I mod, because I'm too afraid to make music that might suck

[Blue Jinn]

I think that's the weakness for me. I spend crazy amounts of time and energy fixing some P*S I picked up cheap, rather than, you know, properly aligning and calibrating the 8 track, sitting down at the keys, and actually racking and using the P*S I spent all that time on, in the meantime, buying another P*S to hack into as a means of escaping again....

 

[madswitcher]

Hi Blue Jinn

What do you mean by 'mod'?  If you mean going off on tangents and doing stuff that mainstream guys might frown upon, I wouldn't let it bother you - its called inprovisation.

 

[Blue Jinn]

I mean I spend so much time with a soldering iron, modding this, building that, that I don't ever use the gear I make!

 

[dmp]

It's not about the destination, it's about the journey. If you are unhappy with how you are spending your time (which it sounds like you are), then it's time to change. Set aside time to make some music! And stop comparing it to all the best music that's ever been produced / recorded - that is a guaranteed way to get down on yourself. Just have fun collaborating with others and doing something creative. 

 

[Timjag]

I understand, you're saying that you're avoiding your potential writers block by finding little projects - my partners an artist, she does exactly this - she'll actually clean the bathroom top to bottom to avoid putting pen to paper.

I can tell you though, if you get over the initial fear and just spend a couple of days being rusty and crap, you'll suddenly find yourself not sucking by the third day!

I'm working with an songwriter at the moment that needs to write some new material and she's doing the same thing!

 

[bluebird]

Become a mastering engineer.
I used to be a professional musician. Major label, toured for years, etc. I always really enjoyed electronics and as I got older I found I had to make myself write music. My identity was an artist/songwriter. And since I experienced a little fame, it was very hard to accept the fact that perhaps I wasn't really those things anymore. I knew I was passionate about electronics and still enjoyed working with music but didn't care for making music anymore.

One day I just put down my guitar and promised myself I wouldn't pick it up until I really wanted to. Well, I never picked it up again. Maybe to fool around on it a bit, but never to write a song and be serious about it. I let my love for electronics  guide me into a whole other profession. And I'm happy.

 

[scott2000]

Become a mastering engineer.

I've spoken with a ME who had the same story more or less......Interesting!!

Thanks for sharing!

You too Blue Jinn! I know the feeling! Maybe it'll give you an edge when it comes time to mix....Knowing how things tick can't be a disadvantage I'd imagine.....

Listening to music is pretty inspiring..... I'm putting together a playlist my neighbor gave me for her son's engagement party this weekend and it's nice to hear some jams I had all but forgotten....

There's a kind of Hush........ been a while since I heard that.....

 

[Mbira]

I've come to a point where I'm all about writing music.  I no longer care if it sucks.  At the end of the day, millions of people would probably think it sucks, and millions of people would probably think it doesn't suck....and yet, if I'm lucky then maybe a few thousand people will hear it anyway, so there's that....screw it....make music!

 

[chipss36]

I have downsized a great deal, my electronics side has just kind of taken over, the joy of having a sound engineer totally stoked at something I built, and knowing it will be making music every day is pretty satisfying, or even my fail pile that I leaned something from.  but I do not think I would have ever gotten here, if not for the music that inspired me,  well that and the fact I just kind of suck at guitar, bass, and drums,  even practicing till pain, had to face the music in that regard, some just have the gift, I have seen it in students I have thought music theory to.
If I was good at it , it would for sure had been much more of a struggle. It was just going to be me and a classical guitar, yet stuff is piled up again, lol. 

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Become a mastering engineer.
I used to be a professional musician. Major label, toured for years, etc. I always really enjoyed electronics and as I got older I found I had to make myself write music. My identity was an artist/songwriter. And since I experienced a little fame, it was very hard to accept the fact that perhaps I wasn't really those things anymore. I knew I was passionate about electronics and still enjoyed working with music but didn't care for making music anymore.

One day I just put down my guitar and promised myself I wouldn't pick it up until I really wanted to. Well, I never picked it up again. Maybe to fool around on it a bit, but never to write a song and be serious about it. I let my love for electronics  guide me into a whole other profession. And I'm happy.

Exact mirror-image of me! I used to be a professional musician electronics designer.  I knew I was passionate about electronics music and still enjoyed working with music electronics but didn't care for making music electronic stuff anymore (at least not as much as before).
That just shows that at a certain moment in life, one is tempted to get out of the rut they've dug.

 

[Blue Jinn]

If this was (ahem) another social media platform, I could "like" all the responses. Thanks folks for encouragement.