Do you listen to your own songs?

[Pavos]

When I saw the "Most played OCR songs" thread, I was wondering this. Do you (artists) listen to your own songs often? I listen to them while I'm working on them to be able to improve them (duh), but almost never listen to them once they're done and released. How about you guys?

[Bahamut]

Hey Nekofrog this thread has your calling

[Rexy]

To be able to listen to your own songs outside of context speaks volumes over how much faith you have on yourself as a person, so I don't see why people sometimes don't do that.

It's like experiences in school when people run around with camcorders filming you - and then when you see it played back you shy over the recording they did of yourself. I have also shied over my own self-image in my youth, simply thinking that I'm a complete oddball in comparison to everyone else in the class. (And eventually I discover the reason for me being an oddball, but that's for another thread and another time.)

So the same can also be said of your own artistic creations. Heck, I even shied away from my own drawings and paintings as a child after they were done, again for the oddball factor. And initially, the same could be said for my own music as well; I had similar poor confidence with my first musical endeavours on VGMix, and that was reflected when I hosted my first submission there, arranging FF7's "Wutai". I kept on stating in the VGMix chatterbox how nervous I was to go through the process and seeing people's reactions to it; though one wise set of words rang true from fellow site member Psycrow -

"This is a videogame music site, not Who Wants to Be a Millionaire :P"

As submissions increased, so did my growing tendancies to improve them. And within the years that followed I soon managed to feel an emotional attachment to some of them. The first track of my own that I EVER placed on my iPod, a Yoshi's Island collab with Jason Covenant, eventually went on to get rejected for liberal source, but it brought back fun memories of taking a PRC win after striving for so long and remains the only PRC entry of mine on there.

Then came "Time's Anxiety", which GrayLightning saw as one of my best arrangements at the time and really wanted to refine it for OCR submission. And when I heard the final version, I was blown away by what he did to it and felt really thankful for the result that came out of it. That to me strikes as a very positive memory.

And then over the years, with site projects coming abound - and the occasional Dwelling of Duels participation - I started to feel increasingly positive about my own material. True, I may keep finding tiny flaws when listening carefully, but it wasn't to the point that I'd reach for the volume slider and turn it down slightly, like in previous years.

So yes, to answer that question, I DO listen to my own tracks. And in fact I have been growing in confidence over the years, though in spite of this I'm quite selective; the tracks of mine that live on my iPod are often my proudest ones, all to reflect that growth in self-belief.

[Chernabogue]

I sometimes do, but that's not often.

[Rozovian]

I totally mute the output when I mix, and skip my own tracks whenever they appear in my playlists.

[Fishy]

The only remix that is released that I will listen and actually enjoy is Estharian airs.

There are also two or three tracks I did for the ffix album I can listen to on repeat. Most of those were collabs though.

Everything else I've made I try not to listen to because my production has come a long way since most of that stuff and it just bugs me.

[ectogemia]

Yes, quite frequently. I create the music that I want to hear. Why not listen to it?

Hell, I listen to the old ones, too. It's great to hear how far I've come.

[Eino Keskitalo]

Who else would? Listening to the old ones is funny, they're usually incredibly terrible.

--Eino

[Darangen]

Pretty often actually.

Rexy summed it up pretty well, I share her thoughts on the subject. (Psycrow is pretty awesome)

Once I finish a song I usually don't listen to it for a little while just because my brain is burnt out from listening to it on repeat for the last x days, but usually after a month or two it'll go on my playlist.

[staresfromstrangers]

I don't listen to my old old old stuff (I say one old for every ~4 years hah). But I do listen to most of my current stuff and stuff I made up to about 4 years ago maybe. I put it in with my other non-me music on my iPod and put it on shuffle. If my stuff comes up, great, if not, then that's okay too. I do that with friend's music often too, if it's good.

[Flexstyle]

Yes, quite frequently. I create the music that I want to hear. Why not listen to it?

This is exactly my view. I wouldn't make the music if I didn't enjoy the finished product! I'm trying to please myself first, and then anyone who likes my music is a bonus listener.

[JH Sounds]

The primary goal for me in making music is to create works that I enjoy listening to. I particularly enjoy listening to albums, and I've focused on the running order and flow of my albums a lot. That being said, there comes a point where I become disengaged from the output and remove it from my iPod.

[Benjamin Briggs]

I listen to my music way too much. like, waaaaaay too much.

but that's ok! because I can decide where I want to go next more easily if I know my musical history like the back of my hand

as for my older stuff, from when I was first posted on ocr, I barely listen to it at all... probably because it pisses me off to hear a more creative and effective version of myself ;D

[Nase]

but that's ok! because I can decide where I want to go next more easily if I know my musical history like the back of my hand

ahaha

that's the same rationalisation i came up with.

[Mak Eightman]

This is exactly my view. I wouldn't make the music if I didn't enjoy the finished product! I'm trying to please myself first, and then anyone who likes my music is a bonus listener.

This. And I love to listen my old works, cause I made lot of fun, interesting and potential mixes. Now I understand it.

[DaMonz]

I think listening to your own music is a great thing to do, especially when it's not finished or if you're trying to improve.

Listening (for hours, on repeat) to a track I haven't finished is the best way I've found to get more ideas. And listening to my finished tracks is a good way to identify what I could have done to make it sound better (and it's also satisfying to hear the finished product of so many hours of work )

[Benjamin Briggs]

ahaha

that's the same rationalisation i came up with.

quiet you I'm still in denial

in all seriousness though, I think it does help to instill a thread of continuity in my musical portfolio... knowing what "my sound" is keeps me from losing focus on what I love to make

so far I've been lucky enough to actually turn a few stylistic corners without yet losing touch with my "roots", but I'll probably completely sell out one day

[Lemonectric]

Oh man.

Time to open my old MIDI folder.

[LuketheXjesse]

Whenever I make a new WIP or anything and I can't really finish it/don't feel like finishing it, I'll throw it in the car and listen to it over and over for anything I might want to add/remove and work on and shit. It does help, trust me.

As for the actual finished product, it depends on how happy with it I am. 99% of the time, I'm not happy with it at all.

[Nonamer]

I listen to my music way too much. like, waaaaaay too much.

I listen to your music way too much as well (see most played list thread).

I personally skip the music I've made, but then again that number is extremely small.

[theshaggyfreak]

I do tend to revisit my own music often. Sometimes it's because I really enjoy something I've done or it's because I like to see how I could have made it better.

[WillRock]

I make music I enjoy listening to. I know what I like and I make it. As a result, I listen to my music quite a bloody lot

[EC2151]

And hear I was afraid that I was the only person who heavily listened to their own works.

A budding community of narcissists! : D

Though some of the very oldest ones, when I just started using FL Studio, are very painful to listen to, and I've more or less stopped listening to stuff I made 3 or so years ago.

The fact that a large part of my output has been FM synthesis songs (sega genesis chiptunes) has made their listenability quite long-lasting, because using a tracker hides my poor production skills!

As everyone else has said, I too make music I want to hear, so I'd naturally be drawn towards my pieces, ha ha.

EDIT:

Of course, sometimes i listen to tracks in order to really get a feel for what I can do better - each song I make is always an improvement over the last one (which makes the older ones so tough to listen to).

[Benjamin Briggs]

narcissism is more useful for artists, right? ;P

[Darangen]

in all seriousness though, I think it does help to instill a thread of continuity in my musical portfolio... knowing what "my sound" is keeps me from losing focus on what I love to make

I agree 100%. In fact, I'm working on something now that I think is very similar to "From Within" as far as feeling and emotion.

I think it's important to listen to your old work, even if it may make you cringe, just so that you can see how far you've come. To me, seeing how much I've improved over the last ~10 years motivates me to continue improving and pushing myself further and harder to reach the next level.