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How much of your own music do you listen to?


Yer Blues

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This is kind of a take off on Guido's thread... when I saw the title I thought he was talking about ones own personal music that they had a hand in creating. Every since I have been making music recording options have been readily available. I was 18-19 when one of my first buddies saved up enough money to get a Tascam 4 track. Before that a guy was taking lessons with had some type of multi-track recorder. So, recording has always been an option.


I rarely listen to anything I have played on. I am just too critical when it comes to listening to an open ear and it's more painful than anything else. I started playing with an original, instrumental band a month or two ago and we've started recording some of the songs. It helps to listen to them to get the songs down tight, but again listening for enjoyment is not there. I'm just not happy with the playing and I can't help thinking I still have a long way to go.

Regardless of whether or not you've done recordings in a big time studio or at home on your computer... how often do you listen to your own recordings? And do you listen for enjoyment, reflection, to critic and improve, or all of the above?

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I'm the exact opposite.. I listen to my own recordings incessantly .. pretty much to the excusion of all else even. I've been writing a lot and working on original stuff a lot and I find that iistening back helps me fine tune the songs and my own performance.. I hear things I like and improve on the idea the next time.. I hear where my phrasing singing could be better.. Its a super tool

But I think I'm weird about how much I listen to my own stuff.. I dont think most people are like me

I forward the recordings to the band too

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I enjoy listening to my band's and my solo stuff on occasion. While I'm pretty over-critical about my performances (especially my singing) and production, there's still a lot of pride there. It's funny how you can not listen to it for a few months, put it on and totally hear it in new ways. That can happen with any music I suppose, it's just a little more surprising when it's yours.

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I keep a disc of my "greatest hits" in the car and a playlist on my iPhone. I haven't been listening to them much recently because I've been neglecting my music in general and it just makes me feel like an asshole (like I could be creating but I'm not).

I generally like my tunes...especially my bass lines.
Brian V.

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I listen to stuff and try to soak up all the mistakes. I think it helps me to improve over time. It's like taking a block of stone and chipping away everything that isn't the statue. For instance, I found that for some reason when I let loose on a word with a P in it, the vowel sound is always out of tune. I had to change the way I articulated certain words because I was able to figure out that P was the Problem. I have an H4 and recorded alot of gigs in the past. I usually listen to the recording one time through and then burn a CD for my mom. icon_lol.gif

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Quote Originally Posted by backtoblue

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I enjoy listening to my band's and my solo stuff on occasion. While I'm pretty over-critical about my performances (especially my singing) and production, there's still a lot of pride there. It's funny how you can not listen to it for a few months, put it on and totally hear it in new ways. That can happen with any music I suppose, it's just a little more surprising when it's yours.

 

Exactly this. I think we have good stuff. Usually I listen after I give someone a cd or link to our stuff. Like, okay, what did I just show these people again? I'm usually surprised at how good it is, especially now that we're all eager to move forward on the newer material. I forget that the debut is actually pretty darn good, despite my complaints about what we could have done differently.
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i don't mean to be a jerk, but i have a question for the guys who rarely or never listen to their own work:

If YOU can't stand hearing your own music, how can you justify subjecting ANOTHER person's ears to it?

i understand that after spending months on a project, you'd want to step away from it, but if you never reach the point where you want to step back towards it, then what was the purpose of making it?

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I think some people can hear things they want to change and therefore want to 'improve' it some more. I believe a lot of musicians that record songs are like this, as many people have said as much in interviews. However, for those people, there is something called a deadline and they have to deliver something by then, even if it isn't 'perfect'. And thank goodness for that, otherwise, no one would ever hear anyone else's songs! icon_lol.gif

I wrote and recorded three songs and put them on myspace a few years ago. I actually have written and recorded a lot more than that, but I only put up those three. I took a listen to them the other night and I think they still hold up well, 10 years after recording and mixing them.

Speaking of people that re-record and re-record some more, I remember how it drives me crazy whenever people do that. I don't care for the revamped version of Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home" because even though the lead vocal might be technically better, it's missing the vocal harmonies of the original ("My heart's like an *o-pen-book*") and the vibe is just different. But as a songwriter myself, I can see why they wanted to do it. But they shouldn't. It's done, so write and record something else now.

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We're pretty good about recording gigs and rehearsals. More often than not - the recording quality is pretty marginal. We record with a little Zoom H4 on a camera tripod - stuck wherever we think we're going to get a "balanced" mix (we rarely do...). {censored}ty mix aside, the recordings are good enough to hear pretty much everything and are fine for critiquing vocals, tempos, groove, etc. The recordings are not anything I'd post or share as demo material - but great for listening to what needs working on.

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Quote Originally Posted by Yer Blues View Post
This is kind of a take off on Guido's thread... when I saw the title I thought he was talking about ones own personal music that they had a hand in creating. Every since I have been making music recording options have been readily available. I was 18-19 when one of my first buddies saved up enough money to get a Tascam 4 track. Before that a guy was taking lessons with had some type of multi-track recorder. So, recording has always been an option.
I started recording with a friend back in the mid-80s when I was around 16. I was just starting out then. He had a Vesta-Fire cassette 4-track, but I think one of the tracks didn't work, so it was more like a 3-track. Fun for experimenting with ideas. I worked more with another friend's Fostex X-18 cassette 4-track around this time of the year 20 years ago. That was enlightening and fun, especially bouncing tracks. Moved into DAW recording with PG Music's PowerTracks Pro Audio back in 1999-2001 and haven't done much since. My cousin does a lot of recording and works with Cubase a lot, but I think I'm going to go the Pro Tools route instead when I start up again.

I rarely listen to anything I have played on. I am just too critical when it comes to listening to an open ear and it's more painful than anything else. I started playing with an original, instrumental band a month or two ago and we've started recording some of the songs. It helps to listen to them to get the songs down tight, but again listening for enjoyment is not there. I'm just not happy with the playing and I can't help thinking I still have a long way to go.
I'm pretty nitpicky about my stuff, so there are songs that I am proud of, but there are a lot more of them that make me cringe. I try to fix what is wrong with some of those songs, but I think a few of them are a lost cause. I often find the music is usually pretty good, but the vocal melody or the lyrics or the way I'm singing it just doesn't feel right or just gets on my nerves. Those songs stay in the 'unheard by the public' group. I might save them to collaborate with someone else in the future if I can't quite figure out what to do with them.

Regardless of whether or not you've done recordings in a big time studio or at home on your computer... how often do you listen to your own recordings? And do you listen for enjoyment, reflection, to critic and improve, or all of the above?
I used to listen to my stuff fairly often (at least a couple of times a month at least), but in the past few years I haven't been recording at all, so I haven't really listened to them too much. I will go in phases of listening for enjoyment, listening to critique and improve and just for reflection. I am happy that I am able to enjoy repeated listenings to at least *some* of what I have created. icon_lol.gif

About the only thing I record on a regular basis are my cover band's live shows with a Zoom Q3HD. That can be cringe-worthy in itself at times, but other times, I am pleasantly surprised at the results. Like SpaceNorman, I view it like watching footage of sports films: more as a tool of where to improve rather than something to show the world.
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Quote Originally Posted by stevesherbert View Post
If YOU can't stand hearing your own music, how can you justify subjecting ANOTHER person's ears to it?
Haha - I had the same question... smile.gif

Personally, I love going down memory lane sometimes. I'm proud of the music I've made (most of it, at least), and as a drummer I often listen to older recordings before writing new stuff to making sure I'm not falling back on my laurels -- I want each song to have new ideas and new energies.

"If we don't learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it" -- paraphrased proverb
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I listen to my own stuff probably 90% of the time between working on it, writing it, recording it..I work on music so much I rarely have the time or inclination to even want to listen to anything else. I'll scan the dials on commercial country radio here in Nashville, get sick and pissed and end up on Jack FM smile.gif Besides i'm my favorite artist anyway. thumb.gifthumb.gif

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Quote Originally Posted by stevesherbert View Post
i don't mean to be a jerk, but i have a question for the guys who rarely or never listen to their own work:

If YOU can't stand hearing your own music, how can you justify subjecting ANOTHER person's ears to it?

i understand that after spending months on a project, you'd want to step away from it, but if you never reach the point where you want to step back towards it, then what was the purpose of making it?
I agree...All the successful songwriters I know have their demos on continuous rotation smile.gif Maybe we all just love ourselves more than ya'll..I don't know... smile.gif
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Discounting when I'm working on my stuff, I listen to my recent stuff often enough.

As someone said above, whenever I pass new things off to others, be it a publisher, a friend, player, I tend to give it a listen. i get curious and want to know what I'm passing on to others.

And as we all know, the more time that passes between creating it and listening offers very different perspectives. This reminds me of what I do that is good and what I don't like so much and I'd like to change in my next effort. And since I've gotten better at writing things I truly like I tend to enjoy listening to it to 1 degree or another

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I don't really bother to record anything I write these days---I write for cathartic reasons, mostly. Once I've written something, I'm pretty much done with it. And I had basically the same attitude when I was recording a lot of the stuff I was writing in the band days. Once it was finished, it was time to move on to the next piece. There wasn't really a lot of time or reason to sit around listening to yesterday's work.

I recently went through a pile of old tapes and converted them to digital, so it was fun and interesting to listen to all the old stuff with fresh ears, but after a couple of days of that initial thrill I haven't listened to them since. But they are there if I ever get the urge.

As far as the cover band goes, we video most shows with a cam on a tripod or hand-held and play it back on the trip home from the gig the next day as a learning/critique tool. If there is anything good on there I think I might need for demo purposes I'll save it, otherwise it gets deleted.

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I listen to a lot of the stuff I write. I'm always trying to improve it, and sometimes I just listen amazed that I actually came up with some of it lol.

I also record practices and listen to see how the band is progressing. I try to send copies to everybody and hope they'll listen as well.

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Quote Originally Posted by stevesherbert View Post
i don't mean to be a jerk, but i have a question for the guys who rarely or never listen to their own work:

If YOU can't stand hearing your own music, how can you justify subjecting ANOTHER person's ears to it?

i understand that after spending months on a project, you'd want to step away from it, but if you never reach the point where you want to step back towards it, then what was the purpose of making it?
The control impulse.

If you are critical and always want to make what you do better, then sometimes it is hard to listen with a forgiving ear to your own stuff. Very few projects get released after every single person involved has exactly what they want out of each performance.

But you know that, don't you?
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Quote Originally Posted by 3shiftgtr View Post
The control impulse.

If you are critical and always want to make what you do better, then sometimes it is hard to listen with a forgiving ear to your own stuff. Very few projects get released after every single person involved has exactly what they want out of each performance.
That, and I think for many people creating music is an ongoing process of moving forward. You don't always need to keep looking at old photographs to know you've been somewhere.
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Quote Originally Posted by 3shiftgtr View Post
The control impulse.

If you are critical and always want to make what you do better, then sometimes it is hard to listen with a forgiving ear to your own stuff. Very few projects get released after every single person involved has exactly what they want out of each performance.

But you know that, don't you?
well i've worked with people like this, and it sucks! chicken {censored}s are too afraid to release anything that isn't 'done', and so of course nothing ever gets released. of course i always want to make what i do better, which is why once i finish making one thing, i begin work on another!

if i find myself working on something that i can't stand listening to, that's my sign to scrap the song and start on something else! why anyone would write and record original music that they don't enjoy is a mystery to me (unless there is $$$ involved, of course)
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Quote Originally Posted by stevesherbert

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well i've worked with people like this, and it sucks! chicken {censored}s are too afraid to release anything that isn't 'done', and so of course nothing ever gets released. of course i always want to make what i do better, which is why once i finish making one thing, i begin work on another!

 

So then you certainly can understand how a person, critical in nature, who has moved on to the next project, doesn't want to listen to the old project to be reminded of what they are not happy with. It's not a matter of not being able to 'stand' listening to it. It's a matter of listening to it as a creator of the music rather than as a listener of the music. Some people just can't turn of being a creator when they listen.
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What was nice on the last one is we had a strict deadline by Jens Bogren to fit into his schedule for mixing. So we HAD to be done by then. Now that we're hopefully doing the mixing ourselves, I hope we can let it go. Perfectionism is a big strength/weakness of our band.

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Quote Originally Posted by 3shiftgtr

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So then you certainly can understand how a person, critical in nature, who has moved on to the next project, doesn't want to listen to the old project to be reminded of what they are not happy with. It's not a matter of not being able to 'stand' listening to it. It's a matter of listening to it as a creator of the music rather than as a listener of the music. Some people just can't turn of being a creator when they listen.

 

I can relate to this even though I don't see myself anywhere near the level of the great ones. I think there is this implication that we have to be great or have credentials before we can speak of our own work in this way. I certainly don't want to be seen as comparing myself to a "real musician", but at the same time: yeah, I can't listen and enjoy music I've created in the same way as I listen to other music. It's kind of a curse. I'm always hearing things I wish I'd done better.
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