Feb
How good are you really? This question is a personal one. So ask yourself this one more time.”How good am I really at producing music? Is this just a hobby? (If so, you don’t have to read any further.) Am I spending all this money on equipment for no reason at all? Am I wasting my time with this? I asked myself these questions a while back. I had to really look at what I was doing and why. These are things that should not be overlooked when choosing this path. One thing we will have to face is this simple point…”What IS the point?”
We can sit here and say all day long “Its for the love”. (Thats an obvious point if you ask me.) So, for the sake of this article, let’s remove this blatantly obvious statement about doing it for love.
“Well Rushaa, I don’t do it for anything else.” But, is that really true? It’s ok if you want to share who you are with millions of people. It’s ok if you want to be known as one of the best. It’s cool if you want to get rich doing this. It’s ok if you want to show off for the girls or the men. If you want a Bently. If its to prove to the haters you can succeed at this. If these and many other “things” are the reason you do this…SHOUT IT OUT! Don’t let anyone change your “personal” reason. Just do it right. And most importantly remain humble. If this is not just a real hobby, we need to get real about being a producer.
Stop procrastinating. Time waits for no man. The longer you hold off, the more time goes by, the more opportunities are missed. You won’t get better at this craft. You’ll be sitting there looking crazy talking about, “I’m a producer.” Taking pictures of yourself in a studio, talking about, “I’m gettin this paper son!” Then after you take the picture, its back to eatin that bowl of Fruit Dots from Aldi’s. It’s gonna be sooner than you think when somebody calls you out on this claim of being a producer. What are you going to do then? Seriously. What are you going to do? You’ve been procrastinating forever. Your skill level hasn’t risen in a year or two because you haven’t pushed yourself to learn anything new. You haven’t went through the ups and downs of the creative process to become an INDIVIDUAL artist.
Then comes the excuses. I don’t have the time. I work. I was kickin it with my boy’s. I was chillin with my girl. It’s too loud in the house. My girl or man won’t leave me alone. Or plain and simple… I don’t feel like it. So when will you TRULY take this thing to the next level?
How can this be done? Put in the time. Put in the effort. It has been said that many masters of their craft have put in 10,000 hours or more at doing their profession. That means they put in serious work. Serious work=Sacrifice. You have to let some things go. Be real now. What can you do without until you get better at the craft? Answer this to yourself, and just do it. You don’t have to tell a soul. Let this be a personal thing. You’ll be surprised at how many times I told people I was working on myself, and they constantly tried to throw a wrench in my dreams… In the form of saying it with a smile. But the whole time, they don’t want you to leave them behind. I want you to think about your circle of “friends”. Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
How about your song structure? Can you create a full song? Many times, the artist needs an: intro, verse, hook, verse, hook, bridge, outro. Have you tried this formula? You would have to make sure your bars are correct as well. For the above structure, the count “could” be: 2,16,8,16,8,8,2. Again, depending on the song and amount of artists on the song, this could be done very different.
You a sample producer? Get your chops right. Work on that base line. Get those drums right. Learn to really use what’s in the song to make it new. Study the masters of the craft. It is said, the way to truly get good at something is to emulate the person you want to be like. If you’re reading this, you are in the right place. The Maschine Masters family will GO OUT OF THEIR WAY to help you. Use this site. Spend time on this art. It’s not as simple as you may think. But AG and many others here will be more than happy to help. Each one teach one, is a motto I live by.
If you create off the top of your head, practice melodies. Get your drum skills up. Make sure you add fill ins to break the simplicity of the song. Add some sounds here and there in the song to spice up the track. All these little things help the artist as well. These little twist within the song can bring something from within the artist and make them be more inspired. It’s not just about us as producers. And after these things are done, ask yourself. Is this song really good? What area’s can I improve on?
I had a lot to say, I know. But, I run myself through these thoughts every now and then, to keep myself on my toes. And it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t ask you to ask yourself some of these things. Some of us have done this for years. Some of us are new. But one thing is certain. If we keep putting in TRUE effort, TRUE time in what we do, one day we can look out that window in Paris (or fill in the blank) and say, “Yeah, I made it. It’s not a dream any more.”
This is just a little food for thought.
I’ll holla at cha later,
Rushaa
I go thru these questions with myself also, I’ve been doing this for a long LONG time, had a few releases, 100’s of demos and compilations but never had that “one” break, yet I still continue to buy the latest equipment and constantly upgrade my sound libraries, then some of the artists just don’t get it, the love and passion that goes into being a producer. If it wasn’t for the fact that I do what I do for me I would have stopped years ago,of course I would love to have someone like Common or Talib Kweli bless some of my tracks, that goes without saying, but the smile on my wife’s face or to see my 2 year old son jumping around and dancing to a track I am working on is awesome and can be payment enough. I learned to look at it like this, if my manager lands me some placements that would be dope but until then ima just continue to make bangers for my own gratification, that’s what I do 🙂
Also I meant to tell you GREAT post my dude!
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed that. You WILL place the big one. I can tell by what you wrote, you have true zeal. If you haven’t already, try getting into some music libraries for film, video games, TV. “Never give up” is my motto. Got it on my wall… Peace
no doubt fam
That’s exactly how I feel when I hold the cans up to my 2 year olds head and he grins ear to ear. Gotta be doing something right cuz kids no what stinks and what doesn’t.
Great post it’s a reminder for every producer !
Thanks.
Keep the GT. I want wall to wall gear.
Get both.
This is a great post. I highly recommend the book “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield for you and anyone who this post resonated with.
will have to check that out bro! thanks for sharing!
Thanks. I like a good read.
good post….just what i needed….got me a little emotional…thanks my man
I got you bro. Thanks
Dope post again my dude!! If you know where you want to go you can def make the necessary preparations to get there! keep telling it like it is homie!
The truth shall set you free. lol thanks
Yo Rushaa, Thanks for this post. I, too ask myself these questions, wondering if I’m nuts for thinking like that. Yes, I do this for the love, mainly. But I would love to get paid doing What I love to. I’m probably rambling, But whatever, it’s just good to see someone thinking like me. Great post, by the way.
Great minds think alike. Peace king. Glad you liked it.
Great Post !!
Helped a lot
Thanks. Happy you liked it.
I appreciate this honesty and the true meaning in the message! My struggle but not anymore! I work now..
Thank you.
Like this article, great for any level producer..I Have been through many up and downs with music, success and failure. Ive learned alot along the way and even these last 6 months have been very bumpy, from finding inspiration to financial issues, to my personal life. After years and years of doin this, it has finally come time to take it to a whole new level, and like the article says, make the dream reality. Very glad I’ve been led to MM.com, and everyone has been a big help to me! Much love, god bless
Thank you very much. You are in the right place. Peace
This article was the fire under my ass thanks man I’ve been asking and feeling all the above” TIME TO GET CRAKIN” thank you once again for taking the time to share