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producer/musician-strut: how long does it take you

pjl2000xlpjl2000xl 1,795 Posts
edited October 2007 in Strut Central
On average, how long does it take you to complete a track? Is it done in 20 mins, 6 hours, 2 days, 1 week, month, year? It varies for me, but usually a few days. I just leave everything on and just keep walking in and out of my studio and add parts, mix elements, try different techniques, for a few days till i feel confident its done and strong on its own.

  Comments

  • BaptBapt 2,503 Posts
    tough! it depends if it's for me or someone else because I like working on 5/6 tracks at the same time, and sometime I forget I started a track and it can easily take me 5 months (or more!!) to re-find it and "finish" it.
    If the track is for someone else I don't "finish" it because there's always something to add or take off, make a cut, find a scratch, you always have to arrange it with the vocal.
  • bonzaisk8bonzaisk8 946 Posts
    wow. anywhere from a couple of hours, to a year +

    but yeah, i usually have roughly 8-10 songs that i work on together during the same time period.

    ez.

    kg.
  • SupergoodSupergood 1,213 Posts
    Usually takes a month. I wish it didn't take so long, but my OCD tends to get the best of me, and I end up tweaking the mix a ton of times before producing something I'm happy with.

    Ironically, the tracks that take the shortest amount of time (2 weeks at least) are the ones that other folks like the most.
  • BeatChemistBeatChemist 1,465 Posts
    I prolly have about 150+ "beat loop" tracks that started as solid loops/grooves but never went anywhere or just tweaked to death until I was sick of working on them. I suffer from severe ebbs and flows between OCD and ADD. Sometimes I stay up 'til 6am because I don't want to stop working on a track. Other times I'll open it up every day for a week or two straight, but only work on it for like a half hour before I just get tired of it and move on to something else.

    Generally, the songs that I finish quickly - like one or two days including mixing - are the ones that I feel the best about. It feels like they were inspired rather than forced. But it's not a rule. I have tracks that I've laboured over for months that I'm really happy with and love.

    I haven't finished a new song in... like... fuck. Like 8 months.

    I think it's time to open up some stuff and bang it out until it's finished.


    Thanks for the producerstrut posts thelowendtheory!!!
  • BaptBapt 2,503 Posts
    hi K*le
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,471 Posts
    I suffer from severe ebbs and flows between OCD and ADD. Sometimes I stay up 'til 6am because I don't want to stop working on a track. Other times I'll open it up every day for a week or two straight, but only work on it for like a half hour before I just get tired of it and move on to something else.

    Yeah, this happens to me, too. The other thing is that "finishing" a beat is a relative term. Like, if I get it to a point where it's EQed/mixed well, and I've got the basic verse/chorus/ structure (plus, hopefully, a bridge in there somewhere), then save for some extra drum programming, that's as far as it's going to go until it gets some vocals added. I've had cases where I make a rough beat and leave it alone for a while, then sometime later, I'll get the idea to put a certain acapella over it, and the vocals will determine the final arrangement of the whole thing.

    Also, I have a whole bunch of half-done stuff, like a get a groove looping and add some drums to it, then think, "This isn't really going to go anywhere." A lot of times, those little things will get used in an entirely separate beat as a bridge or changeup.
  • BeatChemistBeatChemist 1,465 Posts
    hi K*le

    Bonjour mon ami B*pt*ud*! J'espere que tout est joyeux avec toit et votre famille!!

    Mon francais... c'est terrible. Je devrais prendre une vacance au Montreal pour l'ameliorer! 11 years of french immersion... but I never practice anymore. Spoken and written is sooooo rusty.

    Anyways dude... hit me off with a PM and let me know what you're up to now! I'm just on my way out and have already spent tooooo much time reading the strut, so I'll prolly forget to PM you later when I get back. We should swap some demos for feedback or whatever.
  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    I don't think I've ever finished a song.

    - spidey
  • Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
    Hey,

    It usually takes me anywhere between 2-8 hours to make a completed track. The times varies because, usually, I'm on some chop-sample or loop ish, and it takes time to find elements that fit. Usually, I start with the main phrase (usually the bassline or melody part), which I'll freak until I come up with an arrangement that I like. Then, I'll sample a break or sample drum sounds/percussion for programming a beat to fit the main phrase. To come up with the drum pattern, I'll beatbox to a sequence playing the main phrase to devise a beat the jives well with the music. When I use a melody as the main part (versus a bassline), I'll sometimes play a bassline (with an ASR preset bass or sampled long bass note like "Tale of Brave Ulysses" or "Georgia on My Mind" [heavily filtered] by Jimmy Smith or something). After programming the beat, I'll start looking for extra trimmings, changes, bridges, and other parts to vary off the main phrase. Also, I tend to program various changes in the drum pattern to keep it moving and interesting. I might add some effects to the track too, like delays to make a small snippet sample repeat or extend out. So, this process is how I bang out my beats.

    Peace,

    Big Stacks from Kakalak
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