either. My wife and kids have to hear my stuff because I get excited about something I'm working on and invariably can't hold back and put a mix on my iPod (or whatever) and bring it to the living room stereo. She's doesn't like most electronic, but I guess I'm lucky because she claims to like my stuff (that pessimistic side rears its ugly head... does she really??). Then again, I don't do only electronic, so who knows. I do, however, write parts for her to play on the flute. Maybe that helps ;)

Who else is going to listen to it lol

  On 7/11/2012 at 8:49 PM, zemudene said:

Who else is going to listen to it lol

yeah this, pretty much. I bet I'm the only person still listening to my album that came out in January..

  On 7/12/2012 at 5:20 AM, modey said:

  On 7/11/2012 at 8:49 PM, zemudene said:

Who else is going to listen to it lol

yeah this, pretty much. I bet I'm the only person still listening to my album that came out in January..

You're your number one fan.

Sometimes i even become my number one groupee.