Souliarc Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 I'm just curious... what is the estimated, average hours it takes you to complete a song? For me, it just feels so unnatural because I take soooooo long to complete one. For instance, I'm working on an electronic piece where I've gotten a minute of material in and it's probably taken me around 50-60 hours. An orchestral piece, the same. Granted, in the middle of producing a song I can go off on a tangent of learning about synthesis, something new in my DAW, etc... but still. I've started over three times in the electronic piece because my transitions weren't smooth enough and were basically new songs (I call it musical ADD). I mainly get stuck, I think, on transitioning and having the collective notes blend smoothly into a different section. Is this a music theory problem in not having solid ground on chords and scales? I know I've heard artists here state they have NO musical background and have since created wonderful works of art. bLiNd and SGX come to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tensei Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 About 10-20 hours spread out over a few days for a fully produced 4-minute song with live guitars/bass. I've done stuff in like 2 hours before too though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghetto Lee Lewis Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Check out 1 hour compo on thasauce Thursday nights at 6 PM pacific time. I have a friend (I don't want to mention names) who can mix in FL Studio faster than the music will play back, but he has got amazing mixing and mastering presets that he made himself. The same friend has made an entire 4 minute epic orchestral production in less than an hour. The only thing that will make you faster is practice and experience. It's good to be meticulous, but you'll eventually discover a lot of shortcuts you could be taking and better techniques to make the whole process go much faster. I typically spend about 5 to 10 hours on a song I consider to be complete, but have done some great concept pieces in as little as a few minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackPanther Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Check out 1 hour compo on thasauce Thursday nights at 6 PM pacific time. I have a friend (I don't want to mention names) who can mix in FL Studio faster than the music will play back, but he has got amazing mixing and mastering presets that he made himself. The same friend has made an entire 4 minute epic orchestral production in less than an hour.The only thing that will make you faster is practice and experience. It's good to be meticulous, but you'll eventually discover a lot of shortcuts you could be taking and better techniques to make the whole process go much faster. I typically spend about 5 to 10 hours on a song I consider to be complete, but have done some great concept pieces in as little as a few minutes. Dang, I must partake in this compo. I've seen it around but never thought to enter because I suck so bad. I haven't taken into consideration, that such a comp could actually help me out xD. This latest song that I've completed took around 19 hours spread over a little over a week, which is lightnight fast compared to how long I spend on other works. My longest piece still has been my only posted remix. That was spread over about 8 months. It was all done in reason though so I can't really see how long Ive spent on it. My average is somethin around 30 hours spread over a month to three months. A.D.D. ftl =(. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrototypeRaptor Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 remixes average I'd say sometime between 30-40 hours. usually happens all at once, too. FF7 - 3 days Zelda - 2 days etc original stuff can take anywhere from forever to an afternoon. ghosts in the machine for instance was pretty much written in one day... then tweaked for a coupla weeks. on the other hand, I have an orchestral project that's been in the making for 2 years. but then again that's probably because of SCORE PREP ugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palpable Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I'm very very slow, I think it takes me about 50-60 hours per song? I usually try to do at least one thing I've never done before in each song, so that takes time, plus I tend to play around a lot with instruments and melodies rather than hearing something in my head and putting it down. With the exception of the DKC2 track, I think each song I've done for OCR has taken me longer than the last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PROTO·DOME Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 original stuff can take anywhere from forever to an afternoon. Ain't that the truth... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 The fastest I've completed a remix is probably 3-4 days, my first track in the GMRB, tho I've managed to stay within a week for the other GMRB tracks and for a couple of other tracks. Can't say what any of that means in hours tho. Apparently, I work the best during short periods, and end up sitting on a track until I hate it if I don't get it done soon enough. And then i finish it within a couple of days of sitting down with it anyway. On the matter of transitions, I've found that using the same melody interpreted differently (different rhythm or role (eg bassline->lead)) means the two parts sound more connected... for obvious reasons. It also helps to write parts that begin before the beat or where at least one of the melodies trail into the next segment or even becomes part of the same melody. Ostinatos and rhythms that are the same between different parts also help keep them tied together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 shouldn't take me more than a couple hours, the problem for me is starting in the first place... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Really depends, if I have to work fast I can write stuff in just a few hours. Remixes, my best time for a fully-produced mix like Kindred or Time to Oil Up is a few days. I've worked for months on some originals. For me, it's all about how invested I am in the piece (or how looming the deadline is.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannthr Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 6-20 hours per minute of music for paid work. I don't know if I ever finish personal stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrototypeRaptor Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 (or how looming the deadline is.) sometimes I tell people something is close to being done/finished, just so I have that pressure to finish... it's the only way to get stuff done sometimes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Souliarc Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share Posted January 6, 2011 Thanks guys, you've really put things in perspective. A couple hours or an afternoon for a fully developed song? Sheesh. I can only DREAM about being that prolific. I think I need to try those quick compo's out to help tidy up my technique and workflow and just, well... let it flow. I'll have to create a much better template than the one I have now though, but it might just help balance me out. Thanks for that GLL. Do you have a link to the person you mentioned's music? I'd really like to hear that four minute orchestral piece to help further my perspective. A.D.D. ftl =(. Yeah... I'm fine with everything else but when I sit and dial in to my DAW, my mind starts tap dancing like Gregory Hines and I can't keep up. plus I tend to play around a lot with instruments and melodies rather than hearing something in my head and putting it down. I'm right there with you. There's a few cases where the main melody popped into my head almost immediately but other than, it's a lot of tinkering. Apparently, I work the best during short periods, and end up sitting on a track until I hate it if I don't get it done soon enough. Yes... yes YES! God I hate my tracks sometimes. I almost feel masochistic because my music punishes me so much, yet I keep coming back for MORE?! Thanks for those transitioning tips as I will definitely put those to use. Makes a lot of sense even as I think about it now. Using a "guess and check" method, I think, is a technique guilty of a lot of time consumption for me. I need more iron clad techniques. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nase Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 1-50 hours basically. the really quick ones (1-5 hours) rarely end up as my faves, but in the 10-50 hour field it's getting hard to distinguish. the 20+ hour tunes obviously have a lot of detail, but at the same time the replayed to death factor comes into the equation. the decision making process also tends to slow down rapidly at some point because i grow attached to what's already there after a while. 10 hour tunes are usually the most fun to make. that's probably my average time spent on a track as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halc Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 my average time is between 20-35 hours, according to my most recent project files. of course this can be over the course of several days or several months.. i made a remix once during a 10-hour shift at work. i may have tweaked a few things in the following day or two after sleeping on it; definitely my record time though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dissidia Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I haven't spent more than 15 hours on a song, but then again I haven't really done any big projects. And I mostly stick to short songs. But I can definitely see a 5 minute song taking more than 15 hours to complete. I'm very picky so I'm sure I could save a lot of time by~ being less picky. I also tend to listen to the song way too many times while making it. When I have a good flow, composing is very quick but when I'm stuck it's like "wat do" so it really depends. Also, thanks for this thread, seeing as I was curious about this subject too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyril the Wolf Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 5 - 10 hours for a polished instrumental. 14 years for a good vocal. Seriously though it takes me for ever and ever and ever to finish vocals. :\ Getting better though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JH Sounds Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I've spent over an hour working on a fade-out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erineclipse Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 1-50 hours basically.the really quick ones (1-5 hours) rarely end up as my faves, but in the 10-50 hour field it's getting hard to distinguish. the 20+ hour tunes obviously have a lot of detail, but at the same time the replayed to death factor comes into the equation. the decision making process also tends to slow down rapidly at some point because i grow attached to what's already there after a while. 10 hour tunes are usually the most fun to make. that's probably my average time spent on a track as well. I've noticed that 1 of either 2 things happens when you repeat a song over and over again: Either good songs start to sound bad, or bad songs start to sound good. What I found that helps me is taking a break and listening to other people's music, to kind of get a fresh start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SenPi Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 8 to 16ish hours. Either a full day, or 2 full days. I usually finish stuff in a day, and then do the mixdown/master another day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcana Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Check out 1 hour compo on thasauce Thursday nights at 6 PM pacific time. I have a friend (I don't want to mention names) who can mix in FL Studio faster than the music will play back, but he has got amazing mixing and mastering presets that he made himself. The same friend has made an entire 4 minute epic orchestral production in less than an hour.The only thing that will make you faster is practice and experience. It's good to be meticulous, but you'll eventually discover a lot of shortcuts you could be taking and better techniques to make the whole process go much faster. I typically spend about 5 to 10 hours on a song I consider to be complete, but have done some great concept pieces in as little as a few minutes. Echo this advice. It used to take me an hour to lay down 30 seconds of terrible music. Now it takes me only 10 minutes to lay down 30 seconds of terrible music. That's tongue-in-cheek of course, but you really do improve when you have this time pressure on you (in addition to having to produce something in the hour). You'll notice that artists develop their tracks differently. Some like to work more vertically and make only a few seconds, but those seconds are REALLY good and really polished. Others tend to write stuff that's much longer, two or three minutes. It's not as polished, but it is an entire song. I don't do any pro work and I'm definitely not pro-sounding, but as far as personal work, the songs I do for fun usually take 5-15 hours before I declare them done, though I've worked on a song for probably a hundred hours before. Personally if I write a song and finish it in less than 5 hours total time, I consider that quite short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Around 3 days, if it ends up being a song I feel like finishing. All my finished stuff was completed within around a week, but I have a lot of stuff i haven't finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicThHedgog Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 some of my songs took a week but now im going to start doing faster compositions (1 day or less) after i search for a vintage esp XD(and sell my couch). and take more time on mixing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidd Cabbage Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 One million man-hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDRKirby(ISQ) Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 average time: ~1 hour, due to OHC every week, and not getting around to making "real" songs that often (it does happen). Then the 1-hour songs end up being better than all the other ones...dammit. Also, echo what people said about mixing+mastering on a different day. Good to save all the "finishing touch" stuff for another day so that you can come back to it fresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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