The trick to finishing EVERY song 

Was this video an elaborate excuse to play Fallout? Maybe. 🎸 Bandzoogle ► bandzoogle.com/?pc=venustheory

I'll be 80 in April. I've shot a lot of dogs along the way. No regrets. Still creating. Keep up the good work, young man.

"My goal is to finish 80% of a song, the other 20% is left for the listener's interpretation" That's the rule I try to follow as a perfectionist with my music. And that 80% may be different for every writer, but the point is if ur tryng to reach 100% that last 20% will be the death of ur time and enjoyment of the art, it's not worth it imo ❤️

“Get the simple things right before the complex things wrong” is a real nugget I’ve learned. thanks Venus 🙏🏽

1. it occurs to me that this is a byproduct of the relatively modern idea that some recording of a live of music is “the canonical thing”, as opposed to a century ago where you could make modifications to your song every time you performed it 2. when i think of my favorite songs of all of history, if i listen critically i will find things where i’m like “yeah i’d change that lyric” or “that delay sounds weird” or “you kind of mis-fretted that note” - so it’s crazy to hold yourself to a higher standard than *the best thing by anyone ever*

Amen to all of this. Especially spending too much of our time thinking "someone's going to find fault with this." Of course they will. Even the all-time greats get mixed reviews on pretty much everything they do. Someone out there hated ************* no matter how awesome it's proved to be. (Don't fall for the trap, fill in your own thing here, and whatever you choose, you'll be right to some folks, and dead wrong to others.) Thanks for being a voice of reason Cameron!

I love mustache man book club time 🤓

Thanks for posting this, I totally agree. A few years back I stopped worrying about how good or not good something was and just started putting stuff out. Ten albums later, two books of poetry, one novel, and a bunch of articles, videos, and other artistic creations and I'm still going strong. I operate on three general principles: (1) If I want to make "good" art, then I need to make a lot of "bad" art; (2) Finishing my work is the most important thing I need to start; and (3) Perfect is the enemy of good but the friend of failure So, my goal has changed from starting projects to finishing them. And I consider something "finished" when it is posted to my RU-vid or Flickr or Medium or website. It doesn't have to be perfect, nor even particularly good. It just has to be done.

Wow. We share an identical observation and experience! I just turned in the music for my 9th album, to my record label. I spent two months trying to make everything perfect. I've done this on every album and, after turning in the music, I desperately want to reel it back in and fix stuff. However, I always force myself to let go and "abandon" the project, after which I then have to deal with the soul-crushing oscillations between "This is my Magnum Opus" and "WTF was I thinking? This is utter garbage!" As you said, the fans decide and, while my music never leaves my studio unless I am pleased with it, I do not get to decide the degree of success it generates. Nerve-wracking, yes, but I try to focus on the joy of the journey and not dwell on what other people think. I won't lie, though; receiving any praise for my efforts is utterly intoxicating and is absolutely creative fuel. Excellent video. Stay creative!

Makes so much sense, I released a track this year that I last worked on in 2019... I thought it wasn't finished, but just wanted to release something because I haven't released in a while. In less than 3 months it's my most played and most liked track out of all my music...

I’ve been a professional musician for nearly two decades, and I only recently learned this lesson. It’s not about liking or loving what you do, it’s about doing your best and trying to enjoy the process. Whether or not the end result is good, is up to the world at large. Thanks for another great and insightful video.

This brought up all the feels, man. Yeah, I have a huge problem finishing projects, especially feeling like they're ever at that "just perfect" stage.. its SO F****** frustrating. I'm also a visual artist and do the same thing there, too. You're actually one of the only music-related folks I watch on RU-vid anymore in an attempt to get back more time to do actual production - your content is actually super valuable, so yeah thank you for existing, keep it up. 🤘

I just finished my first song in ~7 years. It was honestly the last song I would have ever decided to finish -- it's a remix of something very not my style that I don't intend to be my style. But I'm definitely glad I finished it and had more fun with it than I would have if I started over because "this isn't even my vibe and I'm tired of hearing it." The biggest realization that is helping me right now is that the deeper parts of the process are actually where most of the fun is, especially as someone who has so little experience with it. We all know that feeling when you make your first element, let's say it's your beat. You're groovin', you feel the potential. Now you added your first melody or whatever, and now you're really groovin'. Now it's starting to feel like a song. It's bigger, it's more, it's simply more exciting than it was before. Well... that just keeps adding up. It's like you're now eating the main course, instead of just snacking on a bunch of uncooked pieces of food. That second drop or chorus is now even more exciting because it's built upon the meaning of the first. And it actually generally takes far less raw creativity to create that later part. You've already built the foundations; now it's more about rearranging the pieces and doing something new... now it's appropriate to do a little copy-pasting and enjoy the characters you've already placed on the stage in various ways. So you're actually further along in your overall process than you may realize. Also, don't underestimate many nights of sleep and fresh ears again and again. Sometimes you simply have no idea where to go next, nor do you the next day. Now you think it may be old news but this is just when you may start to be ready for the next part, after you've had some space from it. You probably feel disconnected from it and want something fresh and new, and you're right! Just... put that newness into the next part. It's okay if you feel totally different creatively, go wild and make something new just use those building blocks you've already built.

As someone new-ish to the music production field, these videos really help give me a perspective about what I'm doing in a way that I truly never woulda thought of otherwise. Thanks Cameron!

This is good stuff, but I think it’s also coming from a relatively young artist’s perspective. As you get into the real meat of your career as an artist No one really thinks about “is this good” or “is this the best thing I’ve ever done?” because at a certain point, when you get to the place where you’re comfortable with who you are and have accepted yourself as an artist, you just do the work. The work becomes it’s own reason for being and it fulfills itself. Anything that happens after you release the work into the world, however you do that, is secondary. The work no longer belongs to you and you’ve already moved on. A mature artist can’t be separated from the art. It’s as much apart of the daily routine as eating. And the rest of these external distractions fall away.

Great video Cameron! And yes, in the last 3 days I've released 27 unfinished songs/demos just to stop thinking about them and it feels great now! And it looks like some are resonating well with people, even though they're not finished. 🙂

I always got stuck in trying to perfect a 4 bar loop for a long time, but then I changed my approach and started focusing on arrangement, creating a rough template of the entire song I want, and it radically changed my production rate. When creating, it's always best to develop a framework first and then add the details.

11 mins of me questioning why I pay a therapist lol

I’ll admit I was having an absolute TANTRUM this morning…. which is hilarious because I just make unfinished Dubstep 🙃 And now, thanks to you, I’m writing things on my grease board like “Just shoot the f***ing dog, man” Thank you man. I always enjoy turning to your extremely humble wisdom when I’m down and out about…. art? Oh ffs. 😂

I’m sorry, can we talk about how nice your lighting and color grading is in this video, I had to pause several times and just admire.

I'm only 1.22 into the video, but I have to say, not quite as relevant as I thought. I spent the day, and indeed, the week, working on songs. Shooting the dogs would have saved me a lot of aggravation!!! They're either under my feet, between me and the desk, maybe one in front, one behind, so I can't move the chair at all, knocking on the door while I'm recording, or knocking things over if they're in the room while I'm recording, or, nagging, pawing, bumping my leg with tennis balls, trip trapping around, and generally being as distracting as possible while I'm editing, until I just don't know which clip is which or which track I'm even working on anymorem and have a total breakdown! 🤯

I swear, you make some of the best thought provoking content when it comes to creativity. I’ve been in a similar mindset lately, getting back to the joy of the art and what really matters. It’s wild that there are others like us out there going through the same thing. I like to think of it as a sort of redefining outdated definitions, while honoring my perspectives from all chapters of my life. Makes things spicier. Thank you mustache man

My little brother has a great saying that I've adopted- "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing badly." It means stop waiting for the perfect tools, the perfect set up, the perfect whatever and just go out and do the thing with the tools you have.

Probably the hardest thing as a creator I've ever had to do was let go of my band's album that I'd been trying to record and mix my self for years. Songs we had played live since 2017. Even an original song I wrote and released before having my band play it. Sending it to another engineer for their input and experience made me feel as if my last decade of learning and practice just wasn't good enough. My sound wasn't "industry standard." It wasn't until getting the songs back I understood most of my production was left as is. Letting go of your idea is part of the process. I still struggle with releasing my own personal work. Even the songs I'm proud of.

Best SH-4d review so far.

THANK YOU. This video cannot be more relevant for me than TODAY. I’m struggling on finishing my next EP for months. You are right. I need to accept that i am way pass the point i actually change anything to the art. I am happy enough with it. Let’s release it.

I also think it might our idealisation of pieces of work we love, calling it "perfect" even though artist themselves find it very flawed I bet everyone have called their favourite song "perfect"... Like Nude by Radiohead, I mean look they made something "perfect" and "finished" and can't add nothing to it, that means it's possible!

Your video came at the perfect moment: I need to finish 4 tracks and it's always difficult to know when they are "ready"... Now...I know! Thanks, sir! Cheers from Belgium! 🤝

people don't care about mixing that much, but they care about arrangement, overall feeling, melodies, complexity, style and energy. actually many things that they (or we) care about. mastering is also important :)

Videos about the philosophical side of making music are gold. People talking about plugins, theory, hardware, etc., are a dime a dozen these days.

The example you gave about the drawing was so perfect. When my friends come over and want to make music and especially when they want me to perform on the project, i usually get it so easily and i know its nothing insane but i still usually like that song. But when im by myself in my room trying to make a song, i always seem to struggle or get frustrated or upset with the music im making and how im singing and such and such. I criticize myself so badly when im on my own

My answer to all this has been what I do on my live streams (see "live" page on my YT channel); I invent music *live*, for fun (and for my mental health). There's no more "commit now" than doing it live. For example, I have one channel with only kicks and snares. I give myself at most two "wrong" snare hit to change my mind and pick a different sound one. I then do the same with a channel full of hi-hats and percussion, I then commit to a bass line, then immediately commit to some chords.... I'm building the song on the fly, as I am making it. I punch channels in and out, I rap or sing insanely dumb crap on top of it... and I have fun. Fun as hell. And the best part is, when A song is "done" (i.e. I'm bored with it)... I do select-all and hit DELETE. And it is the most glorious feeling in the world. Instead of filling a harddisk with 200 unfinished pieces that just add to my angst of never getting back to, I fill the world and my viewers with 200 - maybe not *finshed* but surely *abandoned" - pieces, that I will never have to bother with again. ..... unless, on the off chance, I by accident create a gem. I might hit save, that one time. And maybe get back to that one some other day. Over the almost three years I've been doing this, I've hit "save" less than a dozen times. Stay tuned to see what happens to that :) Key, though, this sily thing I'm doing, has been some of the most CREATIVELY FULFILLING things I've ever done, and the best thing to ever happen to my MENTAL HEALTH situation....

I publish my songs when I feel they are an 8/10 in my mind. I used to try to achieve a 10/10 but it was exhausting. So many crazy details and changes in the end were not worth the extra effort. If the idea was good people would get it 😂 I used the same trick as a student: “Get an 8 or 8.5. Dont over obsess” and it work out fine😎

What you said about the Magnus Opus not being decided by the artist was EXACTLY what I needed to hear at the moment. I've had a plan for a very ambitious musical project for several years now, and I can't seem to get started. I think the reason has been that I've got this idea in my head that it must be the most awesome thing I've ever made or there's no point starting it. Maybe if I stop caring so much, I'll finally begin. Thank you.

As someone who has done so, going too far in the other direction might also not be ideal. I have a lot of productions up that are a good representation of that moment where you 'just start learning the game'. Not doing anything special and a lot of it is not that well done. Those productions will stay up because I think it's fun to see me progress. But I've noticed in later projects I sometimes tended to 'shoot the dog' early to get closer to my earlier work. Make sure to not get completely stuck in the seriousness of it all, but do put in the effort to make what you did come out as strong as it can. A favourite way of mine to make albums for example, is to just have fun making music and after only a little while you'll notice you have some possible contenders for an album. Now with 5 sort of unfinished demo's you have a feel for what the album can be and you produce 2-5 more things that kinda fall in line with all of it. You can than finish tracks much easier as you have sort of an overarching idea of the product. but because (more than) half of it wasn't made with an album in mind first, it will have a less serious feel to it and it will enable you to let go of that a little bit aswell. This is just kind of a mess of words on what I've learned in this regard, I'm also not a native english speaker so this might be a garbled mess. Tho I think it's nice to have all kinds of perspectives on this type of thing since it's sometimes hard to really understand your own perspective on it. Videos like this really help me find and understand mine better, so thank you!

I think it's helpful to just do whatever you do for the sake of it. No stakes, a certain lightness/playfulness and just enjoying the process is they key it seems. But as soon as it becomes 'your living' then the pressure is on. That can be a motivator as well, but it can also be a stranglehold, resulting in one going through the motions to get to a result.

I needed to hear this right now. As a friend of mine once said, most people are perfectly happy with 50-60% of what you think is your 100% best.

Nothing inciteful to say on this but "big mood." A very algorithm to you, Cameron

This is a cry for help :) @8:03 I saved myself from this swamp by thinking the same points at the time, but then another fear came over me: I realized that even if people don't like the song I produced, they can't explain why they don't like it. This was the reason why nobody have such negative thoughts. I mean, no one was going to say, "You should have used electronic drums here and the guitars are too harsh there, and the bass is too quiet" but they still wouldn't like it. So it was still my duty to produce something they would love, whether they can or can't explain why they love it If anyone has any advice on how I can get out of this and only focus on creating beautiful things, it would make me the happiest person in the world. Thanks :)

My dad always had a saying "When you're up to your asshole in alligators it's easy to forget that your main objective was to drain the swamp." Kind of the same message. If you are doing audio for hire you are pretty much a barista. I'm not saying that to diminish your skills or ambitions but you are pretty much in a service position. Your creativity is subordinate to something much more utilitarian.

“A painting is never finished - it simply stops in interesting places” - Paul Gardner.

I mix live sound so I have to bring my best work to the moment and "get the job done". There is no stopping for a retake and when the show is done, it's over and you have to accept that fact. Sometimes, when band and audience and my work find "flow" it can be very rewarding even if NOT perfect.

I really like the phrase "hypothetical gremlin." All too relatable.

Have you thought about releasing these pieces as a podcast or similar? I really like the content and they rarely needs looking, only listening.

Timely. Very timely. I've started seeing in the last few months that I've kind-of taught myself when to stop polishing a track. Because I've grasped that I'll only get better at that as I make more music, not by over-producing a pitiful handful.

5:28 this feeling is confusing. When you work so hard on something that isn't successful, and then you spend very little time on something that doesn't mean anything to you and everyone loves it. Anyway finishing things is my biggest obstacle so my ears are pricked.

So my thing is, and great video btw, I get what you mean about ' shoot the dog ' and sometimes that might be the best way to move forward from a project/track and create something new. My question is should I release all the music I make, the finished stuff of course, or should I hold back from releasing those tracks that are good but not quite at the level I wanted. I believe in quality over quantity, but sometimes we might miss out on an opportunity to get something heard by a different crowd? Just a thought.

A philosophical way of looking at this is as you pointed out. Not only do people not care, also its a drop in the rainstorm of artistic endeavour. Until you learn to let go, your passion is going to drag you down. One of the enduring features of the humble acoustic guitar is you can pick it up, have a strum on your own or sing a naff song with friends that everyone knows, just for shizz and giggles and accept it for what it was. My partner paints, she will spend hours on a piece, I think they're all really good, she's more than happy to just paint over them, which used to horrify me. As she used to say, "it's good to kill your darlings". Thank you for another thoughtful episode.

This is so true, a friend of mine said something really insightful to me last year. i spent over a year mixing and tweaking my first EP a couple of years ago. putting so much time into it i started to hate the process. and it went nowhere. after it was released i started doing very fast same day tracks and mixes, just going with the flow state. fully immersed, no thinking and these tracks are gaining waayy more traction online. they are rough around the edges but with so much stuff looking pristine, the rough edges stand out. My friend made the point that if i had not gone through the hell of the EP i would not be creating the stuff i am now.

Exactly. Sometimes I get tired of hearing other musicians overly geeking out on amps and effects gear. You can fave the best gear on the record, but if the music sucks, it simply sucks.

This is awesome and true of so much work I do, musical or otherwise. Thanks for making these!

"If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing with a beer first." - Ted Bullpit. Truer words have never been spoken! 😁

“I’ll be there with you…” sounds like a threat to subscribe lol

Thank you very much for that thought. Something I understand, but it’s hard to accept and be calm about it. Just released my first music album today. It was a long way. Trying to comprehend the moment instead of anxiously thinking about what could’ve been done better. Once again, thank you very much

I don’t say, “wow” out-loud a lot when I’m watching a video but, “You don’t get to decide your magnum opus, the people do.”

In a past life, I was a graphic designer. One of my professors told me that if you present a client with 3 images (maybe a logo or something) and there's one that you're not thrilled about but are content with the other 2, the client will ALWAYS choose the one you're not happy with. Your experience Cameron is just kinda how things work, especially if the decision is being made by a non-creative.

I cannot state the importance of this lesson. We must work at becoming process oriented instead of outcomes driven. Outcomes are fleeting and a means to an end. The process is where the real value, growth, and fulfillment are. Learn to fall in love with the process and everything else will take care of itself.

If something's worth doing, it's worth doing well. Videos like this are why I love your channel.

Your content, imbued with a profound sense of raw emotion, has an incredible ability to draw me back time and time again to your channel. It's a wellspring of inspiration and unwavering honesty, touching the depths of my soul. 🎉

I pretty much stopped making music because of the fact the stuff I felt was throw away got the most interest. The things I toiled over went unnoticed.

You've said it in as many words, but art creators live in a different realm than do art consumers. The granularity for a creator might be 10X or 100X finer than the consumer. Great presentation!

"Art is never completed, just abandoned." ...that was super funny, I'm surprised nobody caught the joke....because it was not Abe Lincoln, but Leonardo da V!! Great video!!🤣👍

I really appreciate it when my therapist makes these videos. Seriously, thanks Cameron.

"Well hey Darling, that was a spicy meatball today, wasn't it" ~Venus Theory, 2023

One thing that helps is leaving something sit for a while. Sometimes the warts just fall off when listened with fresh ears. Yesterday’s yuck is today’s yeah!

Instructions unclear. Have been arrested at pet cemetery and the kids are terribly upset. ✨🪐

I was a generation or so of students behind Jason Graves in the same composition studio with the same composition professor. It was a kind of unorthodox studio where we were supposed to write 4+ pieces every semester vs the 1 that most studios do. I loved that because it pushed us so hard to develop craft and intuition through sheer practice and completion. Eventually, I felt the same since of “fulfillment burnout” acutely. Our professor’s motto was literally “your favorite piece should always be your last.” While it was fantastic for the first 2 years, the last 2 were a little paralyzing as I kept trying to push all of the little parts into perfectly intensional places. I think Jason had the perfect response to that with games like Dead Space; which almost seem to give up control of the music.

My philosophy is that I AM the world's best music project ever. For ME. That is, I AM my own favourite band. If someone asks what "real" band is the best, I'd say Spandau Ballet and they have songs that I could never surpass. But, by golly, they have some serious rubbish on their catalogue. I don't. I like everything that I've written. If I don't like what I write, I just abandon it and write something else. Something that I do like. Of course I have some stuff that isn't THAT good, but nothing is same level of garbage as "Missionary". It's just a matter of perspective. I am sure there would be people that would think I AM rubbish. Who cares, I write for myself and I am the best person to do so. It's VERY liberating. I always KNOW that I will like the next song I write.

"People dont give nearly as much of a fuck as you think they do" thanks, I needed to hear this.

The main problem comes with the tendency to equate finishing something with making it perfect. There's no such thing as a perfect bookcase, let alone a piece of music, and even if there were who are you to be the judge? Even if you made the thing and quite often especially since you made the thing. Another problem is the modern era ability (and for amateurs necessity) to do it all. That's actually asking an enormous amount of yourself. Personally, I work up to what I regard as "production mix" then hand the multis on to a mix-master engineer (mostly the same person these days) and try really hard to persuade myself that whatever they do is just right. It helps me to let go.

Leonardo da Vinci said, "Art is never finished. It is merely abandoned." Projects are never perfect or done, they are taken from you

1:21 "You have to shoot your dog" RU-vid gave me an ad here for Apple where a happy 3 legged dog was featured. 10/10

Balance, is what helped for me. Until recently I worked a day job at a large scale printing firm, while evenings I studied graphic art at the local academy. While everything had to be pixel perfect in the daytime, evenings I could unwind, be all expressive and explore new techniques. I believe that this balance helps everyone to put things in perspective. A good work life balance makes for happier people, which in turn makes it easier to let go. Oh and thanks to the epidemic I now I work at a glass factory, custom silkscreen printing and sandblasting glass doors and windows. A place where I get to use all previous techniques and insights to the fullest. And electronic music, is just a hobby that's heaps of fun, but who knows what it may become. Thank you Cameron for this and so many insightful and entertaining video's!

Ok but what do you do if you only get part of an idea, psych yourself out and abandon it, rinse repeat, then wind up with a long list of half-songs? How do you calm down and know which one to pick to finish?

I used to take all the criticism of any track I made to heart6 and try and please everyone I could. But now my thoughts on most things was "I did that on purpose, sorry you don't like it" unless it's one of my music friends who's opinion I respect.

Good point man! I think I've been working up against this raising the bar for a while now, and lately I've been trying to let it loose a bit. This video kinda seems to be precisely where I'm at in my creative process right now. An example that made me realise how senseless it is to strive for perfection at every stage is the EP I recently recorded with my best friend. I tried to prepare the hell out of that thing, and make sure all the parts and sounds were just the way they should be before we entered the studio, but then we did enter the studio with the two of us and just started working together on music we love. We changed nearly everything, a lot of what ended up in the final versions was created spontaneously in the moment, and now I'm sitting here with material that's very different from what I expected, but that's just a lot of fun to work with and listen to. I think it's just that letting go of the way you feel it has to be and instead going with what feels right at a certain moment and not looking back or forward that can really bring the spark back when you need it the most. Now I'm really looking forward to mixing this EP, and I'll be sure not to keep mixing anytime after it's done. Thanks for the inspiration!

I think I really needed this. I've been in the process of writing an album and theres a track that unquestionably samples another tune. I've been so hell bent on whether people would notice and think I'll of the tune that I actually didn't think it of whether I liked it or not. This hits man

The creative process is where the pleasure generally lies for the creator. Shepherding a fully grown track out of the door to face the harsh world on its own merits is nowhere near as brutal as it feels. There's tiny flaws in every recording ever made, and frequently, those flaws are what make a track stand out. I'm a big fan of the shoe sounds on Blue Note recordings, as somebody steps forward to solo, because it's all being recorded live into a pair of 50s omni mics. It's part of the character of those recordings. Attempting to precisely recreate a magical moment is nigh on impossible if there's a bunch of musos playing live. The same applies in film and tv. 75 takes will kill everyone's will to live, especially when the editor chooses take no.2.

"Done is always better than perfect".

This is random to this topic. I created a really great sounding quick loop track. It was great. So... because I'm learning. I tried to do it again the next day. It sounded terrible. Sometimes you stumble across magic in a natural accidental way. And it can't be re created. Don't try jumping an inch higher. Start a different game.

You are spot on. There are many many projects that got started but never finished because they are not good enough. Then someone sometime listens to it all and says "Why didn't you finish it ? It sounds great". So it is also true that very often the harder we try the worse it gets. We are often guided by the presumed expectations of others and that makes it often frustrating. Maybe we should just let ourselves be ourselves and create finished projects so they can maybe appreciated 3 generations from now.

This lifted a weight off my heart

Earlier today, I watched a video about Rick Rubin and his zen approach to producing. Then, I got into an online discussion about creative innovation being driven by profit. (I don't think it is.) Now, this. The common theme to my day seems to be this: we're most creative when we're free of the concern of success or failure. Once we start worrying about whether or not a project will "make it" (whatever that might mean), either we become paralyzed with perfectionism, or we start making compromises to try to appeal to some hypothetical audience. Either way, the art suffers for it. But if your friend just wants a quick cartoon gag, nothing more? Yeah, that's not a problem at all.

My college roommate used to say "If something is worth doing, it's worth doing poorly." It sounded Zen, but I'm not quite sure what it meant. I think maybe "doing something -- even poorly -- is better than doing nothing".

It hit me on a sore spot, especially the moment when you were talking about cutting 200hz with a dynamic equalizer. Dunno why, but I was nearly crying. Thanks for this, Cameron!

May sound odd but I think making a song Is like building a kite . If you design it correctly and with love then it will catch wind and it will stay up there and you’ll be able to give it to somebody else to fly and if it’s beautiful, they’ll want to . Sometimes it’s just bad built and can’t fly and sometimes it’s like a flying monstrosity. The more you build the better they will get.

That's funny. My dad always said, if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well.

I got the simple, but pretty heavy rule: "I will finish this today". And I don't mean applying that to yourself when you're already 8 hours at the job, getting tired of it and very much not willing to continue... No, I apply it at the beginning of that job; as a mantra; as a goal that is constantly keeping me on a focus with the remaining time left and things to be done in clear sight. It works. For me. I get shit done. Otherwise... nah

If there's nothing more i want to do with the song then i decide that it's done. Doesn't matter the length

What about Beyoncé’s halo song, she re wrote that song over 100 times, because she felt something was wrong while seeking perfection, and didn’t give up, until she felt ok with the end result

As always another great video. This video reminds me of a joke and a saying. “ How many Guitarist does it take to change a lightbulb? 10. One to do it and nine to talk about how they would’ve done it“ So if there are nine other ways to do something, then, why isn’t your way just as valid? Stop worrying about there being a “right” way to make music. “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly…at first.” Worrying about getting anything perfect right from the first step is a form of procrastination because most people won’t even take that first step if they can’t get it perfect. It’s way better just to get going and see where it takes you. Then you can touch it up to a usable level.

I discovered this channel just a few days ago and since then I'm watching as much contents as I can from here. Your approach in explaining different aspects of the creative process in music making is simply so appealing and spontaneous that really inspire me to write more music and experimenting with it. Thank you

No man its not about that... if u ever made a song or atleast a part of a song that u are perfectly happy with u know that u like it and dont want to change it. Music is not about rush.. it's art. And i believe its extremly difficult to learn... so dont believe the hype that tells you u have to rush finishing ur songs. There is no rules. Do whatever the hell makes u happy. I love perfectionising songs and i hardly finish them. Do i care? Hell no. Do i make improovements and learn? Hell yes. And this is all i really care about. Its a learning process. Developing an own style. There are a bunch of good artists out there, but few tgat i really like. Why is that? Because music is all about style. And not everyone's style is the same. So yes if u like finishing ur songs fast, go finish them before they are perfect. I dont have problems with that. But if a song has high potential i don't like to rush it. I will take my time until it's perfect, atleast for me.

Jesus. I got fulfilment burnout big time. Haven't made anything in years and honestly started to believe there was no coming back from it. Thank you for putting a name to it, and allowing me to see it's normal. Gives me hope I can actually defeat the beast and hit publish again.

I'm trying to post my first 4 songs ever but it's such a torture to finish it I always find something that sounds bad, this advice really creates something in my head thank you so much

All life has three parts. 1. Beginning 2. Middle 3. End or end result

I personally feel like all the best stuff I make is done within a few hours. If I get in the flow and bang it out it ends up better than the stuff I "put effort" into. I've got something in limbo right now because I did got it done, asked for some opinions, and then started second guessing too much of it and can't bring myself to let it go now. 🤦‍♂️

You are spot on regarding these points... you've said this in other vids and just great to hear it again with different perspectives. Music wise I've put things on hold but for other reasons... health, family, work, stress and depression. But I know what you mean about just getting it done. Back in my 20's this other musician would take months to create amazing songs, intricate changes, voicings, etc. While I was churning out straight rock stuff. He never quite ever completed much, and while he is a great musician with a lot of classical and theory training, he hasn't written any songs in 2 decades. Just can't. Last thing on your message here - I think bands of pre -1990's, going back to Beatles era seemed to get more done faster because there just wasn't a ProTools with 100's of tracks. You just had a limited amount of tracks, equipment, time and money, and you went in believing you could complete a song and be done with it and move on to the next one. Thanks for your vids... they are inspiring.

Far Cry Primal is a criminally underrated game, and the soundtrack is straight fire. Jason Graves is fantastic.

Just finishing an EP after nitpicking over details for weeks, while this video came out :D. Good timing. I tried to really do my best and push it as far as I can, but also ready to abandon the thing now...