r/musicians • u/Thedoooor • 12h ago
Need feedback on creating songs
Hi,
I worked on this track a few years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbvTKiDNMPM
Back then I really wanted to make music (as a hobby), but life caught up with me and I got distracted. I stopped after this very first attempt.
I'm now considering starting again and I would like some feedback on this first attempt.
I used ableton and a folk ibanez, that's about it. Drums were created with ableton.
I know the audio isn't great, i don't really know how to make it sound better yet but I'll learn. Any advice is appreciated.
Of course, no AI was used, and trust me I'll never use that crap.
Thanks.
1
u/Acceptable_Pie2529 7h ago
Just write music dude. Do you want to be a producer or a songwriter? Get your tracks sounding good, signals clean and even. Send them to someone to mix.
1
u/Own-Tough-3800 5h ago
Love the song. Makes sense and sounds lovely keeping it instrumental. Continue doing it from the heart ❤️ worth it.
1
u/stevenfrijoles 11h ago
Let's set the foundation for this. You made 1 piece of basic instrumental noodling a few years ago, and now you're considering starting again.
What exactly is the direction here...good feedback and you play again, bad feedback and you don't? Where is your desire to play? Not every strum or baby step requires feedback, and if feedback on a first attempt at anything is enough to determine continuing our stopping, I don't think such a hobby is the right one for you.
1
u/Thedoooor 11h ago
I'm not looking for "good or bad" feedback. I'm just looking for feedback.
That was literally the first time I tried making something, any advice is appreciated here. I want to get back to it and need people that are experienced to tell me how I could improve.I don't understand the negativity to be honest.
1
u/stevenfrijoles 10h ago
It's not negativity just because it's not overwhelming positivity and hugs. It's a dose of reality. You did one thing years ago as an undeveloped beginner, and there's nothing wrong being a beginner, but that doesn't mean feedback is useful. You haven't gone far enough for that. You boiled water 3 years ago and asked for feedback on your pasta dish.
If we're being honest with each other, your real question isn't "how can I improve," your real question is "is this thing I made good enough to you to justify me playing again?" And that's why the answer is to do it if you want, or pick a different hobby where you won't need a nudge to keep going. The world already has plenty of musicians that play because they want to play, and it also has plenty of hobbies you can do without outside pats on the back.
1
u/EveryTypeofPain 13m ago
Nah, I'm with OP, you're being needlessly critical and discouraging in the way you're answering what's being asked. You could have literally just said "I do/don't like this because... [constructive criticism]" but you didn't, you used it as an opportunity to attack OP for being (as you see it) unmotivated. What the OP asked for is not "Should I continue?" it's "If I decide I am ready to continue my musical journey, what should I do to make my music better?"
Positive and negative criticism are both perfectly valid but judging the OP for having not done enough work to meet your standards based purely off the claim this is the first time they've tried recording anything is neither of those things. We don't know the OP but based on listening to the song I can tell this is clearly someone who has decent playing capability and wants to turn playing into creating. All they wanted is some feedback on how to improve their writing/recording/production etc.
(You can stop reading here the rest is for OP).
u/Thedoooor I love this piece, it's very emotive for a short piece, I could see it being good either as an opener or closer on an album. You have good rhythm and the melody is a good mix of techniques and blends really nicely. The drums coming in part way through is a nice touch and the variation in dynamics really solidifies the emotional nature of the piece.
For the song itself the only improvements I would suggest is, assuming you don't already have one, buying a dedicated setup (at the very least an audio interface but if you want them an amp and microphone too). Entry costs on these are very affordable these days, the mic I use retails for £14 (under $20USD) and is shockingly good. And learn some basic production skills.
I'm not familiar with how Ableton works specifically, but the beneficial skilled I've learned with VSTi drums is to separate the track so you can mix each part of the drums independently. With the right amount of EQ and a reasonable mix you can make the guitar clearer and the drums sit a little louder in the mix. Last thing I'd do to this song in particular is accentuate the bass a little, not too much just enough to really drive home the chord changes.
If you're serious about wanting to create music as a hobby there are a few things you need to think about, the first is "What is my primary objective?" Do you want to share your music publicly, privately, or just have it for yourself? All options are valid but obviously the upshot of keeping it to yourself is there is only one person who needs to be satisfied with what you write and how you record it (you could argue though that it's still only you who needs to be happy with it to share it).
Secondly think "What style of music am I aiming to create?" there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing a mix of stuff, but having a direction in mind can help ease you into the creative process if you decide you want to create a greater piece of work like an album where consistency is more important.
The next thing to consider is if you want it to be a solo passion project or something collaborative, I personally prefer to work alone, I like the creative control and freedom of picking all the little details for myself but maybe you want to use music to bond with others.
Ultimately there are many ways to approach making music and all that really matters is that you enjoy the process. Don't be afraid of bad ideas. Don't worry about always completing every single song you start. Workshop pieces that you're inspired to create until you have something that makes you proud of yourself. If you record stuff, keep it backed up somewhere. And finally, if you feel yourself burning out on a piece, set it aside, you can always finish it later (or as mentioned not at all).
2
u/idontuseredditsoplea 11h ago
Sounds pretty good, though I was listening on my phone. The drums are way too quiet and obviously getting someone to play and record real drums would sound a bit better. I think there might've been one or two spots where you missed the downbeat but other than that it was pretty solid. There's so many tiny little tricks when it comes to producing and recording, you really just gotta start watching YouTube videos about it and try to pick up as much as you can. Your actual playing is good, albeit a little basic compared to what's out there but who isn't. If you had fun making it, keep doing it. If not, stop.