Gario Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I was reading some of the WIP forums today and found one that really caught my eye. He was working on some music when he realized that it really wasn't up to OC's standards. He's new, but he realized just how far up the ladder OC's standards were and was tempted to give up right there... Fortunately he isn't giving up (I don't think), but think about new musicians coming to this site... They get excited about writing music, then realize how far the remixes posted at OCR really are and give up. They don't realize that it takes years to get where you remixers have gotten. So the real question is how long has it taken YOU to get where you've gotten musically? It'll be a very enlightening thread for the new people at OCR, and it'll help them guage themselves on a better (or more accurate) scale. To start it off, I've been involved in music for my whole life, and formaly involved for over ten years, playing piano then writing music. I've been writing music for the midi interface for 9 years, studying music theory for 7 years, writing music by hand for 5 years and have been working on using samples and production for the past year (I think my first song on Reason was finished in December 31st 2007). If taken seriously, this thread can help a lot of prospective musicians get the idea that this isn't an overnight deal for ANYBODY... but it's always worth it at the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I love this question because I talk to so many people that say they'll never be any good, and all I have to do is link them to MY first remixes... I started out in late 2002, but my first remix didn't get accepted on the site until July 2004 (Calamitous Judgment). If you compare that to my 2007 and 2008 remixes, like Monstrous Turtles or Nuclear Flash, it's like night and day. But the period between late 2002 and mid-2005 was where most of my growth took place, and that's after a TON of practice. I made at least a dozen remixes, four of which I submitted (and which were rejected) before I even got *one* posted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuketheXjesse Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I've been in High school and Middle school band playing trumpet (so I know a bit about music theory and whatnot), and I picked up guitar at 15 and bass at 17. I'm pretty nice at both, at least good enough for making some stuff. Ironically I suck at Trumpet D: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillRock Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Well, I started playing the piano when I was about 7 or 8 can't be sure, altho I haven't played it for a couple of years now, and have been playing the guitar for about 3 years. I've been writing music for about 5 years now, and remixing for a little over a year. Started getting into music production seriously about the time I joined ocr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sole Signal Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Started in 2005, didn't get around to subbing to OCR until April 2006. My first sub, a Blast Corps remix, was pretty horrible and I really don't know what I was thinking. My posted mixes are 100x better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skummel Maske Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I've played guitar for about 6 years now, while doing some slight arranging in Guitar Pro on the side all the while. Then in 2006 I took a music production course covering much of the basics in Cubase, along with some recording. In late 2007 I discovered OCR, and it's about that time I really got into music production. Since I figured I was far below the bar at that time, I started doing tracks for Dwelling of Duels instead. So in the end I can say that I've improved the most in this last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole Adams Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I started in late 2003 and didn't feel confident in my abilities until late 2007. Kind of a significant gap I guess, but I didn't work on music a whole lot in that time (not like today, anyway). It was a couple remix projects in 2007 that really got me going. Now I just need to finish more stuff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Power Smoothie Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 OP is very true; I'm still new to music production and sometimes I feel as though I'm going nowhere.I've played keys on and off for about 5 years, but I've only been seriously interested in producing and composing for about half a year. In fact, I bought FL Studio only 2 or 3 months ago. It's particularly crushing since I know music is a skill I want to learn above all others. I've never even considered giving up on it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrypnyk Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 according to this failed song, I rendered it 04/04/04 (which is a rather sexy date...) I know I worked with a tracker before this(attempted to anyways...), so it was either early 04 or late 03 when I started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenon Odyssey Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 http://olremix.org/remixers/Xenon_Odyssey to http://remix.thasauce.net/mixer/49/ to http://xenonodyssey.googlepages.com/home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tex Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I am into this whole music thingy since August '03, but music theory is not really that important to be good at sequencing stuff. What really matters is a lot of music making. That's all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level 99 Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I've been playing guitar for over 13 years now, and I've always had a musical knack from childhood, though I was never traditionally trained to any extent. I had a few guitar lessons when I started picking the instrument up, and I've never had a vocal lesson, or piano lesson, at all. There are peaks and slumps of advancement along my musical path, some periods bearing more improvement than others, but it really all winds down to determination above all else: if one is dedicated, then it is possible to do nearly anything. I do not have a posted mix yet as of this date (to memory I only believe I have submitted two, and they were WAY back when in 2005 I believe), but I'm still working hard at it. One day, I'm sure it will pay off. Diligence, getting feedback, and working with others to improve and expand your musical realm are the best ways to get better. It's very hard to condense musical progression to a single timeline, as the amount of time you spend improving is not necessarily consistent on a daily/monthly/yearly basis. I can say that the time I spend working with others for projects and collabs help me improve more than if I'm simply messing around on my own in that same amount of time. *shameless plug of how OCR brings people together and makes everyone all better, just like happy little elves* To sum up this meandering and convoluted mess, I'd say it took me over a decade to get here, but the times are different for everyone. Good call on making this thready btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tex Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 At this point, I really wish VGMix 3 was up. VGMix 2 was so musically friendly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj Mokram Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I started making music about 8 years ago, but I had already been writing lyrics and doing rap for 2 years. Back then I was so in need of instrmental productions, and so tired of waiting after some lazy self-proclamed Dj to align 2 pattern on his MPC2000, that I preferred to do it myself. I used some low-end, nasty piece of software, until I got (a bit late) Cakewalk in 2000. That's when I discovered both complex DAW, and my love for music composition. Since I've got no formal training, I kept learning stuff on my own, until I eventually got the hang of a few thing, and started kickin and making sounds for other people. I played the rap-game until 2005, when I realized that I was more up for making music than making local fiction & politics . From that time, I remember one thing: seeing FFVII Advent Children. My adolescence memories came back, and listening to Uematsu songs, I thought: "Man! He sure made those midi melodies sound like a hollywood movie score". That's when I knew that making music, just music, would be my thing. Since then I've been practicing, but not at all for remixing VG music. I just discovered OCR some time ago, and didn't even think it was possible before. So I'm here. And as Gario mentioned before, I realize the level of performance required to submit. I've been making music for almost half a decade now, and I do realize that I'm a complete newcomer here. Should I be afraid? Well I'm not afraid. I'm more excited by the challenge, by the prospect of learning and sharing knowledge about something we're all passionate about. I'm not that much of a gamer nowdays, but I still can hum some Rockman tunes like 1990 was yesteday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 And as Gario mentioned before, I realize the level of performance required to submit. I've been making music for almost half a decade now, and I do realize that I'm a complete newcomer here. Should I be afraid? Well I'm not afraid. I'm more excited by the challenge, by the prospect of learning and sharing knowledge about something we're all passionate about. That's the right attitude, and I recognize it in myself. Challenges make you improve. Wasn't long ago since I could have written much of that myself. I've, acccording to the oldest project file I could find, been making music since 2002, but really didn't care about production until I got here. D'oh. I had gotten some remixes in 2006 or so, was waiting for vgmix to come back up (d'oh) so I could sub something of mine, but then got tired of waiting and joined here to sub it (and then subbed another one instead). I should have joined way back. I recall there being be a "my first song" thread somewhere that I should post the aforementioned song in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 I recall there being be a "my first song" thread somewhere that I should post the aforementioned song in. http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13974 There, it's over a year old, but it's still there. It'd be funny if that was revived due to this thread . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlagshipAmadeus Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Well, I've been playing the piano for twelve years and started experimenting with recording my own compositions about four years ago, and I have yet to produce anything I consider officially totally finished, so either I am not so good which is bad, or have high standards which is good.... someday I will be done with a song. Someday.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeky Stoner Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Wow nice thread gario Anyway i am the newbie he was talking about in the aforementioned post. No i don't feel like giving up now. And yea I realize that I'm not going to get great overnight. i guess i got discouraged from a lack of posts (even though i have a ton of views in my thread) and just evaluating myself alongside posted remixes on here i just started beating myself up and got a little insecure. anyway personal problems aside this is a very informative thread, and really does help put things into perspective. So yea I've been messing around with fruity loops since November and only really started taking it seriously for maybe a month and a half. Also i guess why i got discouraged a because I'm still stuck with the demo and really don't feel like pirating it (after all people worked hard on coding all of these cool synths and making this awesome easy to use program and they need to get payment for all that hard work)even if it would benefit me greatly. anyway little off topic there another thread for another time. here's the wip i was working on feedback is greatly appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-wix Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 I love this question because I talk to so many people that say they'll never be any good, and all I have to do is link them to MY first remixes... Yea, No matter who we're talking about, everyone was a beginner at some point and your not going to get any better unless you try your hand at it. One of things i like so very much about this specific community is that everyone is extremely supportive and its very easy to get 'sucked into it' so to speak. beginner's get the bug and want to try it after hearing some of the other stuff on the site and people are quick to help other people become better. It's one of the greatest things about this community, in my opinion. I started in about 2002-2003 and had absolutely no major musical training and just about everything I've learned has come directly from this community. I really don't consider myself very good, but if you look at my old stuff and compare it to my new stuff, the difference between the two is huge. Anyone curious can zip right on over to my website (http://kwix.shackspace.com) and click the remixes tab and check out the difference between the top tracks and the bottom tracks. I really do think anyone can improve at this craft, no matter how bad you are. What helped me more then anyone were the people who took the time to comment and critique my work, I can't thank them enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHands Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Learned classical guitar in highschool, 2002-2004. In that time, I started arranging midi stuff in TabIt. College killed practice time, and now I'm heavily rust covered. Recently started arranging things in FL, having doubts if it'll ever be up to the standards expected of this site (but honestly, I don't really care if it ever does). I just make music to make it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumUltimA Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 I've been doing music for years and years and years now. I tried remixing in like, 03 or 04 making some midi rendition of the sonic and knuckles battle theme, which got nowhere. But the summer of 06 was when I made my first remix--which is posted here. SO I don't know how long it's taken me! Maybe 10 years, maybe 1? At least as far as ocr's concerned. Ultimately, practice makes perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 I started out in 2001 and didn't get a remix posted until 2005. Hell, it wasn't until 2004 that I started getting somewhat positive responses to my music. I've come a long way, and I think I've finally developed a "style" to stick to. Hooray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 I had been playing guitar for about 4 or 5 years, but I had no actual DAW/producing experience when I joined OCR. Let's see now... Joined 5th June '06 First sub (rejected) 21st August '06 Second sub (accepted) 11th Feb '07 8 months? Pretty good going I s'pose, I had a lot of general musical knowledge by the time I ever tried producing anything on a computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerrax Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 1999-First real DAW experience 2005-Joined OCR 2008-First (and so far only) remix accepted So i guess if you count the years messing with digital audio before OCR, it's 10 years. BUT, I do have to say being a part of OCR has greatly accelerated my knowledge of DAW and music in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxx Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 my first arrangement. http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR00183/ this one wouldn't have been accepted today, It's pretty gross My latest arrangemnet. http://dod.vgmix.com/past/mag7/05tie-jaxx-StormOfProgear-Harvest-DoD.mp3 this one would probably not get posted either, too close to being a "cover". been having fun with music since 96 I decided I'm not going to arrange music to OC standards so as to get accepted these days. If I arrange something that in the end fits the standards then I'll toss it to the judges. I just like having fun these days. I hope people don't stress too much about getting accepted, just have fun and learn something in the process. This isn't a job, have fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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