I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Electronic Music Production // Dark Arts
Huck Farper
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Huck Farper »

Definitely better to be full of blue than full of red..... ^

The_G
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by The_G »

I don't know what you're talking about, Stacie. I've really enjoyed your tracks. And I HATED Digweed in 1997.

I think it's more likely that you are suffering from a lack of confidence in yourself, which I can relate to. But it's something you need to face and overcome. Of course you need to keep working on your skills--we all do, and that's 10x more true for those of us (like me) who are new or relatively new to being serious about producing techno.

Your music is better than you think, and you are not far off from where you want to be. Keep improving but don't lose confidence in yourself!

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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by The_G »

jordanneke wrote:If I'm honest, I nearly gave up a few years back.

The type of music I was able to make wasn't the music I liked or indeed wanted to make. For me it was a matter of time and practice and importantly learning and honing skills.

I still can't make exactly what I want, but i'm getting closer to a target sound.

Just took a few years.
I DID give up. Three times. So basically my history in production is 1996-2002, 2007-2010, 2013-2014, and 2016-present.

I deeply regret all three, as I could have been so far ahead of where I am now. And I'm embarrassed by the fact that I preferred quitting over confronting my insecurities, inhibitions, bad habits and laziness. Underlying all of that was frustration that I wasn't making the quality of music I wanted to be making. But that's no excuse. I should have kept at it.

In early 2016, something changed. Part of it was discovering synthwave. Production is a bit simpler than it is in techno, and the music is more melodic, so I was able to play to my strengths more easily--which, in turn, made it easier to start confronting my (many) weaknesses. Releasing something gave me confidence to release something else, which gave me the confidence to try my hand at techno again.

Now I feel like I'm on the road to where I've always wanted to be. It's a long road but I'm actually making progress this time. And I've never been happier making music than I am right now.

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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by block.punch »

Just listened to a bunch of tracks on your soundcloud page. They sound pretty 'techno' to me. Not sure what type of sound you're after but what you're producing is definitely techno. Do you want to make something drastically different to this? Have you tried loading up a favourite track and then doing your best to emulate all the parts in it? This can work, so long as you have a reasonable understanding of synthesis or a LARGE patch library for you synths. It can often spark a new direction or idea.

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over9000
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by over9000 »

what a nice thread!
iam a total beginner and i feel you. Sometimes i think, that everything i make sucks hard, but in the end i still have fun doing it. And as someone pointed out above, its great to see how one can learn something every time sitting down to write tracks.

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rktic
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by rktic »

Hi Stacie,

this is how I'm reading your words and I'd like to invite you to reflect about it :)

"When producing I play it safe and follow a path I already mastered (least resistance). However, this eventually isn't my path. It's the path of somebody else. And instead of figuring out what the fuck my way is, I feel more comfortable with doing what I know works because it gives me at least a result."

Does that make any sense to you?

Pelecaras
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Pelecaras »

arkos wrote:
Pelecaras wrote:I'm having the same feelings lately, been thinking whether I want to carry on struggling or call it a day and sell/give away all my gear, software etc.

But at the end of the day I tell myself that everyday I make something that's a little better than yesterday and everyday I learn something new about a synth/fx and everyday I get closer to making a half decent track.
This thread is excellent, very good points in here and it's literally like a short self help book for producers.
Never stop doing what you love.

Everyone has their ups and downs creating and I think this pic sums it up nicely :mrgreen:
Image

Thanks for this Arkos.....I'm definitely toward the blue end of the spectrum but I persevere nonetheless.
FUCK-WIT

Pelecaras
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Pelecaras »

StacieAnne wrote:I have been thinking about this while I have been away.
Pretty much everything I make sounds like it is straight outta a Digweed set from 1997. Which is is fine but I fucking love techno.
I don't just want to make a bangor and see people lose their shit to it on a dance-floor but I would actually like to be able to make something more techno. I listen to it that much I just don't get what I revert back to older sounding stuff.

Should I give up and just accept that it isn't for me and I am stuck in some kind of time loop? I just naturally gravitate to the sounds I put in my productions and they are reflective of what I am trying to convey.

I get that it is really hard to make techno sounds polished but so many of you absolutely nail it.

Am I unnecessarily making a thing out of this? Should I just try a bit harder or should I just accept that it isn't for me and fully commit to what I am making? I still take an awful lot of pleasure from making music, even if it isn't the sound I wanted to get to.

Any advice happily received :)
I've just been to your SC page and had a listen to your tracks and they sound 'techno' to me Stacie, you are a very competent producer mate. I wish that I was as far along as you.
My advice would be to have a few sessions where you don't have any pre-conceived idea of where you want to go and see if your sound is the one you have now or something you can only let through when you let it flow out free form. Think of it as musical unconscious writing.
FUCK-WIT

arkos
Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by arkos »

Pelecaras wrote:
Thanks for this Arkos.....I'm definitely toward the blue end of the spectrum but I persevere nonetheless.
We all go through it mate you'll get where you want eventually, hard work does pay off.

I find referencing vs released tracks has helped me a lot and it still does but it can also be frustrating when your not satisfied with what you are producing vs the released tracks your a/b-"ing" against.

But it's a great tool nonetheless...

buffered
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by buffered »

keep at it. Some people get to what they want faster than others, this is true but also you are probably better than you were 5 years ago in terms of defining a sound.
i find getting out and observing how tracks work in a club situation helps. The weight, pacing, and elements used to produce momentum.

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WOLF!
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by WOLF! »

Try to look at it from the positive side; it's the selection process that's been carried out for people that commit vs. the quitters.

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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Alume »

I thinks its interesting to look at the giving up part. What are you actually giving up on? Making music? having fun? becoming a famous techno dj? yourself?

The way I see it, it may very well feel like we are depressed 80% of our time, simply because in those moments we need to work the hardest to overcome to hurdles of challenges we set for ourselves. This tiring effort makes these moments stand out next to the easy ones and drains our energies at the same time. That being said it's in these very moments that we stand for a choice, do you persevere what you've set out to do, or do you quit? I know its not always easy but that's simply how things seem to work in this world. You either go out there, get that shit, or call back the troops and sit it out for a day and wait, wait until you have no more time to spend. Besides that, the notion of it not becoming any easier, makes it easier by a significant amount.

We rise, we struggle to find our balance and we fall, only to rise again. We've been doing this since as long as we can remember so why make a big deal out of it? I've come to see that no matter how hard I try I can't force things to go like I want them to go, they remain unbent and independent. So I've learned to be patient, clear my mind of tiny musts and have-to's, and keep true to my long term goals and act accordingly in the here and now. Stay focused and before long, you are at that place, you've done your time to acquire that what you've been wanting so desperately a while back.

All things come, all things have been and all things are. All we can do is learn how we can use this to go where we'd like to go.

Great things don't require effort alone, it requires time as well.

As well as love, passion and everything that our burning hart can provide before it bravely crumbles into ashes.

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tenga
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by tenga »

Of course you are built for techno !!!
You just need to go to the subsekt summer meeting , thats all !!
:)

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TMobotron
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by TMobotron »

I've been feeling the same way as OP a lot lately, and there are some great replies here. It seems that after awhile (years in my case) it stops being obvious when you're making progress. In the early days, it was obvious when you'd learned something new or gotten better at something - it's even obvious to see exactly where you need to make improvements. After awhile it's not so clear, and it can start to feel like you're just stuck making the same thing over and over even if you are getting better all the time. You've probably heard this advice, but looking back at some of the earlier stuff you've made will probably make it more clear whether or not this is the case.

daniel
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by daniel »

Some pretty good advice all around in this thread. I believe everyone goes through those feelings sooner or later whatever your creative media of choice is.
The best advice I could give is to just try to emulate your favorite artists as best as you can, painters, writers and musicians do it as a learning tool, there's no reason you can't do it to learn as well. It might feel wrong or generic in the beginning but you'll get an insight on how that sound is done and you'll be free to explore and do something new with your new knowledge.

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Pagan
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Pagan »

Funny, I've suffered from the exact same problem a while ago- a lot of the tracks I started sounded just like premillenial Digweed :D

However, I'm literally new to producing techno, but not new to music in general- I have enough experience in other genres that I know it's just a hill I have to climb before I can express the vision I have inside. I just have to keep on pushing, try to be analytic about it to make the learning process faster. You know, "why this sounds like Digweed", in my case it was the tempo, overuse of syncopation and sound choices for percussions. I'm used to playing tracks instead of programming, and forcing myself to mouse around the piano roll has resulted in much simpler and straightforward beats- which to me are more "techno", and this has got me much closer to the stuff I'm after. Then again, I personally don't have any external ambitions, I simply need to satisfy my artistic needs and create something that pleases me- I don't work under pressure to get shit released or played, and have time until the grave.

Guess my point is that instead of getting frustrated, just roll up the sleeves and try to think what are the details that bother you. In music close enough just won't cut it, if it's a specific effect or style you want to achieve. I don't think there are any real shortcuts to nailing your own vision.

GU009 / Sydney is still fucking epic though.

intrusav
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by intrusav »

Dunno about emulating cos yer still comparing yourself.
Fuck that.
Aim for what you want, where you can express things, listen and enjoy what comes out of it. It's one session away. One light bulb moment where all the struggle clicks and adds up. Then you'll probably struggle with keeping that candle lit...

There will always be a battle. Accept it and just keep going ..

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Kromasome
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by Kromasome »

Kromasome wrote: I feel like I'm in exactly the same place (even mentioned it in another thread on here somewhere the other day) and have as recently as two nights ago broken my usual workflow, watched a couple of Youtube vids and just started making sounds loosely following the ideas in the videos. In that one session I came up with more "decent" material than I feel like I've created in months. So maybe give that a go and see what happens. Just try a few new methods, and even try the things that you think are cheesy and cliche - it might just be the thing that helps you get to your own version of what they are doing.
Update:

I haven't got back to attempting full tracks yet, but have done about 7 or 8 sound design sessions since that post. But last night just for fun and to see how it was going, I created a new basic drum rack (using some different methods to my usual way) and just threw in some of the audio that I'd recorded during the sound design, and fuck me if that wasn't the most fun I've had in ages (played around in session view which is unusual for me). I'm not saying I'm closing in on my first Beatport smash hit, but it was the first time in a long time that I could actually feel a smile on my face as I was trying some of the different combinations.

Just saying it might help dig you out of a bit of rut to try stuff that you'd never normally try.

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A_K
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by A_K »

I think it's kind of like any relationship. If you love that person or thing, you'll stick with it. It might have its ups and downs but you just keep with it... because you love it. Eventually the relationship takes off and reciprocates and it makes you feel good. Everybody has bad days and good days. It's not particularly easy but you keep with it because you love it.

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ozias_leduc
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Re: I just don't think I am built to make Techno.

Post by ozias_leduc »

Kromasome wrote:
Kromasome wrote: I feel like I'm in exactly the same place (even mentioned it in another thread on here somewhere the other day) and have as recently as two nights ago broken my usual workflow, watched a couple of Youtube vids and just started making sounds loosely following the ideas in the videos. In that one session I came up with more "decent" material than I feel like I've created in months. So maybe give that a go and see what happens. Just try a few new methods, and even try the things that you think are cheesy and cliche - it might just be the thing that helps you get to your own version of what they are doing.
Update:

I haven't got back to attempting full tracks yet, but have done about 7 or 8 sound design sessions since that post. But last night just for fun and to see how it was going, I created a new basic drum rack (using some different methods to my usual way) and just threw in some of the audio that I'd recorded during the sound design, and fuck me if that wasn't the most fun I've had in ages (played around in session view which is unusual for me). I'm not saying I'm closing in on my first Beatport smash hit, but it was the first time in a long time that I could actually feel a smile on my face as I was trying some of the different combinations.

Just saying it might help dig you out of a bit of rut to try stuff that you'd never normally try.
Yes! Messing around is important.

i think i've mentioned it before but I was quite inspired when I read about the physicist Richard Feynman - he became disillusioned with physics and all the bullshit that accompanied it, so gave it up. Then a while later, he decided to just start "playing" with it again, just messing about without any particular goal in mind. It reminded him of what he initially loved about it - and fell back in love with it.


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