Question for those of you who have kids

[Leskey]

Haha - not a day goes by that I don't question whether bringing my kids onto this planet was a good idea or not. More for their sake than mine. Yes, they regularly drive me nuts, but it's pretty scary what the future holds for them. But I guess every parent has been saying that since the dawn of time. The responsibility for preparing them as best as we possibly can is quite overwhelming at times - especially in this day and age of having abundant information (and misinformation) at our finger tips...

Man I used to think that way but now I think it's actually the other way around...

It's a good thing if you brought a child to this world with having that awareness. Be the positive change that you want and all that.

Besides... the whole point of life is life... na naa naa nana

[Will Frances]

I think if you have a real burning desire and passion to make music then you will find some time, be it instead of watching tv as much, reading social media etc. real focused time with fresh ears and mind can be far more production than 4 hours slogging it out tired and depleted I find. Ive mentioned before that I decided nearly 4 years ago that I wanted to hone my skills and get better at music, so I stopped doing all the things that were not helping achieve that direction, be it no tv, social media, books not related to music production in the beginning, stopped going out as much, stopped the gym and started cycling to work instead. I fitted 2 hours in before work regularly, 1 hour at lunch and 1 hour after work (or more) if I could manage it. At home I cant make music now really as I have a 2.5 yo and its important to spend time with the mrs. But when I do have free time at home now I will listen to music and analyse it break it down and see what is going on with its arrangment etc.. I used to watch tutorials and read books and manuals all the time when at home but that has tailed off now as I feel I know enough technically to get by its just the creative and musical side of things im trying to get right at the moment.

Certainly not easy though, especially with dependants, if you can fit it into your daily routine even 45 mins a day, then it will become second nature...

[Prophän]

This thread got me wondering, what is the age average of the forums ?

so I stopped doing all the things that were not helping achieve that direction, be it no tv, social media, books not related to music production in the beginning, stopped going out as much, stopped the gym and started cycling to work instead.

Best thing to do, i'm doing the same, However I don't agree 100% on the stopping gym part, I don't think cycling can effectively replace a good workout session at the gym, even if only for the satisfaction factor.

[Will Frances]

I fully agree it doesnt replace a good full workout session, I do it to save cash and time on commuting and to keep some form of exercise going, i do about 60 miles a week.

[ashley BORG]

Got a 6 and 2.5 yr old also a long term (virtually wife) partner, and a profession which just seems to eat so much time.

Anytime I might get would be 8pm onwards, but the past 6 months have been so full-on at work that, anytime at home I just want to rest my brain by watching TV.

I've recently quit my job and gone freelance to break the cycle of 50+ hours a week working.
Have said to myself I'll get back to it again this month, just need to find the will power. Funny enough for nearly the first time in the past 3 years my kids bedtime routine is actually pretty settled - which is what I have been dreaming of.

I'll have to split week nights between hanging out with the missus, getting back into music, and resting my brain.

[Mslwte]

Got a 6 and 2.5 yr old also a long term (virtually wife) partner, and a profession which just seems to eat so much time.

Anytime I might get would be 8pm onwards, but the past 6 months have been so full-on at work that, anytime at home I just want to rest my brain by watching TV.

I've recently quit my job and gone freelance to break the cycle of 50+ hours a week working.
Have said to myself I'll get back to it again this month, just need to find the will power. Funny enough for nearly the first time in the past 3 years my kids bedtime routine is actually pretty settled - which is what I have been dreaming of.

I'll have to split week nights between hanging out with the missus, getting back into music, and resting my brain.

and will hopefully see you around here a bit more

[Stace]

My genepool sucks - will never reproduce.

This. So very this.

[tenga]

I think this is a quite relevant subject....

when kids grow up , it might be fun to make them participate in the hobby....they are young and pretty receptive to music and synths...

When is your music time? For me it's late at night (once I'm the only one left awake), mornings on the weekends and lunch hour at work.

how do you make music at lunch hour at work ??? do you carry a laptop ?? do you do it in your car ??

i mean , i've fancied about buying a battery powered Electribe 2 , only to make music in my car during work/lunch... it would be great as it makes a break from the computer screen....

[ashley BORG]

Got a 6 and 2.5 yr old also a long term (virtually wife) partner, and a profession which just seems to eat so much time.

Anytime I might get would be 8pm onwards, but the past 6 months have been so full-on at work that, anytime at home I just want to rest my brain by watching TV.

I've recently quit my job and gone freelance to break the cycle of 50+ hours a week working.
Have said to myself I'll get back to it again this month, just need to find the will power. Funny enough for nearly the first time in the past 3 years my kids bedtime routine is actually pretty settled - which is what I have been dreaming of.

I'll have to split week nights between hanging out with the missus, getting back into music, and resting my brain.

and will hopefully see you around here a bit more

Mate I can't believe how much time I used to spend on here, especially during working hours. It was great.

[jordanneke]

Got a 6 and 2.5 yr old also a long term (virtually wife) partner, and a profession which just seems to eat so much time.

Anytime I might get would be 8pm onwards, but the past 6 months have been so full-on at work that, anytime at home I just want to rest my brain by watching TV.

I've recently quit my job and gone freelance to break the cycle of 50+ hours a week working.
Have said to myself I'll get back to it again this month, just need to find the will power. Funny enough for nearly the first time in the past 3 years my kids bedtime routine is actually pretty settled - which is what I have been dreaming of.

I'll have to split week nights between hanging out with the missus, getting back into music, and resting my brain.

and will hopefully see you around here a bit more

Mate I can't believe how much time I used to spend on here, especially during working hours. It was great.

This forum aint big enough for the both of us......


I can be codename 'CarlCox' due to increasing waist, and you can be codename 'JeffMills'

[daunzila]

My daughter finally moved in to live with me and my gf, now i can only get some 1 or 2 hours before work, 2 or 3 days a week is what i manage to do right now, every other hour is dedicated to family or work, is hard but i still do some music, but much more slowly for sure

I did have a session this morning, the day i do produce before work is weird, im kinda happy and excited but obviously more sleepy, so im trying to balance that, today is harder cuz it was a shitty session

I've been trying to make her interested in the studio thing, to have some fun together but no success yet, 15 years old is that time when everything your dad do sucks big time, maybe ill try to buy a PS4 or something like that instead a new synth ive been dreaming... thats a dads life i guess

[ashley BORG]

This forum aint big enough for the both of us......


I can be codename 'CarlCox' due to increasing waist, and you can be codename 'JeffMills'

Hahaha "CarlCox" I'm flattered you think I'm as skinny as Jeff...

[innovine]

Mate, I have a 6yr old, a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old, all boys.

My 6yr old is getting to grips with a Volca Beats, and we're able to sit and jam for a while. He can more or less use the Beats now, but his understanding of techno arrangements needs some work He's also recently started learning to play a drumkit, so I'm looking forward to guitaring along with that in the near future too.

[innovine]

I think if you have a real burning desire and passion to make music then you will find some time, be it instead of watching tv as much, reading social media etc. ..

You can always do social media at work

You can quite easily cut out TV, movies and video games, gym sessions, gardening, cleaning, laundry, personal hygiene, dating, home repair and going out on weekends.

[rktic]

I needed a few attempts at answering this one. My son is 16 now, he's living with me since 3 years. There are times when I sit down and make music. Then there are times when I just can't even think about it. Like now.

Teenagers have a magic gift of pissing you off in a way that drains your battery for the rest of the day. No matter if you planned to make some music after work or not. And it gets majorly frustrating if you're in your "stick to your plan"-mode while you're emotionally unable to produce something.

This too shall pass.

It took me a while to figure that out. But my son comes first. The priority is set. I have faith to find time to make music later. Anything else seems to rule out the reality of having kids.

[Hades]

I have a son 7 mths and barely have time every 2 weeks to do anything but work eat sleep. I work as a night manager at a hotel so I work 7 days in a row then 7 days off continuously.

But my free weeks I get plenty of time for my family although there's not a whole lot of dedicated time for music. Maybe 1 full day every free week and some hours here some there...

Keep that job for as long as you can man !
I used to do nightshifts as well for about 15 years.
It gave me at least half of the month off to do what I wanted and I loved it.
I think I would have never bothered learning sound design properly if I wouldn't have had all that time.

For years, I used to watch like 20+ films/month, read about 2 books/month,
went to the gym like 3x/week, did all the cooking in the house, and renovated 80% of my house myself.
And my oldest was only at daycare for the minimum possible (or else we wouldn't have a position there).

I had to stop doing nightshifts because I hit a huge wave of insomnia and eventually a big burn-out,
but some times I still miss that life.

However, I agree with Will that I only really got better when I started cutting out a lot of my other stuff to make more music.

My current job was shifts from 2PM till 10PM, and that was pretty handy because after I had dropped the kids off at school,
I still had like 3 to 4 hours before I had to leave for work.
But I'm not going back there any more, and I never really had ANY quality time with my kids during the week.
I mean, I felt sad after a while when I had to say at 8:30AM "see you tomorrow"

As a friend of mine always says : you don't have time, you make time.
You have to make choices in life. I even play piano far less than I'd love to do, just because I still prefer time in the studio to playing piano.

[Hades]

And also, it's not because you have time that you are motivated enough.
When I had my burn-out, at first I didn't do shit for 2 months, those months are mostly a black-out in my memory.
Eventually I started doing a LOT of music in the months after that since I was at home anyway.

Now I'm back in a nice fat depression (work related, which is why I'm not going back),
so yeah, I have time again, but I feel like doing totally nothing.
I don't feel like eating, I can't be bothered to go to the gym,
I don't feel like touching my piano, hell, some days I even get pissed because I have to get out of the couch to feed my kids.
Normally I'm a very energetic person, who hates wasting time.
Now all I do is waste time.

[Hades]

This forum aint big enough for the both of us......


I can be codename 'CarlCox' due to increasing waist, and you can be codename 'JeffMills'

Hahaha "CarlCox" I'm flattered you think I'm as skinny as Jeff...

he probably thought of you because Jeff is only like 1m47 or so...

[Hades]

I think this is a quite relevant subject....
when kids grow up , it might be fun to make them participate in the hobby....they are young and pretty receptive to music and synths...

I just don't know about this (yet ??)...
music, sure, synths, hmmm...

My oldest (will be 10 this year) started music school last year,
and chose to play cello. Her teacher claims she's the best student she had in years,
and she's really doing great (and actually liking it, as opposed to a lot of the kids that are only there because their parents force them).
Some times I play a few pieces with her together, cello and piano.

But this whole synths thing, or even making music by herself.
I tried once 2 years ago, to explain her a bit how Live works, demonstrating it with some clips.
Didn't really interest her at all.
When she was really little, I even once made a Liveset of Bumba (google the fucker, Belgian stuff for really small kids) clips,
where clips and FX could be triggered by hitting keys on my main controller.
Barely got her interested.

I put my K-station on the floor of my studio, so both my kids could always play around with it on headphones as much as they wanted.
My youngest (now 5) still does it from time to time.
But the ONLY thing that really helped, at the moment, is when I decided 4 years ago that it was time for me to buy a real piano.
I wanted my kids to have instant access to a real instrument, because they are only allowed in my studio when I'm in there as well (after a few minor incidents),
and when I am in here, I'm always sitting in front of my 88 keys controller, so it's not the same. it's not "easy to run to and hit some keys".
That piano really drew my oldest (back then only 5) to it (I never close the lid, I think people who close the lid of a piano aren't true players),
and even though she plays cello, she still plays stuff on the piano all the time.
The piano was what really drew her into music more than anything.

My youngest likes my big mixer though.

[Hades]

maybe it's just me, but my oldest here reads these "Ghost rockers" shit books, (also a series on tv for kids over here in Belgium)
which is about a young and "cool" band.
If I'd have an electric guitar here, now that might be cool,
but synths ???
daddy has a whole studio a lot of of guys would kill for,
but she hardly cares...

I got this feeling that synths are still mostly considered for nerds.

Maybe some day she's gonna have a nerdy boyfriend and he'll be more interested in my studio than in spending time with her.
that'll teach her, the cunt !