I often see some of my producer friends say they create tracks in a day, albeit a good 12 hours for example but still… a day.
It got me thinking about my own productivity, I have a handful of projects at the moment that are in it’s stages, layed out, but still i get stuck often on ideas, something to really bring it out more and finish the track off, so i leave it and come back to it another time, either later that day or another day, then i usually have more ideas.
So when it comes to me finishing a track, it takes weeks. Although the quickest for me was a week.
It’s surely not an easy thing to get tracks produced so quickly, but then they are getting regular releases, so maybe it just comes with experience as to how quickly you end up producing and finishing tracks?
Or maybe it’s just down to the individual?
What was this thread about, was it a question to you guys? No, not really, more of me laying out my thoughts and putting it into text. But do feel free to share your thoughts. 
I find it can go either way with me. If I really get into something I can turn out a track fairly quickly.
Not release ready… but fully arranged at least.
Other times the track never gets past the ideas stage. When I was doing remix competitions I found that helped in a way as I was working to a fixed goal AND deadline.
Over time my workflow has changed also, now I have set a default project in Ableton with some of the basics set up (send effects, common chains I use etc) this means that the moment I jump in I am ready to go.
Something that at the beginning would have occupied the first few hours of the project.
Yeah i’ve often thought about creating a template for myself, I should really do that. Before i used to use all sorts in my sends so it would change from track to track, but I have found these days there are usually the same now.
Ok i have a question now for this thoughtful thread:
What are good tips on speeding up the workflow?
I use to bug meself with this for like 2 years when i started producing music but came to conclusion that you have to produce something you feel, its really hard to do that in a day, especially when you have things to consider.
Sometimes you make a track listen back few days later and something esle hits you that you dont like or what to add/change, naa i think wait until you are totally 100% happy with things.
Track im working on now, took me like 5 days so far and spend most of today making one trance chord sweep on the Sylenth and fiddled bt till i got res and cutoff just sweet, takes alot of time but its better to hear something that sounds great and you know you took your time with it and its got your mind on it, then produce something you would have liked to changed or know could be better.
But like you say everybodys different, and for me defo i prefer to take me time and exploit the song as far as i can really.
Btw the track is not even sequenced out yet, soo defo im not a day long person on me own tracks.
I normaly find it takes me about 4/5 hours to get a track down and layed out, but come back to it with fresh ears play about with the levels what I will do a few times till I am happy and that will take up about an extra 2 hours inc mastering
For speeding up my work flow I work from a template that just has a midi’s set up for my kick and precussion set up to a sampler and the normal fx’s I use on them plus a basic bassline midi in place for me to move around to suit my mood and track
Don’t have any sounds hooked as try not to use the same sounds over again.
Interesting…
When I was in Miami with Josh Gabriel, I asked him this very question. He said it usually takes about 32 hours to create a track for him. I asked how that was broken down. He said the first day is for sound and loop creation. The next day was for arranging and putting the track together. The third day is dedicated to making everything feel good and working on transitions. The last day is all about getting the mix down and getting it ready for mastering. This is all based on 8 hour days. He also said that some songs dont make it past day two. So if its good enough, then he moves forward. If not, then he either revises or moves on to something else.
I suppose you could finish a song in a day, but in all honesty, how good is it gonna be? Josh’s music (love it or hate it) is very intricate and detailed. Oh yea…this is not a vocal track either. Vocals take a bit longer and could add a week to the project.
We still haven’t fully finished a track yet but to us a good track takes as long as it takes and aslong as we are happy and having fun thats all that matters to us.
We Are Jap Wow
Awesome post Howie!
Gracias!
[quote]Japwow (15/06/2010)[hr]We still haven’t fully finished a track yet but to us a good track takes as long as it takes and aslong as we are happy and having fun thats all that matters to us.
We Are Jap Wow
www.soundcloud.com/japwow[/quote]
Amen to that
Dont think ive ever taken more than 2 days to do a track. reason is that if it goes into the 3rd day i know ill get bored and wont be bothered to finish it. lol
its 95% done on the first day (about 8 hours), everything, arranging, sweeps, loops, automation etc etc. i just use the 2nd day for the “fresh ear” listening and tweaking.
just cos i know i get bored easy and by the 3rd day ill be trying to start something else lol
I dunno dude. I think it takes a lot longer to get things right. Pros that do this for a living don’t finish songs in 8 hours.
[quote]howiegroove (15/06/2010)[hr]I dunno dude. I think it takes a lot longer to get things right. Pros that do this for a living don’t finish songs in 8 hours.[/quote]
i get ya dude. thats why im sitting here wondering if i should change my workflow lol
the track “some positive edit 4” on my soundlcoud page took me about 4 hours from start to finish. i think that was the quickest ive ever finished a track. this isnt including the vocals which the singer had to keep coming round to re record (to get them in tune etc lol) hence the “edit 4”… lol but ye, i did the tracking, mixing and mastering all in 4 hours, the reason for the rush was i had a party to go to in the evening and was busy the next day so it had to be done before the singer went to spain for a few weeks.
once i get the initial idea or feel, then i just go with it.
There is this homemade video online somewhere where someone is filming Laidback Lukes studio, then Luke says he makes tunes in 4 hours?
Nuts
Yeah if I do something quick, it’ll just be to the arrangement stage.
I’d probably want to leave it for a day or two anyway, give my ears a rest before going back to it for review, then mix down etc.
[quote]howiegroove (15/06/2010)[hr]Interesting…
When I was in Miami with Josh Gabriel, I asked him this very question. He said it usually takes about 32 hours to create a track for him. I asked how that was broken down. He said the first day is for sound and loop creation. The next day was for arranging and putting the track together. The third day is dedicated to making everything feel good and working on transitions. The last day is all about getting the mix down and getting it ready for mastering. This is all based on 8 hour days. He also said that some songs dont make it past day two. So if its good enough, then he moves forward. If not, then he either revises or moves on to something else.
I suppose you could finish a song in a day, but in all honesty, how good is it gonna be? Josh’s music (love it or hate it) is very intricate and detailed. Oh yea…this is not a vocal track either. Vocals take a bit longer and could add a week to the project.[/quote]
I booked Josh in Philly once for a party. Great DJ. Great Producer. He’s the man.
Awesome info Howie.
For me tracks seem to be getting faster for creation and longer for arrangements, transitions and breakdowns. Trying to perfect these is very time intensive. I’m still a newbie at mastering and i need better monitors. lol.
I think that the ammount of time that you spend on a track has to do with how many sounds that you have in the track. House track with 7-8 sounds takes less time than a trance track with 14-20 sounds. How many breakdowns, buildups do you have? The more u have the longer it will take to perfect these tasks. Workflow also helps. My friends that produce all use templates to help speed up workflows. However my I feel as though the style and complexity of the track is really the biggest factor in how fast it gets done.
If you get bored easily with a track, I would make one, then start another, then start another, and another… Basically get a handful of semi worked on tracks that you always come back to. that way you wont get bored.
[quote]UnitedVision (15/06/2010)[hr]For me tracks seem to be getting faster for creation and longer for arrangements, transitions and breakdowns. Trying to perfect these is very time intensive. I’m still a newbie at mastering and i need better monitors. lol.[/quote]
You should spend alot of your time arranging. Spending the majority of your time making it FEEL good should be a big concern for you. There are so many amazing songs that have very simple sounds. You can always tweak things as you go along in a project.
[quote]UnitedVision (15/06/2010)[hr]I think that the ammount of time that you spend on a track has to do with how many sounds that you have in the track. House track with 7-8 sounds takes less time than a trance track with 14-20 sounds. How many breakdowns, buildups do you have? The more u have the longer it will take to perfect these tasks. Workflow also helps. My friends that produce all use templates to help speed up workflows. However my I feel as though the style and complexity of the track is really the biggest factor in how fast it gets done.[/quote]
I disagree a bit. My last track had 73 channels of sounds. There was alot going on there. But you have to look at it as a whole. It doesnt matter how many you have, the feel is the hardest part. Think of it this way. Imagine you have 10 sounds in a track, right? Keeping those 10 sounds changing and constantly keeping the listener interested and making sure they dont get bored is going to be a challenge. So just because it has less sounds, doesn’t mean that its gonna be easier to make.
That’s actually one of my problems I have 40 or 50 half started projects. Every time I got stuck on one I would start another but in the end for me I think this was just as bad as having every VSTi known to mankind and never really learning one of them in and out.
For me I’ve had to force myself to finish tracks so I can move on to the next one and in this way I can see and hear my track building skills improve.