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I get more kicks hearing my own music than I do other bands'


xilddx
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Very often, I get much much more of a kick hearing my own recordings and those of my bands than I do other music. Not always, but much of the time.

I think it comes from lack of confidence but also having good ears. If I or my bands do something good, I get a massive kick from it, I can listen over and over at high volume, analysing, enjoying, thinking 'what next', etc. Obviously, if I think it's sh*t then I get a downer.

I think my biggest musical thrills are going to come from future recordings I will make.

What about you?

Edited by silddx
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I hardly listen to anything else these days, despite having a huge collection, in fact I can't remember the last time I played an album.

I record and mix my band every week and really enjoy listening to the results, particularly with new songs.
It's great having the multi tracks and I love the technology that lets me do it so easily.

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I rarely put on CDs I've played on. I helped write the songs, then sat there for hours (cumulatively) getting them right, then hours (often at once) recording them. I know the songs inside out and do enjoy listening to them for a day or two after the final mix is done, after that, I don't go out of my way to listen to them unless i'm feeling nostalgic/proud, am showing someone my music or am in the mood to listen to that particular music.

I get far more of a kick from doing gigs, that's what it's all about for me. CDs are more of a promotional tool than what I work for.

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Yes & no. I still go back to old stuff that most would probably think horribly derivative - and to be fair it probably is in many ways - but I still think there were a load of good songs in there that I happily play over & over (especially recently with some remixes)

We used to religously rehearse and write every Monday night, and as we were together as a unit for a long time were a bloody tight one. I still get a lump in my throat when I listen to our final gig before the vocalist emigrated to NZ :(

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It sounds very self absorbed, but I can and do spend hours listening to stuff I've recorded, particularly if I've mixed it/arranged it rather than just played on it. I'm proud of what I make (otherwise I wouldnt spend time making it in the first place) so it's nice to sit and absorb the fruits of one's labours. Also, it's worth noting that for me at least, recorded music is more important than live music. The recording/arranging process is as much of an artform as the writing/performance, in it's own way.

My current band was formed for the sole purpose of recording an album (which we've nearly done) - I've spent about a year with my mate writing songs, arranging a fair amount of the guitar, bass and piano and synth parts, then forming the band and rehearsing for the studio. By the time we're done I'll have heard the songs to death but the sheer amount of emotional investment and time that went into producing the recordings, I'd be worried if I [i]didn't[/i] want to listen to them afterwards. As it happens I absolutely can't wait to get the finished product in my hands, have a jazz cig, kick my feet up and whack some it on some good cans - I dont think I could be inspired to make music at all if it wasn't music that I was excited about listening to myself!

Edited by Wil
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[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1350506839' post='1839937']
I think my biggest musical thrills are going to come from future recordings I will make.

What about you?
[/quote]

No, I don't think my biggest musical thrills are going to come from future recordings you will make. :D

My own limited recorded musical legacy is unfortunately pretty dreadful - what little of it I still have I find difficult if not impossible to listen to.
I have some recordings of writing sessions/jams from a few years back that I quite like, but find them pretty depressing to listen to as, yet again, they came to nothing.

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It's all about perceived quality for me. regardless of who's done it. If it's exciting, it turns me on. I go through weird phase tho. At one point 5 yrs ago,God gave Rock n Roll to you by Kiss was the most exciting thing i'd heard. I don't even like Kiss! I was smokin a lot of weed and drinking JD back then tho!

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Don't get me wrong, I love music. I still get a massive hit from loads of music, I'm on a big MIA and Todd Rundgren tip at the moment and they are greatly inspiring me and giving me thrills. But I'm getting an even bigger hit from my own music at the moment, loving the experience of hearing it.

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I can totally understand that, I seem to listen to my stuff a lot! The best bits are where I surprised myself with some improv that seems better than my usual standard! I usually play all the instruments to a very average standard at best (!) but there's just something about a track that you have done all by yourself. I feel quite proud playing them to non-musicians but I shy away from playing stuff to people who are any good as they would realise what a hack musician I am!!

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if you are enjoying your own music more than other people, then you are doing it right.
After all the only reason to write music is to write something that you like.
If you do like it, then you are winning.
Somebody once said, "If you don't like supermarket music, then start writing supermarket music" you can take the supermarket out of that and apply it to anything you want.
:)

Nobody but me would enjoy the stuff i write, and I have never cared, I like it.

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Interesting thread.

For me it depends... occasionally I write something that I'm close to being proud of - a track in which I've had a breakthrough, or learnt something new, or written a catchy riff - and when that happens it tops any other music I might be listening to at the time.

On other occasions, I get to the end of a project, realise it's sounding cr@p and just end up being envious of the reference tracks I was hoping to match. But generally I end up more happy than not.

The main downsides I encounter with my own music are: firstly not being able to listen to my own stuff without being critical (I'm constantly noticing things that need to be tweaked and improved); and secondly I always find it hard to stop messing with it - my mixes are always 'abandoned' rather than 'finished'.

All that said, if I want to raise my sprits and play something loud, it's always somebody's else music I reach for other than my own. So I guess I don't consider myself as quite making the grade... not yet anyway.

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Yeah, the same here.

Now, I almost never listen to my own recordings, but when I do, then it's a great kick.

Though I do buy the insecurity argument in itself (as it indeed is a driving force for a lot), in this I don't see it necessarily being a part of the equation.
In my case it sure is not. See, unlike you, I enjoy the sh*t just as much as the good stuff. I know what I thought back then, and why I thought it. I remember the processes that went on in my mind while the recording took place. This makes for fond memories.

(I have a memory dysfunction now, and haven't heard my stuff since getting that dysfunction, so the above describes how it was for me before. Dunno how it would be now.)

best,
bert

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[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1350591771' post='1841093']
if I ever do listen to them its always pretending I'm someone else to see what their reaction would be[/quote]

Do you find that you're able to? Do you mean you pretend to be specific people whose reactions you can foresee?

I'm almost totally lost in that respect.

But I do have one trick in one case that has to do with how other people perceive stuff.
There's a recording of Bach's christmas oratorio with three harpsichordists on it in different parts: me, my well-known teacher and friend and his world-famous teacher and friend.
Now if I'm to play this for some people, and tell them what arias I play on, they will undoubtedly either give faint praise and be done with it [b]or[/b] find perceived flaws in my performance that the more well-known ones perceivedly have not.

So what I learned to do was play the damn thing, and just ask what they think about the harpsichord.
You already know what happens next. :)


best,
bert

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[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1350594398' post='1841146']
Do you find that you're able to? Do you mean you pretend to be specific people whose reactions you can foresee?


[/quote]

Yes and no. Yes, specific people, no I' not sure how well I can foresee their reaction. I just can't help it as I tend to record for others and so I always want to know how they hear it.

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