Most important lessons you have learned.

[bill5]

Or do a "save as"

Yep. I have had many things I wasn't sure about, and just stashed away. More than once I've gone back to it and used it, either as is or after getting away from it and coming back to it and tweaking.

Of course I have also had stuff that I looked at and went "are you kidding me" and deleted too lol

 

[Jaap]

Of course I have also had stuff that I looked at and went "are you kidding me" and deleted too lol

Oh yes, can relate to that as well! I don't drink alcohol or use any other substances, but sometimes when listening back to some of the "save as" material I am starting to doubt that

Another important lesson is - make backups, not only on a hard drive, but put it in the cloud outside your house as well

 

[bill5]

Yes excellent call on the backups. I have an external HD I backup stuff on and a few things I've either emailed to myself or otherwise put in "the cloud."

 

[John Judd]

1. When working for clients: find out the ONE PERSON that is in charge of making calls about your music, and set up communication with that individual. Too many cooks in the kitchen is a recipe for absolute hellish misery in the life of a composer.

2. Have really thick skin and be able to accept rejection when it arrives, because it will.

3. When writing + mixing: take breaks. Short, medium, and long. They give perspective.

 

[bill5]

It may sound obvious to the point of silly, but when starting out I had to wrestle with this a bit as visions of sugar plum faeries danced in my head:

Accept that not everything you write/record will be a brilliant masterpiece. In fact, some of it might be downright mediocre (or, hopefully on rare occasion at most, worse!). Even the best of talents have had their clunkers.

 

[Gerbil]

Observe then steal (ideas obviously, not VSL elicenser usb sticks).

 

[noises on]

Work with lower dynamics...(CC1 down boy!)

 

[PeterN]

Never follow mainstream. And this is even more crucial now, when mainstream is just lies and nihilist crap. More than ever before.

 

[C.R. Rivera]

That failures are a much better learning opportunity than always winning and learning nothing.

 

[ed buller]

list your 10 favorite pieces of music. Learn them off by heart so you can play them in any key. Absorb every note, chord progression so you have under you fingertips a road map of where music can go. then write every day without fail and keep studying ! Always add to your knowledge . You'll never know enough .

best

ed

 

[bill5]

write every day without fail

Agree to disagree on that one. If you can and are willing, great, nothing saying anything is wrong with it per se, but that might have some frustrated if they can't and so feel they are "failing." It is not a requirement and for many (e.g. working full time, have kids etc) just not feasible. In fact for me personally that would suck the joy out of the process most days, making it a chore vs something I like.

 

[jononotbono]

Don't start playing Red Dead Redemption 2.

 

[thevisi0nary]

Don't start playing Red Dead Redemption 2.

You know it's so funny because it's such a double edged sword. On one edge, I've gotten a HUGE amount of inspiration from my favorite games like the Soulsborne series, it truly fuels something in my songwriting. On the other edge, I have to play one game every couple of months because the second I connect with one on that level, I just cannot put it down. I played Bloodborne for the first time about 6 months ago (I cannot say enough good things about it, they are my favorite games), and it's basically like taking a short vacation lol. If it's a game I love, there is no such thing as playing for a few hours at a time. I play the shit out of it until it's done (done being beat it twice and uncovering everything) and then I don't play anything for a long time.

I'll be damned if walking through a setting like this isn't one of the most inspiring things, just looking at it makes me want to write right now.

Funny enough I'm actually writing this from Salem MA right now which has also been hugely inspiring. I can't wait to get home and write something dark =).

 

[I like music]

If you heard Rimsky-Korsakov's Principles of Orchestration backwards, you can figure out the date that CSB (and Half Life 3) will be released.

Other than that, get rid of the internet on your DAW machine.

 

[Lode_Runner]

Stay away from VI Control, you'll save lots of money.

 

[dgburns]

Things off the top of my head, imho as always-

-learn the business aspects in every way and BE YOUR OWN BOSS.
-have a good ent lawyer and use them and learn how to read contracts.
-be good to your clients, as you would nurture your own children.
-keep your accounting in order, know where the money goes.
-know your competition, for it’s not always who or what you think it is.
-know yourself and your limits.
-build your brand organically.
-take risks, but balance the risk/reward so you can absorb the loss if it turns sour.
-strive to become financially independent, this is fundamentally an irrational industry.
-take the long view
-know when to say ‘no’
-ask for what you feel you are worth. (know the revenue streams and negociate for your rights)
-know or learn how to master many styles of production quickly
-know your tools like a ninja

But mostly, be kind to your fellow composers, for we all struggle with something.

 

[thesteelydane]

Unless you're 10 years old, no one is coming to push you to do the things you know you need to do, in order to have the life you want. You will NEVER feel like doing them, so YOU have to push yourself to do those things - every day.

You can not learn how to write by reading, listening or watching anything. You have to APPLY what you absorb. So study every day, but most importantly, WRITE every day. Even when you don't "feel like it".

All the rest: Exercise as if your life depended on it (it does). Sleep enough as if your life depended on it (it does). Keep a journal of everything you WANT to do, and what you are ACTUALLY doing - every morning write down the most important thing you need to do today FOR YOU (not anybody else).

If you do all this, every day, without fail, over time, things WILL come together. Only took me 40 years to figure this shit out.

 

[MisteR]

Sleep.

 

[robgb]

Don't diss popular developers... you're only in for a world of hurt.

 

[AlexRuger]

There's a lot of noise in the world. Most of it isn't even sort of worth listening to.

Daily meditation practice is the best thing you can do for yourself after sleep, diet, and exercise (in that order).

External validation is always the wrong reason to do something, but we're incredibly good at lying to ourselves about our motivations.

Be wary of positive and negative feedback from others. Both are equally treacherous.

If it's not a "hell yes," it's a no.

Nurture the relationships in your life that truly matter -- show (don't just tell) them that you love them often.

Remove the unnecessary, refine what's left, repeat.

Don't take advice too seriously. You never know how or why someone arrived at that opinion. Your inner voice is more trustworthy than we usually give it credit for, and advice is useless without experience to hammer it home.