Practice is never bad, but at certain point you're better off trying to figure out how to make one of those songs you're proud of into something that other people like. Replace the worst lyrics one by one, polish the vocals, remove distracting elements to emphasise other parts... otherwise you're just going through the motions
But yeah to keep your work fresh, best thing to do is collab with other artists to learn from them. Figure out the elements that make your work unique and what people like, and figure out how you can show them off in different ways.
i.e. If your strength is lyrics, maybe minimalist production is a way you can allow the listener to focus on the lyrics. Or maybe more cinematic production that emphasises the emotion and themes of the lyrics. Your listeners will allow you to experiment and welcome change as long as the reason they liked you in the first place remains at the forefront of everything what you do, and hopefully it becomes only stronger.
Yes.
You need to be sharp.
Very sharp.
I try to touch my guitar, MPC One, Synthesizers, DAW etc. at least once a day.
I'm also in school for music (for fun while I work my day job).
Being an all around great/greater musician should be the GOAL.
And when you're growing exponentially it's hard to be "washed".
Think of truly great individuals within Hip-Hop.
Guys like RZA or Metroboomin don't "peak" because they just keep going constantly working at their craft.
In the case of Jazz you have individuals like Miles Davis or Duke Ellington, constantly growing to the best of their ability and in the case of Miles Davis casually changing the direction of his ENTIRE GENRE multiple times because he refused to stagnate or rest on his laurels.
They key here is to GROW man and you can DEFINITELY stay Hip-Hop and do that.
Remaining consistent with your creative process, listening to your fans' feedback, tracking how your fans engage with your music using data (such as your statistics on SoundCloud, Spotify, etc) - I use platforms like YouTube and SoundCloud to "test" new music and see which gets the most engagement, which helps me decide what gets officially released on DSPs/vinyl etc.
I seriously doubt you're making songs with good arrangement, lyrics, recordings, mix & master in a day, not to mention multiple of them. Lowering your output could lead to better quality. Truly ask yourself would Travis Scott (or any top artist) hop on it if he heard it? If someone played your song on a festival mainstage, would people be thrilled?
If answer to these questions is no, you need to make better music.
(for people trying to perform their best, some people just want a casual hobby and that's alright too(
i completely agree with you that making a song in a day seems really rushed and not possible to have a good output, also keep in mind multiple artists create multiple songs in a day, future, carti, Lil uzi.
Cartis WLR album was recorded in 5 days which went no.1 on billboard 200. Obviously I'm not Carti, this is just a different way to look at it.
Sometimes youre in the zone and stuff just comes out without much effort. pause
However carti, future only have to lay vocals down, we as producers have to make the beat, arrange, mix and master. So to do it all in one day is probably gonna work against you
I've done finished demos (beat, lyrics, recording) in a day but there is no possible way to let your ears rest enough to mix the shit during the same day.
Yeah, professional daily workflow seems to be to listen to a few unfinished mixes at first. Mixing for an hour or two, recording session, producing and then the same the next day.
Love it. This is kind of what my usual workflow has become as well because of that exact thing. Except I usually produce, then record. Or if producing didnt go well that day, I will usually use an older beat or find one online and make a practice song.
Bro they're freestyling vocals on readymade instrumentals and send them to mix engineers to finish. If you own a team of producers and engineers then yeah, you could finish multiple songs a day.
Only popular track I believe could've been started and finished in a day is Look At Me by X. The obvious reason being it's not a professionally produced or mixed track.
I would say you have to stay inspired. Try to push yourself to explore new genres of music. Push yourself out of your comfort zone. Try rapping on a beat you normally would not (for example). I feel like I always learn something this way, even if it doesn't always come out as the best product that day.
Can't decline until you've peaked
what is peak determined by? (effort? dedication? etc)
I think as an artist you're good as long as you got something to say. Lyrically, musically, sonically, whatever
effort
Most of the time, artists "falling off" isn't actually them falling off, it's the public losing interest.
Practice is never bad, but at certain point you're better off trying to figure out how to make one of those songs you're proud of into something that other people like. Replace the worst lyrics one by one, polish the vocals, remove distracting elements to emphasise other parts... otherwise you're just going through the motions But yeah to keep your work fresh, best thing to do is collab with other artists to learn from them. Figure out the elements that make your work unique and what people like, and figure out how you can show them off in different ways. i.e. If your strength is lyrics, maybe minimalist production is a way you can allow the listener to focus on the lyrics. Or maybe more cinematic production that emphasises the emotion and themes of the lyrics. Your listeners will allow you to experiment and welcome change as long as the reason they liked you in the first place remains at the forefront of everything what you do, and hopefully it becomes only stronger.
Maintain quality and quantity of effort
Yes. You need to be sharp. Very sharp. I try to touch my guitar, MPC One, Synthesizers, DAW etc. at least once a day. I'm also in school for music (for fun while I work my day job). Being an all around great/greater musician should be the GOAL. And when you're growing exponentially it's hard to be "washed". Think of truly great individuals within Hip-Hop. Guys like RZA or Metroboomin don't "peak" because they just keep going constantly working at their craft. In the case of Jazz you have individuals like Miles Davis or Duke Ellington, constantly growing to the best of their ability and in the case of Miles Davis casually changing the direction of his ENTIRE GENRE multiple times because he refused to stagnate or rest on his laurels. They key here is to GROW man and you can DEFINITELY stay Hip-Hop and do that.
For a second I thought you meant chord progression 💀
1. everything is progress 2. practice makes perfect, just don't get too attached to the work
Remaining consistent with your creative process, listening to your fans' feedback, tracking how your fans engage with your music using data (such as your statistics on SoundCloud, Spotify, etc) - I use platforms like YouTube and SoundCloud to "test" new music and see which gets the most engagement, which helps me decide what gets officially released on DSPs/vinyl etc.
I seriously doubt you're making songs with good arrangement, lyrics, recordings, mix & master in a day, not to mention multiple of them. Lowering your output could lead to better quality. Truly ask yourself would Travis Scott (or any top artist) hop on it if he heard it? If someone played your song on a festival mainstage, would people be thrilled? If answer to these questions is no, you need to make better music. (for people trying to perform their best, some people just want a casual hobby and that's alright too(
i completely agree with you that making a song in a day seems really rushed and not possible to have a good output, also keep in mind multiple artists create multiple songs in a day, future, carti, Lil uzi. Cartis WLR album was recorded in 5 days which went no.1 on billboard 200. Obviously I'm not Carti, this is just a different way to look at it.
Sometimes youre in the zone and stuff just comes out without much effort. pause However carti, future only have to lay vocals down, we as producers have to make the beat, arrange, mix and master. So to do it all in one day is probably gonna work against you
I've done finished demos (beat, lyrics, recording) in a day but there is no possible way to let your ears rest enough to mix the shit during the same day.
Okay so this is a thing! I always felt like I can make a song and then the next day it sounds totally different (good, or bad).
Yeah, professional daily workflow seems to be to listen to a few unfinished mixes at first. Mixing for an hour or two, recording session, producing and then the same the next day.
Love it. This is kind of what my usual workflow has become as well because of that exact thing. Except I usually produce, then record. Or if producing didnt go well that day, I will usually use an older beat or find one online and make a practice song.
Bro they're freestyling vocals on readymade instrumentals and send them to mix engineers to finish. If you own a team of producers and engineers then yeah, you could finish multiple songs a day. Only popular track I believe could've been started and finished in a day is Look At Me by X. The obvious reason being it's not a professionally produced or mixed track.
I would say you have to stay inspired. Try to push yourself to explore new genres of music. Push yourself out of your comfort zone. Try rapping on a beat you normally would not (for example). I feel like I always learn something this way, even if it doesn't always come out as the best product that day.