Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Do you know what you've just done?!
I'm sure we all have tens, if not hundreds of ditties, doodles or even projects - hiding away on our drives.
Is the 'thing' that seperates great artists from everyone else, the ability to coldly say 'that's great' or 'that's bad' in a completely impartial way, when it comes to material made by yourself?
I often wish I could somehow 'forget' that I've written something, composed something or mixed something, just so that that I can listen to it without prejudice.
Tomorrow morning, I'll wish that I'd forgotten I had written this post, no doubt...
The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
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Now I really feel like the universe has an earpiece to my activities. It's mind boggling that I'm seeing this post just minutes after I deleted a whopping 21Gb of sonic experiments off of my iPad. Who are you?? And what do you want with me?!
I hope 21gb of deleting wasn't an accident!
That's a LOT of time.
Maybe we all just need a good editor - a Lennon to a McCartney. A Keith Richards to a Mick Jagger (although I think they stopped actually taking any notice of each other in the 1970's).
Producers are the biggest artists on the planet atm, is it fashion or art ?
Hah...no, this time it was intentional. But I've been down that 'other' road before.
I think it's somewhere in the middle...for me...hovering tightly around the "robot sex" + "how in the world did a sound like that come to exist, and why" category. I actually realize I'm not even answering your question right now. Carry on.
So, am I to take it the theme of this thread is listening to old projects and cringing?
I have an odd (I think) experience with this. When I listen to things I've done more than a couple of days ago I have zero recollection of who made it or how. This may be a function of the varieties of brain damage I've incurred (teenager of the 70's, and TBI etc). This isn't only music, happens with my writing as well. As often as not I'll think "not bad, who made this?"
I do think I have an ability to discern when my shit is shit and when it's good and when to discard. The question I ask is "is this good enough to finish"? I've been making music for years and I probably only have around 20 songs that met that standard and believe me, I don't think any of them are amazing, classic material. However, this may change soon as am I experimenting with ways to speed up the process and therefore churn out more finished material. Because why not?
Okay, so here's my story. There used to be a time where I thought anything was possible in music (2002-early 2008ish). Back then, I used to rock out to my early tunes thinking they were better than anything else out there. I was very naive back then, deaf to my own sounds, lacking the ability to scrutinize what I made to make it better, lol. Anyways, as I moved on with my musical prowess and continually improved my craft, I gradually stopped listening to those older tracks. Granted, things in 2008 onward weren't perfect in terms of production values, but I was proud of what I made. Here's an example of something from 2009...
So, I recently started backing up of all my previously-made tracks and project files to Dropbox, starting with all the final rendered mp3s from everything I ever made all the way back to 2002. Then, surprise surprise, morbid curiosity got the better of me, and I started listening to all of the old stuff I made after almost 9 years of not hearing the old tracks.
Yeah, while I can appreciate the spirit of creation I used to have back then, let's just say a majority of the creative choices I made pre 2008 were so awful it would make the Vengaboys cringe. Stupid choices ranging from terribly stupid/trite lyrics to "character voices" (yeah, the fuck?) and everything roquefort in-between.
Who WAS I back then? Who made that dross? I did, apparently, but aside from about 8 or so poorly-produced tracks I can mine good stuff from/remake, it's unreal how I was satisfied with cringy mediocrity.
Maybe I'm too down on myself from 15 years ago, but I could've been rich by now had I the talent at 18 that Madeon had when he was 18.
Kind of how I view what I have been doing the last 6 years of iOS music. I enjoy (really enjoy) making it... but somehow I can't escape the feeling most of it isn't very good :-) I also keep just about everything "just in case" so lots of "Test 16" or "AUM improv 7 Take 12" type tracks littering my PC hard disk.
I've never worked out what is "good" music anyway - over and above "I like that track" - so I try not to worry about what I do; have fun playing around with sounds; and enjoying the journey of music making. It looks unlikely that Jean Michel Jarre (my synth hero of my youth) is going to start following me on Soundcloud and ask me to collaborate on "Electronica 3" now :-)
I don't save any of the original workings that go into a track - DAW files etc., but I do try to export a final wav of the finished thing and back it up on PC.
I don't think artists and musicians can ever predict which work will be perceived as 'good'. Most people hate the noises I make, but every now and again I hear from someone who is blown away by them, and then tracks I think are great get passed over.
As a painter, I had an open evening for an exhibition of my work a few weeks back, and two pieces I hated, and almost didn't put in, seemed to be everyone's favourites. The one's I was most proud of - largely ignored.
I think we should just put out everything we do, as someone, somewhere will love it.
Wise words.
Edit: oh and do you have a link to your art work online? Would like to see it.
Early on in my early teens learning the craft but also history of music, I'd see some quote that says so-and-so artist didn't think it'd be a hit until the label, producer, etc. pushed it and told the artist, "NO, this is a hit!" and think: "Aww, bullshit!"
Now after writing songs, bits, grooves, chord progressions, etc. for over 20 years I firmly believe it. I've thought some stuff was utter shit, bubblegum, waste of space and everyone who heard it gave me positive feedback. But then sometimes the stuff I was so prou of, and worked so hard on would be met with polite smiles..."Oh, that's interesting...got anything else?"
I don't think we're really supposed to know 100%. I mean I'd like to think I could tell shit from showbiz, but who knows?! I see it as a requirement for NOT stopping the artistic process by being too critical early on. If I immediately shitcan something that would've been great after editing, tempo adjustment & polish then I only hurt myself.
I always ride the song out, as far as I can go, like a wave. It will be judged soon enough the first time you play it to a breathing body.
I admit this editing approach has kept quantity & prolificacy at a minimum, but like what I'm working on now, (transferring older rhythm tracks recorded on analog tape over to Auria Pro for further overdubs vand mixing), I really a believe in some of the material and love the tone of some of the tracks. I'd rather experiment and try this hybrid approach than just throw the songs in a drawer or attempt them with fresh rhythm tracks (drums, bass, guitar).
We all feel precious about our stuff in the creative phase, afterwards it varies. But for now I'm enjoying the process and have been noodling & writing bits & pieces on Gadget, Cubasis, Auria and so on from scratch. It's not 21GB like @brice but there's some stuff there I may return to or just leave be. Ride the wave holmes...
It's difficult working on your own sometimes. I would say that a large proportion of this forum are very insular in their working.
So much of being critical about your own work, can simply be down to what mood you are in at that time.
It's knowing when you are fighting a losing battle with a song, or if there are certain parts that could be saved and used in a new song.
Prince is a great example. It's said that he has a vault containing thousands of hours of recordings.
As much as I love most of his music, I would hate to be the one now trawling through all that to find the hidden 'gems'.
As others have also said, it's amazing (and a little disheartening) when people pass over something you've slaved over that you think is the bees knees, then say that they prefer something else, that to you - was just throwaway.
Thanks all for sharing your own personal 'struggles'. Sometimes it's just nice to know that you're not the only one having an artistic existential crisis!
I think there are a several aspects to this.
The first is to try and take your ego out of the equation. It's all too easy to be self-satisfied with something mediocre, or be embarrassed at something you've done. Try to let those feelings go, because if you wrap up your self-worth in your artistic output it will be impossible to view it objectively, or at least not until a lot of time has passed. In order for you to hear things as others might, comprising of the good and the bad, you have to see your work as something separate from yourself, and disposable enough that you are not attached to it.
Which brings me to the second: produce as much as you can, finish one piece and start the next. That way you don't get too attached to your babies because they're just steps along the way and the next one is around the corner.
The more you produce, the more you learn and the better you are likely to become. Finish, then move on, and stay detached.
The work can be its own (great) thing. The process is a reward in itself, and it's much better to lose oneself in the process than it is to become embroiled in a hunger for praise and attention. If you are able to detach your work from your ego the work suddenly becomes more important than you, not less, and you are more likely to be able to tap into that magic subconscious mysterious thing called creativity.
A book I found interesting on this is Zen In The Art Of Archery which is also reminiscent of more modern concepts such as flow.
Disassociation disorders are so fun.
Always full of surprises.
Ironically, after I spend hours making a song and master,mix, tweak, caress, coddle, cuddle, muddle, sing, dance, and finally FINISH IT, I FUCKING HATE 90% of what I have just done.
Why my Soundcloud has only like 2 songs at a time.
So much so I need to step away, because I end up deleting things that were actually good.
But I get wierded out with my own shit all at once and bug out on it.
BUT, then I go through Loopy and blow my mind with the stuff I did over that time frame. I usually delete and reinstall LOOPY HD every 2 months. It gets too big.
Frankly, with all the new apps, OCD, ADD, and other things, completion and satisfaction of projects is a rare thing lately.
My own technique (evolving obviously) and one which is similar to many. Is to not finish one piece and start the next. But to work on tracks in rotation over a long period of time. This gives you the chance to be much more objective each time you return to the track and refine and add to it or take parts away. Works better for me.
Yah, these days I tend not to hate or love an individual track but I do love the process and working on/listening to collections of tracks, recent or past; makes me much happier than just fixating on one track. I just try and apreciate the potential of the ideas. Recognizing and building up small improvements. I get excited when I think of the long road to retirement where I get to work primarily on my music, sifting through decades of sketches. May or may not happen (health, finances etc) but it keeps me going.
I wonder, does Jean Michel Jarre collaborate at all with anybody? That would be really cool. Yeah, the man is an enigma. There'll never be another one of him, and in a way this is good. We need to pave our own unique musical paths while remaining inspired by our inspirations. That's what keeps life interesting.
I wonder, is Vangelis another synth hero of yours? If you didn't, check out the Bladerunner soundtrack, or better still, do what I did and focus on the soundtrack while watching the Final Cut (the one that doesn't suffer from the fruity hackneyed voiceovers, which allows you to soak in the atmosphere of the experience).
You can't escape the feeling that it's not really good? Trust me mate, when it comes to our early music, in terms of quality, yours would blow mine out the water by a mile. We can always mine our earlier stuff and reappropriate it to new material, but still mate.
@MonzoPro Strange enough, I know which pieces I think the general public would like versus what pieces my personal self would like. "Kowloon" so happened to fit in both categories - a track I liked, and a track most people seem to get on with. You dabble in art on the side too?
Yeah, but about putting everything out there, it's good advice only if it's something higher quality that you despise. I entered this song in the USA Songwriting Competition, and I had a bitch of a time mixing it down due to a lack of being able to sum to mono in FL Studio Mobile 3. Even now, it's not mixed to my satisfaction, so as soon as BM3 is released, I'm remaking it. However, I bet other people would like it despite its flaws.
Stuff from 2002-2008ish, however, is only good if I want to stitch together a cringe compilation track. 
@Carnbot Huh, I never thought to do that. That's pretty darn good advice.
I have this idea in my head that good songs happen quickly and are finished quickly. So my natural inclination is to find ways to work as quickly as possible lol. I'm always searching for that technique/workflow template that gets me from 0 to 60 in an hour or so.
I wager that the more liberal your musical tastes are, the more likely you are to hit this goal.
In fact only in the last week or so I was thinking that perhaps I should close my bandcamp account as being somewhat surpluss to requirements (zero activity for weeks and weeks). I think the only person who actually listens to my music is me. And I'm fine with that. When I've done live performances (a few small scales things) the response has always been more polite encouragement that actual enthusiasm for the music. It's being creative is what counts for me.
It's always helpful to know one isn't alone with these thoughts.....