Music Forums

I don't comment below articles. The article is: https://blog.procollabs.com/not-good-enough/

To me this was a shallow and somewhat condescending piece. Yes. I agree that bedroom/small music creators would benefit from using other people's skills. But [1] because we are bedroom producers we don't have anyone in a lot of cases to ask. [2] What in the long run do we gain by say, getting a mastering wizard to do our album for a fee? Sure, it may make our album great. But how does that improve my skills? Or do I become dependent on someone else? [3] Because many of us are self taught we have home spun workflows that you would never teach, for better or worse, in a music or mixing college. So trying to give someone our tracks to master might be pointless. For instance I like to keep a "rough edge" to my tracks. I don't seek perfection. How the heck do I tell a mixing wizard that I would like to keep some roughness? For instance I often overlap my samples a bit. I like it that way.

This was a very simplistic piece, in my opinion, that came across as very finger waving. It didn't consider the bedroom music maker's needs or perspective. In fact it belittled it by saying that they wanted egotistical control.

Hey Andrew, thanks for sharing this - you know what's good about your thoughts, is that is demonstrates that everyone has different perspectives and are looking for different things.

I really don't think for a minute that the article was written to be condescending but to be thought provoking. It's not trying to say that producing music in your bedroom isn't good enough, or that we can't do everything ourselves. I believe it is trying to get us to broaden our horizons within the ProCollabs community and reach out to others who have the skills that maybe we individually don't, or are not so adept at.

I write and record in a home studio, and I know that however much I try, I can't create a decent mix. I have the right tools just not the skills. So I tend to rely on others here, who are so much more talented than me in the mixing space, to help me out.

Does that make me less talented? Not in my eyes. Does it improve my skills? Not at all. But what it does it help me get a better end result. For me, that is important, but I realise that for others it may not be.

Either way, we are all just trying to get to create music/sounds that appeal to our indivudal senses. If you like a "rough edge" to your tracks, then that's great. And I don't think anyone is going to try to tell you that you should think otherwise. But the same can be said for those who want to produce the best they possibly can, and that may be asking others to help along the way. A lot of those "others" are on the site and are often willing to offer their support and input.

I think you raise a valid perspective, but I genuinely don't think the article was meant to be belittling - just offering a different point of view.

Hey, Andrew. All great points!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

We'll this is a collaboration website. Of course we're going to be encouraged & reminded to collaborate! I for one need that so I don't get lazy & give up on my projects prematurely :) But boy, you sure do have to be patient! When you're so close to finishing something & EVERYONE goes on vacay (Ok, I'm just ranting because mine got postponed). Or you forget that the project you're trying to close probably needed to be mastered, but you are too lazy to open it back up & add that very important person to your team!
I am done now.
Thank you MC; next time just warn everyone you are talking to me ;)

And BTW, I am not that talented. Even if I had all the right equipment, I would be inadequate. That's why I am considering publishing my songs instead of producing them. A publisher can hear just a snippet of your song & say, "I think I know someone who would do a great job with this song!" And they don't wait for an invitation; they just go for it! I mean, imagine what it would be like to have someone working for you all the time! They want you to do well because that's how they do well.