Any advice for getting back in the game?

[Random Hero]

Has anyone got any advice for getting back into the remix game after a 15 year absence? 😂

https://ocremix.org/artist/4705/random-hero

For the first time ever, (my old computer was horribly underpowered 15 years ago, let alone now) I have a computer powerful enough to properly run my music software. But it’s been over a decade! Does that muscle even exist anymore? At times, it felt like those 5 years or so when I was active on this site were like me catching lightening in a bottle. Can I do it again, with new, more user friendly tools?  I’m gonna find out!

So to shake off some of the creative rust, I made this. I guess you could call it  ‘The Angels of Hell: 15th Anniversary Re-Remix’
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14bPcavUvStgJAfFU_TtcKjWRj1_i1Qzd/view?usp=drive_link
 

I used the sample pack from the original. Compared to what’s out there now, it might show its age a little (like me) It’s the same song structurally with a few additions, subtractions, alterations and substitutions with a way better mix. 

Wish me luck!

RH (Ryan)

Edited 16 hours ago by Random Hero

[m68030]

Just jumping in and writing is probably the best way. Work on the broad strokes of composition without focusing on details, making stuff you don't intend to polish to a 'finished product' to keep yourself familiar with tools, and possibly trying out ideas or techniques you are not as familiar with to stretch yourself. If you end up with something you particularly like the direction of, then maybe circle back to work more on it.

[Master Mi]

I can literally smell a human sinner here.

For this incredibly grave sin, you should regularly repent and synth hard!

...

Dude, 15 years?
Were you in a creative coma as a musician, snoring away comfortably like a huge Flemish Giant flopped into the cozy meadow, or were you somehow on the run from the Mafia or something?

I mean, hey.
I'm also kind of a pro at picking up an old remix from over 10 years ago and completely remixing it or rewriting the composition (simply because I've just started getting into music, composition, mixing and mastering around this time).

But if you haven't done anything musically in all these years, you've really let yourself go and metaphorically left your passion in your bum bag.

...

Nevertheless, welcome back to the club. ))

[Argle]

3 hours ago, Random Hero said:

But it’s been over a decade! Does that muscle even exist anymore?

I was out of the arranging game for most of the last decade due to burnout and just not being able to harness any inspiration, and I'm back into it as hard as I ever was in the 2010s and I think I'm making my best stuff ever now.  So yeah as long as the muse has grabbed you again you'll be fine!

[ZackParrish]

Join the discord and mingle. Workshop is a great spot to rediscover yourself.

[Dyluck]

Hey there old timer. The last time I did any serious music arrangement work regularly before the last couple of years was back in the first half of the '00s. I know where you're coming from. Technology now is at the point where I can make the kind of things I want to make easily and cheaply compared to 20+ years ago when it was all locked away in ivory towers and you couldn't just "go on YouTube to learn how to do something".

If you still have a grasp of the arrangement fundamentals – and judging from your past contributions you did then and I doubt it's left you – you'll be fine. I have learned so much in the past few years through osmosis and from trying things out. That's the most important thing. Try things out.

Like Zack said, join the Discord and hang out. There's usually a regular WIP commentary night called Office Hours on Wednesdays, but even outside of that, the #workshop is always active. Make stuff, see what others think.

[General Grunt]

Random Hero! a name I havn't seen in ages (I LOVE your Squirrel Outta Hell Count Batula arrangement!) I only got in the mix game within the last 5 years ish, and my samples are terrible midi so I don't have much advice, just wanted to pop in and say I'm a fan!

[Liontamer ⚖️]

Glad to see you wanting to get back into the swing of things musically. Don't forget to join the Discord server! https://discord.gg/ocremix - More folks are offering you advice there too. :-) 

[paradiddlesjosh ⚖️]

I didn’t come back to OCR after a 15-year hiatus (not unless you want to count a direct rejection from Larry himself), but I did come back to arranging VGM after a 10-year hiatus along with @pixelseph and joined OCR in so doing. I did the same thing you’ve already done: revisit and old completed project and do it again, only with better tools and more experience. In our case, Seph had done a few tracks with Team Dogfight for Homestuck, I took audio production courses in community college, and the two of us played in a few bands between 2012 and 2022, even did some studio recording time. We had a massive knowledge gap holding us back that we needed to fill before we felt comfortable coming to the community and revisiting old material got us back in the saddle, so to speak.

Snappleman shared some wisdom in the Discord and I’m inclined to agree: if you’ve got any old backburner projects you didn’t finish, you could pick one of those up and see if you can complete it now.

Edited 51 minutes ago by paradiddlesjosh