You don't have to know everything...
Oct 07, 2023
When I started learning music production, it took me a looong time to work up the courage and confidence to release anything out into the world.
I wanted it to be perfect. I didn't want people to question whether I knew what I was doing (spoiler: I didn't).
There were two problems with my thought process.
1. No one was listening
I put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself early in my career that....simply didn't exist. There was no expectation from my audience, because THERE WAS NO AUDIENCE. And while this seems like a bummer (I mean, most of us want people to hear our music) it was actually a blessing. THIS was the best time to figure things out as I went; to experiment with what "my sound" was going to be.
Once I started to view every piece, every track, every song as practice and not MY GREATEST OPUS EVER AND ONLY CHANCE TO PROVE MYSELF, I started learning from the most powerful teacher - EXPERIENCE.
2. I learned the most from doing
You may have heard that failure is the greatest teacher, and I think that's true. Turns out though, it's pretty hard to fail or succeed without actually doing the thing.
I heard a great story recently about Picasso. A man interrupted the artist's dinner to ask for a sketch. In about a minute, Picasso quickly sketched out a goat. Even in that simple sketch, Picasso's artistic thumbprint was clear.
As he handed it to the man, Picasso said, "that'll be $100,000." The man was shocked and replied, "but it only took you a minute to draw this!"
Picasso responded, "no. It took me 40 years."
There are several morals to that story, but for our purposes today it shows that there is value in experience. And you will develop that experience much more quickly by getting started before you feel like you're actually ready.
In my own experience, "feeling ready" is a goalpost that gets no closer until you simply shift your focus to putting one foot in front of the other.
You will learn more from doing than from reading about other people doing. So with that said, stop reading this and get to work!
Whenever you're ready, here's how I can help you:
1. Composition Concepts for Artists - an in-depth look at the process of composition with step-by-step examples SHOWING how and WHY I make decisions. You'll learn to take an initial idea and DEVELOP it into a finished project.
2. Understanding Synthesis - learn to design your own sounds starting with the basics of subtractive synthesis and progressing to more advanced sound design with semi-modular and various forms of digital synthesis.
3. YouTube Membership - monthly livestreams featuring music making and sound design in real time. Q&As and exclusive videos only available to channel members.
4. One to One Coaching (coming soon) - work with me on YOUR own music. I'll help you take your track from idea to finished product, so you'll come out with a polished track or EP and any knowledge gained from walking through the process with me.
