The Jason Timothy book: The Mental Game of Electronic Music Production

[144dB]

Hey all,

 

 

 

I have no personal connection to Jason Timothy (author), but I am reading his book on the psychology of making and recording music. I'm only halfway done, but of all the books that needed to be written, this one strikes a chord with me. All the technical tips in the world mean nothing if I have a mental block with finishing projects. The full title is Music Habits - The Mental Game of Electronic Music Production: Finish songs fast, beat procrastination, and find your creative flow.

 

 

 

Again, I'm only halfway through the book, but so far it has been time well spent. If nothing else, it's reassurance from someone who has overcome the same challenge I face (finishing projects). And fundamentally, I believe it does come down to having the stones to "suck". To accept your current level of skill, and to finish projects with warts and all, knowing that later projects will be better.

 

 

 

Check it out at your leisure.

[blue2blue]

That's a lesson well worth learning.

[Ernest Buckley]

It definitely sounds like an interesting book. After working on my current album for the last 9 years, I can probably write a book on the same subject!

[Anderton]

Again' date=' I'm only halfway through the book, but so far it has been time well spent. [/quote']

 

Please give us a follow-up when you finish it.

 

 

[144dB]

Hi Craig and crew,

 

 

 

I finished it a couple of nights ago. It was well worth the ten bucks and the 4-6 hours it took me to read it. To me, this is the core issue of this hobby: Whether or not I have the courage to finish and share a project. The book talks a lot about modern distractions (and disguises for procrastination), including forums like this. As much as the info and knowledge sharing in these forums is priceless, they can be a crutch and a time hog as opposed to actually making music. There have been times in my life when I find myself talking about making music more than I'm making it. The social aspect of this hobby is great too, but I have to watch this tendency.

 

 

 

I don't want to spoil anything or steal his thunder, so I won't go into details about what I learned. But I will say that the book gave me some staying power this week to push through on a song that might otherwise have stayed dormant. Am I finished? Not quite. But the broad brush strokes are there, and now I can detail it and finish it. Who knows, maybe I'll even post it in the forum one day.

 

 

 

In terms of the book itself, it does jump around a bit, it can be a bit repetitive, and it is a bit raw (there are F-bombs a plenty). It's also written from an EDM perspective, so some of the tips and techniques are geared toward that genre. But I still found most of it generally applicable (and tremendously useful), and if nothing else, it gave me some solace that I'm not the only one who struggles with the issue of completing artistic projects. I'm going to seek-out some other literature on the subject as well. Surely other artists struggle with the same issue (painters, sculptors, writers, etc).

 

 

 

All the best.